AFTER THE BALL
(Story, 1911)
Ivan Vasilievich — main character, narrator. His narration takes the listeners into the atmosphere of the Russian provincial town 1840s At that time, I. V. studied at the university, did not participate in any circles, but simply lived, “as is typical of youth.”
Once he happened to be "on the last day of Shrovetide at the ball of the provincial leader." His beloved turned out to be there - Varenka B. Especially I.V. dwells on the "incorporeality" of his passion for the young beautiful woman, trying to create in the audience the impression of almost "angelic" of his internal state: "... I was happy, blissful, I was kind, I was not me, but some kind of unearthly creature that knows no evil and is capable of good alone." Tenderness for herself, Varenka is gradually transferred by I. V. to all those present: to the good-natured hospitable leader and his wife, a lady with plump white bare shoulders (I. V. emphasizes her resemblance to the ceremonial portraits of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna), to Varenka’s father, Colonel V ., and even to the engineer Anisimov, who beat off his first mazurka with Varenka. “I embraced the whole world at that time with my love.” This truly divine, brotherly love, revealed to I.V. on the last day of Shrove Tuesday, on the eve of Great Lent, in a strange way is sanctioned in the depiction of Tolstoy by pagan, in general - blasphemous laws of ballroom secular entertainment.
Further events take place with I. V. the very next morning, on the first day of Lent. By chance, he becomes a witness to a barbaric execution - a rite of punishment with gauntlets for a fugitive Tatar. Execution scene - false mirror ball ritual. The perception of I. V. involuntarily fixes these distorted correspondences. The melody of the mazurka is superimposed on the shrill accompaniment of the drum and flute, the rhythm of the dance steps is superimposed on the chased wave of soldiers’ hands and the biting whistle of stick blows, Varenka’s dance with her father is superimposed on the hellish “dance” of the Tatar tortured under torture and walking with him in a pair of “firm, trembling gait Colonel B. Instead of the "disembodied" Varenka - "motley, wet, red" "human body": "Brothers, have mercy." These are “brothers”, this clear analogy with Golgotha unequivocally echoes the motif of brotherly, universal love experienced by I.V. during the ball. In his imagination, seemingly dissimilar worlds are monstrously intertwined: spiritual and carnal, Christian and pagan, divine and demonic. The Maslenitsa ball, the pagan-Pharisaic official culture give rise to the idea of universal love, and the “modern Golgotha” seen at the beginning of Lent, on the contrary, does not show the face of Christ suffering for humanity, but an ugly bloody mess of tortured human flesh. Satan serves God, God serves Satan, and it all comes together common symbol ritualized dance. All this for Tolstoy is “false culture”, “werewolf culture”, which denies itself.
Unlike the author, I.V. is not able to accept the truth revealed to him. “Obviously, he knows something that I don’t know,” I. V. thought about the colonel, watching how he easily and habitually passes from the ball to the execution, from the “spirit” to the “flesh”, without changing, in essence, their behavior. I. V. was never “initiated” into the secrets of secular “properties” that justify such “werewolfism”. He remained "on the other side" of the good and evil committed by the bearers of the official morality. Having not delved into the postulates of “decent” behavior contemporary to him, I.V. at the same time did not believe his natural moral feeling, not yet spoiled by society. Rejection military service and marriage to Varenka is not so much a protest as I.V.’s spiritual capitulation to the chaos of his contemporary culture.
AFTER THE BALL
(Story, 1911)
Ivan Vasilievich - protagonist, narrator His narration takes listeners into the atmosphere of a Russian provincial town in the 1840s. At that time, I. V. studied at the university, did not participate in any circles, but simply lived, “as is typical of youth.”
Once he happened to be "on the last day of Shrovetide at the ball of the provincial leader." His beloved, Varenka B., turned out to be there too. I. V. especially dwells on the “incorporeality” of his passion for a young beautiful woman, trying to give the audience the impression of almost “angelic” of his inner state: “... I was happy , blessed, I was kind, I was not me, but some kind of unearthly creature, knowing no evil and capable of good alone. Tenderness for herself, Varenka is gradually transferred by I. V. to all those present: to the good-natured hospitable leader and his wife, a lady with plump white bare shoulders (I. V. emphasizes her resemblance to the ceremonial portraits of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna), to Varenka’s father, Colonel V ., and even to the engineer Anisimov, who beat off his first mazurka with Varenka. “I embraced the whole world at that time with my love.” This truly divine, brotherly love, which was revealed to I.V. on the last day of Shrovetide, on the eve of Great Lent, is strangely sanctioned in the depiction of Tolstoy by pagan, in general, blasphemous laws of ballroom secular entertainment.
Further events take place with I. V. the very next morning, on the first day of Lent. By chance, he becomes a witness to a barbaric execution - a rite of punishment with gauntlets for a fugitive Tatar. The execution scene is a distorted mirror of the ballroom ritual. The perception of I. V. involuntarily fixes these distorted correspondences. The melody of the mazurka is superimposed on the shrill accompaniment of the drum and flute, the rhythm of the dance steps is superimposed on the chased wave of soldiers’ hands and the biting whistle of stick blows, Varenka’s dance with her father is superimposed on the hellish “dance” of the Tatar tortured under torture and walking with him in a pair of “firm, trembling gait Colonel B. Instead of the "disembodied" Varenka - "motley, wet, red" "human body": "Brothers, have mercy." These are “brothers”, this clear analogy with Golgotha unequivocally echoes the motif of brotherly, universal love experienced by I.V. during the ball. In his imagination, seemingly dissimilar worlds are monstrously intertwined: spiritual and carnal, Christian and pagan, divine and demonic. The Maslenitsa ball, the pagan-Pharisaic official culture give rise to the idea of universal love, and the “modern Golgotha” seen at the beginning of Lent, on the contrary, does not show the face of Christ suffering for humanity, but an ugly bloody mess of tortured human flesh. Satan serves God, God serves Satan, and all this is united by a common symbol of a ritualized dance. All this for Tolstoy is “false culture”, “werewolf culture”, which denies itself.
Unlike the author, I.V. is not able to accept the truth revealed to him. “Obviously, he knows something that I don’t know,” I. V. thought about the colonel, watching how he easily and habitually passes from the ball to the execution, from the “spirit” to the “flesh”, without changing, in essence, their behavior. I. V. was never “initiated” into the secrets of secular “properties” that justify such “werewolfism”. He remained "on the other side" of the good and evil committed by the bearers of the official morality. Having not delved into the postulates of “decent” behavior contemporary to him, I.V. at the same time did not believe his natural moral feeling, not yet spoiled by society. Refusal from military service and marriage to Varenka is not so much a protest as I.V.'s spiritual capitulation to the chaos of his contemporary culture.
The central character in the story of Leo Tolstoy is Ivan Vasilyevich. In the work “After the Ball” (summary of the story), he tells a story that left an indelible mark on his life.
Ivan Vasilyevich was a handsome young man, and even with money. He studied at a provincial university, was cheerful and lively, liked to go on a spree with his comrades. There were no clubs at the university; evenings and balls were the main pastime. He loved to dance and he was good at it.
At that time, Ivan Vasilyevich was in love with one beautiful girl Barbara. His love knew no bounds, the young man did not stop admiring and admiring this girl.
From the story, we can conclude that by nature he was a good-natured person. He was kind to the girl he was in love with. Ivan Vasilyevich loved life and people. He saw only the good in people.
When he told his story, during the description of the ball, his soul was filled with love, dreams and dreams.
However, the picture that he saw the next morning made him rethink life and look at it with different eyes.
The young man became an accidental witness to how the father of his beloved Varya, to whom he had the best feelings and impressions the night before, arranged a massacre of a runaway soldier.
Ivan Vasilyevich saw the pain and horror in the soldier's eyes, saw the red bloody marks left on his back after the beating. Young man I was struck by the indifference and cruelty with which the colonel, the father of his beloved Varya, punished the soldier.
Ivan Vasilyevich did not fit in his head, how a person can change so much. How a nice person with an open affectionate smile can turn into a cruel boss who has not an ounce of mercy.
After this incident, Ivan Vasilyevich's love for the beautiful Varvara began to fade, because when he saw her, he remembered her father. Being a sensitive person, he could not be with her, lie to her and pretend.
This story completely changed his worldview and forced him to change his plans for the future. He abandoned the military career he dreamed of earlier. His life has changed, and his attitude towards the people around him has also changed.
In the story, Ivan Vasilievich is presented as an honest, sensual, fair and impressionable person. He loses a lot, refuses the desired love and career, but at the same time he retains honor and dignity.
Composition about Ivan Vasilyevich
When reading the works of the famous Russian writer Tolstoy, you are surprised at what talent and colossal sense of the word was hidden in this man. His works constitute a number of brilliant works of Russian literature. One of these creations is the story "After the Ball", based on the events taking place in reality at that time. After all, all this happened with the brother of the writer.
The main character is Ivan Vasilyevich, who denies that completely different living conditions are necessary in order to improve. And tells his life story which completely changed his fate. The action takes place in the 40s of the XIX century. He was at the university at the time and free time spent in fun. And since our hero had a pleasant appearance, he attended celebrations and balls with great pleasure. That's just about one of these evenings and tells Ivan Vasilyevich, who at that time was in love with Varenka. The girl was pretty, and therefore he could not stop looking at her. In the direction of the other young ladies, he did not even look, and all the time he danced only with Varenka.
Here we see how happy a person is, and this happiness was real. Ivan Vasilyevich embraced the world with love and was afraid that everything could collapse in one moment. At the ball, he could not even think about the existence of evil and cruelty. When he went to Varenka's house, filled with a bright feeling, he suddenly saw how the soldiers were punishing the runaway Tatar. He was shocked by the force and cruelty with which the blows fell on the back of this man.
But most of all, he was surprised and could not believe that these soldiers were led by the father of his beloved girl, whom he boasted about. Ivan Vasilyevich was ashamed that this man actually turned out to be so heartless. Soon after the incident, our hero changed his plans to enter the military service. He changed morally. Ivan Vasilyevich began to look at the world and the people around him in a completely different way. After that, all high feelings he lost. Thus, the author on the image this hero He showed how conscience and a sense of responsibility for one's neighbor can be awakened in a person.
Some interesting essays
- Berg and Vera Rostova in the novel War and Peace by Tolstoy essay
On the pages of Leo Tolstoy's epic novel "War and Peace" there are two minor hero, which are called upon to play the role assigned to them in the work. This is Berg and Vera.
Among famous and prominent people In the 20th century, a special place is occupied by Yuri Gagarin - the first man in the world to fly into space. Every person on the territory of the former Soviet Union
/ / / The image of Ivan Vasilyevich in Tolstoy's story "After the Ball"
Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy is one of the brightest writers in Russian and world literature. Millions of people are fond of his works, because many of them are relevant today. One of outstanding works Tolstoy is the story "After the Ball". He captivates the reader with his lightness and realism. And this happens because the author wrote it from a real life situation that happened to his brother.
The main character of Tolstoy's story "" is Ivan Vasilyevich. This is no longer a young man who enjoyed authority in society. We meet him for the first time in one of the living rooms, where an argument flared up between those present on philosophical theme about what influences a person's choice. Some said that the choice is influenced by the environment, others objected to this. Ivan Vasilyevich judged this dispute and said that the choice of a person is influenced by chance. In support of his words, he told one story that happened to him in his youth.
So, it was in the middle of the 19th century, when Ivan Vasilievich was young boy. At that time he was a student at one of the provincial universities. And like all students, lived full life: had fun, fooled around, somehow studied. I would like to note right away that Ivan Vasilievich was attractive in appearance, therefore he was a success with young ladies.
At that time, the main character was in love with the daughter of Colonel Varenka. The girl was just lovely. Her stately figure was crowned with a sweet smile. At the ball, which was organized by Varenka's father, Ivan Vasilyevich did not leave his beloved for a minute. Other girls were completely uninteresting to him. Young people danced all evening long. The protagonist considered himself truly happy man. He was ready to hug and kiss the whole world. Ivan Vasilyevich thought that all people are so kind and sweet, that there is no place for evil and cruelty in the world.
In such an elevated mood, the main character returned to his home. Those emotions that he experienced did not allow him to fall asleep. Ivan Vasilyevich went for a walk. He was intoxicated with his happiness and therefore walked wherever his eyes looked. The melody of the mazurka sounded in Ivan Vasilyevich's head, it seemed to him that even the horses passing by were smiling at him.
The high spirits of the protagonist were interrupted by the sounds of disturbing music. Ivan Vasilievich did not notice how he came to Varenka's house. There he saw how a Tatar tied to guns was led through the formation of soldiers and each of them beat the unfortunate with a stick on the back. The Tatar shouted and begged for mercy, but no one heard him. The most terrible thing was that this "execution" was commanded by Varenka's father, that sweet and good-natured man who had been dancing at the ball a few hours earlier. Now he was a cruel and evil tyrant who oversaw the execution of punishment.
The event he saw made an indelible impression on Ivan Vasilyevich. He ran away in horror. For a long time he heard the cries of the unfortunate Tatar, who begged for mercy.
This incident changed Ivan Vasilievich's plans for life. He refused military service. Now the main character saw a completely different world, a world that is filled with cruelty and anger, where every man is for himself. Ivan Vasilyevich seemed to have seen the light. Perhaps that incident made him grow up and look at the world through the eyes of an adult. As for feelings for Varenka, they soon cooled down and "vanished".
Ivan Vasilievich is the narrator and main character of the story by L. N. Tolstoy "After the Ball." From his face the story is told, from him we learn the love story of Ivan Vasilyevich and its strange ending.
At the beginning of the story, we have an already aged hero - “respected by everyone”, truthful, sincere, to whom those around him treat with obvious sympathy. Such a beginning tunes in to the acceptance of history, a positive assessment of the actions of the hero.
Ivan Vasilievich's recollections are prompted by a conversation about what a person needs for personal improvement. The hero recalls an incident from his youth in the 40s years XIX century in a provincial town. He was a student, "lived, as is typical of youth: he studied and had fun" and was in love with Varenka B. Moreover, his love was very pure and as if "incorporeal": he looked at the girl as an angel and felt himself "some kind of unearthly creature ".
(Colonel and Father Varenka gracefully dances with his daughter)
Most of the story of Ivan Vasilyevich (and the work itself) falls on the ball, where the hero dances with Varenka, touched by both her and her father. Even his father’s unfashionable boots seem beautiful to Ivan Vasilyevich: “I was especially touched by his boots, covered with straps, good calf boots, but not fashionable…”
When happy, in love, everything around seems beautiful: “At that time I hugged the whole world with my love.” This feeling will either calm down over time, become earthly, or disappear. The second happened to Ivan Vasilyevich, only the reason for the hero's cooling turned out to be not quite ordinary, "an accident" - as he himself put it.
(Unforgettable in the soul of Ivan Vasilyevich dance with Varenka)
Unable to fall asleep after the ball, on the morning of Great Lent (the ball took place on the evening of Maslenitsa), Ivan Vasilievich sets off to roam the streets. And his legs themselves carry him to the house where Varenka lives. The house stands on the outskirts of the city, "on the field", at the end of which the hero sees "something big, black."
It turned out that a runaway soldier was being punished there. He was led through two rows of soldiers who beat the unfortunate one in turn, turning his back into a bloody mess. And Varenka's father commanded the punishment, he strictly monitored that the soldiers beat at full strength.
(Ivan Vasilievich witnessed what he saw, the colonel, who is also Varenka's father, severely punishes the fugitive)
... Something turned over in the soul of Ivan Vasilyevich. He seemed to understand that, apparently, it was necessary, even necessary. But only with the mind. My heart and soul found no justification for torture: “Obviously, he (Varenka’s father) knows something that I don’t know,” I thought about the colonel. “If I knew what he knows, I would understand what I saw, and it would not torment me.”
The hero could fall asleep only in the evening, when he got drunk with a friend. And then love somehow itself began to wane.
Characteristics of the hero
Ivan Vasilievich - in his youth, the most ordinary young man. In the story, he himself emphasizes that he led a normal life for a student: he had fun, studied. He did not participate in any circles, did not adhere to any theories. He rode with young ladies from the mountains, drank champagne when he had money, danced a lot and fell in love more than once. This "ordinary" is very important for the author's intention.
When Ivan Vasilyevich sees a picture of torture, he does not resist it with his mind, that is, he cannot or is afraid to accept the truth that a crime is happening next to him. He cannot realize that society, the people that surround him, are deceitful, hypocritical: "... no matter how much I thought, I could not understand what the colonel knows ..." He lacks either intelligence, or courage, or - not yet it's time for the right conclusions.
However, the hero's heart is wiser than the head. What he saw changed the life of Ivan Vasilyevich. He could not go to serve, although he was going to, and in Varenka, thoughtful, he now saw the colonel on the square.
The hero was left alone, did not serve anywhere - neither in the army, nor as an official, because such a blatant contrast between the colonel at the ball and the colonel on the square implicitly makes him suspect the "wrong side" in people. Ivan Vasilyevich preferred to protect himself, not to face this very "wrong side", not to fight it. This is cowardice, the protest of the powerless.
The image of the hero in the work
L. N. Tolstoy on the example of ordinary person shows that the understanding of good-bad is given to a person a priori - regardless of facts, experience, beliefs or their absence. Where is it from? Kant called this knowledge the moral proof of the existence of God. Otherwise, who would have invested in us the understanding of what is good and what is evil.
But Tolstoy's goal is not in this textbook truth for the reader of the early twentieth century. According to the author, it is important not only NOT to be on the side of evil, but also to fight against it. After all, the colonel, perhaps, is not completely bad, it’s just that the state, the authorities taught him that “it’s so right”, that to beat, torture means to restore and maintain order.
Let us make a reservation right away that Tolstoy is not at all on the side of revolutionary upheavals. His method is re-education, rethinking the structure of the world by the whole society. And therefore it is impossible to remain indifferent. You can’t hide your head in the sand, like Ivan Vasilyevich, move away from service, people.
Ivan Vasilyevich is an example of spiritual surrender to the world, an example of “lying to save himself” (he never dares to condemn what he saw on the field). According to Tolstoy, the world will change when we stop putting up with cruelty, even if it is legal. No, revolutions are not needed - propaganda of kindness, justice, mercy is needed.
