Mumu

This edition includes the early works of I.S. Turgenev, in which the most important motifs of his creativity are revealed — fate, duty, loneliness, the search for happiness, and more. Turgenev's approach to revealing the inner world of characters, which later received the name 'secret psychology', is also manifested here. 'The poet must be a psychologist,' Turgenev said, 'but a secret one: he must know and feel the roots of phenomena, but only represent the phenomena themselves — in their bloom or decay.' The feeling of loneliness and despair distinguishes Turgenev's 'superfluous men' — heroes who are unable to find application for their strengths, knowledge, and talent. However, the sense of hopelessness is characteristic not only of individualists and rebels but also of the little man. Thus, in the story 'Mumu,' written by Turgenev based on real events, Gerasim's personal drama rises to the level of a universal human tragedy. It is no coincidence that I.S. Aksakov considered the image of Gerasim to be 'the embodiment of the Russian people, with its terrible strength and incomprehensible meekness.'