THE MOTIF OF SPIRITUAL AND MORAL RESPONSIBILITY IN K. M. SIMONOV’S STORY FOUR STEPS: A MAN IN THE FRONTLINE CONDITIONS

In the story Four Steps K. M. Simonov turned to the “side” problems, exacerbated in the life of Soviet people during the Great Patriotic War. The meaning and role of the motif of spiritual and moral responsibility of each Soviet person for those who by the will of fate near by were considered. This motif is necessary for the author in the development of axiological contrast in the characters and fates: there are those who live by the laws of conscience and duty (military officer Lopatin, member of the Military Council of the Army Panteleyev, battalion commissar Levashov), and there are those whose fear of their superiors and personal cowardice directly lead to the death of their subordinates (Colonel Baburov, regimental commissar Bastryukov), or those who in the heat of self-centeredness forget even parental duty (Lopatin’s wife Ksenia). Simonov’s experience as a war journalist and novelist testifies to the fact that Soviet people in their masses are characterized by a sense of high-moral conjugality of all with all. At the same time, in war, especially in frontline conditions, those who betray eternal values are most clearly revealed. In particular, while some heroes and characters in the story feel their unity with their families and friends particularly deeply in their personal lives, other characters (like the “anti-heroes”) live only in concern for their own well-being.