This story is included in the cycle of works by Turgenev “Notes of a Hunter”. To better reveal the theme of “Characteristics of the Biryuk”, you need to know the plot well, and it revolves around the fact that a hunter, lost in the forest, is suddenly overtaken by a thunderstorm. To wait out the bad weather, he hid under a large bush. But then local forester Foma Kuzmich picked him up and took him to his home. There the hunter saw the wretched shelter of his savior, and at the same time he had two children: a 12-year-old girl and a baby in a cradle. His wife was not in the house; she ran away from him with someone else, leaving him with children.

Turgenev, “Biryuk”: characteristics of Biryuk

People called this gloomy forester the Biryuk. He had a broad figure and a face that betrayed no emotion. When the rain stopped, they went to the yard. And then the sound of an ax was heard, the forester immediately realized where it was coming from, and soon dragged in a wet man who begged for mercy. The hunter immediately took pity on the poor peasant and was ready to pay for him, but the stern Biryuk himself let him go.

As you can see, the characterization of Biryuk is not simple; Turgenev shows a hero, although a beggar, who knows his duty well, and whom “neither wine nor money” can’t be taken away. He understands a peasant thief who is trying to somehow get out of hunger. And here the hero’s conflict is shown between a sense of duty and compassion for a poor man, and yet he decided in favor of compassion. Foma Kuzmich is an integral and strong personality, but tragic, because he has his own views on life, but sometimes he, a principled person, has to sacrifice them.

Characteristics of Biryuk

The author points out that in the middle of the 19th century, the majority of peasant people regarded theft as something natural and commonplace. Of course, serious social problems led to this phenomenon: lack of education, poverty and immorality.

But it is Biryuk who is unlike most of these people, although he is just as poor as everyone else. His hut consisted of one room, low and empty. But still he doesn’t steal, although if he did, he could afford a better house.

Duty and Compassion

Biryuk’s characteristics indicate that he neither steals nor gives to others, since he understands perfectly well that if everyone does this, it will only get worse.

He is sure of this and therefore is firm in his decision. But, as the essay describes, his principles sometimes compete with feelings of pity and compassion, and he will have this hesitation all his life. After all, he understands someone who, out of desperation, goes to steal.

The story “Biryuk” by I. S. Turgenev was written in 1847 and was included in the series of works by the writer about the life, traditions and way of life of the Russian people “Notes of a Hunter”. The story belongs to the literary movement of realism. In “Biryuk” the author described his memories of the life of peasants in the Oryol province.

Main characters

Biryuk (Foma Kuzmich)- a forester, a stern-looking man.

Narrator- master, the story is narrated on his behalf.

Other characters

Man- a poor man who was cutting down trees in the forest and was caught by Biryuk.

Julitta- Biryuk’s twelve-year-old daughter.

The narrator was driving alone from hunting in the evening, on treadmills. There were eight miles left to his house, but a strong thunderstorm unexpectedly caught him in the forest. The narrator decides to wait out the bad weather under a wide bush, and soon, with the flash of lightning, he sees a tall figure - as it turned out, it was the local forester. He took the narrator to his house - “a small hut in the middle of a vast courtyard, surrounded by fences.” The door was opened for them by “a girl of about twelve, in a shirt, belted with a hem” - the daughter of the forester, Ulita.

The forester’s hut “consisted of one room,” a tattered sheepskin coat hung on the wall, a torch was burning on the table, and “in the very middle” of the house there was a cradle hanging.

The forester himself “was tall, broad-shouldered and beautifully built,” with a black curly beard, wide fused eyebrows and brown eyes. His name was Thomas, nicknamed Biryuk. The narrator was surprised to meet the forester, as he had heard from friends that “all the surrounding men were afraid of him like fire.” He regularly guarded the forest goods, not allowing even a bundle of brushwood to be taken out of the forest. It was impossible to bribe Biryuk.

Foma said that his wife ran away with a passing tradesman, leaving the forester alone with two children. Biryuk had nothing to treat the guest with - there was only bread in the house.

When the rain stopped, Biryuk said that he would see the narrator out. Coming out of the house, Foma heard the distant sound of an ax. The forester was afraid that he would miss the thief, so the narrator agreed to walk to the place where the forest was being cut down, although he did not hear anything. At the end of the path, Biryuk asked to wait, and he went on. Through the noise of the wind, the narrator heard Thomas' cry and the sounds of a struggle. The narrator rushed there and saw Biryuk near a fallen tree, who was tying a man with a sash.

The narrator asked to let the thief go, promising to pay for the tree, but Biryuk, without answering, took the man to his hut. It started to rain again, and they had to wait out the bad weather. The narrator decided “to free the poor man at all costs” - by the light of the lantern he could see “his wasted, wrinkled face, drooping yellow eyebrows, restless eyes, thin limbs.”

The man began to ask Biryuk to free him. The forester sullenly objected that in their settlement everything was “a thief upon a thief” and, not paying attention to the thief’s plaintive requests, ordered him to sit quietly. Suddenly the man straightened up, blushed and began to scold Thomas, calling him “an Asian, a bloodsucker, a beast, a murderer.” Biryuk grabbed the man by the shoulder. The narrator already wanted to protect the poor man, but Foma, to his amazement, “with one turn he tore the sash from the man’s elbows, grabbed him by the collar, pulled his hat over his eyes, opened the door and pushed him out,” shouting after him to get the hell out .

The narrator understands that Biryuk is actually a “nice fellow.” Half an hour later they said goodbye at the edge of the forest.

Conclusion

In the story “Biryuk” Turgenev portrayed an ambiguous character - forester Foma Kuzmich, whose personality is fully revealed only towards the end of the work. It is with this hero that the main conflict of the story is connected - the conflict between public duty and humanity, which occurs within Biryuk himself. Despite the outward severity and integrity of Foma Kuzmich, who closely protects the forest entrusted to him, in his soul he is a kind, sympathetic person - a “nice fellow.”

A brief retelling of “Biryuk” will be useful for familiarizing yourself with the plot of the story; for a better understanding of the work, we recommend reading it in its entirety.

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The story “Biryuk,” which we will analyze, begins with a description of a thunderstorm that caught the hunter in the forest in the evening. Details specifying the place and time of action create an alarming atmosphere. So far it is only barely felt. But the gloomy colors (“lilac cloud”, “gray clouds”) and the movement that began in nature (“a thunderstorm was approaching”, “the trees were raging”, “drops... knocked”, “lightning flashed”) enhance it.

A man appears “at the flash of lightning.” His “figure seemed to grow out of the ground.” And this is not just a common expression - it speaks of the unity of a given person with nature.

When a person appears, anxiety does not go away. Moreover, it is also fueled, but not by nature, but by man himself. We perceive people, events and nature through the eyes of a hunter-storyteller, that is, detachedly.

The image of Biryuk in the story

The hunter from Turgenev’s “Biryuk” saw both the forester himself and his house. This is a “small hut” in which “a light shone dimly.” In the “smoky” hut there was not a single bright spot - a “torn sheepskin coat”, “a pile of rags” and a splinter that could not dispel the darkness. It seems that only traces of a past life remain here, and that life itself has gone somewhere. Even the presence of children does not relieve this feeling.

The appearance of the owner in the hut brightens the atmosphere for a while. The narrator saw a man of “tall stature,” who had “mighty muscles,” “a courageous face,” and “small brown eyes that looked boldly.” Quite a recognizable image. Where is he from? In the story “Biryuk” by Turgenev there is a hint: “Rarely have I seen such a fine fellow.” “Well done” is an epic fairy-tale hero. But then why is he here, in this wretched hut with the unfortunate children? There is a clear discrepancy between the hero’s appearance and his lifestyle. It caused the narrator not only surprise, but also interest: “I... asked his name.”

We gradually learn information about the forester. People talk about him first. Their opinion is known from the forester himself: “My name is Foma... and my nickname is Biryuk.” The narrator also heard something about Biryuk from people. They “feared him like fire,” considered him incorruptible, and more than once “they were going to put him out of the world.”

Is this characterization of Biryuk fair? The narrator has to test her. And what? From a terse conversation, he realized that he saw a correct person, honestly fulfilling his duty. “I’m doing my job,” Biryuk says about himself. And he is also lonely - his wife “ran away with a passing tradesman,” leaving the children with him. In the characterization of the hero, his loneliness is a very significant component. Lonely means deprived of the support of family and friends and, most likely, an unhappy person. An ordinary story, but Biryuk himself is not entirely ordinary, which will soon be confirmed.

Biryuk and the man

Late in the evening a thief appeared in the forest. The forester’s direct duty is to catch him, which he does.

The man is wet, “in rags”, he has “a worn-out, wrinkled face... restless eyes.” His portrait is straight - the opposite of Biryuk's portrait. The forester evokes admiration, you want to admire him, but the man is just a pity.

In the images of Biryuk and the peasant, not only physical strength and weakness collided, but also two opposing life positions. Biryuk “does his duty”, honors the law, but the man, by stealing, breaks the law. And that’s not all - he also justifies his actions - “from hunger”, “ruined”, “children...” Both his clerk and Biryuk, who is a “beast”, a “bloodsucker”, are to blame. Only he himself is not to blame for anything. And the fact that he drinks is like, “Isn’t it your money, murderer...”

Biryuk’s situation is no better: he is “also a forced man”, he also has children, and there is nothing to eat “besides bread...”, he doesn’t even drink tea, but he doesn’t steal either.

So, the conflict revealed the inner essence of two men. While socially equal, they are morally absolute antipodes. Consequently, one should not count on the objectivity of the assessment that Biryuk received from the thief’s fellow villagers.

The situation unfolds unexpectedly - Biryuk, contrary to his own convictions and professional duty, releases the thief, once again confirming the ambiguity of his personality. But is the conflict settled by his decision to let the thief go? Of course not. This guy isn't the only one breaking the law. “I know you... a thief among a thief,” says Biryuk. Therefore, his clashes with them are inevitable: “Wait, we’ll get to you,” the thief threatens.

Bad weather of human relations

The whole story takes place against the backdrop of rain. It begins with him, even with a thunderstorm, and ends with him. “You can’t wait out the rain...,” Biryuk says to the hunter and sees him off on the road.

The rain, which intensifies and then subsides, creates in the story a mood of some inexplicable sadness that permeates the entire story of Biryuk. But the words “rain” and “thunderstorm” are used in the story not only in a literal, but also in a symbolic sense. Continuous rain is bad weather in human relationships. The sun disappeared from them for a long time, if not forever.

The story is called by the nickname of the main character. It accurately indicates his character and place among people. But it turns out that Biryuk doesn’t have a place. He's alone everywhere. “Their” men call him a “beast” and promise to deal with him. The master has him in bondage. Biryuk's loneliness is emphasized by details: his hut is alone in the middle of the forest, and in the hut he is alone (without his wife) with his children. Biryuk's drama is that, being strong and handsome, courageous and honest, being correct, he should live well, as he deserves, but he lives poorly. And no brightness is expected in his life.

Main features of the story “Biryuk”:

• genre - story;
• narration from the narrator's point of view;
• main character: serf forester;
• plot: one episode from the life of the hero;
• image of nature;
• a reflection of the life of a Russian forced person.

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Characteristics of the hero

Biryuk is a solid, but tragic personality. His tragedy is that he has his own views on life, but sometimes he has to sacrifice them. The work shows that most peasants of the mid-19th century treated theft as something ordinary: “You won’t let a bundle of brushwood be stolen from the forest,” the man said, as if he had every right to steal brushwood from the forest. Of course, some social problems played a major role in the development of such a worldview: the insecurity of the peasants, lack of education and immorality. Biryuk is not like them. He himself lives in deep poverty: “Biryuk’s hut consisted of one room, smoky, low and empty, without floors or partitions,” but he does not steal (if he had stolen timber, he could have afforded a white hut) and is trying to wean him from this from others: “But don’t go stealing anyway.” He clearly understands that if everyone steals, it will only get worse. Confident that he is right, he firmly steps towards his own goal.

However, his confidence is sometimes undermined. For example, in the case described in the essay, when human feelings of pity and compassion compete with life principles. After all, if a person is truly in need and has no other way, he often resorts to stealing out of hopelessness. Foma Kuzmich (the forester) had the hardest fate of vacillating between feelings and principles all his life.

The essay “Biryuk” has many artistic merits. These include picturesque pictures of nature, an inimitable narration style, the originality of the characters, and much, much more. Ivan Sergeevich's contribution to Russian literature is priceless. His collection “Notes of a Hunter” ranks among the masterpieces of Russian literature. And the problems raised in the work are relevant to this day.

The work was completed by a student of class 7 “B” Balashov Alexander

The main character of the story is I.S. Turgenev's "Biryuk" is the forester Foma. Foma is a very interesting and unusual person. With what admiration and pride the author describes his hero: “He was tall, broad-shouldered and beautifully built. His powerful muscles bulged out from under the wet manner of his shirt.” Biryuk had a “manly face” and “small brown eyes” that “looked boldly from under fused wide eyebrows.”

The author is struck by the wretchedness of the forester’s hut, which consisted of “one room, smoky, low and empty, without floors ...”, everything here speaks of a miserable existence - both “a tattered sheepskin coat on the wall” and “a pile of rags in the corner; two large pots that stood near the stove...” Turgenev himself sums up the description: “I looked around - my heart ached: it’s not fun to enter a peasant’s hut at night.”

The forester's wife ran away with a passing tradesman and abandoned two children; Maybe that’s why the forester was so stern and silent. Foma was nicknamed Biryuk, that is, a gloomy and lonely man, by the surrounding men, who feared him like fire. They said that he was “strong and dexterous like a devil...”, “he won’t let you drag fagots of brushwood” out of the forest, “no matter what time it is... he’ll come out of the blue” and don’t expect mercy. Biryuk is a “master of his craft” who cannot be conquered by anything, “neither wine nor money.” However, despite all his sorrows and troubles, Biryuk retained kindness and mercy in his heart. He secretly sympathized with his “wards”, but work is work, and the demand for the stolen goods will first of all be from himself. But this does not prevent him from doing good deeds, releasing the most desperate ones without punishment, but only with a fair amount of intimidation.

Biryuk’s tragedy stemmed from the understanding that it was not the good life that drove peasants to steal forests. Often feelings of pity and compassion prevail over his integrity. So, in the story, Biryuk caught a man chopping down a forest. He was dressed in tattered rags, all wet, with a disheveled beard. The man asked to let him go or at least give him the horse, because there were children at home and there was nothing to feed them. In response to all the persuasion, the forester kept repeating one thing: “Don’t go stealing.” In the end, Foma Kuzmich grabbed the thief by the collar and pushed him out the door, saying: “Get to hell with your horse.” With these rude words, he seems to cover up his generous act. So the forester constantly oscillates between principles and a sense of compassion. The author wants to show that this gloomy, unsociable person actually has a kind, generous heart.

Describing a forced people, destitute and oppressed, Turgenev especially emphasizes that even in such conditions he was able to preserve his living soul, the ability to empathize and respond with his whole being to kindness and kindness. Even this life does not kill humanity in people - that is what is most important.