The truth about the war in modern Russian prose


The Great Patriotic War is a huge tragedy in the life of the Russian people, which is reflected in the literature.

In the literature on war, two groups of works, radically different from each other, can be distinguished. In the works of the authors of the first one, the Stalin military-patriotic doctrine is reflected. The enemy here suffers a quick and devastating defeat. Authors pursuing a different approach to the depiction of war do not romanticize the events taking place, but show the real, terrible and merciless face of the war. These writers, for the most part, themselves were able to visit under the fire of enemy bullets. The image of the war, which appears in the works of these authors, literary scholars called “Trench Truth”, and the works themselves, taking into account the direct affiliation of writers to the events, “lieutenant prose.”

Alexander Bek belongs to such authors, for example. In the story “Volokolamskoe Highway”

he shows the fate of the battalion, who was surrounded. The author recreates a true picture of the events unfolding near Moscow. Those bloody battles with a severe page entered Russian history. Drawing the courage of soldiers, A. Beck shows his view on why the Germans, reaching almost to the walls of the capital, and could not take it.

Vasil Bikov in the story “Sotnikov” reveals the problem of false and true heroism. The main characters, finding themselves in a critical situation, discover their true essence. The traitor is Rybak, and Sotnikov remains faithful to his debt until his last gasp.

A terrible picture of the death of young guys draws in the story “Killed under Moscow” K. Vorobyov. The heroes of the work are cadets of the Kremlin company, unprepared for combat activities and thrown into the very fire of the war. Rainbow was the initial presentation of cadets about the front. They go to war, not realizing what awaits them ahead. They are led by Captain Ryumin, a hard man who is respected by cadets. But the main character of the story is Alexei Yastrebov – a young, inexperienced

cadet. Like everyone else, he does not want to think about military reality, because he has no true idea of ​​it. Alexei reacts frightenedly to the sudden German airplane. From this moment the mood of all fighters changes. They feel anxiety and anxiety. Ryumin becomes softer with his subordinates in order to hide the real state of affairs from them. Hawks, realizing that the Russian troops are retreating, is experiencing great bitterness, his tears are turning on him. The first time he saw the Germans, he sees them as ordinary people. The mortar shelling that has been launched awakens the instinct of self-preservation in the cadets. Their first reaction is to run, retreat back. The author does not condemn his heroes, he only shows the true state of people who were first on the verge of life and death. Seeing how Anisimov tore off his leg, Alexei experiences a tremendous shock, he is embraced by a reluctance to realize the horror of what happened. It is a hard test for the cadets to die of fellow soldiers whom they bury in a common grave. Burning hatred of the enemy awakens in cadets. They decisively attacked the village occupied by the Germans and took the upper hand in this battle. A huge shock is for Yastrebov the murder of a German. Alexei is the only survivor of the cadets. In a short time he had to grow up and understand a lot. In the story “Killed under Moscow” K. Vorobyov debunks military romanticism as a dangerous phenomenon. The writer shows the difference between the ideas about the war and its harsh reality.

A sharp pain about the death of young girls is heard in the story of Boris Vasilyev “And the dawns here are quiet.” Five girls, led by Sergeant Sergeant Vaskov, enter into an unequal battle with the Germans, which exceed them in numbers and in physical strength. The death of those who are born to give life, emphasizes the inhumanity and cruelty of war.

The events of the novel by Yuri Bondarev “Hot Snow” are concentrated around one day of the battle. A battery of Russian soldiers performs the task at all costs not to miss enemy tanks to Stalingrad. Bondarev truthfully shows real and ostentatious patriotism, draws heroism and cowardice, humanity and cruelty.


1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

The truth about the war in modern Russian prose