Kataev’s work “Son of the Regiment” uses numerous stories that took place during the war, when the military took into their units found children who were orphaned during the harsh wartime. The boys became equal soldiers and, along with their older comrades, carried out military service. Kataev heard similar stories from fighters more than once, which became the basis of his story. In his work, the main character of “Son of the Regiment,” Vanya Solntsev, is a collective image of all the boys who joined the ranks of fighters to defend their homeland from fascist invaders.
Main characters
- Vanya Solntsev is an orphan boy whom the Red Army soldiers accepted into their ranks. Brave, resourceful and stubborn.
- Enakiev is a commander who wants to take Vanya with him after the war, captain. Honest, reasonable, loyal.
- V. Bidenko is a Red Army soldier, one of those who found the boy. Hospitable, experienced intelligence officer.
- K. Gorbunov is the second soldier from the detachment who takes care of the foundling. Economic, thrifty, brave.
- Egorov is the commander of a reconnaissance detachment. Young, kind and sincere.
- Kovalev is a hero-gunner of a military weapon. An experienced fighter with 40 years of experience.
- Akhunbaev is a friend and ally of Enakiev. Hothead, brave and desperate.
Retelling briefly
The Red Army soldiers find a twelve-year-old boy, Vanya. He is an orphan, his entire family died in the war. The commander sends the child to the rear, to an orphanage, but along the way the smart boy escapes from his escort, the serviceman Bidenko, and returns back to his unit. Enakiev becomes imbued with fatherly feelings for the boy and allows him to leave. Scouts take care of the boy, and soon Vanya is sent to study artillery. Enakiev says that he wants to adopt him, and the boy agrees. During the battle with the Germans, the Red Army suffered heavy losses. Enakiev dies. The boy is taken to Leningrad to a military school.
Main characters
Vanya Solntsev
A twelve-year-old boy, having lost all his relatives, was found in the forest by soldiers of the Soviet army. This is a brave and determined boy, savvy and intelligent. All the soldiers immediately liked him, seeing in him their children and a peaceful life. Vanya Solntsev became the son of the regiment, bearing the title of Soviet soldier with honor. This is a sympathetic, well-mannered boy who respects his older brothers in arms and takes the responsibilities assigned to him responsibly. According to the last wish of Captain Enakiev, who decided to adopt the boy, Vanya becomes a student at the Suvorov Military School.
Captain Enakiev
The battery commander, a real combat officer, a fair and courageous commander. The Germans killed his family, including his little son, and Enakiev decides to adopt Vanya. From the first time he liked the fighting boy, and the captain dreams of raising him to be a worthy officer. Enakiev is a demanding and strict commander not only towards his soldiers, but also towards himself. He bravely fights the Nazis, courageously defending his native land. At the decisive moment, the captain calls enemy fire on himself, not forgetting about the boy, whom he manages to send with a report to headquarters, and he himself dies heroically.
Summary by chapter
Chapter 1 A small detachment of scouts led by Sergeant Egorov returns from a mission at night. Stopping for a smoke break, they hear strange sounds coming from a shell crater nearby. Approaching her, the soldiers find a sleeping boy, who is having a heavy dream. The child screams and cries. The Red Army soldiers wake him up, and the boy gets scared. Realizing that they are their own and there is nothing to be afraid of, the child faints.
Chapter 2 Commander Enakiev and Divisional Commander Akhunbaev have been fighting shoulder to shoulder for more than 2 years. They sit on a special platform in a tree and draw up a map of the area, marking enemy artillery targets. Akhunbaev wants to finish quickly and release the reconnaissance soldiers. Enakiev deals in detail with each sign that is planned to be put on the map.
Chapter 3 A light attack begins, Akhunbaev leaves for his location. Enakiev draws up a plan, an order comes for an immediate attack. While there are a few minutes before the battle, the captain calls Sergeant Egorov and asks how the foundling is feeling. The sergeant tells the story of the boy Vanya Solntsev: his mother was shot by the Germans, and later the rest of his relatives died. The village where the child lived was wiped off the face of the earth, and the boy wandered until the Nazis found him and sent him to a special detention center for children. There he was ill for a long time, then he escaped and wandered through the forest, half-starved, until Soviet soldiers came across the shelter. The boy is smart, nimble, and wants to stay in the regiment. Enakiev remembers his son, wife and mother. They all died during the bombing of Minsk. He believes that the child has no place in the regiment and gives the order to transport Vanya to the rear. The sergeant says that the boy promised to run away if he was taken away from here, but Enakiev repeats the order.
Chapter 4 The soldiers who walked in Egorov’s detachment and found Vanya sheltered him in their tent. The child, who had been starving until this time, happily eats the soldiers' grub. For the first time in three years, he felt safe. Bidenko and Gorbunov are strong Russian men: the former worked in a mine before the war, the latter cut down forests. Gorbunov receives an order to replace a deceased fellow soldier. Sergeant Egorov arrives and conveys the words of the battalion commander that Vanya should be sent to an orphanage, since he is not supposed to be on the front line. Bidenko reluctantly obeys the order. Ivan does not want to go, says that he will run away, and asks to be left in the unit. However, an order is an order: the child is put in the car with Bidenko.
Chapter 5 The location of parts is changing. Bidenko returns to the regiment sad, hungry and tired. Gorbunov meets him, telling him the details of the past battle. Bidenko asks where Sergeant Egorov is, but he is busy. And the man finally reveals that he was unable to deliver Vanya to his destination, because he nevertheless ran away along the way.
Chapter 6 Bidenko remembers how the boy ran away. The soldiers were driving in a car, when suddenly Vanya suddenly jumped out of it and ran into the forest. An experienced scout went ahead, hoping to catch the child before he ran far, but found no traces. Bidenko returns to the car, but it has already moved on. He decides to have a smoke break and sits under a tree, from where an ABC book falls on him. It turned out that Ivan hid in a tree so as not to be found, deciding to leave quietly later, but fell asleep there. Bidenko wakes him up, removes him from the tree and takes him with him.
Chapter 7 The corporal leads Vanya through the forest to the road to catch a ride. The child threatens to run away, the scout jokingly says that no one has ever run away from him. They get into the car, and Bidenko ties the child to himself with a rope for security. The man falls asleep, periodically waking up and checking if the boy is nearby. Once again, he wakes up and finds that the second part of the rope is tied to a stranger, and the boy managed to escape. Bidenko dismounts and, annoyed, returns to his unit.
Chapter 8 Vanya approaches the cavalrymen, asking them to report him to their superior. He meets a boy not much older than himself, who has been serving as a messenger for two years. Vanya becomes upset that the scouts did not keep him with them.
Chapter 9 While waiting for his superiors, Vanya meets Enakiev, whom he had never seen before. He talks about how unfairly he was not accepted as a son of the regiment, and complains about Captain Enakiev, not even realizing that he is sitting in front of him. The captain is amused by the story of Vanya's escape from the corporal, and he takes the child to the unit.
Chapter 10 The commander returns to the regiment, asking the scouts how they feel about the boy. The soldiers say that the boy is nimble and would make an excellent fighter. Enakiev asks to bring Vanya and leaves him in his favor.
Chapter 11 The child meets with familiar Red Army soldiers. Everyone is glad to meet you. It turns out that Vanya’s interlocutor is Enakiev himself. The boy pretends to be surprised, but in fact he recognized him a long time ago.
Chapter 12 Scout friends take Vanya with them secretly on a mission. The boy must go ahead and scout the road under the guise of a shepherd: they took with them the old nag Serko as a diversion. The soldiers lie in ambush, while Vanya went ahead. After 3 hours, the horse returned without a rider, and the boy came across the location of the Nazis.
Chapter 13 The scouts go to rescue Vanya. On the way, they find the place where he was captured, deciding to split up. Bidenko returns to the company with a report, and Gorbunov remains to save the boy.
It turned out that the child, imitating real scouts, clumsily drew up a map of the area. So the Germans caught him and took him prisoner.
Chapter 14 Vanya is taken for interrogation. He doesn't confess to anything, and they beat him. But the Nazis failed to find out anything. They order the boy to be left for 3 days without food or water.
Chapter 15 The boy wakes up to the sounds of explosions. One shell destroys the dugout where Vanya was kept. The boy manages to get out. Gorbunov is the first to break into the village, Vanya finds him himself. The Red Army is advancing, Gorbunov and Vanya occupy the dugout in which they conducted the interrogation.
Chapter 16 The young intelligence officer is ordered new uniforms. For shag and grub, they negotiate to have the uniform altered to his size. A barber nicknamed Eight-Forty comes and cuts his hair for the first time in three years, then Vanya goes to the bathhouse.
Chapter 17 Bidenko and Gorbunov steam the boy in the bathhouse - it is difficult to wash him off. After this, Vanya puts on a new uniform and learns to tie foot wraps.
Chapter 18 Enakiev calls Vanya for a conversation. The child evokes special feelings in him, reminding him of his deceased son. He invites him to serve as a liaison for the state and stick together, since both of their families died. Vanya agrees.
Chapter 19 Vanya Solntsev is transferred to another unit. Enakiev decided to take up his education and assigned him to the first weapon to learn the skill. Here the boy meets the soldiers, sees a cannon up close for the first time, feeling its still hidden power. Fate brings him together with the Hero of the Soviet Union, the brilliant gunner Kovalev.
Vanya meets Kovalev
Chapter 20 The order “Gun for battle” arrives; Vanya, Kovalev and the rest of the soldiers are preparing the cannon. Kovalev takes aim and fires. Then he gives each member of the squad to pull the trigger once. Vanya also asks to shoot once, and he is allowed. Troops are already on the border with Germany.
Chapter 21 Enakiev and Akhunbaev are preparing for the upcoming battle. The captain returns to his unit, approaches the sleeping Vanya and asks his colleague how the boy is coping with his new position.
Chapter 22 Enakiev admits to Kovalev that he wants to adopt Vanya. Kovalev supports his decision. Suddenly an attack begins, the fascists, having figured out Akhunbaev’s plan, began to bomb his companies. Enakiev is urgently preparing for an offensive.
Chapter 23 Vanya and his gun personnel are urgently transferred to the front line. On the way they meet Bidenko. He jealously examines the boy and sees that he has acquired a fighting appearance. The scout is glad to meet you. A real battle begins around.
Chapter 24 The battle goes on with varying success. Vanya helps the gun crew as best he can. Suddenly, 6 tanks appear from the German side, surrounded by infantry. Enakiev understands that the battle may be their last: the units are suffering heavy losses. Vanya approaches the captain, Enakiev asks, and then orders him to leave the front line and go to the rear. But the boy stubbornly does not agree. Then Enakiev writes a note, asking Vanya to hand it over to headquarters, thereby giving him a reason to get away from shots and explosions.
Chapter 25 By the time Vanya returns, the fight is already over. The German attack was repulsed, but the company suffered huge losses. The boy walks through damaged guns and burning trucks. Soon he finds the first weapon, near which the dead Enakiev is sitting, leaning against it. Vanya is crying, he is supported by Bidenko, who happened to be nearby at that moment.
Chapter 26 A note is found in Yenakiev’s pocket, where he says goodbye to his comrades and asks them to take care of Van. The boy is given the shoulder straps of his named father, and Bidenko accompanies him to study at the Suvorov School.
Chapter 27 Vanya sleeps with the rest of the school students in the barracks. An old general, who knows about the fate of the child, approaches him and recalls his childhood. A boy has a dream in which an old soldier takes him into the future.
Son of the regiment Vanya Solntsev
What is the author's idea?
In this work, the author shows the harsh war years. The book tells about the sacrifices people made, regardless of age. The war left its mark on the fate of every family, but despite all the grief it caused, people find the strength to live and believe in the best. The Red Army soldiers fight desperately and to the bitter end. A brief retelling of the story by Valentin Kataev is a description of the last victorious year of the Great Patriotic War, which claimed the lives of thousands of soldiers. The story reliably conveys the mood of the soldiers, the courage and heroism that even children showed during the war. You can read the summary of the story “Son of the Regiment” already in elementary school. The work instills patriotism in the younger generation and gives knowledge about the history of their native country.
History of creation
The author of the book “Son of the Regiment” is Valentin Kataev. While working, the writer visited different places. One day a man noticed a boy wearing a soldier's uniform. He was wearing real riding breeches, a tunic and boots, but they were made for a child. Kataev decided to talk to the commander, and he said that the boy was found by soldiers in the forest.
At that time, the child was embittered and wild, but they decided to take him to the unit. Gradually he took root and became completely his own. At that moment the writer realized that there were many such children. Kataev was the first to talk about the war through the perception of a child. After him, other authors also began to write on this topic.
There are several versions about who was the prototype of Vanya Solntsev . It is generally believed that it was Isaac Rakov-Solntsev. He lived in an orphanage and at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War he ran away with a friend to the front. In the forest they came to the scouts and artillerymen.
Later, Kataev’s son explained that Vanya Solntsev did not have a prototype and his father completely invented the boy. It is interesting that the story gained popularity only a decade later.
After this, Valentin Kataev began to receive a large number of letters where front-line soldiers shared their stories.
