Polianna: a game of joy or life as a game. To the sun - more interesting! The game that Pollyanna played

An amazing story about a girl who will change your view of the world! That's right, one line can describe the magnificent book written by Eleanor Potter back in 1913.

More than 100 years have passed. But still, wise beyond her years, Pollyanna teaches children and adults amazing game. A game of joy.

Pollyanna. Eleanor Potter. Book Review

We have the simplest book - no illustrations at all. .

Pollyanna is 11 years old and the daughter of a poor pastor.

The narrative begins with the reader's acquaintance with Miss Polly. A strict, stern woman. Single and very rich. The usual order of her life is violated by a letter. The letter from which Miss Polly learns of the death of her sister's husband, a pastor. And about the orphaned niece Pollyanna. Out of a sense of duty, the aunt decides to take the girl in. Just out of a sense of duty...

However, life in the house of tough and emotionally stingy Aunt Polly has changed once and for all from the moment Pollyanna appeared in it. This amazing girl did not leave anyone indifferent. She was pure and kind.

But her most important secret is the game. The game her dad taught her. And, despite the pain of loss, Pollinna continued to play it even after his death. As in memory of a beloved father.

Auntie loaded the girl with chores and studies, strict rules and prohibitions. But Pollyanna found time to "just live." Communicate, rejoice, help people. She did not shy away from the sick and the poor.

She was really interested in getting to know new people: from thoughts, feelings, emotions. She had amazing intuition and the ability to see people. She charged with her positive and energy, she broke the prevailing stereotypes.

She was just a girl who knew how to find the good even in the worst situation. And I was able to teach it to other people. Direct and sincere Pollyanna gradually won the hearts of the inhabitants of the whole town. Even the gloomy unsociable John Pendleton - a man about whom there were legends.

And then disaster struck. Trouble with Pollyanna. The poor girl almost lost faith in herself. Will she be able to get out? Will the game of joy, which almost the entire city has already played, help her?

There are many mysteries in the book. While reading it, Anya and I constantly thought and looked for answers. The plot is twisted and mysterious. Simultaneously simple and deep.

It is impossible to tear yourself away from it until you turn the last page. But the book doesn't end there. It leaves a sweet aftertaste. Thoughts swirl in your head and you relive the story of Pollyanna over and over again.

Pollyanna's book is amazing! She is needed! Needed not only by children. But also for adults. This book is a must-read for moms, dads, and grandparents. Everyone.

“You just need to open the shell, and inside it is kindness”

There is such "Game of Joy". The Glad Game. Created by a children's writer Elinor Porter. And she gave it to her heroine Polianna. The book about this girl was written more than 100 years ago, filmed more than once, and quite successfully, and is still popular, including in Russia.
Polianna is a girl with an unhappy childhood who feels happy. She lost her parents, lives with an evil aunt, whom she is only a burden. In a closet in the attic with bare walls. And no one loves her.
But instead of living according to the scenario of the unfortunate Cinderella, obediently enduring her share, and depressingly, but quickly working, instead of waiting for the pumpkin to suddenly turn into a carriage, instead of all these scenarios familiar to unfortunate girls, Polyanna chooses her own. Paradoxical.
She perceives all her misfortunes with sincere ... delight. Like slides in a water park. All her troubles are nothing to her. That is, for pleasure. She does not suffer, but, on the contrary, radiates light. And changes the world around him.

She just has the same game that her dead father taught her. A game of joy.
The meaning of the game is to find the positive side of any, including the seemingly unfavorable event. For example, Pollyanna is punished by her aunt for not arriving on time for dinner.
“You will have supper in the kitchen with milk and bread,” the lady says threateningly.
“Oh, how great, I love milk and bread,” the girl replies sincerely.
“But this is a punishment ...” the aunt objects, feeling more and more confused. When your threats are not taken with fear, they become meaningless.
And Polianna doesn't care what her aunt calls it. Let the punishment, well, so what. For her, this is delicious food in a relaxed kitchen setting, not a prim dinner at the table.
A cramped, dreary closet in the attic? Hooray, because you can sleep on the roof!
Does her aunt make her work? You don't have to follow these instructions! After all, the point is to get joy from life, and not obediently do everything that they want from you and what is considered right.
In general, the girl perceives all the tediousness of her aunt, her anger, punishments and moralizing, all the troubles of the world unexpectedly, in her own way, with inspiration.

How does she do it? Yes, she just knows how to destroy familiar situations! Leave no stone unturned on them. To deconstruct the familiar. And all this - thanks to her ... ability to admire. She meets her troubles with strange enthusiasm. It is this way of experiencing reality that explodes this very reality. After all, the word "delight" comes from the Old Slavonic "targati", which means "to tear". (Single-root - to terminate, to vomit ...) Well, the prefix "vos" means up and beyond. So delight is when you break out into the sky, beyond the boundaries of yourself, the world, the usual idea of ​​how it all works. This is a real explosion. An explosion of habitual reactions, an explosion of other people's expectations, an explosion of established stereotypes.
You don't like Monday mornings? So, according to Pollyanna's advice, you should enjoy Monday more than the rest of the days! Because it will be a whole week before the next hateful morning comes.

Gradually, Pollyanna's game melts the ice in the hearts of the most diverse residents of the town. The grumbler stops grumbling. After all, Polyanna's grumbling does not cause any disgust, but is perceived even with sympathy. And it blows up the world of the grouch. Feeling accepted and understood for the first time, the grouch is "healed".
What we are so afraid to see inside ourselves is magically transformed when someone looks at it in a friendly and calm way with you.
In other words, the game helps Pollyana see people in depth. Feel the soul in them.
"Your aunt won't be angry?" they ask her.

“He will get angry, but only outside,” says Pollyanna.
“Yes, she is all evil through and through!”
"You just need to open the shell, and inside her kindness."
We cannot get rid of our “flaws” precisely because we consider them to be shortcomings. And then we find ourselves as if bewitched by them. But if we manage to look at them without negativity, with sympathy and love, if we can see their charm, their usefulness, their forgotten meaning, they turn to us from an unexpected side. And they lose their "evil" charms. Similarly, in a fairy tale, a frog turns into a princess after a kiss.
Pollyanna's amazing ability to play with joy helps her understand the essence of a wide variety of people. And even the evil witch-aunt, whose face, it seems, never knew a smile, and her soul never knew forgiveness. “She doesn’t like being seen beautiful,” the girl says sympathetically about her. And she unexpectedly agrees to dissolve her curls. And suddenly it gets softer. And more human.

But be careful: there is a danger of misunderstanding the essence of the Game of Joy. GladGame. - does not mean engaging in self-deception and trying to force yourself to believe in something that is not. All this imitation of happiness. Technology how to be happy. Self-fulfilling prophecies put on the assembly line. Misleading affirmations. Attunement to grandeur and positivity. Such a charm. All this is not about that. And it can lead to a severe crisis. Pollyanna's secret is completely different.
No, playing for joy means seeing the REAL good in what we used to think is bad. After all, most often we are unhappy precisely because we are used to being unhappy. And we are afraid to become happier, because it is unusual for us. But we cannot admit it to ourselves, because it will turn our familiar world upside down. Or rather, from head to toe. In other words, it will blow him up.
And, perhaps most importantly, to learn how to be enthusiastic with all your heart, you have to go through a difficult experience. To do this, you have to go through a lot - to learn how to play just like that. Something must be very ill, and then come off. Break through. Abroad. Up.
As James Hillman said, “something else must break through at some point, that laughing look into the depths of the paradox of one’s own recklessness, which is characteristic of everyone.”

True joy can only be felt by those who have decided to open up to their sadness. First, misfortune comes, and brings pain, acute rejection, disgust, fear ... “No, I don’t want to, I won’t, I don’t need it now. What for? Why me?". I want not to deal with it, to turn away, to forget, not to see, not to talk, not to smell. And at the same time, something subtly draws us there, makes us overcome the negative, listen carefully. And it turns out that there, in our “NO!” hiding our thirst. The desire to change something, to look at something in a new way, to part with something and gain something important instead.
And just there, it is there that our delight hides. At some point, you open up to pain and darkness and explode your ideas, as if opening a long-festering wound.

Playing for joy does not mean looking at the world with rose-colored glasses. It is to accept it as it is. And through pain, darkness, fear, hatred, anger to be able to see the light.
This is walking through a dark dense forest, picking flowers and mushrooms, noticing a flashing squirrel, listening to the birds singing. And do not pretend that there is no forest, as if you are in the Garden of Eden.
It is to open up to what comes in life. And creatively transform your reality, sincerely experiencing it.
And everyone will have their own way - how to break through the darkness. Own and unique Game of Joy.

By the way, Polianna became the heroine of not only the famous children's novel and films, but also scientific works. In 1978 psychologists M Argaret Matlin and David Stang first described one phenomenon of the human psyche and called it the Pollyanna principle. They proved that at the unconscious level, a person more easily absorbs precisely the positive aspects of the information received. So seeing the good is in human nature.
The paradox of this phenomenon also lies in the fact that on the conscious level, on the contrary, we perceive the negative more easily. This is our defensive reaction, a skill formed in the process of evolution. Imagine only our distant ancestors naked, in a deep forest full of different creatures, among giant dinosaurs and saber-toothed tigers.
But protection is protection, and our nature cannot be taken away from us. The trap is that when we ignore our soulfulness, depth, authenticity, we rely only on the fear of tigers. To hate lizards. In anticipation of danger. On the negative, considering it unconditionally significant. And we form our script from it.
But in the depths of the soul lies a different knowledge. About happiness. That the joy in our lives is already here. Inside. It is something that seeks to incarnate in us. A game of joy. And shouldn't we be especially attentive to this deep need?

Svetlana Gamzaeva, psychologist, Nizhny Novgorod, # spices of the soul

In 1978, the psychological phenomenon "Pollyanna's Principle" was officially described. Studies have shown that ours does not perceive denials, particles "not". Let's say, saying "A turtle is not a bird", we represent a turtle and a bird, and the desire "not to get sick" is reflected in the form of an illness. Therefore, you need to dream exclusively "", and nothing else.

Find more "pluses" or a game of joy

The glass is always full

The book "Pollyanna" by Eleanor Porter was sent to me by Sergei as a gift.
Pollyanna, the main character of the book, teaches us the game of joy. We all know from childhood various games. But none of us have heard of the game of joy.
This book has the power to change your life for the better. And if you don’t want to, then all the same, she will teach / remind you how to live.
An 11-year-old girl, Pollyanna, was left an orphan. Her father died, and before him, her mother.
And the girl turned out to be an unusual child, she always finds something good in absolutely any situation. Something to be happy about. So, when she was waiting for a doll as a gift from Women's Help, and received crutches, because there was no doll, she cried, but her wonderful father taught her to play the game. A game of joy. It turns out that she can be happy with the crutches she has received... because she doesn't need them!
Life is too short. Time runs inexorably, and you should not waste it on resentment and self-pity (oh, how poor and unfortunate we are). Most of our problems are contrived. And here, indeed, it is worth learning to perceive everything from the other side. "You can't change the situation - change your attitude towards it."
We often create problems for ourselves. We are not enough, we are always dissatisfied with something. Often a person realizes his happiness only when he loses it. So the girl Polyanna writes in her letter that she would never have known such great happiness, just walking on her own feet, if she had not had an accident.
The book taught me a lot. Now I try to find a bunch of pluses even in the most difficult situation. When I can't find something to be happy about, I find support in "I don't need crutches!". I'm just glad that nothing really bad happened. Unless, of course, you and your family are still alive.
as Pollyanna made clear, even in the most difficult and hopeless situation there is something to be glad about. No matter how hard it is for us, there are people who have a much harder time.
And, in general, the main idea is that we should enjoy the world and try to find the good and positive in everything. The idea is relevant now, and will always be relevant. In addition, it is so pitiful to spend life on whims, worries, regrets and anger. This simple truth, it seems to me, is understood by many, but very few follow these rules. Yes, of course, as Pollyanna says, there are times in life when it is very difficult to be happy about something. People somehow find a lot of bad things in everyday life, even when it's not so bad.
And this applies to me as well. It's not like I always see the bad in everything. Not at all, I quite agree with Pollyanna's life principles and I really want to succeed in this game. But, in fact, it doesn't always work out. After all, one must learn not just to find the good in everything, even in problems. But learn to absolutely sincerely think of them as something good.
In psychology, a special term "Pollyanna's Principle" has appeared, which is understood as the unconscious desire of people to see the positive aspects of events.
"Positive thinking is when you fell down the stairs and think: wow ... how quickly you got there!".
This statement fully captures the essence of the book "Pollyanna". "Life is like this" - you say. I agree, but why complicate it even with negative thinking. After this book, you try to see only the pluses in everything and rejoice even in the smallest trifles.

This book came to the Russian reader only at the end of the twentieth century. Although in five years, in 2013, it will be a hundred years since it was written. However, despite the fact that we only recently got acquainted with the story of the American writer Eleanor Porter "Pollyanna", as well as its continuation: "The Return of Pollyanna" (translation options: "Pollyanna's Youth", "Pollyanna grows up") and their little heroine, but already love them. This is evidenced by the fact that the famous Orthodox writer Yulia Voznesenskaya mentioned “Pollyanna” in her book “The Way of Cassandra or a Journey with Pasta”, and she even titled the trilogy written later about the adventures of the sisters Yulia and Anna “Yulianna ...”

The action of the story "Pollyanna" takes place in a small, village-like American town of Beldingsville. Here from the Far West to live with a wealthy aunt old maid Polly Harrington, a seven-year-old orphan girl arrives, her niece. By the way, named by her mother Pollyanna in honor of Miss Polly and her late sister Anna. Although they long ago broke off relations with their sister, who, in their opinion, made an unforgivable mistake by marrying not a local rich man, but a poor priest (of course, since the setting is the United States, we are talking about a Protestant pastor). Apart from this girl, Miss Harrington has no other relatives. Like her, after the death of her parents, there was no one left except her aunt. But, nevertheless, Pollyanna does not have to count on the participation and affection of a loved one. Because Miss Polly does not hide the fact that for her this girl is just an annoying burden, which she has to bring up solely out of a sense of duty. And, if in all the big and rich house of Miss Harrington for her niece there is only a place in the attic closet, then in her heart there is no place for this girl at all.

I must say that in Russian children's literature there is at least one work, the plot is extremely similar to the story "Pollyanna". Incidentally, written around the same time. True, not in America, but here in Russia. We are talking about the book by L. Charskaya "Notes of a little schoolgirl", the heroine of which, the girl Lena, about the same age as Pollyanna, after the death of her mother, ends up being raised by a wealthy uncle-general. And she, too, is waiting for a miserable little room, the indifference of adults, and in addition - also cruel persecution by her cousins ​​and sisters and the housekeeper. By the way, in the course of the book, Lena, like Pollyanna, has to choose between relatives who do not hide their dislike for her, and strangers, but much kinder to her, people who wished to shelter her. However, despite the obvious similarity of plots, the heroines of these books behave completely differently. Lena meekly endures all injustice and bullying, responding to evil with good. And this is what motivates her enemies to repent and make friends with her. She conquers them with her humility, kindness and nobility. But Pollyanna, at first glance, is her complete antipode. For example, having crossed the threshold of the bare-walled attic closet allotted to her, she does not cry (as the same heroine of L. Charskaya, or you and I, would certainly have done) and does not get angry at her cruel aunt, but ... rejoices at what a wonderful view opens from her window. In addition, the fact that, since there is no mirror in the room, she will not have to see her freckles in it every day ... It is this strange property of the girl’s character - the ability to turn any everyday situation into an occasion for joy, that amazes and perplexes all those who communicate with Pollyanna. And, ultimately, makes them become attached to her and love her.

Eleanor Porter immediately reveals to readers the reason for such an unusual behavior of her heroine. There is no secret here. And everything turns out to be very simple (I will make a reservation right away - just only at first glance). According to Pollyanna, she is only playing one very exciting game. She has several names. For example, "game of joy." Or - "consolation game." Or - "daddy's game."

The last name is due to the fact that Pollyanna believes that her father invented this “game of joy”. As already mentioned, he was a poor missionary pastor who lived, or rather existed, on the donations of his parishioners. It should be noted that the charitable activities of Protestant communities (such as the repeatedly mentioned heroine of "Women's Help") in the dilogy about Pollyanna are described very ironically. And in fact, it most often comes down to useless chatter and helping anyone, except for those to whom she is in this moment needed the most. An example of this is, for example, the story of Pollyanna's friend, homeless orphan Jimmy Bean, who is turned down by Women's Aid, preferring instead to donate money to a mission in distant India. Or the fate of the friend of one of the heroines of the story "The Return of Pollyanna", Sadie Dean, in which, so to speak, good people took part only when she had already turned from an honest girl into a "fallen girl" ...). And the notorious "donations to the poor" are actually just a way to get rid of unnecessary things, according to the well-known saying: "on you, wretchedly, what is worthless to us." Therefore, according to Pollyanna, “they always turn out to be not at all what you expect. Even when you know in advance that you will not find what you are waiting for, there and then it will not be right. It was for this reason that once Pollyanna, who dreamed of a doll, got children's crutches. It was then that the pope-priest taught her the “joyful game”, the essence of which was to be able to find a reason for joy in everything that happens to you. For example, having received crutches instead of the desired doll as a gift, be glad at least that you don’t need them.

The reader may say, "What nonsense?" What is there to be happy about? By the way, some characters in E. Porter's books (for example, Nancy's servant) at first perceive Pollyanna's "game" in exactly this way: "some kind of nonsense." But in fact, this, so to speak, "game" is not at all nonsense or nonsense. And, in fact, not even a game. Why? This will be discussed further.

However, to begin with, let's recall one book that, probably, each of us read in childhood. We are talking about the science fiction novel by A. Belyaev "Professor Dowell's Head", whose heroine, nurse Marie Laurent, reflecting on how different her life is from the existence of an animated head located in the laboratory of the villain Professor Kern, comes to the following conclusion: "Oh my God ! How happy I am! How much I have! How rich I am! And I didn’t know, I didn’t feel it!”

Literally the same thing is said by one of the characters in the book “The Return of Pollyanna”, a former prisoner, having learned from the girl what her “game” is: “You revealed to me a great truth. I thought no one in the world needed it. And now I know that I have a pair of arms, a pair of legs and a pair of eyes. And I ... will be able to take advantage of this and prove that I do not live on earth for nothing.

To be convinced of the correctness of both statements, it is enough to recall that the prototype of Professor Dowell was the author of the book on the animated head, A. Belyaev, who was seriously ill with bone tuberculosis, and therefore deprived of the ability to move. Or, following the example of Pollyanna, briefly blindfold yourself with a handkerchief to feel what blind people experience. I believe that after this, many everyday difficulties, both real and far-fetched, such as our lack of those values ​​strongly promoted by modern mass culture, such as a stuffed wallet, summer cottages in the Canary Islands, expensive clothes and foreign cars, will seem like things, at best, secondary. Because, as R. Burns once wisely joked:

“Those who have what they have, sometimes they cannot eat,
And others can eat, but sit without bread.
And here we have what we have, but at the same time we have what we have, -
So, it remains for us to thank Heaven!

But that's not all. In fact, in this, using the vocabulary of E. Porter, Pollyanna's "game", was played not only by her father, the priest, but by many very wise and worthy people. To say the least, there were even Orthodox saints among them.

So, one of the "Missionary Letters" of St. Nicholas of Serbia (Velimirovich) is addressed to a simple person, a train driver. He complained about his boring job and was very sad that he could not find a better and more interesting profession. I must say that in the book "Pollyanna" there is an extremely similar story. Although it is not about a machinist, but about a doctor who is tired of his work (or, in modern terms, “professional burnt out”), whom the main character meets:

"Doctor Chilton," she said timidly. (Pollyanna - author)- It seems to me that you have the most joyful job on earth.

The Doctor looked at her in amazement.

- Joyful? Yes, wherever I go, I see only suffering around! ...

“I know,” said Pollyanna. “But you help those who are suffering. And you, of course, rejoice when they stop suffering. So it turns out that you rejoice more than all of us.

There was a lump in the doctor's throat... Now, looking into Pollyanna's eyes, he felt as if he was being blessed for further work. And he knew that neither the most difficult days nor sleepless nights would make him forget the inspiration born of this amazing girl.

Now let's compare this with what St. Nicholas of Serbia replied to his addressee: “My young friend, what better job are you looking for? Is there a better job than yours? The Apostle Peter fished, and the Apostle Paul wove mats. Think about how much more important and interesting your work is than theirs, and thank Providence for entrusting you with just such a job. Since, according to St. Nicholas, the Lord Almighty Himself is the "Engineer of the whole world", carefully leading the world, like a huge train filled with countless passengers, "to the wonderful terminus" - the Kingdom of Heaven. Therefore, driving trains is not only an important and responsible, but also an extremely honorable thing. And it is worth rejoicing that the Lord entrusted it not to someone else, but to you.

And here is another book - "The Spiritual Alphabet", written much earlier, in the 18th century, by another Orthodox saint - Metropolitan Dimitry of Rostov. In the preface to it, the word "joy" occurs in every line. According to Saint Demetrius, we have many reasons to “rejoice in the Lord and give His praise.” For example, for the fact that He created us in His image and likeness, “not a beast, and not a whale, or any other animal, but a man, a rational creature”, endowed with an immortal soul and free will. “Rejoice in the Lord and give thanks to Him, as if ... he constantly looks after your soul: he protects you, preserves you, ... grants you strength, health, ... admonishes you, enlightens you for all good deeds, all righteous and wise works about you. " And the fact that we are not pagans or heretics, but Orthodox is an honor and mercy that God has honored us with. This world, created by Him for us, and the Sacrifice of God the Son on the Cross “for our sake and ours for the sake of salvation”, and the fact that the Lord is long-suffering for us, waiting for our repentance and conversion, and, finally, the eternal joy prepared for us from Him” small for the sake of some pleasing” is also a reason for joy, and one that, in contrast to the imaginary pleasures of the world, to which people so strive, does not “perish soon”, but “abides forever”.

In conclusion, let us turn to the "Ancient Patericon" - a collection of stories about the holy fathers of the 4th - 5th centuries. It is there that you can find a story about two monks who committed the same sin and suffered the same penance for it. However, those who reacted to what happened were exactly the opposite. One of them, bursting into tears, incessantly mourned over his sin, recognizing it as worthy of hellish torments. The other, according to him, “thanked God that He delivered me from the impurity of this world and the future torment… and, remembering God, rejoiced.” By the way, the monastery elders admitted that the repentance of both monks is equally pleasing to the Lord.

The same book also tells about a certain homeless beggar who, in severe frost, spent the night on the street under a matting. But he consoled himself with the fact that, although he was poor, he was free, unlike some disgraced nobles or rich people sitting in prison in chains. And in this he is like a king.

When comparing all these texts and the dilogy about “Pollyanna”, it becomes obvious that what E. Porter called “playing for joy” is actually not a game at all, but an ancient Christian (including Orthodox) tradition, dating back not even to the sixth century but to much more ancient times. To that Book which is called the Book of books, the Bible, the Holy Scriptures. By the way, one of the Epistles of the Holy Apostle Paul located there - the Epistle to the Philippians, is often called "joyful". Just as Christ the Savior ends His Sermon on the Mount with a call to joy (Matthew 5:12). By the way, the fact that the origins of the "joyful game" should be sought precisely in the Holy Scriptures is directly stated in one of the chapters of the story "Pollyanna". Having met a pastor who has fallen into despondency because of the inability to change the behavior of his parishioners for the better, the girl casually tells him that one day, when her father was in a particularly difficult time, he decided to count how many times the Bible speaks of joy. And, having counted eight hundred such texts, he concluded that “if the Lord Himself called us to rejoice eight hundred times, it means that He wanted people to do this at least sometimes.” Not only that, it was this that helped him, despite his illnesses and poverty, despite the misunderstanding on the part of the parishioners, to maintain faith and to the end remain faithful to the path he had chosen to serve God. Thus, the stories about Pollyanna have a very deep Christian meaning. Although E. Porter managed to hide him behind the fascinating, often comical adventures of the most ordinary, in addition, a very lively and cheerful child. And skillfully clothe morality in the form of an entertaining and fun "game". About the same way as the hero of the book of another, known to each of us, American writer, M. Twain, the famous Tom Sawyer, managed to turn the punishment - whitewashing the fence - into an unusually interesting activity, for the right to participate in which his friends vying gave him their toys. Therefore, in the stories about "Pollyanna" there is neither moralizing nor the inevitable falsehood. And this is one of the main advantages of the dilogy.

In my time, I heard the opinion that books about Pollyanna teach people to come to terms with reality, taking away the desire to strive for a better lot. “This is the easiest and easiest way to live,” those people said. In fact, this is not true. After all, the heroes of the dilogy, regardless of whether they are rich or poor, are in a constant and, if you think about it, quite a fierce struggle. Although it takes place primarily in their souls. Because “playing for joy” is very difficult. And not only the disabled boy Jamie, who, living in poverty, with strangers, still gives part of his food to birds and squirrels in the city park. And yet - he keeps a kind of diary: the “book of joys”, entering there all the joyful events from his life. And not Pollyanna, secretly crying from grief and loneliness in her dark attic closet ... It is difficult to do this even for completely healthy, in addition, wealthy adults - John Pendleton, Mrs. Carew, Polly Harrington - broken by their big and small misfortunes, who have lost interest to life. After all, according to a well-known expression, “the rich also cry” ... It is possible that it’s even more difficult for them to start “playing a consoling game” than, so to speak, for “little people”, for whom a piece of bread or just a kind word is already joy. And, although E. Porter does not directly say what qualities a person who decides to play the “joyful game” should have, the answer suggests itself - it is about patience and courage. It is no coincidence that the section of the Ancient Patericon, from which the above stories about the two monks and the beggar are borrowed, is entitled: "various stories that encourage us to patience and courage." And both of these qualities, as you know, are among the Christian virtues.

It must be said that E. Porter in the dilogy about Pollyanna deliberately avoids touching on, so to speak, "social topics." They are only touched upon in passing. And for the most part, the characters in both stories (like E. Porter herself, who was the wife of a businessman) are, so to speak, wealthy, or even rich people. Even the orphan boy Jimmy Bean eventually turns out to be not just a rootless tramp, but the nephew of a rich and noble lady, Mrs. Carew. And the heroine, who asked herself the question of how to arrange so that there would be no "rich" and "poor" in the world, adults simply and clearly explain that this is impossible, because then the "balance" in society will be upset. This is, though bitter, but true. After all, the inspired words of the revolutionary anthem “we are ours, we new world let's build, who was nothing, he will become everything "in fact, most often come down to the banal" rob the loot. And the victims of this are, first of all, ordinary people.

But E. Porter's books give hope that the world can still be changed for the better. Only in this case, one must begin with oneself, with one's own soul. And, above all, to learn the most difficult thing - to see in people the best that is in them. Even if it is almost impossible to discern him behind coldness and malice… Or, in the well-known words of the righteous John of Kronstadt, to be able: “to love every person, despite his fall into sin.” For, "sins are sins, but the basis in man is one - the image of God." It is precisely this quality - to see in every person not bad, but above all, good, that the main character of E. Porter - Pollyanna is endowed with. And that is why she is able to ignore human hostility, cruelty and anger. More precisely, that is why she remains undefeated by them. And where it is time for others to fall into despair, she rejoices. How joyful both John Pendleton and Mrs. Carew find when they begin not just, so to speak, to donate money "for the poor", but learn to see them as people equal to themselves. That is, love them.

In the story "Pollyanna" there is an image with which the little heroine of the book is repeatedly associated. This is a rainbow. One of the characters in the book, John Pendleton, calls Pollyanna "a lover of rainbows" (translated by M. Batishcheva - "a rainbow girl"). Not only because, in the course of the story, wanting to distract him from thoughts about his illness, Pollyanna, with the help of pieces of crystal taken from the candlesticks, turns his dull room into a kind of fairy-tale palace, shining with all the colors of the rainbow. In the Bible book of Genesis, after the global flood, the rainbow becomes a sign of the eternal covenant between God and the earth, and “between every living soul in all flesh that is on earth” (Gen. 9, 16). In other words, the fact that the wrath of the Lord on sinning people was replaced by forgiveness and mercy. Even people who are far from faith perceive the rainbow as something that, according to the song from the movie "Eternal Call", "triumphs over the storm", instilling joy and hope in those who see it. How Pollyanna instills them in people.

I must say that the little heroine of E. Porter's books really managed to change for the better, although not the world, but the town of Beldingsville, teaching its inhabitants her "game". Of course, the reader has the right to say that this is possible only in books. However, in real life even one single person can do a lot. And, both good and bad. And here someone will remember the well-known words of St. Seraphim of Sarov: “Acquire the spirit of peace and thousands around you will be saved.” And someone will come to mind the opposite example - the fable of I.A. Krylov "The Writer and the Robber", about a certain "glory-covered writer", which met at all times, and now in particular, and who

“... the thin one poured poison in his creations,
instilled unbelief, rooted debauchery ... "

in the end, causing the world much more harm than the most terrible robber. Because, as the hellish monster, the “angry Megara”, explains to this writer, over time:

“The poison of your creations not only does not weaken,
But, spilling, century after century, it flies ...
... And how many more will be born in the future
From your books in the world of evil!

... It has already been said that in 2013 it will be one hundred years since the writing of the story "Pollyanna". And, although in addition to her, Eleanor Porter wrote 14 more novels and four volumes of short stories, in the memory of readers she remained precisely “the author of Pollyanna”. That is exactly what was said about her in an obituary printed in 1920 in the New York Times: “The author of Pollyanna has died. But, according to the well-known words of B. Shergin, "death will not take everything - it will only take its own." The Pollyanna stories outlived their author by almost a century. And, unlike the depraved books written by the hero of Krylov's fable, they still continue to fulfill their good, Christian mission, teaching people joy, instilling hope in them. As did their heroine - a girl with a strange name Pollyanna.