Chapter one: The ugly images of farmers, such as stupidity, backwardness, ignorance, meanness, barbarism, cruelty and snobbery, are vividly displayed in front of readers, making them angry, lament and regret. At that time, Russian society was not afraid of farmers' silence, but was afraid that farmers would follow the crowd, lose their own thoughts and virtues, and lack their own value judgments.
A farmer is kind, but a group of farmers may become a mob. Good people wholeheartedly want to help them change the status quo, which in turn will hurt good people.
Chapter 2: Life of Aletha and the people around him is very unfortunate. If we have to find a reason for this misfortune, it is probably the living environment of that society.
Chapter three: Gorky reflected the life of Russian intellectuals and the activities of populists against the czar's rule with his own brush strokes, and showed the ideological status of Russian intellectuals in this period. In Gorky's autobiographical novels, we can see that Gorky hated the ugly reality of Russia when he was young and has been trying to explore the road of life.
Chapter Four: During his four years in Kazan, Alesha didn't go to college, but in this university without walls, he came into contact with all social strata, especially met some populist revolutionaries, learned about the living conditions of farmers, gradually improved his consciousness and learned some revolutionary truths.
Character introduction:
Aletha: The hero in the book is a strong, brave, upright and caring person, and also a young man who is observant, sensitive and can distinguish good from bad.
Grandma: Grandma is a brave and strong woman and a poetic figure. She likes singing, dancing and telling all kinds of stories. She is kind, caring, tolerant and broad-minded. Grandma is Alisha's lifelong friend, the closest person, and the one he knows and cherishes most.
Grandfather: When he was young, he worked as a tracker on the Volga River. Later, he opened a dyehouse. When he had money, he ruled others and acted arbitrarily. With the decline of family business, he became more and more stingy, greedy, bossy, cruel and heartless. In the end, he became a real beggar, both materially and spiritually.
Andre Telenkov: Bakery owner, who employs Aletha, has progressive ideas. His residence is often used as a gathering place for college students with progressive ideas.
Roma West: A progressive college student nicknamed Chochol later opened a grocery store in a small village by the Volga River, and his residence was burned down by rich peasants, and he was separated from Aletha.
Nicky Frycz: A reactionary policeman, he arrested progressive students, was hypocritical, knew the surveillance network of the czar like the back of his hand, and was willing to be a slave.