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This article analyzes M. Auezov's short story “The Day of the Defenseless” through the lens of national conceptology and cognitive linguistics, focusing on the artistic and cognitive representation of national values in the text. During the study, core concepts such as “defenselessness”, “justice”, “honor and dignity”, “purity”, “cruelty”, and “nature” are identified, and their pragmatic, aesthetic, and semiotic functions within the literary text are examined. Based on the chronotope model proposed by B. Maitanov, the spatial and temporal dimensions and their structural-artistic roles are analyzed. Using M.V. Pimenova’s classification of concepts (physical, social, ethical), the behavioral patterns and value orientations of the characters are examined. According to A. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, the human aspiration for freedom, safety, and spiritual self-actualization is discussed. Furthermore, drawing on the research of G. Kozhakhmetova and A. Baibol, the study explains how national worldview, mentality, and cultural codes are realized through artistic language. Through the image of Gaziza, such spiritual and ethical values of the Kazakh people as honor, purity, and modesty are presented, and her tragic fate reveals injustice and moral decline in a patriarchal society. Descriptions of nature and mythopoetic elements are analyzed on metaphorical and symbolic levels, substantiating the link between the conceptual fields of the literary structure and national identity. The use of the passive voice in the narrative serves to reveal the moral character and spiritual crisis of the individual within a cognitive and artistic framework.