Image common people the author of "War and Peace" pays much attention. The peasantry appears before us in the person of serfs, corvées and serfs, and in the person of soldiers who retain their peasant features, and in the person of partisans.
As Tolstoy's worldview changes, he is interested in different sides external and inner life peasants, but he always draws them unusually truthfully and vividly. Mass scenes with their variety of behavior and relationships of individual characters are amazing in their skill; Speech characteristics amaze with their vital truth.
When describing the campaign of 1805 in Austria, Russian peasants appear as living people, dressed in soldier's overcoats, but not losing their special peasant appearance. They go to fight, not knowing exactly for what, with whom and where. In the campaign, people show their usual endurance, simplicity, good nature, cheerfulness - a sign of great physical and moral strength. Making a tedious transition, they are thrown among themselves in separate phrases. At the command of the captain, the songwriters ran forward, sang a song, and after that a soldier ran forward and started dancing. But here the soldiers are shown in battle, in action, in hard work in a year of deadly danger hanging over Russia, and one immediately feels new feature folk character- steadfastness and courage.
During the heroic battle near Shengraben, left without cover, “the battery continued to fire and was not taken by the French. In the course of an hour, out of forty servants, seventeen were killed, ”but the soldiers, led by their officer, continued to fight courageously against the superior forces of the enemy. Over the course of several years of work on War and Peace, Tolstoy's interest in the peasantry grows and the nature of his portrayal changes somewhat. The plight of the people is becoming more and more clear. On the estates of Bezukhov and after his “reforms”, “the peasants continue to give work and money everything that they give from others, that is, everything that they can date.
The old prince Bolkonsky orders that his yard servant be given back to the soldiers because he mistakenly served coffee first to the prince's daughter, and not to the Frenchwoman who used it in given time the position of the old man. Such manifestations of lordly arbitrariness were not isolated.
phenomena, as is clear from the conversation between Andrei Bolkonsky and Pierre during their trip to the Bald Mountains. Describing the Rostovs' hunting, Tolstoy introduces something new, episodic person- the landowner Ilagin, the owner of a wonderful hunting dog, for which the "representative courteous gentleman" "a year ago gave his neighbor three families of courtyards."
The dissatisfaction of the peasants is manifested in "War and Peace" repeatedly. The dissatisfaction of the peasants with their position, the awareness of the injustice of the existing system, emphasizes such a small episode. When the wounded Prince Andrei was brought to the dressing station and the doctor ordered him to be immediately carried to the tent, “a murmur arose in the crowd of waiting wounded.
"It is seen. and in the other world the masters alone live. one said.
The proximity of the French shook the lord's power. and the men begin to talk openly about that. that they have been sick for a long time. The hatred of the peasants for the landowners was so great. as “the last stay in Bogucharovo of Prince Andrei. with his innovations hospitals. schools and easier dues. - did not soften their morals, but. against. strengthened those character traits in them. which old prince called savagery.
They did not inspire confidence in the promises of Princess Marya to give bread and take care of them in new places. where she suggested they move.
However, the nobles do not feel calm. The meaning of this anxiety is clearly expressed by Pierre. speaking in the epilogue to Nikolai Rostov. that it is necessary to warn a possible Pugachevism. But. despite their difficult situation. the peasants do not want to give up their homeland to the power of the French invaders and, in doing so, show boundless courage and steadfastness. The mobilized men
the militia before the Battle of Borodino put on clean shirts: they prepared for death. but not retreat.
The expression of this simple and sincere. alien...
The people in the novel "War and Peace"
It is believed that wars are won and lost by commanders and emperors, but in any war a commander without an army is like a needle without a thread. After all, it is soldiers, officers, generals - people who serve in the army and take part in battles and battles, become the very thread with which history is embroidered. If you try to sew with only one needle, the fabric will pierce, perhaps even traces will remain, but there will be no result. So a commander without his regiments is just a lonely needle, which is easily lost in the haystacks formed by time if there is no thread of his troops behind him. Sovereigns are not at war, the people are at war. Sovereigns and commanders are only needles. Tolstoy shows that the theme of the people in the novel "War and Peace" is main topic the whole work. The people of Russia are people of different classes, and elite and those who make middle class and ordinary people. They all love their Motherland and are ready to give their lives for it.
The image of the people in the novel
Two main storylines novels reveal to readers how the characters are formed and the destinies of two families - the Rostovs and the Bolkonskys - develop. Using these examples, Tolstoy shows how the intelligentsia developed in Russia, some of its representatives came to the events of December 1825, when the Decembrist uprising took place.
The Russian people in War and Peace are represented by different characters. Tolstoy seemed to have collected the features inherent in ordinary people and created several collective images, embodying them in specific characters.
In Platon Karataev, met by Pierre in captivity, embodied character traits serfs. Kind, calm, hard-working Plato, who talks about life, but does not think about it: “He, apparently, never thought about what he said and what he would say ...”. In the novel, Plato is the embodiment of a part of the Russian people of that time, wise, obedient to fate and the tsar, who loves their homeland, but went to fight for it only because they were caught and "given to the soldiers." His natural kindness and wisdom revive the "master" Pierre, who is constantly looking for the meaning of life and cannot find and comprehend it.
But at the same time, "When Pierre, sometimes struck by the meaning of his speech, asked to repeat what was said, Plato could not remember what he had said a minute ago." All these searches and throwings are alien and incomprehensible to Karataev, he knows how to accept life as it is at this very moment, and he accepts death humbly and without grumbling.
Merchant Ferapontov, an acquaintance of Alpatych, typical representative merchants, on the one hand stingy and cunning, but at the same time burning their own property so that the enemy does not get it. And he does not want to believe that Smolensk will be surrendered, and he even beats his wife for her requests to leave the city.
And the fact that Ferapontov and other merchants themselves set fire to their shops and houses is a manifestation of patriotism and love for Russia, and it is already clear that Napoleon will not be able to defeat the people, who are ready to do anything to save their homeland.
The collective image of the people in the novel "War and Peace" is created by many characters. These are partisans like Tikhon Shcherbaty, who fought the French in their own way, and, as if effortlessly, destroyed small detachments. These are wanderers, humble and religious, such as Pelageyushka, who went to holy places. Militia men, dressed in simple white shirts, "to prepare for death", "with a loud voice and laughter" digging trenches on the Borodino field before the battle.
AT Hard times when the danger of being conquered by Napoleon loomed over the country, all these people came to the fore with one the main objective- the salvation of Russia. Before her, everything else was petty and unimportant. At such moments, people show their true colors with amazing clarity, and in War and Peace, Tolstoy shows the difference between ordinary people who are ready to die for their country and other people, careerists and opportunists.
This is especially well manifested in the description of the preparations for the battle on the Borodino field. A simple soldier with the words: “They want to fall on all the people ...”, some officers, for whom the main thing is that “for tomorrow big awards should have been distributed and new people put forward”, soldiers praying in front of the Smolensk icon Mother of God, Dolokhov, asking for forgiveness from Pierre - all these are strokes overall picture who stood in front of Pierre after a conversation with Bolkonsky. “He understood that hidden ... warmth of patriotism that was in all those people he saw, and which explained to him why all these people were calmly and as if frivolously preparing for death” - this is how Tolstoy describes general state people before the Battle of Borodino.
But the author does not idealize the Russian people at all, in the episode where the Bogucharov peasants, trying to preserve their acquired property, do not let Princess Marya out of Bogucharov, he clearly shows the meanness and meanness of these people. In describing this scene, Tolstoy shows the behavior of the peasants as alien to Russian patriotism.
Conclusion
In an essay on the topic “The Russian people in the novel “War and Peace”, I wanted to show the attitude of Lev Nikolaevich Tolstov towards the Russian people as a “whole and unified” organism. And I want to end the essay with a quote from Tolstov: “... the reason for our triumph was not accidental, but lay in the essence of the character of the Russian people and troops, ... this character should have been expressed even more clearly in an era of failures and defeats ... "
Artwork test
"War and Peace" is one of the the brightest works world literature, revealing the extraordinary wealth human destinies, characters, an unprecedented breadth of coverage of the phenomena of life, the deepest image major events in the history of the Russian people. The basis of the novel, as L. N. Tolstoy admitted, is “the thought of the people”. “I tried to write the history of the people,” said Tolstoy. The people in the novel are not only peasants and peasant soldiers in disguise, but also the Rostovs’ courtyard people, the merchant Ferapontov, and army officers Tushin and Timokhin, and representatives privileged class- The Bolkonskys, Pierre Bezukhov, the Rostovs, and Vasily Denisov, and Field Marshal Kutuzov, that is, those Russian people for whom the fate of Russia was not indifferent. The people are opposed by a handful of court aristocrats and a "big-faced" merchant, worried about his goods before the French take Moscow, that is, those people who are completely indifferent to the fate of the country.
There are more than five hundred characters in the epic novel, a description of two wars is given, events unfold in Europe and Russia, but, like cement, all the elements of the novel are held together by “folk thought” and “original moral attitude author to the subject. According to L. N. Tolstoy, individual person valuable only when he is an integral part of the great whole, his people. "His hero is whole country fighting against the invasion of the enemy,” wrote V. G. Korolenko. The novel begins with a description of the campaign of 1805, which did not touch the hearts of the people. Tolstoy does not hide the fact that the soldiers not only did not understand the goals of this war, but even vaguely imagined who Russia's ally was. Tolstoy is not interested foreign policy Alexander I, his attention is drawn to the love of life, modesty, courage, endurance, selflessness of the Russian people. Tolstoy's main task is to show the decisive role of the masses in historical events, to show the greatness and beauty of the feat of the Russian people in conditions of mortal danger, when psychologically a person reveals himself most fully.
The basis of the plot of the novel is Patriotic War 1812. The war brought decisive changes to the life of the entire Russian people. All the usual conditions of life were shifted, everything was now evaluated in the light of the danger that hung over Russia. Nikolai Rostov returns to the army, Petya volunteers to go to war, the old prince Bolkonsky forms a detachment of militia from his peasants, Andrei Bolkonsky decides to serve not at the headquarters, but directly command the regiment. Pierre Bezukhov gave part of his money to equip the militias. The Smolensk merchant Ferapontov, in whose mind the disturbing thought of the “death” of Russia arose when he learned that the city was being surrendered, does not seek to save property, but calls on the soldiers to drag everything out of the shop so that the “devils” do not get anything.
The War of 1812 is more represented crowd scenes. The people begin to realize the danger when the enemy approaches Smolensk. The fire and surrender of Smolensk, the death of the old prince Bolkonsky at the time of the review of the peasant militia, the destruction of the crop, the retreat of the Russian army - all this enhances the tragedy of events. At the same time, Tolstoy shows that in this difficult situation something new was born that was to destroy the French. In the growth of moods of determination and anger against the enemy, Tolstoy sees the source of the approaching turning point in the course of the war. The outcome of the war was determined long before its end by the "spirit" of the troops and people. This decisive "spirit" was the patriotism of the Russian people, which manifested itself simply and naturally: the people left the cities and villages captured by the French; refused to sell food and hay to enemies; guerrilla detachments formed behind enemy lines.
The Battle of Borodino is the climax of the novel. Pierre Bezukhov, watching the soldiers, experiences a sense of the horror of death and suffering that the war brings, on the other hand, the consciousness of “the solemnity and significance of the coming minute”, which the people inspire him. Pierre was convinced how deeply, with all his heart, the Russian people understand the meaning of what is happening. The soldier, who called him a “countryman”, tells him confidentially: “They want to pile on all the people; one word - Moscow. They want to make one end." The militias, who have just arrived from the depths of Russia, in accordance with custom, put on clean shirts, realizing that they will have to die. Old soldiers refuse to drink vodka - "not such a day, they say."
In these simple, related folk concepts and customs forms manifested the high moral strength of the Russian people. The high patriotic spirit and moral strength of the people brought victory to Russia in the war of 1812.
It is believed that wars are won and lost by commanders and emperors, but in any war a commander without an army is like a needle without a thread. After all, it is soldiers, officers, generals - people who serve in the army and take part in battles and battles, become the very thread with which history is embroidered. If you try to sew with only one needle, the fabric will pierce, perhaps even traces will remain, but there will be no result. So a commander without his regiments is just a lonely needle, which is easily lost in the haystacks formed by time if there is no thread of his troops behind him. Sovereigns are not at war, the people are at war. Sovereigns and commanders are only needles. Tolstoy shows that the theme of the people in the novel "War and Peace" is the main theme of the entire work. The people of Russia are people of different classes, both high society and those who make up the middle class, and ordinary people. They all love their Motherland and are ready to give their lives for it.
The image of the people in the novel
The two main storylines of the novel reveal to readers how the characters are formed and the destinies of two families - the Rostovs and the Bolkonskys - develop.
Using these examples, Tolstoy shows how the intelligentsia developed in Russia, some of its representatives came to the events of December 1825, when the Decembrist uprising took place.
The Russian people in War and Peace are represented by different characters. Tolstoy seemed to have collected the features inherent in ordinary people, and created several collective images, embodying them in specific characters.
In Plato Karataev, met by Pierre in captivity, the characteristic features of serfs were embodied. Kind, calm, hard-working Plato, who talks about life, but does not think about it: “He, apparently, never thought about what he said and what he would say ...”. In the novel, Plato is the embodiment of a part of the Russian people of that time, wise, obedient to fate and the tsar, who loves their homeland, but went to fight for it only because they were caught and "given to the soldiers." His natural kindness and wisdom revive the "master" Pierre, who is constantly looking for the meaning of life and cannot find and comprehend it.
But at the same time, "When Pierre, sometimes struck by the meaning of his speech, asked to repeat what was said, Plato could not remember what he had said a minute ago." All these searches and throwings are alien and incomprehensible to Karataev, he knows how to accept life as it is at this very moment, and he accepts death humbly and without grumbling.
The merchant Ferapontov, an acquaintance of Alpatych, is a typical representative of the merchant class, on the one hand stingy and cunning, but at the same time burning his property so that the enemy does not get it. And he does not want to believe that Smolensk will be surrendered, and he even beats his wife for her requests to leave the city.
And the fact that Ferapontov and other merchants themselves set fire to their shops and houses is a manifestation of patriotism and love for Russia, and it is already clear that Napoleon will not be able to defeat the people, who are ready to do anything to save their homeland.
The collective image of the people in the novel "War and Peace" is created by many characters. These are partisans like Tikhon Shcherbaty, who fought the French in their own way, and, as if effortlessly, destroyed small detachments. These are wanderers, humble and religious, such as Pelageyushka, who went to holy places. Militia men, dressed in simple white shirts, "to prepare for death", "with a loud voice and laughter" digging trenches on the Borodino field before the battle.
In difficult times, when the danger of being conquered by Napoleon hung over the country, one main goal came to the fore for all these people - the salvation of Russia. Before her, everything else was petty and unimportant. At such moments, people show their true colors with amazing clarity, and in War and Peace, Tolstoy shows the difference between ordinary people who are ready to die for their country and other people, careerists and opportunists.
This is especially well manifested in the description of the preparations for the battle on the Borodino field. A simple soldier with the words: “They want to fall on all the people ...”, some officers, for whom the main thing is that “for tomorrow big awards should have been distributed and new people should have been put forward”, soldiers praying in front of the icon of the Smolensk Mother of God, Dolokhov, asking for forgiveness from Pierre - all these are strokes of the general picture that confronted Pierre after a conversation with Bolkonsky. “He understood that hidden ... warmth of patriotism that was in all those people he saw, and which explained to him why all these people were calmly and as if frivolously preparing for death” - this is how Tolstoy describes the general state of people before the Battle of Borodino.
But the author does not idealize the Russian people at all, in the episode where the Bogucharov peasants, trying to preserve their acquired property, do not let Princess Marya out of Bogucharov, he clearly shows the meanness and meanness of these people. In describing this scene, Tolstoy shows the behavior of the peasants as alien to Russian patriotism.
Conclusion
In an essay on the topic “The Russian people in the novel “War and Peace”, I wanted to show the attitude of Lev Nikolaevich Tolstov towards the Russian people as a “whole and unified” organism. And I want to end the essay with a quote from Tolstov: “... the reason for our triumph was not accidental, but lay in the essence of the character of the Russian people and troops, ... this character should have been expressed even more clearly in an era of failures and defeats ... "
The theme of the people in the novel "War and Peace" is an essay about the image of the Russian people |
In 1867, Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy completed work on the work War and Peace. Speaking about his novel, Tolstoy admitted that in "War and Peace" he "loved the thought of the people." The author poetizes the simplicity, kindness, morality of the people. Tolstoy sees in the people the source of morality necessary for the whole society. S.P. Bychkov wrote: "According to Tolstoy, the closer the nobles are to the people, the sharper and brighter their patriotic feelings, the richer and more meaningful their spiritual life. And, on the contrary, the farther they are from the people, the drier and more callous their souls , the more unattractive they are moral principles ".
Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy denied the possibility of an individual's active influence on history, since it is impossible to foresee or change the direction of historical events, because they depend on everyone and no one in particular. In his philosophical and historical digressions, Tolstoy considered historical process as the sum of "an innumerable number of human arbitrariness", that is, the efforts of each person. The totality of these efforts results in a historical necessity, which no one can cancel. According to Tolstoy, history is made by the masses, and its laws cannot depend on the desire of an individual. historical person. Lidia Dmitrievna Opulskaya wrote: "Tolstoy refuses to recognize the force leading historical development humanity, any "idea", as well as the desires or power of individual, even "great" historical figures. “There are laws governing events, partly unknown, partly groping for us,” writes Tolstoy. “The discovery of these laws is possible only when we completely abandon the search for causes in the will of one person, just as the discovery of the laws of planetary motion became possible only when people renounced the idea of the affirmation of the Earth." Before historians, Tolstoy sets the task of "instead of finding reasons ... finding laws." Tolstoy stopped in perplexity at the realization of the laws that determine the "spontaneous-swarm" life of the people. According to his view, a participant in a historical event cannot know either the meaning and significance, or, even more so, the result of the actions taken. Because of this, no one can intelligently lead historical events, but must obey their spontaneous, unreasonable course, as the ancients obeyed fate. However, the inner, objective meaning of what is depicted in "War and Peace" led to the realization of these patterns. In addition, in explaining specific historical events Tolstoy himself came very close to defining the real forces that guided events. Thus, the outcome of the war of 1812 was determined, from his point of view, not mysterious and inaccessible. human understanding fate, but "a cudgel people's war", acting with "simplicity" and "expediency".
For Tolstoy, the people act as the creator of history: millions of ordinary people, and not heroes and commanders, create history, move society forward, create everything of value in material and spiritual life, accomplish everything great and heroic. And this idea - "people's thought" - Tolstoy proves on the example of the war of 1812. Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy denied the war, argued heatedly with those who found the "beauty of horror" in the war. When describing the war of 1805, Tolstoy acts as a pacifist writer, but when describing the war of 1812, the author switches to the position of patriotism. The war of 1812 appears in the image of Tolstoy as a people's war. The author creates many images of peasants, soldiers, whose judgments together make up the people's worldview. The merchant Ferapontov is convinced that the French will not be allowed into Moscow, "they shouldn't", but, having learned about the surrender of Moscow, he understands that "Raseya has decided!". And if Russia is perishing, then there is nothing to save your good. He yells at the soldiers to take away his goods so that the "devils" don't get anything. The men Karp and Vlas refused to sell hay to the French, took up arms and joined the partisans. During the period ordeals for the Fatherland, "the cause of the people," the defense of the Motherland becomes universal. All the heroes of the novel are tested from this point of view: whether they are animated by a popular feeling, whether they are ready for a feat, for a high sacrifice and self-sacrifice. In love for the Motherland, in patriotic feeling, Prince Andrei Bolkonsky and the soldiers of his regiment are equal. But Prince Andrei is not only animated by a universal feeling, but also knows how to talk about it, analyze it, understands the general course of affairs. It is he who is able to assess and determine the mood of the entire army before the Battle of Borodino. The numerous participants in the majestic event themselves act according to the same feeling, and not even unconsciously, they are simply very laconic. "The soldiers in my battalion, believe me, did not drink vodka: it's not such a day, they say," - that's all that Prince Andrei hears about the soldiers from the battalion commander Timokhin. Pierre Bezukhov fully understands the meaning of "obscure" and also too short words soldier: "They want to pile on all the people, one word - Moscow. They want to make one end." Soldiers express confidence in victory, readiness to die for the Motherland. In the novel "War and Peace" Tolstoy describes the war of 1812 only on the territory of Russia, a just war. D. S. Likhachev wrote: “The historical side of the novel in its morally victorious part ends in Russia, and not a single event at the end of the novel goes beyond the borders of the Russian land. In War and Peace there is neither the Leipzig battle of peoples, nor the capture Paris. This is emphasized by death at the very borders of Kutuzov. folk hero" not needed ". Tolstoy sees in the actual side of events the same people's concept of a defensive war... An invading enemy, an invader cannot be kind and modest. Therefore, the ancient Russian historian does not need to have accurate information about Batu, Birger, Torkal Knutson, Magnus, Mamai, Tokhtamysh, Tamerlane, Edigey, Stefan Batory or any other enemy who broke into the Russian land: he, naturally, by virtue of this act alone, will be proud, self-confident, arrogant, will utter loud and empty phrases. The image of the invading enemy is determined only by his deed - his invasion. On the contrary, the defender of the fatherland will always be modest, will pray before setting out on a campaign, for he is waiting for help from above and is sure that he is right. True, ethical truth is on his side, and this defines his image.
According to Tolstoy, it is useless to oppose the natural course of events, it is useless to try to play the role of arbiter of the fate of mankind. During the Battle of Borodino, on the outcome of which much depended for the Russians, Kutuzov "did not make any orders, but only agreed or disagreed with what was offered to him." In this seeming passivity, the deep mind of the commander, his wisdom are manifested. What has been said is also confirmed by the insightful judgments of Andrei Bolkonsky: "He will listen to everything, remember everything, put everything in its place, will not interfere with anything useful and will not allow anything harmful. He understands that there is something stronger and more significant than his will - this is an inevitable move events, and he knows how to see them, knows how to understand their meaning and, in view of this meaning, knows how to renounce participation in these events, from his personal will directed to something else. Kutuzov knew that "the fate of the battle is not decided by the orders of the commander-in-chief, not by the place on which the troops stand, not by the number of guns and killed people, but by that elusive force called the spirit of the army, and he followed this force and led it, as far as it was in his power." Unity with the people, unity with ordinary people makes Kutuzov for the writer the ideal of a historical figure and the ideal of a person. He is always humble and simple. A winning pose, acting is alien to him. Kutuzov on the eve of the Battle of Borodino read a sentimental french novel Madame Genlis "Knights of the Swan". He didn't want to seem like a great man - he was. Kutuzov's behavior is natural, the author constantly emphasizes his senile weakness. Kutuzov in the novel is a spokesman folk wisdom. His strength lies in the fact that he understands and knows well what worries the people, and acts in accordance with this. The correctness of Kutuzov in his dispute with Bennigsen at the council in Fili is, as it were, reinforced by the fact that the sympathy of the peasant girl Malasha is on the side of "grandfather" Kutuzov. S.P. Bychkov wrote: “Tolstoy, with his inherent great insight as an artist, correctly guessed and perfectly captured some of the character traits of the great Russian commander Kutuzov: his deep patriotic feelings, his love for the Russian people and hatred for the enemy, his closeness to the soldier. Contrary to the false legend created by official historiography about Alexander I - the savior of the fatherland and which took Kutuzov away minor role in the war, Tolstoy restores historical truth and shows Kutuzov as the leader of a just people's war. Kutuzov was connected with the people by close spiritual ties, and this was his strength as a commander. “The source of the extraordinary power of insight into the meaning of ongoing phenomena,” says Tolstoy about Kutuzov, “lay in the popular feeling that he carried in himself in all its purity and strength. Only the recognition of this feeling in him made the people in such strange ways, out of favor located old man, choose, against the will of the king, as a representative of the people's war."
