Old Anna lies motionless, without opening her eyes; she almost froze, but life is still glimmering. Daughters realize this by bringing a piece of a broken mirror to their lips. It fogs up, so mom is still alive. However, Varvara, one of Anna's daughters, considers it possible already to mourn, "to rebuke her", which she selflessly does first at the bedside, then at the table, "where it is more convenient." Daughter Lyusya at this time sews a mourning dress tailored back in the city. Sewing machine chirps to the beat of Barbarian sobs.
Anna is the mother of five children, her two sons died, the first ones, born one for God, the other for a guy. Varvara came to say goodbye to her mother from the regional center, Lusya and Ilya from nearby provincial towns.
Can't wait for Anna Tanya from distant Kyiv. And next to her in the village was always her son Mikhail, along with his wife and daughter. Gathering around the old woman on the morning of the day following the arrival, the children, seeing their mother revived, do not know how to react to her strange rebirth.
“Mikhail and Ilya, having brought vodka, now did not know what to do with them: everything else seemed trifles compared to this, they toiled, as if passing every minute through themselves.” Having huddled in the barn, they get drunk almost without a snack, except for the products that Mikhail Ninka's little daughter carries for them. This causes legitimate female anger, but the first shots of vodka give the peasants a feeling of a genuine holiday. After all, the mother is alive. Ignoring the girl collecting empty and unfinished bottles, they no longer understand what thought they want to drown out this time, maybe it's fear. “The fear from the consciousness that the mother is about to die is not like all the previous fears that fall to them in life, because this fear is the worst of all, it comes from death ... It seemed that death had already noticed them all in the face and no longer will forget."
Having drunk thoroughly and feeling the next day as if they had been passed through a meat grinder, Mikhail and Ilya thoroughly get drunk the next day. “But how not to drink? Mikhail says. - A day, a second, even a week - it is still possible. What if you don't drink until you die? Just think, there is nothing ahead. All the same. How many ropes hold us both at work and at home, that you can’t gasp, so much you had to do and didn’t do, everything must, must, must, must, and the farther, the more you have to - it’s all gone to hell. And I drank, as soon as I got free, I did everything that was necessary. And what he didn’t do, he shouldn’t have done, and he did the right thing, what he didn’t do. This does not mean that Mikhail and Ilya do not know how to work and have never known any other joy, except from drunkenness. In the village where they all once lived together, common work took place - “friendly, inveterate, sonorous, with a dissonance of saws and axes, with a desperate hoot of fallen woods, resounding in the soul with enthusiastic anxiety with the obligatory joking with each other. Such work happens once during the firewood harvesting season - in the spring, so that they have time to dry over the summer, yellow pine logs, pleasant to the eye, with a thin silky skin, lie down in neat woodpile. These Sundays are organized for themselves, one family helps another, which is still possible now. But the collective farm in the village is falling apart, people are leaving for the city, there is no one to feed and raise livestock.
Remembering her former life, the townswoman Lusya with great warmth and joy imagines her beloved horse Igrenka, on which “slap a mosquito, it will fall down”, which eventually happened: the horse died. Igren dragged a lot, but did not manage. Wandering around the village through the fields and arable land, Lucy realizes that she does not choose where she should go, that she is directed by some outsider who lives in these places and professes her power. ... It seemed that life came back, because she, Lucy, forgot something here, lost something very valuable and necessary for her, without which it is impossible ...
While the children drink and reminisce, the old woman Anna, having eaten the children's semolina porridge specially cooked for her, cheers up even more and goes out onto the porch. She is hung by a long-awaited friend Mironikha. “Ochi-mochi! Are you, old woman, alive? Mironikha says. “Why doesn’t death take you? .. I’m going to her wake, I think she’s chiseled like a kind one, but she’s still here.”
Anna grieves that Tatyana, Tanchora, as she calls her, is not among the children gathered at her bedside. Tanchora was not like any of the sisters. She stood as if between them with her special character, soft and joyful, human. So without waiting for her daughter, the old woman decides to die. “There was nothing more for her to do in this world, and there was no need to postpone death. While the guys are here, let them bury, carry out, as usual with people, so that another time they do not return to this concern. Then, you see, Tanchora will also come ... The old woman thought about death many times and knew her as herself. Per last years they became friends, the old woman often talked to her, and death, sitting somewhere on the sidelines, listened to her reasonable whisper and sighed understandingly. They agreed that the old woman would leave at night, first fall asleep, like all people, so as not to frighten death with open eyes, then she would gently snuggle up, take off her short worldly sleep and give her eternal rest. That's how it all comes out.
Summary of Rasputin's story "Deadline"
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The plot of the story by V. Rasputin is built around the preparation for the death of the old woman Anna. Almost all of her children gathered at her bedside. Only her beloved daughter Tatyana, whom her mother affectionately calls Tanchora, did not come.
Anna wants all her children to have time to say goodbye to her. Unexpectedly for others old woman becomes easier. She can already leave the house and eat. Anna's children, who expected the worst, feel bewildered. Sons Ilya and Mikhail decide to get drunk so that the vodka prepared for the commemoration does not “idle”. Intoxicated, the brothers begin to talk about life. It turns out that she has ceased to bring them joy. Work is no longer fun. Hopes for a bright future have long been abandoned, the routine absorbs more and more every day. Mikhail and Ilya love and know how to work. But for some reason, right now, labor does not bring the desired satisfaction. Their sister Lyusya, taking advantage of the fact that her mother has temporarily ceased to need outside help, goes for a walk around the neighborhood. She recalls her childhood and her beloved horse. Having become an adult, the woman left her native places. It seems to Luce that she left something very important in her native village, without which it is impossible to live.
Anna continues to wait for her beloved daughter Tanchora. She is saddened that Tanya did not come. Tanchora was very different from her sisters Vari and Lucy. The beloved daughter had a very kind and gentle character. Without waiting, the old woman decides to die. She does not want to linger in this world. Anna does not find a place for herself in a new life.
Old woman Anna
The old woman lived a long and difficult life. A mother of many children raised her children to be worthy people. She is confident that she has fulfilled her mission to the end.
Anna is the real mistress of her life. And not only life, but also death. The old woman herself made the decision about when she would leave this world. She does not tremble before death, does not beg her to prolong her earthly existence. Anna is waiting for death, like a guest, and does not feel any fear of her.
Old Anna considers children her main asset and pride. The woman does not notice that she has long become indifferent to them. Each of them has his own life, each is busy with himself. Most of all, the old woman is upset by the absence of her beloved daughter Tanchora. Neither the main character nor the reader became aware of the reason why she did not come. Despite everything, Tanya remains her mother's beloved daughter. If she could not come, then there are good reasons for that.
Invisible friend
Death is Anna's invisible and silent companion. The reader feels her presence throughout the story. Anna does not see death as an enemy to hide from or defend against. The old woman managed to make friends with her constant companion.
Death as a natural phenomenon
Death is presented without the slightest horror or tragedy. Her arrival is as natural as the arrival of winter after autumn. This inevitable phenomenon in the life of every person cannot be assessed positively or negatively. Death serves as a conductor between two worlds. Without it, it is impossible to move from one state to another.
The invisible friend shows mercy to those who do not reject or curse her. She agrees to make concessions to each of her new friends. Wise Anna understands this. Friendship with the most terrible phenomenon for every person gives the old woman the right to choose. Anna chooses how to leave this world. Death willingly agrees to come to her in a dream and carefully replace worldly sleep with eternal sleep. The old woman asks for a delay in order to have time to say goodbye to her beloved daughter. Death again yields to the old woman and gives the necessary amount of time.
Despite the fact that every reader understands how the story will end, the author leaves one of the main participants in his work behind the scenes, which further emphasizes the lack of tragedy of death.
Anna's children
Anna's sons and daughters live long own life. The approaching death of the old woman makes you pay attention to the mother. However, none of the children could hold that attention for too long. Noticing that Anna is getting better, they tend to return to their thoughts and activities. The brothers immediately drink the vodka left for the wake and begin to complain to each other about life. The sisters, who shared the inheritance at the bedside of the dying, disperse in different directions in order to also plunge into their worries.
Anna's children try to conscientiously fulfill their duties to their mother. Lucy is sewing a funeral dress for the old woman. Varvara mourns her mother, as Anna herself wanted. The sons are also ready to do everything necessary to see the old woman on her last journey. In the depths of their souls, each of them is waiting for the moment when the most unpleasant thing will remain in the past and it will be possible to return to their daily affairs and duties. Ilya and Mikhail are not so much saddened by the impending death of their mother as they are concerned about their own. After the departure of their parents, they will become the next generation to die. This thought terrifies the brothers so much that they empty one bottle of vodka after another.
main idea
There are no good or bad events in life. Every event is assessed in some way. Despite her difficult existence, full of suffering and deprivation, Anna does not seek to exaggerate. She intends to leave this world calm and peaceful.
The main theme of the story is the departure from the life of an elderly person, summing up. However, there are other themes in the work that the author prefers to talk about less openly.
Valentin Rasputin wants to tell the reader not only about the personal feelings of the characters. "Deadline", summary which tells only about how each character relates to death, this is, first of all, a story about a change historical eras. Anna and her children watch the destruction of the old order. Collective farms cease to exist. Young people are forced to leave the village due to lack of work, go in search of work in an unknown direction.
The story of Valentin Rasputin "Money for Mary" contains at the heart of the plot the idea of human relationships, mutual assistance and indifference, which are especially pronounced in someone else's grief.
Another marvelous work Valentina Rasputina "French Lessons" tells about human kindness, fortitude and patience.
Merciless capitalism is coming to replace philanthropic socialism. Former values are depreciated. Anna's sons, accustomed to working for the common good, must now work for the survival of their families. Not accepting the new reality, Ilya and Mikhail try to drown their pain with alcohol. Old Anna feels her superiority over her children. Her death has already come to her and is only waiting for an invitation to enter the house. Mikhail, Ilya, Lusya, Varvara and Tatyana are young. They will have to live for a long time in an unfamiliar world for them, which is so unlike the one in which they were once born. They will have to become different people, abandon their former ideals, so as not to perish in the new reality. None of Anna's four children is willing to change. Only Tanchora's opinion remains unknown to the reader.
People's discontent new life unable to change the course of events. The ruthless hand of history will put everything in its place. The younger generation is obliged to adapt in order to educate their offspring differently than they were raised themselves. The old generation will not be able to accept the new rules of the game. He will have to leave this world.
Creativity of Rasputin - display of values modern man. Valentin Rasputin is one of the most famous and talented writers of modern Russian literature.
The theme of the modern perception of morality is fundamental to most of his works. Most often, his story "The Deadline" is mentioned, which the author calls the most important in his own work.
His works are filled with vivid images and thoughts that help to reveal the changes taking place in the psychology of modern man.
Through the eyes of Rasputin, we see the loss of many valuable human qualities, the writer shows how kindness, mercy and conscience gradually leave the hearts of people, and how this affects the life of society as a whole, and in particular the life and fate of each person.
The meaning of the story "Deadline"
The topics that Rasputin touches on in the story "Deadline" are deeper and more multifaceted than it might seem at first glance.
Relations between family members, attitude towards parents, alcoholism, old age, the concepts of conscience and honor, all these motives are woven into a single display of the meaning of a person's life in the "Deadline"; and touching on these topics, Rasputin only reflects reality.
The main character of the story is the eighty-year-old old woman Anna, who lives with her son. Her inner world filled with worries about children who have long gone and lead lives separately from each other. Anna thinks only that she would like to see them happy before she dies. And if not happy, then just to see them all for the last time.
But her grown children are the children of modern civilization, busy and businesslike, they already have their own families, and they can think about many things - and they have enough time and energy for everything, except for their mother. For some reason, they hardly remember her, not wanting to understand that for her the feeling of life remains only in them, she only lives with thoughts of them.
When Anna feels the approach of death, she is ready to endure for a few more days, because she really wants to see her family. Until her last minute, she loves them with all her soul and vitality that still remains in her, but the children find time and attention for her only for the sake of decency.
Rasputin reveals their lives in such a way that it seems that they generally live in this world for the sake of decency. Moreover, the sons are mired in drunkenness, and the daughters are busy with their “important” affairs.
They are ridiculous and insincere in their last desire to pay attention to the dying mother. After all, in the last days of the mother’s life, they could at least correct something, they could simply sincerely talk to her and give her attention worthy of a mother, but they were not enough for that either.
Analysis of the concept "Deadline" - the meaning of the name
Valentin Rasputin points modern society and man on their moral decline, on that callousness, heartlessness and selfishness that took possession of their lives and souls.
What do these people live for? For the sake of anger and hatred, envy and disrespect for other people? If they cannot even humanly say goodbye to their dying mother, what can we say about their attitude to the world around them, about their life purpose and role ...
The writer shows how miserable the life of such people can be, how soulless and gloomy, and the main idea is that they created such a world around them with their own hands.
And there remains only one question concerning the title of the story and what meaning Rasputin put into it.
V. Rasputin - the story "Deadline". The problem of breaking ties between generations is raised by V. Rasputin in the story "Deadline". The family is a sacrament, a special world, all the inhabitants of which must be united by love, respect for loved ones. It is sad when family ties are weakened and torn. “It is impossible to live and work without the memory of one's people, one's family, one's family. Otherwise, we will be so disconnected, we will feel lonely, that this can destroy us, ”wrote V. Rasputin.
The plot of the story "Deadline" is the farewell of a dying mother with her children. Old Anna gathers her children to see them before she dies. But the joy of the date gives her new strength, and she continues to live. The children are leaving. And she dies at night. The work begins with the following phrase: “The old woman Anna lay on a narrow iron bed near the Russian stove and waited for death, the time for which seemed ripe: the old woman was about eighty.” It ends simply and concisely: "The old woman died at night." There are few events in the story, but it is full of philosophical and moral questions.
The main character, the old woman Anna, is contrasted here with her children. This is a great worker, whose life is simple, at first glance, ordinary. “And the old woman lived uncomplicatedly: she gave birth, worked, briefly fell into bed before a new day ...”. “It’s always the same: the kids were fiddling with something, the cattle were screaming, the garden was waiting, and also the work in the field, in the forest, on the collective farm - an eternal whirlwind in which she had no time to breathe and look around.” In the life of the heroine there was a lot of suffering, misfortune. She survived the war, the death of some children, the death of her husband. But Anna never complained about fate. In her soul lived faith in God, love for the world, kindness, conscientiousness, patience and humility. The life of the heroine reminds us of the life of the righteous. “And she never envied anyone, no matter how well he lived and with whatever pretty face didn’t go ... - for her it was not at all better than wanting someone else’s mother in her mother or someone else’s child in her children. Your life is your beauty. Elsewhere we read: “To manage her life for her was either a joy, or a torment - a painful joy, she did not know where they converged and where they diverged and which of them was more useful for her, she accepted them for herself, for her continuation. ... ”Anna humbly endures all the trials that have befallen her. She lives in the family of the eldest son Mikhail, but tries not to annoy him with her position, illness. Bedridden, dying, she asks the children not to quarrel, to make peace with each other, to always remember that they are a family. Even on her deathbed, she aspires to the living, to what will remain after her. All the dreams of the heroine are that harmony reigned between sons and daughters. The mother is not able to condemn them even when they clearly deserve it. She can only feel sorry for them, although "why she regretted, she herself did not know, she could not understand." In her last days, she remembers and worries about her lonely friend Mironikha, sends her children to visit her.
The heroine of Rasputin is a very spiritual, wise person. Before dying, she thinks: what do we live for? “I wonder where her life will go?” “Know at least why and for what she lived?”. The image of the old woman Anna in the story is inextricably linked with the image of the House as a kind of spiritual center, the foundation of personality. Children have forgotten their parents' home, almost never visit their mother. Tanchora, her beloved daughter, did not even respond to a telegram about her mother's death, she did not come at all. The children who arrived, Ilya, Lyusya, Valentina, behave low, unworthy. It was not love that brought them all together, but a duty, a desire to comply with formalities. The unexpected recovery of the mother causes them not joy, but confusion and annoyance. As if the mother called them in vain, confused their plans. In the misfortune that befell the family, they keep apart, scold each other, Mikhail and Ilya get drunk. “The reminder of the dying mother did not let go, but did not greatly torment them: they did what needed to be done - one gave the news, the other arrived, and now they brought vodka together - everything else depended on the mother herself or on someone there still, but not from them - do not really dig a grave for an unprepared person!
The death of a mother is a serious test for her adult children. Perhaps none of them can stand it. The old woman Anna seems to expose the inner world of her children, shines through it with the rays of her soul. We see selfishness, moral deafness, dishonesty in these heroes. Mikhail tries to alleviate his mother's suffering by deceiving her, saying that he asked his sister Tanchora not to come. The children leave without even waiting for Anna's death, although she asks them to stay longer.
Thus, according to the writer, one should not forget one's own House, one's parents, one's family. In this case, the moral foundations of both the individual and the whole society as a whole collapse.
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Valentin Grigorievich Rasputin is one of the most talented and famous writers modern domestic literature. Fundamental to many of his works is the theme of today's perception of morality.
The story "Deadline", a summary of which we present to your attention, the creator himself called in his work the main work. He began to work on it in 1969, and in 1970, the work "Deadline" was published in the magazine "Our Contemporary".
Without opening her eyes, without moving, the old woman Anna lies. Life in her still flickers, but the woman herself almost froze. Her daughters understand this, they bring a piece of a broken mirror to their lips. It fogs up, therefore, the mother is still alive. But Varvara, one of the daughters, believes that it is already possible to mourn, "voice out", and she does it selflessly, first at the bedside, then at the table, because it is more convenient there. Lyusya, another daughter, is sewing at this time a mourning dress, tailored back in the city. The sewing machine chirps to the beat of Varvara's sobs.
Arrival of children to the funeral
Anna had five children. Her two sons perished, the first-born, who were born one for God, and the second for the king. Varvara came to say goodbye to her parent from the district center, and Ilya and Lyusya - from provincial towns nearby.
We continue to describe the work "Deadline". A brief summary of the following further events. Anna is waiting for Tanya to arrive from distant Kyiv. In the village, next to her, son Michael was always with his daughter and wife. The children, gathered around the old woman the day after their arrival, do not know how to react to their revived mother, to her strange rebirth. 
Ilya and Mikhail get drunk
Ilya and Mikhail, having dragged the boat, cannot now decide what to do. Compared to the upcoming event, everything else seemed like a trifle, and they toiled, passing through every minute. The sons get drunk almost without snacks, hiding in the barn, snacking only on food that Ninka, Mikhail's little daughter, carries for them. This circumstance provokes the legitimate wrath of women, but shots of vodka give a sense of celebration to the two brothers. The mother is, after all, alive. They no longer understand, not paying attention to the girl collecting half-drunk and empty bottles, what thought they want to drown out this time. Perhaps fear from the knowledge that their parent will soon die. It is not like other fears, it is the most terrible, since it comes from death itself, which seemed to have noticed all of them in the face and would not forget.
The work "The Last Term" continues. A summary of what happened next is as follows. Feeling bad the next day after drinking, the brothers get drunk again. Ilya and Mikhail do not know how to work. They have never known any other joy than from drinking. General work happened in the village where they all once lived together - inveterate, friendly, sonorous, with dissonance of axes and drank. It was in the spring, in the season of harvesting firewood. But now people are leaving for the city, the collective farm is falling apart in the village, there is no one to grow and feed livestock.
Daughter Lucy recalls her former life
Lusya, a townswoman, recalling her former life, recalls with great joy and warmth Igrenka, her beloved horse, who was very weak and eventually died. Igren dragged a lot, but did not master it. Lyusya, wandering through the arable land and fields around the village, understands that she herself does not choose where to go, but is led by some kind of force, an outsider that lives in these places. Life seemed to come back, because Lucy lost something valuable, necessary, forgot something, without which it is impossible ...
Anna is on the mend
We continue to describe the summary of the book "Deadline". While the children are reminiscing and drinking, Anna, having eaten semolina porridge specially prepared for her, cheers up more and goes out onto the porch. Mironikh's friend visits her. Anna grieves that Tatyana is not among the children gathered at the bedside, Tanchora, as the old woman calls her. She was very different in character from her sisters. Her disposition was somehow special, joyful and soft, human.
The old woman decides to die
We will describe further events, their brief content. "Deadline" Rasputin Valentin continues as follows. Anna decides to die, without waiting for Tatyana, since there is nothing more to do in this world and there is no point in postponing death. While the guys have gathered here, let them see them off, bury them, as is customary among people, so that later they will not return to this concern. Then, perhaps, Tanchora will also come... Many times the old woman thought about death, she already knew it as herself. In recent years, they have become girlfriends, the old woman often talked to her, and death listened to her whisper, sitting on the sidelines, and sighed understandingly. They agreed that Anna would leave at night, first, like all people, she would fall asleep so as not to frighten death with open eyes, and she would snuggle up quietly, remove the worldly short sleep from the woman and give her eternal rest. That's how it all happened.
Finishes his work "Deadline" Valentin Rasputin. A brief summary was presented in our article. It does not describe the details, does not give an idea of the characteristic features of the work. This story, however, is very interesting. Therefore, we recommend that you turn to the work itself, to familiarize yourself with it already in the original. We have tried to convey only a brief summary. "Deadline" (Rasputin Valentin Grigorievich) - a work, after reading which, you will not remain indifferent.