(252 words) In the work of V.G. Korolenko tells an autobiographical story. The author teaches us to be kind and merciful, to come to the aid of those who need it, and to think about others, and not about ourselves.
One of the main characters of "In a bad society" are children. Vasya is a storyteller, a boy of about seven or eight. He lived in abundance, but lost his mother early and was therefore very reserved. Vasya had a sister, Sonya. The father devoted his whole life to work and caring for his daughter, but his son considered him a "bad man." The life of the boy - kind, merciful, but unhappy - was changed by a meeting in the old chapel. It turned out that the Tyburtia family lives in the “dungeon”. The hero’s best friend is the adopted son of Tyburtia, Valek - a thin nine-year-old boy with “thoughtful eyes”. From childhood, he takes care of sister Marusa and even steals in order to get food. Valek, unlike Vasya, is independent. The boy is not childishly insightful. He knows how to bear responsibility for his actions. Maroussia is a four-year-old girl who is constantly sick. "The gray stone sucks life out of it." Marusya has no strength to leave the dungeon; she cannot run and play like other children. Vasya patiently sits nearby, brings flowers to the girl, tries to cheer her up. He understands for the first time how important it is to pay attention to those in need on time.
Vasya is called a tramp, because he spends so much time "in a bad society." But for the boy it doesn’t matter anymore. No one is even trying to understand why the Tyburtia family ended up in the dungeon and lend a helping hand to them. But the main character already knows that the most important thing in people is not their social status, but their soul. I hope that this understanding will remain with him after many years.
