Analysis of the work of the White Guard Bulgakov is brief. The White Guard (novel)

Frame from the film "White Guard" (2012)

Winter 1918/19 A certain City, in which Kyiv is clearly guessed. The city is occupied by the German occupation troops, the hetman of "all Ukraine" is in power. However, Petliura's army may enter the City from day to day - fighting is already going on twelve kilometers from the City. The city lives a strange, unnatural life: it is full of visitors from Moscow and St. Petersburg - bankers, businessmen, journalists, lawyers, poets - who rushed there from the moment the hetman was elected, from the spring of 1918.

In the dining room of the Turbins' house at dinner, Alexei Turbin, a doctor, his younger brother Nikolka, a non-commissioned officer, their sister Elena and family friends - lieutenant Myshlaevsky, second lieutenant Stepanov, nicknamed Karas and lieutenant Shervinsky, adjutant in the headquarters of Prince Belorukov, commander of all the military forces of Ukraine - excitedly discussing the fate of their beloved City. Senior Turbin believes that the hetman is to blame for everything with his Ukrainization: until the very last moment he did not allow the formation of the Russian army, and if this happened on time, a select army of junkers, students, high school students and officers, of which there are thousands, would be formed, and not only would they have defended the City, but Petliura would not have had a spirit in Little Russia, moreover, they would have gone to Moscow and saved Russia.

Elena's husband, Captain of the General Staff Sergei Ivanovich Talberg, announces to his wife that the Germans are leaving the City and that he, Talberg, is being taken on the staff train departing tonight. Talberg is sure that even three months will not pass before he returns to the City with Denikin's army, which is now being formed on the Don. Until then, he can't take Elena into the unknown and she'll have to stay in the City.

To protect against the advancing troops of Petlyura, the formation of Russian military formations begins in the City. Karas, Myshlaevsky and Alexei Turbin come to the commander of the emerging mortar division, Colonel Malyshev, and enter the service: Karas and Myshlaevsky - as officers, Turbin - as a divisional doctor. However, the next night - from December 13 to 14 - the hetman and General Belorukov flee from the City in a German train, and Colonel Malyshev disbands the newly formed division: he has no one to defend, there is no legal authority in the City.

Colonel Nai-Tours by December 10 completes the formation of the second department of the first squad. Considering the conduct of the war without winter equipment for soldiers impossible, Colonel Nai-Tours, threatening the head of the supply department with a colt, receives felt boots and hats for his one hundred and fifty junkers. On the morning of December 14, Petliura attacks the City; Nai-Tours receives an order to guard the Polytechnic Highway and, in the event of the appearance of the enemy, to take the fight. Nai-Turs, having entered into battle with the advanced detachments of the enemy, sends three cadets to find out where the hetman's units are. The sent ones return with a message that there are no units anywhere, machine-gun fire is in the rear, and the enemy cavalry enters the City. Nye realizes that they are trapped.

An hour earlier, Nikolai Turbin, corporal of the third division of the first infantry squad, receives an order to lead the team along the route. Arriving at the appointed place, Nikolka sees with horror the running junkers and hears the command of Colonel Nai-Tours, ordering all the junkers - both his own and from Nikolka's team - to tear off shoulder straps, cockades, throw weapons, tear documents, run and hide. The colonel himself covers the withdrawal of the junkers. In front of Nikolka's eyes, the mortally wounded colonel dies. Shocked, Nikolka, leaving Nai-Turs, makes his way to the house through courtyards and lanes.

In the meantime, Alexei, who was not informed about the dissolution of the division, having appeared, as he was ordered, at two o'clock, finds an empty building with abandoned guns. Having found Colonel Malyshev, he gets an explanation of what is happening: the city is taken by Petliura's troops. Aleksey, tearing off his shoulder straps, goes home, but runs into Petliura's soldiers, who, recognizing him as an officer (in his haste he forgot to tear off the cockade from his hat), pursue him. Wounded in the arm, Alexei is sheltered in her house by a woman unknown to him named Yulia Reise. The next day, having changed Alexei into a civilian dress, Yulia takes him home in a cab. Simultaneously with Aleksey, Larion, Talberg's cousin, comes from Zhytomyr to the Turbins, who has experienced a personal drama: his wife left him. Larion really likes being in the Turbins' house, and all the Turbins find him very nice.

Vasily Ivanovich Lisovich, nicknamed Vasilisa, the owner of the house in which the Turbins live, occupies the first floor in the same house, while the Turbins live in the second. On the eve of the day when Petlyura entered the City, Vasilisa builds a hiding place in which she hides money and jewelry. However, through a gap in a loosely curtained window, an unknown person is watching Vasilisa's actions. The next day, three armed men come to Vasilisa with a search warrant. First of all, they open the cache, and then they take Vasilisa's watch, suit and shoes. After the departure of the "guests" Vasilisa and his wife guess that they were bandits. Vasilisa runs to the Turbins, and Karas is sent to protect them from a possible new attack. The usually stingy Vanda Mikhailovna, Vasilisa's wife, does not skimp here: there is cognac, veal, and pickled mushrooms on the table. Happy Karas is dozing, listening to Vasilisa's plaintive speeches.

Three days later, Nikolka, having learned the address of the Nai-Tours family, goes to the colonel's relatives. He tells Nye's mother and sister the details of his death. Together with the colonel's sister, Irina, Nikolka finds the body of Nai-Turs in the morgue, and on the same night, a funeral service is held in the chapel at the anatomical theater of Nai-Turs.

A few days later, Alexei's wound becomes inflamed, and in addition, he has typhus: high fever, delirium. According to the conclusion of the consultation, the patient is hopeless; On December 22, the agony begins. Elena locks herself in the bedroom and passionately prays to the Most Holy Theotokos, begging to save her brother from death. “Let Sergei not return,” she whispers, “but don’t punish this with death.” To the amazement of the doctor on duty with him, Alexei regains consciousness - the crisis has passed.

A month and a half later, the finally recovered Alexei goes to Yulia Reisa, who saved him from death, and gives her the bracelet of his deceased mother. Alexei asks Yulia for permission to visit her. After leaving Yulia, he meets Nikolka, who is returning from Irina Nai-Tours.

Elena receives a letter from a friend from Warsaw, in which she informs her about Thalberg's upcoming marriage to their mutual friend. Elena, sobbing, remembers her prayer.

On the night of February 2-3, Petliura's troops begin to leave the City. The roar of the guns of the Bolsheviks approaching the City is heard.

retold

1. Introduction. M. A. Bulgakov was one of those few writers who, during the years of all-powerful Soviet censorship, continued to defend their rights to authorial independence.

Despite the furious persecution and the ban on publishing, Bulgakov never followed the lead of the authorities and created sharp independent works. One of them is the novel "The White Guard".

2. History of creation. Bulgakov was a direct witness to all the horrors of the Civil War. The events of 1918-1919 made a great impression on him. in Kyiv, when power passed several times to different political forces.

In 1922, the writer decided to write a novel, the main characters of which would be the people closest to him - white officers and intellectuals. Bulgakov worked on The White Guard during 1923-1924.

He read individual chapters in friendly companies. The listeners noted the undoubted merits of the novel, but agreed that it would be unrealistic to print it in Soviet Russia. The first two parts of The White Guard were nevertheless published in 1925 in two issues of the Rossiya magazine.

3. The meaning of the name. The name "White Guard" carries a partly tragic, partly ironic meaning. The Turbin family is a staunch monarchist. They firmly believe that only the monarchy can save Russia. At the same time, the Turbins see that there is no longer any hope for restoration. The abdication of the tsar was an irrevocable step in the history of Russia.

The problem lies not only in the strength of opponents, but also in the fact that there are practically no real people devoted to the idea of ​​the monarchy. The "White Guard" is a dead symbol, a mirage, a dream that will never come true.

The irony of Bulgakov is most clearly manifested in the scene of a night of drinking in the Turbins' house with enthusiastic talk about the revival of the monarchy. Only in this remains the strength of the "white guard". Sobering up and a hangover exactly resemble the state of the noble intelligentsia a year after the revolution.

4. Genre Novel

5. Theme. The main theme of the novel is the horror and helplessness of the townsfolk in the face of huge political and social upheavals.

6. Issues. The main problem of the novel is the feeling of uselessness and uselessness among white officers and noble intelligentsia. There is no one to continue the fight, and it does not make any sense. There are no such people as Turbins left. Betrayal and deceit reign among the white movement. Another problem is the sharp division of the country into many political opponents.

The choice has to be made not only between monarchists and Bolsheviks. Hetman, Petliura, bandits of all stripes - these are just the most significant forces that are tearing apart Ukraine and, in particular, Kyiv. Ordinary inhabitants, who do not want to join any camp, become defenseless victims of the next owners of the city. An important problem is the huge number of victims of the fratricidal war. Human life has depreciated so much that murder has become an everyday thing.

7. Heroes. Turbin Alexey, Turbin Nikolai, Elena Vasilievna Talberg, Vladimir Robertovich Talberg, Myshlaevsky, Shervinsky, Vasily Lisovich, Lariosik.

8. Plot and composition. The action of the novel takes place in late 1918 - early 1919. In the center of the story is the Turbin family - Elena Vasilyevna with two brothers. Alexei Turbin recently returned from the front, where he worked as a military doctor. He dreamed of a simple and quiet life, of a private medical practice. Dreams are not destined to come true. Kyiv is becoming the scene of a fierce struggle, which in some ways is even worse than the situation on the front line.

Nikolai Turbin is still very young. The romantically minded young man endures the power of the Hetman with pain. He sincerely and ardently believes in the monarchical idea, he dreams of taking up arms to defend it. Reality roughly destroys all his idealistic ideas. The first combat clash, the betrayal of the high command, the death of Nai-Turs hit Nikolai. He realizes that he has harbored disembodied illusions so far, but he cannot believe it.

Elena Vasilievna is an example of the resilience of a Russian woman who will protect and take care of her loved ones with all her might. Turbin's friends admire her and, thanks to Elena's support, find the strength to live on. In this regard, Elena's husband, staff captain Talberg, makes a sharp contrast.

Thalberg is the main negative character in the novel. This is a man who has no convictions at all. He easily adapts to any authority for the sake of his career. Talberg's flight before Petlyura's offensive was due only to his sharp statements against the latter. In addition, Talberg learned that a new major political force was being formed on the Don, promising power and influence.

In the image of the captain, Bulgakov showed the worst qualities of the white officers, which led to the defeat of the white movement. Careerism and lack of a sense of homeland are deeply disgusting to the Turbin brothers. Thalberg betrays not only the defenders of the city, but also his wife. Elena Vasilievna loves her husband, but even she is amazed by his act and in the end is forced to admit that he is a bastard.

Vasilisa (Vasily Lisovich) personifies the worst type of layman. He does not evoke pity, since he himself is ready to betray and inform, if he had the courage. Vasilisa's main concern is to better hide the accumulated wealth. Before the love of money, the fear of death even recedes in him. A bandit search in the apartment is the best punishment for Vasilisa, especially since he still saved his miserable life.

Bulgakov's inclusion in the novel of the original character, Lariosik, looks a bit strange. This is a clumsy young man who, by some miracle, survived, having made his way to Kyiv. Critics believe that the author deliberately introduced Lariosik to soften the tragedy of the novel.

As you know, Soviet criticism subjected the novel to merciless persecution, declaring the writer a defender of white officers and "philistine". However, the novel does not defend the white movement in the least. On the contrary, Bulgakov paints a picture of incredible decline and decay in this environment. The main supporters of the Turbina monarchy, in fact, no longer want to fight with anyone. They are ready to become townsfolk, shutting themselves off from the surrounding hostile world in their warm and comfortable apartment. The news reported by their friends is depressing. The white movement no longer exists.

The most honest and noble order, paradoxical as it may seem, is the order for the junkers to drop their weapons, tear off their shoulder straps and go home. Bulgakov himself subjects the "White Guard" to sharp criticism. At the same time, the main thing for him is the tragedy of the Turbin family, who are unlikely to find their place in a new life.

9. What does the author teach. Bulgakov refrains from any authorial assessments in the novel. The reader's attitude to what is happening arises only through the dialogues of the main characters. Of course, this is pity for the Turbin family, pain for the bloody events shaking Kyiv. The "White Guard" is the writer's protest against any political upheavals that always bring death and humiliation to ordinary people.

In 1925, the magazine Rossiya published the first two parts of Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov's novel The White Guard, which immediately attracted the attention of connoisseurs of Russian literature. According to the author himself, "White Guard" is "a stubborn image of the Russian intelligentsia as the best layer in our country ...", "an image of an intelligentsia-noble family thrown into the camp of the White Guard during the Civil War." The novel tells about a difficult time, when it was very difficult to give an unambiguous assessment of all the events taking place, and it was impossible to understand everything at once. In his creation, Bulgakov captured personal memories of the city of Kyiv during the Civil War.

There is a lot of autobiography in the novel, but the author set the task not only to describe his life experience during the years of the revolution and the Civil War, but also to penetrate into the universal problems of that time, sought to affirm the idea that all people, perceiving events differently, strive for the usual and long established. This is a book about the fate of classical culture in the formidable era of the scrap of age-old traditions. The problems of the novel are extremely close to Bulgakov, he loved The White Guard more than his other works.

The novel is preceded by an epigraph with a quote from The Captain's Daughter, with which Bulgakov emphasizes that the novel is about people overtaken by the blizzard of revolution. But, despite all the trials that fell to their lot, these people were able to find the right path, maintain courage and a sober view of the world and their place in it. With the second epigraph, which has a biblical character, Bulgakov introduces readers to the zone of eternal time, without introducing any historical comparisons into the novel.

The motif of the epigraphs develops the epic beginning of the novel: “The year was great and terrible after the birth of Christ in 1918, from the beginning of the second revolution. It was abundant in summer with sun and in winter with snow, and two stars stood especially high in the sky: the shepherd's star Venus and red, trembling Mars. The style of the beginning is close to the biblical one, and the associations make one remember the eternal Book of Genesis. Thus, the author in a peculiar way materializes the eternal, as well as the image of the stars in heaven. The specific time of history is, as it were, soldered into the eternal time of being. The poetic opening of the work contains the grain of social and philosophical issues related to the confrontation between peace and war, life and death, death and immortality. The very choice of the stars allows you to descend from the cosmic distance to the world of the Turbins, since it is this world that will resist enmity and madness.

In the center of the story is the intelligent Turbin family, which becomes a witness and participant in important and terrible events. The days of the Turbins absorb the eternal charm of calendar time: “But the days in both peaceful and bloody years fly like an arrow, and the young Turbins did not notice how white, shaggy December came in a hard frost. Oh, Christmas grandfather, sparkling with snow and happiness! Mom, bright queen, where are you? Memories of mother and former life contrast with the real situation of the bloody eighteenth year. A great misfortune - the loss of a mother - merges with another terrible catastrophe - the collapse of the old, beautiful world that has evolved over the centuries. Both catastrophes give rise to internal absent-mindedness, mental pain of the Turbins.

Bulgakov contrasts the house of the Turbins with the external world - "bloody and meaningless", in which destruction, horror, inhumanity, and death reign. But the house is a part of the City, just as the city is a part of the earthly space. The city, according to Bulgakov's description, was "beautiful in the frost and in the fog on the mountains, above the Dnieper." But great events happened, and his appearance changed dramatically. “..industrialists, merchants, lawyers, public figures fled here. Journalists fled, Moscow and St. Petersburg, corrupt and greedy, cowardly. Kokotki, honest ladies from aristocratic families...” and many others. And the city began to live "a strange, unnatural life ..." The natural course of history was disrupted, and hundreds of people became victims.

The plot of the novel is based not on external events that convey the course of the revolution and the Civil War, but on moral conflicts and contradictions. Historical events are only a background against which human destinies are revealed. The author is interested in the inner world of a person who finds himself in the center of events, when it is difficult to remain oneself. At the beginning of the novel, the characters do not understand the complexity and inconsistency of the political situation and try to brush aside politics, but in the course of the story they find themselves in the very center of revolutionary events.

Turbines do not belong to the number of people who can sit out a hard time, shutting themselves off from him on the heck, like the landlord Vasilisa - "an engineer and a coward, a bourgeois and unsympathetic." Turbins are alien to the petty-bourgeois isolation and narrow-mindedness of Lisovich, counting coupons in dark corners, while blood is shed in the streets. Turbines meet a formidable time differently. They remain true to their concepts of honor and duty, do not change their way of life. When the streets of the City are disturbing, the roar of guns sounds, it is warm and cozy in the Turbins' house. Friends of the family are greeted with light and warmth, a laid table, Nikolkin's guitar rings with brute force. Friends of the Turbins warm up here both in body and soul. The deadly frozen Myshlaevsky comes to this house from a terrible world. Like Turbins, he remained true to the laws of honor: he did not leave his post near the city, where in a terrible frost forty people waited for a day in the snow, without fires, a shift that would never have come if not for Colonel Nai-Tours, also a man of honor and debt. Contrary to the disgrace that was going on in the headquarters, the colonel brought two hundred well-dressed and armed junkers. Some time will pass, and Nai-Tours, realizing that he and his cadets have been treacherously abandoned by the command, will cover his regiment and save his boys at the cost of his own life. Shocked by the feat and humanism of the colonel, Nikolka makes every effort to pay Nai-Turs his last duty - to inform the colonel's family about his death, bury him with dignity and become a close person for the mother and sister of the deceased hero.

The fates of all truly decent people are woven into the world of the Turbins: the courageous officer Myshlaevsky, Stepanov, and even the strange and ridiculous Lariosik. But it was Lariosik who was entrusted by the author to very accurately express the very essence of the House, which opposes the era of cruelty and violence. Lariosik spoke about himself, but many could subscribe to these words, “that he suffered a drama, but here, at Elena Vasilyevna’s, his soul comes to life, because this is an absolutely exceptional person Elena Vasilyevna and their apartment is warm and comfortable, and especially creamy curtains on all windows are wonderful, thanks to which you feel cut off from the outside world ... And he, this outside world ... agree for yourself, formidable, bloody and meaningless.

Outside the windows - everything that was valuable and beautiful in Russia was destroyed, "the eighteenth year is flying to an end and every day it looks more menacing, bristly." And with excruciating pain, Alexey Turbin thinks not about his possible death, but about the death of the house: “Walls will fall, an alarmed falcon will fly from a white mitten, the fire will go out in a bronze lamp, and the Captain’s Daughter will be burned in the furnace.” Only love and devotion can save this world. And although the author does not say it directly, the reader believes it. Because, despite the terrible crimes committed by the Petliurists and the Bolsheviks, there are people like Alexei and Nikolka Turbin who are able to resist evil and violence without sparing their own lives.

At the end of the novel, a description of the armored train "Proletary" is given. This picture is permeated with horror and disgust: “He hooted softly and viciously, something oozed from the side walls, his blunt snout was silent and squinted into the Dnieper forests. From the last platform, a wide muzzle in a deaf muzzle was aimed at the heights, black and blue, for twenty versts and straight at the midnight cross. Bulgakov understood what had led old Russia to tragedy. But people who shoot at their compatriots are no better than those staff and government traitors who sent the best sons of the Fatherland to certain death.

Time has put everything in its place. The names of murderers, criminals, robbers, traitors of all ranks and stripes are given over to dishonor and disgrace. And the house of the Turbins - a symbol of the imperishable beauty and truth of the best people of Russia, its nameless heroes, keepers of goodness and culture - continues to warm the souls of many generations of readers and prove the idea that a real person should remain a person under any conditions.

Is it possible to be sure that little Petka Shcheglov, who lived in the wing and had a wonderful dream about a sparkling diamond ball, will wait for what the dream promised him - happiness? Unknown. In an age of struggle and upheaval, individual human life is fragile and vulnerable.

But in Russia at all times there were people who were faithful to duty and honor. For these people, the house is not just walls, but a place where traditions are kept, where the spiritual principle never disappears, the symbol of which is always bookcases filled with books. And as at the beginning of the novel, in its epilogue, looking at the bright stars in the frosty sky, the author makes readers think about eternity, about the life of future generations, about responsibility to history, to each other: “Everything will pass. Suffering, torment, blood, hunger and pestilence. The sword will disappear, but the stars will remain, when the shadow of our bodies and deeds will not remain on the earth.

Bulgakov's "White Guard", a summary of which is hardly capable of reflecting the entire depth of the work, describes the events of the end of 1918-beginning of 1919. This book is largely autobiographical: the author himself, his friends and relatives are present on its pages. The action of the novel undoubtedly takes place in Kyiv, which is simply called the city. In the "pseudonyms" of the streets, the originals are easily guessed, and the names of the districts (Pechersk, Podol) Bulgakov completely left unchanged.

The situation in the city

The townspeople have already experienced a brief "advent" of the Ukrainian People's Republic. Betrayed by the allies, the White Guard dissolved into space. The novel, a summary of which is presented below, fully reflects the nightmare of post-revolutionary life in Kyiv. At the moment when events begin, the city is experiencing its last days under the rule of the German-backed hetman.

On Alekseevsky Spusk, in house number 13, the Turbin family lives: 27-year-old Alexei, 24-year-old Elena and Nikolka, who is only 17 years old. The story begins with the fact that on a frosty December evening Lieutenant Myshlaevsky, frozen to death, tumbles into the apartment. From his story it is clear that there is confusion and betrayal in the army. Late in the evening, Elena's husband, Sergei Talberg, returns from a business trip - an insignificant person, ready to adapt to any boss. He informs his wife that he is forced to flee immediately: the Germans are leaving the capital.

Illusions and unfulfilled hopes

Squads are actively formed in the city to protect against the advancing Petliura. These disparate subdivisions, in which 80 out of 120 junkers do not know how to shoot, are the very White Guard, desperately clinging to their former life and suffering inevitable disaster. A summary of events can hardly adequately describe the subsequent catastrophe.

Someone in the city is still experiencing rainbow illusions. Turbines and family friends also did not lose hope for a good outcome. In the depths of their souls, they cherish the hope that somewhere on the Don - Denikin and his invincible White Guard. The content of the conversations in the Turbins' apartment makes a depressing impression: tales of the emperor's miraculous salvation, toasts to his health, talk of the coming "offensive on Moscow."

lightning war

The hetman shamefully flees, the generals commanding the troops follow his example. There is confusion in the headquarters. The officers, who have not lost their conscience, warn the personnel and give young guys, almost children, the opportunity to escape. Others throw unprepared, poorly armed junkers to certain death. Among the latter is Nikolka Turbin, the 17-year-old commander of a twenty-eight-man squad. Having received the order to go “for reinforcements”, the guys do not find anyone in the position, and after a few minutes they see the remnants of the fleeing unit of Colonel Nai-Tours, who dies in front of the younger Turbin, trying to cover the panicked “retreat” of the defenders of the city with machine gun fire.

The capital was taken by the Petliurists without a fight - and the miserable, scattered White Guard could not give it. It is not long to read a summary of her future fate - she fits in the answer of a little boy met by the younger Turbin on Alekseevsky: “There are eight hundred of them in the whole city, and they played the fool. Petlyura came, and he has a million troops.

The theme of God in the novel "The White Guard"

Nikolka himself manages to reach the house by evening, where he finds a pale, agitated Elena: Alexei has not returned. Only the next day, the older brother is brought by the stranger who saved him - Julia Reiss. His condition is critical. When typhus is added to the fever caused by the wound, the doctors decide that Turbin is not a tenant.

In Bulgakov's works, the theme of religion is an everyday phenomenon. The White Guard was no exception. The summary of the prayer that Elena brings to the Mother of God is like a deal: take your husband, but leave your brother. And a miracle happens: the hopeless patient is on the mend and recovers by the time Petlyura leaves the city. At the same time, Elena learns from the received letter that her husband left her.

This is where the misadventures of the Turbins end. The warm company of surviving friends gathers again on Alekseevsky Spusk: Myshlaevsky, Shervinsky, Karas.

…and the theme of the devil

Life takes its toll: Nikolka and Aleksey Turbins collide on Malo-Provalnaya Street. The younger one comes from the Nai-Turses: he is attracted by the sister of the deceased colonel. The elder went to thank his savior and confesses that she is dear to him.

In the Reiss house, Alexey sees a photograph of a man and, asking who it is, receives the answer: a cousin who has left for Moscow. Julia is lying - Shpolyansky is her lover. The surname, called the savior, evokes an “unpleasant, sucking thought” in the doctor: a patient “touched” on the basis of religion spoke about this “cousin” to Turbin as a forerunner of the Antichrist: “He is young. But there are abominations in him, as in a thousand-year-old devil ... ".

It is striking that the White Guard was published in the Soviet Union at all - an analysis of the text, even the most superficial one, gives a clear understanding that Bulgakov considered the Bolsheviks the worst of the threats, "aggels", minions of Satan. From 1917 to 1921, Ukraine was a kingdom of chaos: Kiev was at the mercy of one or the other "benefactors" who could not agree with each other or with anyone else - and as a result, they were not able to fight the dark force, which was coming from the North.

Bulgakov and the revolution

When reading the novel "The White Guard" analysis, in principle, is useless: the author speaks quite directly. Mikhail Afanasyevich treated revolutions badly: for example, in the story “Future Prospects”, he unambiguously assesses the situation: the country found itself “at the very bottom of the pit of shame and disaster into which the “great social revolution” drove it.

The White Guard does not in the least conflict with such a worldview. The summary cannot convey the general mood, but it clearly comes through when reading the full version.

Hatred as the root of what is happening

The author understood the nature of the cataclysm in his own way: "four times forty times four hundred thousand men with hearts burning with unquenched malice." And after all, these revolutionaries wanted one thing: such an agrarian reform, in which the land would go to the peasants - for eternal possession, with the right to transfer to children and grandchildren. This is very romantic, but the sane Bulgakov understands that "the adored hetman could not carry out such a reform, and no devil will carry it out." It must be said that Mikhail Afanasyevich was absolutely right: as a result of the arrival of the Bolsheviks, the peasants were hardly in a better position.

Times of great upheaval

What people do on the basis and in the name of hatred cannot be good. Bulgakov demonstrates the senseless horror of what is happening to the reader, using jerky, but memorable images. The "White Guard" is replete with them: here is a man running to the midwife, whose wife is giving birth. He gives the “wrong” document to the equestrian Petliurites - and he cuts him with a saber. Behind a stack of firewood, the haidamaks discover a Jew and beat him to death. Even the greedy Turbine homeowner, robbed by bandits under the guise of a search, adds a touch to the picture of the chaos that the revolution ultimately brought to the “little man”.

Anyone who wants to better understand the essence of the events of the early twentieth century cannot find a better textbook than Bulgakov's The White Guard. Reading the summary of this work is the lot of negligent schoolchildren. This book certainly deserves a better fate. Written in magnificent, poignant prose, it once again reminds us what an unsurpassed master of words Mikhail Bulgakov was. The "White Guard", a summary of which in a variety of versions is offered by the worldwide network, belongs to the category of literature with which it is better to get acquainted as closely as possible.

Although the manuscripts of the novel have not been preserved, the Bulgakov scholars traced the fate of many prototype characters and proved the almost documentary accuracy and reality of the events and characters described by the author.

The work was conceived by the author as a large-scale trilogy covering the period of the civil war. Part of the novel was first published in the Rossiya magazine in 1925. The novel in its entirety was first published in France in 1927-1929. The novel was received ambiguously by critics - the Soviet side criticized the writer's glorification of class enemies, the emigrant side criticized Bulgakov's loyalty to Soviet power.

The work served as a source for the play The Days of the Turbins and several subsequent screen adaptations.

Plot

The action of the novel takes place in 1918, when the Germans who occupied Ukraine leave the City, and Petliura's troops capture it. The author describes the complex, multifaceted world of a family of Russian intellectuals and their friends. This world is breaking down under the onslaught of a social cataclysm and will never happen again.

The characters - Alexei Turbin, Elena Turbina-Talberg and Nikolka - are involved in the cycle of military and political events. The city, in which Kyiv is easily guessed, is occupied by the German army. As a result of the signing of the Brest Peace, it does not fall under the rule of the Bolsheviks and becomes a refuge for many Russian intellectuals and military men who flee from Bolshevik Russia. Officer combat organizations are being created in the city under the auspices of Hetman Skoropadsky, an ally of the Germans, recent enemies of Russia. Petliura's army advances on the City. By the time of the events of the novel, the Compiègne truce has been concluded and the Germans are preparing to leave the City. In fact, only volunteers defend him from Petliura. Realizing the complexity of their situation, the Turbins console themselves with rumors about the approach of French troops, who allegedly landed in Odessa (in accordance with the terms of the armistice, they had the right to occupy the occupied territories of Russia up to the Vistula in the west). Alexei and Nikolka Turbins, like other residents of the City, volunteer to join the defenders, and Elena guards the house, which becomes a refuge for former officers of the Russian army. Since it is impossible to defend the city on its own, the hetman's command and administration leave it to its fate and leave with the Germans (the hetman himself disguises himself as a wounded German officer). Volunteers - Russian officers and cadets unsuccessfully defend the City without command against superior enemy forces (the author created a brilliant heroic image of Colonel Nai-Tours). Some commanders, realizing the futility of resistance, send their fighters home, others actively organize resistance and perish along with their subordinates. Petlyura occupies the City, arranges a magnificent parade, but after a few months he is forced to surrender it to the Bolsheviks.

The main character, Aleksey Turbin, is faithful to his duty, tries to join his unit (not knowing that it has been disbanded), enters into battle with the Petliurists, gets wounded and, by chance, finds love in the face of a woman who saves him from the persecution of enemies.

The social cataclysm exposes the characters - someone runs, someone prefers death in battle. The people as a whole accept the new government (Petlyura) and, after her arrival, demonstrate hostility towards the officers.

Characters

• Alexey Vasilievich Turbin- doctor, 28 years old.
• Elena Turbina-Talberg- Alexei's sister, 24 years old.
• Nikolka- non-commissioned officer of the First Infantry Squad, brother of Alexei and Elena, 17 years old.
• Viktor Viktorovich Myshlaevsky- lieutenant, friend of the Turbin family, Alexei's comrade at the Alexander Gymnasium.
• Leonid Yurievich Shervinsky- former Life Guards Lancers Regiment, lieutenant, adjutant at the headquarters of General Belorukov, friend of the Turbin family, Alexei's comrade at the Alexander Gymnasium, a longtime admirer of Elena.
• Fedor Nikolaevich Stepanov("Karas") - second lieutenant artilleryman, friend of the Turbin family, Alexei's comrade at the Alexander Gymnasium.
• Sergei Ivanovich Talberg- Captain of the General Staff of Hetman Skoropadsky, Elena's husband, a conformist.
• Father Alexander- priest of the Church of St. Nicholas the Good.
• Vasily Ivanovich Lisovich("Vasilisa") - the owner of the house in which the Turbins rented the second floor.
• Larion Larionovich Surzhansky("Lariosik") - Talberg's nephew from Zhytomyr.

History of writing

Bulgakov began writing the novel The White Guard after the death of his mother (February 1, 1922) and continued writing until 1924.

The typist I. S. Raaben, who retyped the novel, argued that this work was conceived by Bulgakov as a trilogy. The second part of the novel was supposed to cover the events of 1919, and the third - 1920, including the war with the Poles. In the third part, Myshlaevsky went over to the side of the Bolsheviks and served in the Red Army.

The novel could have had other names - for example, Bulgakov chose between The Midnight Cross and The White Cross. One of the excerpts from the early edition of the novel was published in December 1922 in the Berlin newspaper "On the Eve" under the title "On the night of the 3rd" with the subtitle "From the novel Scarlet Mach". The working title of the first part of the novel at the time of writing was The Yellow Ensign.

It is generally accepted that Bulgakov worked on the novel The White Guard in 1923-1924, but this is probably not entirely accurate. In any case, it is known for sure that in 1922 Bulgakov wrote some stories, which then entered the novel in a modified form. In March 1923, in the seventh issue of the Rossiya magazine, a message appeared: “Mikhail Bulgakov is finishing the novel The White Guard, covering the era of the struggle against whites in the south (1919-1920).”

T. N. Lappa told M. O. Chudakova: “... He wrote The White Guard at night and liked me to sit around and sew. His hands and feet were getting cold, he would say to me: “Hurry, hurry hot water”; I heated the water on a kerosene stove, he put his hands into a basin of hot water ... "

In the spring of 1923, Bulgakov wrote in a letter to his sister Nadezhda: “... I am urgently finishing the 1st part of the novel; It's called "Yellow Ensign". The novel begins with the entry into Kyiv of the Petliura troops. The second and subsequent parts, apparently, were supposed to tell about the arrival of the Bolsheviks in the City, then about their retreat under the blows of Denikin, and, finally, about the fighting in the Caucasus. That was the original intention of the writer. But after thinking about the possibility of publishing such a novel in Soviet Russia, Bulgakov decided to shift the time of the action to an earlier period and exclude the events associated with the Bolsheviks.

June 1923, apparently, was completely devoted to work on the novel - Bulgakov did not even keep a diary at that time. On July 11, Bulgakov wrote: "The biggest break in my diary ... It's been a disgusting, cold and rainy summer." On July 25, Bulgakov noted: “Because of the “Beep,” which takes away the best part of the day, the novel almost does not move.”

At the end of August 1923, Bulgakov informed Yu. L. Slezkin that he had finished the novel in a draft version - apparently, work had been completed on the earliest edition, the structure and composition of which still remain unclear. In the same letter, Bulgakov wrote: “... but it has not yet been rewritten, it lies in a heap, over which I think a lot. I'll fix something. Lezhnev is launching a thick monthly magazine "Russia" with the participation of our own and foreign ... Apparently, Lezhnev has a huge publishing and editorial future ahead of him. Rossiya will be printed in Berlin... In any case, things are clearly on the way to revival... in the literary and publishing world.

Then, for half a year, nothing was said about the novel in Bulgakov’s diary, and only on February 25, 1924, an entry appeared: “Tonight ... I read pieces from the White Guard ... Apparently, this circle also made an impression.”

On March 9, 1924, the following message by Yu. L. Slezkin appeared in the Nakanune newspaper: “The White Guard novel is the first part of the trilogy and was read by the author for four evenings in the Green Lamp literary circle. This thing covers the period of 1918-1919, the Hetmanate and Petliurism until the appearance of the Red Army in Kiev ... The minor flaws noted by some pale in front of the undoubted merits of this novel, which is the first attempt to create a great epic of our time.

Publication history of the novel

On April 12, 1924, Bulgakov entered into an agreement for the publication of The White Guard with the editor of the Rossiya magazine I. G. Lezhnev. On July 25, 1924, Bulgakov wrote in his diary: “... phoned Lezhnev in the afternoon, found out that for the time being it was possible not to negotiate with Kagansky regarding the release of The White Guard as a separate book, since he had no money yet. This is a new surprise. That's when I didn't take 30 chervonets, now I can repent. I am sure that the “Guard” will remain in my hands.” December 29: “Lezhnev is negotiating ... to take the novel The White Guard from Sabashnikov and hand it over to him ... I don’t want to get involved with Lezhnev, and it’s inconvenient and unpleasant to terminate the contract with Sabashnikov.” January 2, 1925: “... in the evening ... I sat with my wife, working out the text of an agreement on the continuation of the White Guard in Russia ... Lezhnev is courting me ... Tomorrow, a Jew Kagansky, still unknown to me, will have to pay me 300 rubles and bills. These bills can be wiped off. However, the devil knows! I wonder if the money will be brought tomorrow. I won't hand over the manuscript. January 3: “Today I received 300 rubles from Lezhnev on account of the novel The White Guard, which will go to Russia. They promised for the rest of the bill…”

The first publication of the novel took place in the magazine "Russia", 1925, No. 4, 5 - the first 13 chapters. No. 6 was not published, as the magazine ceased to exist. The novel was published in full by the Concorde publishing house in Paris in 1927 - the first volume and in 1929 - the second volume: chapters 12-20 re-corrected by the author.

According to researchers, the novel The White Guard was completed after the premiere of the play Days of the Turbins in 1926 and the creation of The Run in 1928. The text of the last third of the novel, corrected by the author, was published in 1929 by the Parisian publishing house Concorde.

For the first time, the full text of the novel was published in Russia only in 1966 - the writer's widow, E. S. Bulgakova, using the text of the Rossiya magazine, unpublished proofs of the third part and the Paris edition, prepared the novel for publication Bulgakov M. Selected prose. M.: Fiction, 1966.

Modern editions of the novel are printed according to the text of the Paris edition with corrections of obvious inaccuracies in the texts of the journal publication and proofreading with the author's revision of the third part of the novel.

Manuscript

The manuscript of the novel has not survived.

Until now, the canonical text of the novel "The White Guard" has not been determined. Researchers for a long time could not find a single page of handwritten or typewritten text of the "White Guard". In the early 1990s an authorized typescript of the end of the "White Guard" was found, with a total volume of about two printed sheets. During the examination of the found fragment, it was possible to establish that the text is the very end of the last third of the novel, which Bulgakov was preparing for the sixth issue of the Rossiya magazine. It was this material that the writer handed over to the editor of Rossiya I. Lezhnev on June 7, 1925. On this day, Lezhnev wrote a note to Bulgakov: “You have completely forgotten Russia. It's high time to submit material for No. 6 to the set, you have to type in the ending of "The White Guard", but you do not enter the manuscripts. We kindly ask you not to delay this matter any longer.” And on the same day, the writer, against receipt (it was preserved), handed over the end of the novel to Lezhnev.

The manuscript found was preserved only because the well-known editor, and then an employee of the Pravda newspaper, I. G. Lezhnev, used Bulgakov’s manuscript to stick on it, as on a paper basis, clippings from newspapers of his numerous articles. In this form, the manuscript was discovered.

The found text of the end of the novel not only differs significantly in content from the Parisian version, but is also much sharper politically - the author's desire to find common ground between the Petliurists and the Bolsheviks is clearly visible. The conjectures that the writer's story "On the Night of the 3rd" is an integral part of The White Guard were also confirmed.

Historical canvas

The historical events that are described in the novel refer to the end of 1918. At this time in Ukraine there is a confrontation between the socialist Ukrainian Directory and the conservative regime of Hetman Skoropadsky - the Hetmanate. The heroes of the novel are drawn into these events, and, having taken the side of the White Guards, they defend Kyiv from the troops of the Directory. The "White Guard" of Bulgakov's novel differs significantly from white guard White Army. The volunteer army of Lieutenant-General A. I. Denikin did not recognize the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and de jure remained at war with both the Germans and the puppet government of Hetman Skoropadsky.

When the war broke out in Ukraine between the Directory and Skoropadsky, the hetman had to seek help from the intelligentsia and officers of Ukraine, who mostly supported the White Guards. In order to attract these categories of the population to their side, the Skoropadsky government published in the newspapers about the alleged order of Denikin on the entry of troops fighting the Directory into the Volunteer Army. This order was falsified by the Minister of Internal Affairs of Skoropadsky's government, I. A. Kistyakovsky, who thus filled the ranks of the hetman's defenders. Denikin sent several telegrams to Kyiv, in which he denied the existence of such an order, and issued an appeal against the hetman, demanding the creation of a "democratic united government in Ukraine" and warning against helping the hetman. However, these telegrams and appeals were hidden, and the Kyiv officers and volunteers sincerely considered themselves part of the Volunteer Army.

Denikin's telegrams and appeals were made public only after the capture of Kyiv by the Ukrainian Directory, when many of the defenders of Kyiv were captured by Ukrainian units. It turned out that the captured officers and volunteers were neither White Guards nor Hetmans. They were criminally manipulated and they defended Kyiv for no one knows why and no one knows from whom.

The Kiev "White Guard" for all the warring parties turned out to be illegal: Denikin refused them, the Ukrainians did not need them, the Reds considered them class enemies. More than two thousand people were captured by the Directory, mostly officers and intellectuals.

Character prototypes

"The White Guard" in many details is an autobiographical novel, which is based on the writer's personal impressions and memories of the events that took place in Kyiv in the winter of 1918-1919. Turbines is the maiden name of Bulgakov's grandmother on her mother's side. In the members of the Turbin family, one can easily guess the relatives of Mikhail Bulgakov, his Kyiv friends, acquaintances, and himself. The action of the novel takes place in a house that, down to the smallest detail, was copied from the house where the Bulgakov family lived in Kyiv; now it houses the Turbin House museum.

Mikhail Bulgakov himself is recognizable in the venereologist Alexei Turbina. The prototype of Elena Talberg-Turbina was Bulgakov's sister, Varvara Afanasievna.

Many surnames of the characters in the novel coincide with the surnames of real residents of Kyiv at that time or have been slightly changed.

Myshlaevsky

The prototype of lieutenant Myshlaevsky could be Bulgakov's childhood friend Nikolai Nikolaevich Syngaevsky. In her memoirs, T. N. Lappa (Bulgakov's first wife) described Syngaevsky as follows:

“He was very handsome ... Tall, thin ... his head was small ... too small for his figure. Everyone dreamed of ballet, wanted to enter a ballet school. Before the arrival of the Petliurists, he went to the Junkers.

T. N. Lappa also recalled that the service of Bulgakov and Syngaevsky at Skoropadsky was reduced to the following:

“Syngaevsky and other Mishin’s comrades came and they were talking that it was necessary to keep the Petliurists out and protect the city, that the Germans should help ... and the Germans were still draping. And the guys agreed to go the next day. We even stayed overnight, it seems. And in the morning Michael went. There was a first-aid post... And there was supposed to be a fight, but it seems that there was none. Mikhail arrived in a cab and said that it was all over and that there would be Petliurists.

After 1920, the Syngaevsky family emigrated to Poland.

According to Karum, Syngaevsky "met the ballerina Nezhinskaya, who danced with Mordkin, and during one of the changes in power in Kiev, went to her account in Paris, where he successfully acted as her dancing partner and husband, although he was 20 years younger her" .

According to the Bulgakov scholar Ya. Yu. Tinchenko, the prototype of Myshlaevsky was a friend of the Bulgakov family, Pyotr Aleksandrovich Brzhezitsky. Unlike Syngaevsky, Brzhezitsky really was an artillery officer and participated in the same events that Myshlaevsky told about in the novel.

Shervinsky

The prototype of Lieutenant Shervinsky was another friend of Bulgakov - Yuri Leonidovich Gladyrevsky, an amateur singer who served (though not an adjutant) in the troops of Hetman Skoropadsky, he subsequently emigrated.

Thalberg

Leonid Karum, husband of Bulgakov's sister. OK. 1916. Thalberg prototype.

Captain Talberg, husband of Elena Talberg-Turbina, has many features in common with the husband of Varvara Afanasyevna Bulgakova, Leonid Sergeevich Karum (1888-1968), a German by birth, a career officer who first served Skoropadsky, and then the Bolsheviks. Karum wrote a memoir, My Life. A story without lies”, where he described, among other things, the events of the novel in his own interpretation. Karum wrote that he greatly annoyed Bulgakov and other relatives of his wife when, in May 1917, he put on a uniform with orders, but with a wide red bandage on his sleeve, for his own wedding. In the novel, the Turbin brothers condemn Thalberg for the fact that in March 1917 he “was the first, understand, the first, who came to the military school with a wide red armband on his sleeve ... Thalberg, as a member of the revolutionary military committee, and no one else, arrested the famous General Petrov. Karum was indeed a member of the executive committee of the Kyiv City Duma and participated in the arrest of Adjutant General N. I. Ivanov. Karum escorted the general to the capital.

Nikolka

The prototype of Nikolka Turbina was the brother of M. A. Bulgakov - Nikolai Bulgakov. The events that happened to Nikolka Turbin in the novel completely coincide with the fate of Nikolai Bulgakov.

“When the Petliurists arrived, they demanded that all the officers and cadets gather in the Pedagogical Museum of the First Gymnasium (a museum where the works of the gymnasium students were collected). Everyone gathered. The doors were locked. Kolya said: "Gentlemen, you need to run, this is a trap." Nobody dared. Kolya went up to the second floor (he knew the premises of this museum like the back of his hand) and through some window got out into the courtyard - there was snow in the courtyard, and he fell into the snow. It was the courtyard of their gymnasium, and Kolya made his way to the gymnasium, where he met Maxim (pedel). It was necessary to change the Junker clothes. Maxim took his things, gave him his suit to put on, and Kolya, in civilian clothes, got out of the gymnasium in a different way and went home. Others were shot."

carp

“The crucian was for sure - everyone called him Karas or Karasik, I don’t remember if it was a nickname or a surname ... He looked exactly like a crucian - short, dense, wide - well, like a crucian. His face is round... When Mikhail and I came to the Syngaevsky, he often went there...”

According to another version, which was expressed by the researcher Yaroslav Tinchenko, Andrey Mikhailovich Zemsky (1892-1946) - the husband of Bulgakov's sister Nadezhda, became the prototype of Stepanov-Karas. 23-year-old Nadezhda Bulgakova and Andrey Zemsky, a native of Tiflis and a philologist graduate of Moscow University, met in Moscow in 1916. Zemsky was the son of a priest - a teacher at a theological seminary. Zemsky was sent to Kyiv to study at the Nikolaev Artillery School. In a short leave of absence, the cadet Zemsky ran to Nadezhda - in the same house of the Turbins.

In July 1917, Zemsky graduated from college and was assigned to the reserve artillery battalion in Tsarskoye Selo. Nadezhda went with him, but already as a wife. In March 1918, the division was evacuated to Samara, where a White Guard coup took place. The Zemsky unit went over to the side of the Whites, but he himself did not participate in battles with the Bolsheviks. After these events, Zemsky taught Russian.

Arrested in January 1931, L. S. Karum, under torture in the OGPU, testified that the Zemsky in 1918 was in the Kolchak army for a month or two. Zemsky was immediately arrested and exiled for 5 years to Siberia, then to Kazakhstan. In 1933, the case was reviewed and Zemsky was able to return to Moscow to his family.

Then Zemsky continued to teach Russian, co-authored a textbook of the Russian language.

Lariosik

Nikolay Vasilievich Sudzilovsky. The prototype of Lariosik according to L. S. Karum.

There are two applicants who could become the prototype of Lariosik, and both of them are full namesakes of the same year of birth - both bear the name Nikolai Sudzilovsky, born in 1896, and both from Zhytomyr. One of them, Nikolai Nikolaevich Sudzilovsky, was Karum's nephew (his sister's adopted son), but he did not live in the Turbins' house.

In his memoirs, L. S. Karum wrote about the Lariosik prototype:

“In October, Kolya Sudzilovsky appeared with us. He decided to continue his studies at the university, but he was no longer at the medical, but at the law faculty. Uncle Kolya asked Varenka and me to take care of him. We, having discussed this problem with our students, Kostya and Vanya, suggested that he live with us in the same room with the students. But he was a very noisy and enthusiastic person. Therefore, Kolya and Vanya soon moved to their mother at Andreevsky Descent, 36, where she lived with Lelya in the apartment of Ivan Pavlovich Voskresensky. And in our apartment there were unperturbed Kostya and Kolya Sudzilovsky.

T. N. Lappa recalled that at that time “Sudzilovsky lived with the Karums - so funny! Everything fell out of his hands, he spoke out of place. I don’t remember whether he came from Vilna, or from Zhytomyr. Lariosik looks like him.

T. N. Lappa also recalled: “A relative of some Zhytomyr. I don't remember when he appeared ... An unpleasant type. Some strange, even something abnormal in it was. Clumsy. Something was falling, something was beating. So, some kind of mumbling ... Height is average, above average ... In general, he differed from everyone in something. He was so dense, middle-aged ... He was ugly. Varya liked him immediately. Leonid was not there ... "

Nikolai Vasilyevich Sudzilovsky was born on August 7 (19), 1896 in the village of Pavlovka, Chaussky district, Mogilev province, on the estate of his father, state councilor and district leader of the nobility. In 1916, Sudzilovsky studied at the law faculty of Moscow University. At the end of the year, Sudzilovsky entered the 1st Peterhof School of Ensigns, from where he was expelled for poor progress in February 1917 and sent as a volunteer to the 180th Reserve Infantry Regiment. From there he was sent to the Vladimir Military School in Petrograd, but was expelled from there as early as May 1917. In order to get a deferment from military service, Sudzilovsky married, and in 1918 he and his wife moved to Zhytomyr to live with their parents. In the summer of 1918, the prototype of Lariosik unsuccessfully tried to enter the University of Kiev. Sudzilovsky appeared in the Bulgakovs' apartment on Andreevsky Spusk on December 14, 1918 - the day Skoropadsky fell. By that time, his wife had already abandoned him. In 1919, Nikolai Vasilievich joined the Volunteer Army, and his further fate is unknown.

The second likely contender, also by the name of Sudzilovsky, really lived in the Turbins' house. According to the memoirs of brother Yu. L. Gladyrevsky Nikolai: “And Lariosik is my cousin, Sudzilovsky. He was an officer during the war, then demobilized, trying, it seems, to go to school. He came from Zhytomyr, wanted to settle with us, but my mother knew that he was not a particularly pleasant person, and fused him to the Bulgakovs. They rented a room to him…”

Other prototypes

Dedications

The question of Bulgakov's dedication of the novel to L. E. Belozerskaya is ambiguous. Among the Bulgakov scholars, relatives and friends of the writer, this issue caused different opinions. The writer's first wife, T. N. Lappa, claimed that the novel was dedicated to her in handwritten and typewritten versions, and the name of L. E. Belozerskaya, to the surprise and displeasure of Bulgakov's inner circle, appeared only in printed form. T. N. Lappa, before her death, said with obvious resentment: “Bulgakov ... once brought The White Guard when it was printed. And suddenly I see - there is a dedication to Belozerskaya. So I threw this book back to him ... So many nights I sat with him, fed, looked after ... he told the sisters that he dedicated to me ... ".

Criticism

Critics on the other side of the barricades also had complaints about Bulgakov:

“... not only is there not the slightest sympathy for the white cause (which would be sheer naivety to expect from a Soviet author), but there is also no sympathy for people who have devoted themselves to this cause or are associated with it. (...) He leaves the lubok and rudeness to other authors, while he himself prefers a condescending, almost loving attitude towards his characters. (...) He almost does not condemn them - and he does not need such a condemnation. On the contrary, it would even weaken his position, and the blow that he inflicts on the White Guard from another, more principled, and therefore more sensitive side. The literary calculation here, in any case, is evident, and it is done correctly.

“From the heights, from where the whole “panorama” of human life opens up to him (Bulgakov), he looks at us with a rather dry and rather sad smile. Undoubtedly, these heights are so significant that red and white merge for the eye - in any case, these differences lose their significance. In the first scene, where tired, bewildered officers, together with Elena Turbina, are having a drinking bout, in this scene, where the characters are not only ridiculed, but somehow exposed from the inside, where human insignificance obscures all other human properties, devalues ​​virtues or qualities - Tolstoy is immediately felt.

As a summary of the criticism that came from two irreconcilable camps, one can consider the assessment of the novel by I. M. Nusinov: “Bulgakov entered literature with the consciousness of the death of his class and the need to adapt to a new life. Bulgakov comes to the conclusion: “Everything that happens always happens as it should and only for the better.” This fatalism is an excuse for those who have changed milestones. Their rejection of the past is not cowardice and betrayal. It is dictated by the inexorable lessons of history. Reconciliation with the revolution was a betrayal of the past of a dying class. The reconciliation with Bolshevism of the intelligentsia, which in the past was not only the origin, but also ideologically connected with the defeated classes, the statements of this intelligentsia not only about its loyalty, but also about its readiness to build together with the Bolsheviks, could be interpreted as sycophancy. In the novel The White Guard, Bulgakov rejected this accusation of the white emigrants and declared: the change of milestones is not a capitulation to the physical winner, but a recognition of the moral justice of the winners. The novel "The White Guard" for Bulgakov is not only reconciliation with reality, but also self-justification. Reconciliation is forced. Bulgakov came to him through the brutal defeat of his class. Therefore, there is no joy from the consciousness that the reptiles are defeated, there is no faith in the creativity of the victorious people. This determined his artistic perception of the winner.

Bulgakov about the novel

It is obvious that Bulgakov understood the true meaning of his work, since he did not hesitate to compare it with "