Summary Of Timur And His Squad

Fairy tales have for generations been a way of passing down moral values and life lessons through use of the fantastic. Whether it be focused on honesty, bravery, or even altruism, these stories have been a useful parenting tool since their creation. More than just for parents, fairy tales have been used by teachers, siblings, and community members in order to help nudge children closer to fitting the societal model of a good citizen. That being said, it is completely understandable that such an effective tool be used to push an abrupt shift in ideological expectations and push a new cultural norm.

During the height of the Soviet Union, beloved folk tales were often retold to match the values of the culture. Even the most ingrained and household
His works included many well known stories that were very popular amongst soviet children. In his stories, the most notable being 1940’s “Timur and His Squad”, Gaidar wrote of heroic, good characters who were shining examples of the best qualities of the soviet people. Timur, the titular character of the story, was a young child who wanted to do all he could to help the Soviet army. So throughout the story he and a group of children would work together to do good deeds. They would protect families whose fathers had gone to war, and fight off the bad children who posed harm to the village’s good ways of life. This story in particular inspired children all over the Soviet Union at the time to act like Timur, doing labor like hauling firewood and cleaning railways in order to help out the Soviet army during World War 2. This story became a staple in the childhoods of generations of Russian children, and was still read in schools up until the
In the original telling of the story, he uses the magic of a talking fish to complete his chores for him. Over the course of the story, his funny nature leads him to marry the daughter of the Tsar by finally getting her to laugh when no one else could. This version of the story was long accepted and loved by children for generations. However, once this story was changed to match the Soviet values, the feel of the story changed.

While the original story had Ivan be lazy boy who didnt want to ever do chores or help around the house, the retold version was different. Ivan, while still often lounging on the stove, would happily go off to do his chores when asked. His character also, when the daughter of the Tsar asked him to marry her, firstly refused her on account of her not being a hard worker. This was not a value he held in the original story, but rather one that was added in order to better coincide with the Soviet values that were being more intensely pushed on the Soviet people. In the revised version of Ivan the