People's thought in the first book of the novel by M.A. Sholokhov “They fought for the Motherland”

In modern Sholokhov studies, much attention is paid to the study of the epic skill of M. A. Sholokhov. The people’s thought received wide scientific coverage in the research of the second book of the novel “They Fought for the Motherland”, depicting the Great Patriotic War. The subject of this article is the analysis of the problems and heroes of the first book of the epic novel based on the comments of Svetlana Sholokhova, thanks to which individual chapters of the novel have been preserved. The idea of the people is revealed by the author of the article on the example of the fate of the repressed Alexander Streltsov, Nikolai Streltsov, deprived of family happiness, wise old man Sidor. The object of the study is the genre, plot and compositional features of the novel. The purpose of the article is to study the problems of the first book of the novel, the heroes who embodied folk types, folk thought. The novelty of the research is seen in new meanings of artistic images and pre-war reality. It is proved that M. A. Sholokhov revealed the psychology of an entire nation of the pre-war period. Alexander Streltsov, despite the torments of the camp, was able to remain a patriot together with the front-line comrades who showed heroism in the fight against fascism in Spain and on Khalkhin Gol. The moral dilemma of the disintegration of Nikolai Streltsov’s family is compared by M. A. Sholokhov with the enmity between peoples, where the most native people meet on the “battlefield”. Folk thought in synthesis with biblical wisdom is expressed through the image of grandfather Sidor, who connects the future of the country with the unity of the people and debunks the cult of Hitler’s personality, claiming world domination. M. A. Sholokhov interprets the upcoming fight against the fascists as a holy war for the right of the Russian people to stay on Earth.