(330 words) Stories of the great Russian writer I.S. Turgenev occupy an important place in Russian culture. One of the author’s most famous creations - the story “Mu-mu” - in its entirety depicts to the reader the image of the Russian Empire and serfdom of the nineteenth century. In it, Turgenev created one of the most tragic images of Russian literature - the serf deaf and dumb peasant Gerasim, whose fate clearly shows the whole horror of serfdom.
His story begins in a remote village where Gerasim lived most of his life. He worked properly in the field, successfully ran the farm, as an honest plowman should. But fate brought him to the dowager mistress, who took him to Moscow, making him his janitor. Due to a fleeting whim, he was forcibly placed in a hostile urban environment. Gerasim did not take root well in Moscow, the work was too simple and did not satisfy him, and the nobleman who surrounded the lady was afraid of him for his sullen and formidable appearance. However, Turgenev showed that under the guise of a near peasant hiding a gentle, kind nature. Having fallen in love with the girl Tatyana, Gerasim surrounded her with care, constantly giving her gifts and even sweeping the dirt from her path. Unfortunately, the good intentions of this deaf-mute giant only aroused laughter among those around them, and Tatyana herself felt only fear for the sudden benefactor. Only a few years later she finally understood the sincere feeling of Gerasim, but it was too late. In the end, the janitor found the only living creature with whom he felt happy. The homeless little dog Mu-Mu became an outlet for the village peasant. But again, it was the lady who destroyed the seemingly settled life of the hero. By her whim, the dog was first removed from the yard, and then, when Mu-Mu returned to her master on her own, she ordered the dog to be drowned. With a heavy heart, Gerasim fulfilled her will, but it was this blow that became the last straw. Having lost the last thread that connected him with Moscow, he freed himself from fear of the mistress of power and voluntarily returned to his native village.
In the guise of a deaf-mute Gerasim, the whole Russian people appeared before us, as Turgenev saw him. At first glance, he seems clogged, wretched and rude, unable to answer his offenders. But under the outer shell lies a rich inner world and a solid, principled spirit that no one can ever break.
