The history of the creation of "Vasily Terkin" - Tvardovsky's poem

Many readers believe that the first lines of the famous "Book about the fighter" A. Twardowski appeared in 1942 and the image of the main character is caused solely by the events of the Great Patriotic War. Meanwhile, everything is somewhat different, and the first mention of the brave Vasa Terkin dates back to the period of the Russo-Finnish war. Remember, based on the evidence of the author himself, what is the history of the creation of the poem.

"Vasily Terkin" - the beginning

In 1939, when the campaign with the Finns began, A. Tvardovsky worked in the newspaper "On guard of the Motherland". At this time, and comes to the head of the creative team of the publishing house to come up with the image of a kind of entertaining character - a conventional, smart and cheerful fighter who would appear on the pages of the publication accompanied by poetic signatures. The name of the hero did not appear right away: we went through several options until we settled on the simple and warm Vasa - as it was called at the time. Thus the story of the creation of "Vasily Terkin", which was known practically to every Soviet reader, began.

Random coincidence

By the way, in his memoirs Tvardovsky tells how once, already during the war years, he received a letter, the author of which was interested in why the main character - a glorious warrior of the Soviet army - bears the name of another literary character. As it turned out, notes Alexander Trifonovich, even earlier appeared a novel by P. Boborykin with a similar title. Only Vasily Terkin in it is an unclean merchant, a scoundrel and a prude. The poet confesses that, having received the letter, he found and without much pleasure read the said work, but decided not to change the name of his hero. More precisely, he did not attach any importance to such a coincidence, especially since the history of the creation of the poem "Vasily Terkin" really had nothing to do with the novel - and continued to work in the same way.

But back to the "Book of the fighter."

Development of the ideological plan

The poet remembered the brave hero who was already fond of the reader on the newspaper "On Guard of the Motherland", in 1940. It so happened that in the 39th the writers, as it was intended, wrote one or two feuilleton articles each, and then started another work. Only A. Scherbakov for a long time appealed to this image, which very few people attached serious importance. Now Tvardovsky was thinking about how to combine in his work of art - and this was supposed to be a poem - that hero of satirical articles with seriousness that the realities demanded. And he began to recall all that was associated with the Finnish war, including witnesses' testimony, went to Vyborg, read through the printed articles, etc. However, it was not possible to write the work, as it was planned, to the 41st, and then the war began. As a result, the history of the creation of "Vasily Terkin" for some time will be limited only by thinking over the composition, the plot, the image of the main character.

1942 year

From the first days of the war, Tvardovsky was sent to the front as a correspondent. In the first months, the most cruel and hot, it was not up to the poem. So long ago the idea that had already arisen in my head was postponed until the summer of the 42nd, when the history of the creation of the poem by A. Tvardovsky "Vasily Terkin" gets its continuation. But now it was to be a work about another war - Soviet people against the fascist invaders. And the hero from Vasya turned into Vasily, personifying the Russian grain-grower, the worker, the indefatigable worker, who stood up for the defense of the Fatherland.

The first chapters of the new work of Alexander Trifonovich appeared in one of the front-line newspapers in September. Then the poem was printed in parts in many editions, accessible both to belligerent soldiers, and to those who remained behind. She helped one to experience the hardships of front life, others to expect relatives from this terrible war. "The book about the fighter" fell in love with all readers, and everyone was looking forward to new chapters, the hero of which was a soldier with a simple Russian name - a new image of it was created by A. Tvardovsky - Vasily Terkin.

The history of the creation of the poem during the war years

The work was written right up to the year 45, although as early as the 43rd, after the wound, the cure and the return of the hero to the system, the author thought that he had come to the finale. The readers intervened, demanding the continuation of the poem, with which it was not fair to argue, as Tvardovsky noted. Vasily Terkin, whose history of development has been further developed, once again walked through the pages of newspapers and magazines.

The work reflects the main stages of the war: tragic retreat in its first months, battles that have become a turning point, a victorious march to the west. There was even a desire to send the hero to the rear of the Germans, but Tvardovsky soon abandoned such a plan, deciding that it would violate the overall design of the work and make the history of the soldier private.

During the war years, the author received many letters, from which it follows that the readers are very interested in the history of the creation of "Vasily Terkin", in particular, whether the person described in the poem exists, in fact. And although the hero had many namesakes - one of them, Viktor Vasilievich Terkin, even asked to change his name to his - the poet's answer was always categorical: Vasily Terkin is a completely fictional character and does not have a real prototype. He consisted of personal observations of the author and embodied the best features of the Russian defender.

Farewell to the hero

The history of the creation of Vasily Terkin ends in the victorious spring of the 45th. In May, Twardowski publishes the final chapter "From the Author," in which he says that he bids farewell to the soldier. And despite the fact that he was again convinced of the need to continue the work, he was unshakable: the time of Terkin passed. In his opinion, now, in peacetime, you need another character.

This is the story of the creation of Vasily Terkin, briefly described on the basis of A. Tvardovsky's article "How Was Written by Vasily Terkin (the answer to readers)."

Instead of an afterword

Already in the postwar years, knowing the incredible popularity of the poem and its main character, many unscrupulous writers created "continuations" of the hero's adventures and even "imitation" of the famous book. The answer was that the poem was repeatedly stressed by Tvardovsky - "Vasily Terkin", the history of creation of which is described by the author himself, is uniquely finished and no return to it in the future is expected.