The main idea in L.N. Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace,” along with folk thought,” there is “family thought.” The writer believed that the family is the basis of the entire society, and it reflects the processes that occur in society.
The novel shows heroes who go through a certain path of ideological and spiritual development; through trial and error, they try to find their place in life and realize their purpose. These characters are shown against the backdrop of family relationships. So, the Rostov and Bolkonsky families appear before us. Tolstoy depicted in his novel the entire Russian nation from top to bottom, thereby showing that the top of the nation had become spiritually dead, having lost contact with the people. He shows this process using the example of the family of Prince Vasily Kuragin and his children, who are characterized by the expression of all negative qualities, inherent in people high society - extreme selfishness, low interests, lack of sincere feelings.
All the heroes of the novel are bright individuals, but the members of the same family have a certain common feature that unites them all.
So, main feature The Bolkonsky family can be called the desire to follow the laws of reason. None of them, except, perhaps, Princess Marya, is characterized by an open manifestation of their feelings. In the image of the head of the family, the old prince Nikolai Andreevich Bolkonsky, they are embodied best features ancient Russian nobility. He is a representative of an ancient aristocratic family, his character bizarrely combines the morals of an imperious nobleman, before whom all the household tremble, from the servants to his own daughter, an aristocrat proud of his long pedigree, the traits of a man of great intelligence and simple habits. At a time when no one required women to display any special knowledge, he teaches his daughter geometry and algebra, motivating it like this: “And I don’t want you to be like our stupid ladies.” He educated his daughter in order to develop in her the main virtues, which, in his opinion, were “activity and intelligence.”
His son, Prince Andrei, also embodied the best features of the nobility, advanced noble youth. Prince Andrei has his own path to understanding real life. And he will go through errors, but his unerring moral sense will help him get rid of false ideals. So, . Napoleon and Speransky turn out to be debunked in his mind, and love for Natasha will enter his life, so unlike all the other ladies of high society, the main features of which, in his opinion and the opinion of his father, are “selfishness, vanity, insignificance in everything” . Natasha will become for him the personification of real life, opposing the falsehood of the world. Her betrayal of him is tantamount to the collapse of an ideal. Just like his father, Prince Andrei is intolerant of simple human weaknesses that his wife, a very ordinary woman, has, a sister who is looking for some special truth from “God’s people,” and many other people whom he encounters in life.
A peculiar exception in the Bolkonsky family is Princess Marya. She lives only for the sake of self-sacrifice, which is elevated to a moral principle that determines her entire life. She is ready to give all of herself to others, suppressing personal desires. Submission to her fate, to all the whims of her domineering father, who loves her in his own way, religiosity is combined in her with a thirst for simple, human happiness. Her humility is the result of a peculiarly understood sense of duty as a daughter who does not have the moral right to judge her father, as she says to Mademoiselle Burien: “I will not allow myself to judge him and would not want others to do so.” But nevertheless, when self-esteem demands, she can show the necessary firmness. This is revealed with particular force when her sense of patriotism, which distinguishes all Bolkonskys, is insulted. However, she can sacrifice her pride if it is necessary to save another person. So, she asks for forgiveness, although she is not guilty of anything, from her companion for herself and the serf servant, on whom her father’s wrath fell.
Another family depicted in the novel is in some way opposed to the Bolkonsky family. This is the Rostov family. If the Bolkonskys strive to follow the arguments of reason, then the Rostovs obey the voice of feelings. Natasha is little guided by the requirements of decency, she is spontaneous, she has many child traits, which is highly valued by the author. He emphasizes many times that Natasha is ugly, unlike Helen Kuragina. For him, it is not the external beauty of a person that is important, but his internal qualities.
The behavior of all members of this family shows high nobility of feelings, kindness, rare generosity, naturalness, closeness to the people, moral purity and integrity. Local nobility, unlike the highest St. Petersburg nobility, is true to national traditions. It was not for nothing that Natasha, dancing with her uncle after the hunt, “knew how to understand everything that was in Anisya, and in Anisya’s father, and in her aunt, and in her mother, and in every Russian person.”
Tolstoy's great value attached to family ties, the unity of the whole family. Although the Bolkonsikh clan should unite with the Rostov clan through the marriage of Prince Andrei and Natasha, her mother cannot come to terms with this, cannot accept Andrei into the family, “she wanted to love him like a son, but she felt that he was a stranger and terrible to her Human". Families cannot unite through Natasha and Andrei, but are united through the marriage of Princess Marya to Nikolai Rostov. This marriage is successful, it saves the Rostovs from ruin.
The novel also shows the Kuragin family: Prince Vasily and his three children: the soulless doll Helen, the “dead fool” Ippolit and the “restless fool” Anatole. Prince Vasily is a calculating and cold intriguer and ambitious man who claims the inheritance of Kirila Bezukhov, without having a direct right to do so. He is connected with his children only by blood ties and common interests: they care only about their well-being and position in society.
The daughter of Prince Vasily, Helen, is a typical social beauty with impeccable manners and reputation. She amazes everyone with her beauty, which is described several times as “marble,” that is, cold beauty, devoid of feeling and soul, the beauty of a statue. The only thing that occupies Helen is her salon and social receptions.
The sons of Prince Vasily, in his opinion, are both “fools.” His father managed to place Hippolytus in the diplomatic service, and his fate is considered settled. The brawler and rake Anatole causes a lot of trouble for everyone around him, and, in order to calm him down, Prince Vasily wants to marry him to the rich heiress Princess Marya. This marriage cannot take place due to the fact that Princess Marya does not want to part with her father, and Anatole indulges in his former amusements with renewed vigor.
Thus, people who are not only related by blood, but also spiritually, unite into families. The ancient Bolkonsky family is not interrupted by the death of Prince Andrei; Nikolenka Bolkonsky remains, who will likely continue the tradition of moral quests of his father and grandfather. Marya Bolkonskaya brings high spirituality to the Rostov family. So, “family thought,” along with “folk thought,” is the main one in L. Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace.” Tolstoy's family is studied at turning points in history. Having shown three families most fully in the novel, the writer makes it clear to the reader that the future belongs to families such as the Rostov and Bolkonsky families, who embody sincerity of feelings and high spirituality, the most prominent representatives of which each go through their own path of rapprochement with the people.
“War and Peace” is one of the best works of Russian and world literature. In it, the author historically correctly recreated the life of Russian people at the beginning of the 19th century. The writer describes in detail the events of 1805-1807 and 1812. Despite the fact that the “family thought” is the main one in the novel “Anna Karenina”, in the epic novel “War and Peace” it also occupies a very important place. Tolstoy saw the beginning of all beginnings in the family. As you know, a person is not born good or bad, but his family and the atmosphere that prevails within it make him so. The author brilliantly outlined many of the characters in the novel, showed their formation and development, which is called the “dialectics of the soul.” Tolstoy, paying great attention the origins of the formation of human personality, has similarities with Goncharov. The hero of the novel “Oblomov” was not born apathetic and lazy, but life in his Oblomovka, where 300 Zakharovs were ready to fulfill his every desire, made him so.
Following the traditions of realism, the author wanted to show and also compare various families that are typical of their era. In this comparison, the author often uses the technique of antithesis: some families are shown in development, while others are frozen. The latter includes the Kuragin family. Tolstoy, showing all its members, be it Helen or Prince Vasily, pays great attention to the portrait and appearance. This is no coincidence: the external beauty of the Kuragins replaces the spiritual. There are many human vices in this family. Thus, the meanness and hypocrisy of Prince Vasily are revealed in his attitude towards the inexperienced Pierre, whom he despises as an illegitimate. As soon as Pierre receives an inheritance from the deceased Count Bezukhov, his opinion about him completely changes, and Prince Vasily begins to see in Pierre an excellent match for his daughter Helen. This turn of events is explained by the low and selfish interests of Prince Vasily and his daughter. Helen, having agreed to a marriage of convenience, reveals her moral baseness. Her relationship with Pierre can hardly be called a family one; the spouses are constantly separated. In addition, Helen ridicules Pierre's desire to have children: she does not want to burden herself with unnecessary worries. Children, in her understanding, are a burden that interferes with life. Tolstoy considered such a low moral decline to be the most terrible thing for a woman. He wrote that the main purpose of a woman is to become a good mother and raise worthy children. The author shows all the uselessness and emptiness of Helen's life. Having failed to fulfill her destiny in this world, she dies. None of the Kuragin family leaves behind heirs.
Complete opposite Kuragin family Bolkonskikh. Here you can feel the author’s desire to show people of honor and duty, highly moral and complex characters.
The father of the family is Prince Nikolai Andreevich Bolkonsky, a man of Catherine’s temperament, who places honor and duty above other human values. This is most clearly manifested in the scene of farewell to his son, Prince Andrei Bolkonsky, who is leaving for the war. The son does not let his father down, does not lose honor. Unlike many adjutants, he does not sit at headquarters, but is on the front line, in the very center of military operations. The author emphasizes his intelligence and nobility. After the death of his wife, Prince Andrey was left with Nikolenka. We can have no doubt that he will become a worthy person and, like his father and grandfather, will not tarnish the honor of the old Bolkonsky family.
The daughter of the old Prince Bolkonsky is Marya, a person of pure soul, pious, patient, kind. The father did not show his feelings for her, since it was not in his rules. Marya understands all the prince’s whims and treats them resignedly, because she knows that her father’s love for her is hidden in the depths of his soul. The author emphasizes in the character of Princess Marya self-sacrifice for the sake of another, a deep understanding of daughterly duty. The old prince, unable to pour out his love, withdraws into himself, sometimes acting cruelly. Princess Marya will not contradict him: the ability to understand another person, to enter into his position - this is one of the main traits of her character. This trait often helps save a family and prevents it from falling apart.
Another antithesis to the Kuragin clan is the Rostov family, showing whom Tolstoy emphasizes such qualities of people as kindness, spiritual openness within the family, hospitality, moral purity, innocence, closeness to folk life. Many people are drawn to the Rostovs, many sympathize with them. Unlike the Bolkonskys, an atmosphere of trust and mutual understanding often reigns within the Rostov family. This may not always be the case in reality, but Tolstoy wanted to idealize openness and show its necessity between all family members. Each member of the Rostov family is an individual.
Nikolai, the eldest son of the Rostovs, is a brave, selfless man, he passionately loves his parents and sisters. Tolstoy notes that Nikolai does not hide from his family his feelings and desires that overwhelm him. Faith, eldest daughter Rostov, noticeably different from other family members. She grew up an outsider in her family, withdrawn and angry. The old count says that the countess “did something tricky with her.” Showing the Countess, Tolstoy focuses on her trait of selfishness. The Countess thinks exclusively about her family and wants to see her children happy at all costs, even if their happiness is built on the misfortune of other people. Tolstoy showed in her the ideal of a female mother who worries only about her cubs. This is most clearly demonstrated in the scene of the family's departure from Moscow during the fire. Natasha having kind soul and heart, helps the wounded leave Moscow, giving them carts, and leaves all the accumulated wealth and belongings in the city, since this is a profitable business. She does not hesitate to make a choice between her well-being and the lives of other people. The Countess, not without hesitation, agrees to such a sacrifice. Blind maternal instinct shines through here.
At the end of the novel, the author shows us the formation of two families: Nikolai Rostov and Princess Marya Bolkonskaya, Pierre Bezukhov and Natasha Rostova. Both the princess and Natasha, each in their own way, are morally high and noble. They both suffered a lot and finally found their happiness in family life and became the guardians of the family hearth. As Dostoevsky wrote: “Man is not born for happiness and deserves it through suffering.” These two heroines have one thing in common: they will be able to become wonderful mothers, they will be able to raise a worthy generation, which, according to the author, is the main thing in a woman’s life, and Tolstoy, in the name of this, forgives them some of the shortcomings characteristic of ordinary people.
As a result, we see that “family thought” is one of the fundamental ones in the novel. Tolstoy shows not only individuals, but also families, shows the complexity of relationships both within one family and between families.
“War and Peace” is a Russian national epic, which is reflected national character of the Russian people at the moment when their historical fate was being decided. L.N. Tolstoy worked on the novel for almost six years: from 1863 to 1869. From the very beginning of work on the work, the writer’s attention was attracted not only historical events, but also private, family life heroes. Tolstoy believed that the family is a unit of the world, in which the spirit of mutual understanding, naturalness and closeness to the people should reign.
The novel “War and Peace” describes the life of several noble families: the Rostovs, the Bolkonskys and the Kuragins.
The Rostov family is an ideal harmonious whole, where the heart prevails over the mind. Love binds all family members. It manifests itself in sensitivity, attention, and closeness. With the Rostovs, everything is sincere, it comes from the heart. Cordiality, hospitality, hospitality reign in this family, and the traditions and customs of Russian life are preserved.
Parents raised their children, giving them all their love. They can understand, forgive and help. For example, when Nikolenka Rostov lost a huge amount of money to Dolokhov, he did not hear a word of reproach from his father and was able to pay off his gambling debt.
The children of this family have absorbed everything best qualities“Rostov breed”. Natasha is the personification of heartfelt sensitivity, poetry, musicality and intuitiveness. She knows how to enjoy life and people like a child.
Life of the heart, honesty, naturalness, moral purity and decency determine their relationships in the family and behavior among people.
Unlike the Rostovs, the Bolkonskys live with their minds, not their hearts. This is an old aristocratic family. In addition to blood ties, the members of this family are also connected by spiritual closeness.
At first glance, the relationships in this family are difficult and devoid of cordiality. However, internally these people are close to each other. They are not inclined to show their feelings.
The old Prince Bolkonsky embodies the best features of a serviceman (nobility, devoted to those to whom he “sworn allegiance.” The concept of honor and duty of an officer was in the first place for him. He served under Catherine II, participated in Suvorov’s campaigns. He considered intelligence and activity to be the main virtues , and his vices are laziness and idleness. The life of Nikolai Andreevich Bolkonsky is a continuous activity. He either writes memoirs about past campaigns, or manages the estate. Prince Andrei Bolkonsky greatly respects and honors his father, who was able to instill in him a high concept of honor. road - road honor,” he says to his son. And Prince Andrei fulfills his father’s instructions both during the campaign of 1806, in the Battles of Shengraben and Austerlitz, and during the War of 1812.
Marya Bolkonskaya loves her father and brother very much. She is ready to give all of herself for the sake of her loved ones. Princess Marya completely submits to her father's will. His word is law for her. At first glance, she seems weak and indecisive, but at the right moment she shows strength of will and strength of spirit.
Both the Rostovs and the Bolkonskys are patriots, their feelings were especially clearly manifested during the Patriotic War of 1812. They express folk spirit war. Prince Nikolai Andreevich dies because his heart could not stand the shame of the retreat of the Russian troops and the surrender of Smolensk. Marya Bolkonskaya rejects the French general's offer of patronage and leaves Bogucharovo. The Rostovs give their carts to the soldiers wounded on the Borodino field and pay the most dearly - with the death of Petya.
Another family is shown in the novel. This is Kuragin. The members of this family appear before us in all their insignificance, vulgarity, callousness, greed, and immorality. They use people to achieve their selfish goals. The family is devoid of spirituality. For Helen and Anatole, the main thing in life is the satisfaction of their base desires. They are completely cut off from people's life, they live in a brilliant but cold world, where all feelings are perverted. During the war, they lead the same salon life, talking about patriotism.
In the epilogue of the novel, two more families are shown. This is the Bezukhov family (Pierre and Natasha), which embodied the author's ideal of a family based on mutual understanding and trust, and the Rostov family - Marya and Nikolai. Marya brought kindness and tenderness, high spirituality to the Rostov family, and Nikolai shows kindness in his relationships with those closest to him.
Showing in your novel different families, Tolstoy wanted to say that the future belongs to families such as the Rostovs, Bezukhovs, and Bolkonskys.
“Tolstoy’s novel differs from an ordinary family novel in that it is, so to speak, an open family, with an open door - it is ready to spread, the path to the family is the path to people,” N. Berkovsky writes about the novel “War and Peace.”
In the novel "War and Peace" L.N. Tolstoy talks about different families - these include the Bolkonskys, who preserve aristocratic traditions; and representatives of the Moscow nobility Rostov; the Kuragin family, deprived of mutual respect, sincerity and connections; the Berg family, which begins its existence by laying the “material foundation”. And in the epilogue of the novel, Tolstoy presents to the readers two new families - Pierre and Natasha, Nikolai and Marya - families based on sincere and deep feelings.
Let's try to rank the families presented in the novel according to their proximity to Tolstoy's idea of an ideal family.
Bergi.
Berg himself has much in common with Griboyedov’s Molchalin (moderation, diligence and accuracy). According to Tolstoy, Berg is not only a philistine in himself, but also a part of the universal philistinism (acquisitive mania takes over in any situation, drowning out the manifestation of normal feelings - the episode with the purchase of furniture during the evacuation of most residents from Moscow). Berg “exploits” the war of 1812, “squeezing” the maximum benefit out of it for himself. The Bergs are trying with all their might to resemble the accepted models in society: the evening that the Bergs throw is an exact copy of many other evenings with candles and tea. Vera (although she belongs to the Rostov family by birth) even as a girl, despite her pleasant appearance and development, good manners and “correctness” of judgment, repels people with her indifference to others and extreme selfishness.
Such a family, according to Tolstoy, cannot become the basis of society because... The “foundation” underlying it is material acquisitions, which rather devastate the soul and contribute to the destruction of human relationships rather than unification.
Kuragins- Prince Vasily, Hippolyte, Anatole, Helen.
Family members are connected only by external relations. Prince Vasily does not have a fatherly feeling for children, all Kuragins are disunited. And in independent life the children of Prince Vasily are doomed to loneliness: Helen and Pierre have no family, despite official marriage; Anatole, being married to a Polish woman, enters into new relationships and is looking for a rich wife. Kuragins organically fit into the society of the regulars of Anna Pavlovna Scherer's salon with its falsehood, artificiality, false patriotism, and intrigue. The true face of Prince Vasily is revealed in the episode of dividing the inheritance of Kirila Bezukhov, which he does not intend to refuse under any circumstances. He actually sells his daughter, marrying her to Pierre. The animal and immoral principle inherent in Anatol Kuragin is especially clearly manifested when his father brings him to the Bolkonskys’ house in order to marry Princess Marya to him (episode with Mademoiselle Burien). And his attitude towards Natasha Rostova is so low and immoral that it does not need any comments. Helene completes the family gallery with dignity - she is a predatory woman, ready to marry for money and position in society for the sake of convenience, and then treat her husband cruelly.
The lack of connections and spiritual closeness makes this family formal, that is, people living in it are related only by blood, but there is no spiritual kinship or human closeness in this house, and therefore, it can be assumed that such a family cannot raise moral attitude to life.
Bolkonsky.
The head of the family, the old Prince Bolkonsky, establishes a meaningful life in Bald Mountains. He is all in the past - he is a true aristocrat, and he carefully preserves all the traditions of the aristocracy.
It should be noted that real life is also in the attention of the old prince - his awareness of modern events surprises even his son. An ironic attitude towards religion and sentimentality brings father and son closer together. The death of the prince, according to Tolstoy, is retribution for his despotism. Bolkonsky lives “by the mind”; an intellectual atmosphere reigns in the house. The old prince himself teaches even his daughter precise and historical sciences. But despite a whole series Despite the prince's eccentricities, his children - Prince Andrey and Princess Marya - love and respect their father, forgiving him some tactlessness and harshness. Perhaps this is the phenomenon of the Bolkonsky family - unconditional respect and acceptance of all senior family members, unaccountable, sincere, in some ways even sacrificial love of family members for each other (Princess Marya decided for herself that she would not think about personal happiness , so as not to leave the father alone).
The relationships that have developed in this family, according to Tolstoy, contribute to the education of such feelings as respect, devotion, human dignity, and patriotism.
Rostov.
Using the example of the Rostov family, Tolstoy presents his ideal of family life, good relations between all family members. The Rostovs live the “life of the heart,” without demanding special intelligence from each other, treating life’s troubles with ease and ease. They are characterized by a truly Russian desire for breadth and scope. All members of the Rostov family are characterized by liveliness and spontaneity. The turning point in the life of the family is leaving. Moscow in 1812, the decision to give up the carts intended for the removal of property for the transport of the wounded, which actually resulted in the ruin of the Rostovs. Old man Rostov dies with a feeling of guilt for ruining his children, but with a sense of fulfilled patriotic duty. Children in the Rostov family inherit the best qualities from their parents - sincerity, openness, selflessness, the desire to love the whole world and all humanity.
And yet, it is probably no coincidence that in the epilogue of the novel Tolstoy talks about two young families.
Nikolai Rostov and Marya Bolkonskaya.
The love of these people arises at the moment of trouble hanging over the fatherland. Nikolai and Marya are characterized by a commonality in the perception of people. This is a union in which husband and wife mutually enrich themselves spiritually. Nikolai makes Marya happy, and she brings kindness and tenderness into the family.
Natasha Rostova and Pierre Bezukhov.
The purpose of their love is marriage, family and children. Here Tolstoy describes an idyll - an intuitive understanding loved one. The charm of Natasha the girl is clear to everyone, the charm of Natasha the woman is clear only to her husband. Each of them finds in love and family exactly what he has been striving for all his life - the meaning of his life, which, according to Tolstoy, for a woman consists of motherhood, and for a man - in realizing oneself as a support for more weak person, your need.
To sum up the discussion, it can be noted that the theme of family, its significance in the development of a person’s character for Tolstoy in the novel “War and Peace” is one of the most important. The author tries to explain many of the features and patterns in the lives of his characters by their belonging to one or another family. At the same time, he emphasizes the great importance of the family in the formation of both a young person and his character, and an adult. Only in the family does a person receive everything that subsequently determines his character, habits, worldview and attitude.
War and Peace" is a Russian national epic, which reflects the national character of the Russian people at the moment when their historical fate was being decided. L.N. Tolstoy worked on the novel for almost six years: from 1863 to 1869. From the very beginning of work on the work, the writer’s attention was attracted not only by historical events, but also by private family life.
For L. N. Tolstoy himself one of his main values was family. The family in which he grew up, without which we would not have known Tolstoy the writer, the family that he created himself. Family like school of life and family as an institution. In life, family is method of reproduction and the best a means of instilling moral principles in a person, develop it talents. Family is transfer of experience between generations, the identity of the nation.
"Family Thought" was seriously affected for the first time Tolstoy in "Childhood". He portrays your family, its climate, the relationship between children and parents and the influence of the family atmosphere on himself. The apogee of development“family thoughts” in Tolstoy’s work became a novel "Anna Karenina". In the novel “War and Peace” through the prism of “family thought” is considered Patriotic War 1812
The novel "War and Peace" describes life of several noble families: Rostov, Bolkonsky and Kuragin.
Bolkonsky and Rostov- these are families who sympathizes with Tolstoy. Marya and Andrei Bolkonsky come out of them, Natasha - the writer's favorite characters. The members of these families were subjected to three main tests by the writer: social life, love, war. Families are shown not in isolation from the world around them, but in close contact with him and contacts with each other. It is in this way that Tolstoy reveals the “family thought.”
In the Rostov family was accepted are not afraid to express their feelings: cry, fall in love. It was one of the most hospitable families in Moscow. In addition to their children, they raised Boris and Sonya. The atmosphere in the house was universal love and trust. Love binds all family members. It manifests itself in sensitivity, attention, and closeness. At Rostov's everything is sincere, comes from the heart. Cordiality, hospitality, hospitality reign in this family, and the traditions and customs of Russian life are preserved. Only from such a family can children like Nikolai and Natasha come out. This people with a strong intuitive beginning, but not carrying any spiritual values. That is why they are drawn to family Bolkonsky, carrying moral and spiritual values.
In the Bolkonsky family reigns spartan setting. Here It’s not customary to cry, they don’t like guests here, everything here is subordinated to reason. This old aristocratic family. In addition to blood ties, the members of this family are also connected by spiritual closeness. Nikolai Andreevich, loving his daughter, forces her to study natural sciences, believing that she is completely bad. However, the princess’s spiritual foundations prevail. The happiness given to her at the end of the novel is a reward for suffering. Prince Andrey- this is the image of a real man: strong-willed, strong, practical, educated, moderately sensitive.
These two families form as if two halves, and it is quite natural that they are attracted to each other and form harmonious pairs. Spiritual and practical reunites as a couple Nikolai - Princess Marya. The same thing was supposed to happen between the prince Andrey and Natasha, but Bolkonsky's death prevents this.
Tolstoy contrasts Rostov and Bolkonsky the Kuragin family . Kuragins are symbol of a degraded family, a family in which material interest is placed above spiritual. The members of this family appear before us in all their insignificance, vulgarity, soullessness, greed. Kuragins live an artificial life; they are selfishly occupied with everyday interests. The family is devoid of spirituality. For Helen and Anatole, the main thing in life is the satisfaction of their base desires. They are completely cut off from people's life, they live in a brilliant but cold world, where all feelings are perverted. Prince Vasily is so carried away by secular affairs that he has lost all human essence. According to Tolstoy, this family has no right to exist, almost all of its members die. Can be compared with the Kuragins the family of Vera and Berg. Their whole life consists of imitating others. Their motto is “like others.” This family will be given children, but they will certainly be moral monsters.
The ideal of a harmonious family becomes couple Natasha Rostova - Pierre Bezukhov. All Pierre's spiritual quest, all Natasha's tireless energy went towards creating strong and reliable family. It is safe to say that their children will grow up healthy physically and morally.
By showing three families most fully in the novel, Tolstoy makes it clear to the reader that the future belongs to families like the Rostov and Bolkonsky families, embodying sincerity of feelings and high spirituality.
Closely connected with the theme of the people in the novel theme of family and nobility. The author divides the nobles into “haves” (these include Andrei Bolkonsky, Pierre Bezukhov), local patriots (old man Bolkonsky, the Rostovs), and secular nobility (the salon of Anna Pavlovna Scherer, Helen).
According to Tolstoy, the family is the soil for the formation human soul. And at the same time, each family is a whole world, special, unlike anything else, full of complex relationships. In the novel “War and Peace,” the theme of family, according to the author’s plan, serves as the most important means of organizing the text. The atmosphere of the family nest determines the characters, destinies and views of the heroes of the work. In the system of all the main images of the novel, the author identifies several families, using the example of which he expresses his attitude towards the ideal of home - these are the Rostovs, the Bolkonskys, the Kuragins.
The Rostovs and Bolkonskys are not just families, they are ways of life based on national traditions. These traditions were most fully manifested in the life of the Rostov representatives - a noble-naive family living by feelings, combining serious attitude to family honor (Nikolai Rostov does not refuse his father’s debts), warmth and cordiality family relations, hospitality and hospitality that distinguish Russian people. Talking about Petya, Natasha, Nikolai and the elder Rostovs, Tolstoy sought to artistically recreate the history of an average noble family early XIX century.
During the course of the story, Tolstoy introduces the reader to all representatives of the Rostov family, talking about them with deep interest and sympathy. The Rostov house in Moscow was considered one of the most hospitable, and therefore one of the most beloved. A kind, carefree and forgiving spirit of benevolent love reigned here. This caused good-natured ridicule among some, but it did not prevent anyone from taking advantage of Count Rostov’s hospitable generosity: kindness and love are always attractive.
The most prominent representative of the Rostov family is Natasha - charming, natural, cheerful and naive. All these traits are dear to Tolstoy, and for them he loves his heroine. Starting from the first acquaintance, the writer emphasizes that Natasha is not like other characters in the novel. We see her as a daring child when, at her name day, she fearlessly, despite the presence of Countess Akhrosimova (whom the whole world was afraid of), asks what kind of cake will be served for dessert; then matured, but still just as lively, spontaneous and charming, when she has to accept her first important decision- refuse Denisov, who proposed to her. She says: “Vasily Dmitrich, I feel so sorry for you!.. No, but you are so nice... but don’t... this is... otherwise I will always love you...” There is no direct logic in Natasha’s words , but at the same time they are touchingly pure and truthful. Later we see Natasha with Nikolai and Petya in Mikhailovsk, visiting her uncle, when she performs a Russian dance, causing admiration from those around her; Natasha, in love with Prince Andrei, and then carried away by Anatoly Kuragin. As she grows up, Natasha’s character traits also develop: love of life, optimism, amorousness. Tolstoy shows her in joy, in grief, and in despair, and shows her in such a way that the reader cannot doubt: all her feelings are sincere and genuine.
As the story progresses, we learn a lot of important things about Count Rostov: about the financial worries of Ilya Nikolaevich; about his hospitality and good nature; about how inimitably and fervently he dances Danila Kupora; about how much effort he makes to organize a reception in honor of Bagration; about how, in a fit of patriotic delight, returning from the palace where he heard and saw the emperor, he lets his youngest minor son go to war. Tolstoy almost always shows Countess Rostova through the eyes of Natasha. Her main feature is her love for children. For Natasha, she is the first friend and adviser. The Countess understands her children perfectly and is always ready to warn them against mistakes and give the necessary advice.
Tolstoy treats Petya, the youngest son of the Rostovs, with especially touching sympathy. This is a wonderful, kind, loving and beloved boy, so similar to Natasha, a faithful companion to her games, her page, unquestioningly fulfilling all the desires and whims of his sister. He, like Natasha, loves life in all its manifestations. He knows how to take pity on the captive French drummer, invites him to dinner and treats him fried meat, just as his father, Count Rostov, invited everyone to his house to feed and caress him. Petya's death is clear evidence of the senselessness and mercilessness of the war.
For the Rostovs, love is the basis of family life. Here they are not afraid to express their feelings either to each other or to friends and acquaintances. The love, kindness and warmth of the Rostovs extend not only to its members, but also to people who, by the will of fate, have become their loved ones. So, Andrei Bolkonsky, finding himself in Otradnoye, struck by Natasha’s cheerfulness, decides to change his life. The Rostov family never condemns or reproaches each other even when an act committed by one of its members deserves condemnation, be it Nikolai, who lost a huge amount of money to Dolokhov and put the family in danger of ruin, or Natasha, who tried to escape with Anatoly Kuragin. Here we are always ready to help each other and stand up for a loved one at any moment.
Such purity of relationships and high morality make the Rostovs similar to the Bolkonskys. But the Bolkonskys, in contrast to the Rostovs, attach great importance to their birth and wealth. They do not accept everyone indiscriminately. A special order reigns here, understandable only to family members; here everything is subordinated to honor, reason and duty. All representatives of this family have a clearly expressed sense of family superiority and self-esteem. But at the same time, in the Bolkonskys’ relationship there is natural and sincere love, hidden under the mask of arrogance. The proud Bolkonskys are noticeably different in character from the cozy and homely Rostovs, and that is why the unity of these two families, in the author’s view, is possible only between uncharacteristic representatives of these families (Nikolai Rostov and Princess Marya).
The Bolkonsky family in the novel is contrasted with the Kuragin family. Both the Bolkonskys and the Kuragins occupy a prominent place in the social life of Moscow and St. Petersburg. But if, when describing the members of the Bolkonsky family, the author draws attention to issues of pride and honor, then the Kuragins are depicted as active participants in intrigues and behind-the-scenes games (the story with Count Bezukhov’s briefcase), regulars at balls and social events. The way of life of the Bolkonsky family is based on love and cohesion. All representatives of the Kuragin family are united by immorality (secret connections between Anatole and Helen), unscrupulousness (an attempt to arrange Natasha’s escape), prudence (the marriage of Pierre and Helen), and false patriotism.
It is no coincidence that representatives of the Kuragin family belong to high society. From the first pages of the novel the reader is transported to St. Petersburg living rooms big world and gets acquainted with the “cream” of this society: nobles, dignitaries, diplomats, ladies-in-waiting. As the narrative progresses, Tolstoy tears away the veils of external brilliance and refined manners from these people, and their spiritual squalor and moral baseness are revealed to the reader. There is neither simplicity, nor goodness, nor truth in their behavior and relationships. Everything is unnatural, hypocritical in Anna Pavlovna Scherer’s salon. Everything alive, be it a thought and a feeling, a sincere impulse or a topical wit, fades away in a soulless environment. That is why the naturalness and openness in Pierre’s behavior frightened Scherer so much. Here they are accustomed to “decently pulled masks”, to a masquerade. Prince Vasily speaks lazily, like an actor in an old play, while the hostess herself behaves with artificial enthusiasm.
Tolstoy compares the evening reception at Scherer’s to a spinning workshop, in which “spindles made noise evenly and incessantly from different sides.” But in these workshops, important matters are decided, state intrigues are woven, personal problems are solved, selfish plans are outlined: places are looked for for unsettled sons, like Ippolit Kuragin, profitable parties for marriage are discussed. In this light, “eternal inhuman enmity, the struggle for mortal blessings, boils.” Suffice it to recall the distorted faces of the “mournful” Drubetskaya and the “merciful” Prince Vasily, when the two of them clutched the briefcase with the will at the bedside of the dying Count Bezukhov.
Prince Vasily Kuragin, the head of the Kuragin family, is a bright type of enterprising careerist, money-grubber and egoist. Entrepreneurship and acquisitiveness became, as it were, “involuntary” traits of his character. As Tolstoy emphasizes, Prince Vasily knew how to use people and hide this skill, covering it with subtle observance of the rules of secular behavior. Thanks to this skill, Prince Vasily achieves a lot in life, because in the society in which he lives, the search for various kinds of benefits is the main thing in relations between people. For the sake of his own selfish goals, Prince Vasily is developing very vigorous activity. Suffice it to recall the campaign launched to get Pierre married to his daughter Helen. Without waiting for Pierre and Helen's explanation or matchmaking, Prince Vasily bursts into the room with an icon in his hands and blesses the newlyweds - the mousetrap slammed shut. The siege of Maria Bolkonskaya, a rich bride for Anatole, began, and only chance prevented the successful completion of this “operation.” What kind of love and family well-being can we talk about when marriages are made out of open calculation? Tolstoy tells with irony about Prince Vasily, when he fools and robs Pierre, embezzling income from his estates and keeping several thousand quitrents from the Ryazan estate, hiding his actions under the guise of kindness and care for the young man, whom he cannot leave to the mercy of fate. .
Helen is the only one of all the children of Prince Vasily who does not burden him, but brings joy with her successes. This is explained by the fact that she was a true daughter of her father and early understood what rules she needed to play by in the world in order to achieve success and occupy a strong position. Beauty is Helen's only virtue. She understands this very well and uses it as a means to achieve personal gain. When Helen walks through the hall, the dazzling whiteness of her shoulders attracts the gaze of all the men present. Having married Pierre, she began to shine even brighter, did not miss a single ball and was always a welcome guest. Having openly cheated on her husband, she cynically declares that she does not want to have children from him. Pierre rightly defined its essence: “Where you are, there is debauchery.”
Prince Vasily is openly burdened by his sons. Youngest son Prince Vasily - Anatol Kuragin - is disgusted already at the first moment of acquaintance. When writing a description of this hero, Tolstoy noted: “He is like a beautiful doll, there is nothing in his eyes.” Anatole is sure that the world was created for his pleasure. According to the author, “he was instinctively convinced that he could not live differently than he lived”, that he “must live on thirty thousand income and always borrow highest position in society." Tolstoy repeatedly emphasizes that Anatole is handsome. But his outer beauty contrasts with his empty inner appearance. Anatole's immorality is especially evident during his courtship of Natasha Rostova, when she was the bride of Andrei Bolkonsky. Anatol Kuragin became a symbol of freedom for Natasha Rostova, and she, with her purity, naivety and faith in people, could not understand that this is freedom from the boundaries of what is permitted, from the moral framework of what is permissible. The second son of Prince Vasily - Ippolit - is described by the author as a rake and a veil. But unlike Anatole, he is also mentally limited, which makes his actions especially ridiculous. Tolstoy devotes rather little space to Ippolit in the novel, not deigning him with his attention. The beauty and youth of the Kuragins takes on a repulsive character, for this beauty is insincere, not warmed by the soul.
Tolstoy depicted the declaration of love between Boris Drubetsky and Julie Karagina with irony and sarcasm. Julie knows that this brilliant but poor handsome man does not love her, but demands a declaration of love according to all the rules for his wealth. And Boris, saying the right words, thinks that you can always arrange it so that you rarely see your wife. For the Kuragins and Drubetskys, all means are good to achieve success and fame and strengthen their position in society. You can join Masonic lodge, pretending that you are close to the ideas of love, equality, brotherhood, although in fact the only purpose of this is the desire to make profitable acquaintances. Pierre, a sincere and trusting man, soon saw that these people were not interested in questions of truth, the good of humanity, but in the uniforms and crosses that they sought in life.
“Family Thought” in the novel “War and Peace”
In the epic novel “War and Peace,” family thought occupies a very important place. Tolstoy saw the beginning of all beginnings in the family. As you know, a person is not born good or bad, but his family and the atmosphere that prevails within it make him so. Using the example of his heroes, Lev Nikolaevich clearly showed the diversity of family relationships, their positive and negative sides.
All the families in the novel are so natural, as if they existed in real life. Even now, two centuries later, we can meet the friendly Rostov family or the selfish “pack” of the Kuragins. Members of the same family have a common feature that unites them all.
Thus, the main feature of the Bolkonsky family can be called the desire to follow the laws of reason. None of the Bolkonskys, except, perhaps, Princess Marya, are characterized by an open manifestation of their feelings. The Bolkonsky family belongs to the old Russian aristocracy. Old Prince Bolkonsky embodies the best features of the serving nobility, devoted to those to whom they “sworn allegiance.” Nikolai Andreevich Bolkonsky most of all valued “two virtues in people: activity and intelligence.” Raising his children, he developed these qualities in them. Both Prince Andrei and Princess Marya differ in their spiritual education from other noble children.
In many ways, the worldview of this family is reflected in the words of the old prince, who sends his son to war: “Remember one thing, Prince Andrei: if they kill you, it will hurt the old man... and if I find out that you did not behave like the son of Nikolai Bolkonsky, it will hurt me. .. ashamed!" (clear moral criteria, the concept of honor of the family, clan). The behavior of Princess Marya evokes respect, feeling a deep sense of responsibility for her family, infinitely respecting her father (“Everything her father did aroused in her a reverence that was not subject to discussion”)
Different in character, all members of the Bolkonsky family are one thanks to their spiritual connection. Their relationship is not as warm as the Rostovs, but they are strong, like the links of a chain.
Another family depicted in the novel is in some way opposed to the Bolkonsky family. This is the Rostov family. If the Bolkonskys strive to follow the arguments of reason, then the Rostovs obey the voice of feelings, their family is filled with love, tenderness, and care. Everyone is frank with each other, they have no secrets or secrets. Maybe these people are not distinguished by special talents or intelligence, but they glow from within with family happiness. Unfortunately, the Rostovs will face terrible troubles and trials. Maybe this way they will have to pay for the happiness that was in the house for many years?.. But, having lost everything, the Rostov family will come to life again, only in another generation, preserving the tradition of love and comfort.
The third family is the Kuragin family. Tolstoy, showing all its members, be it Helen or Prince Vasily, pays great attention to the portrait and appearance. The external beauty of the Kuragins replaces the spiritual. This family contains many human vices: hypocrisy, greed, depravity, stupidity. Every person in this family has sinfulness in them. Their affection is not spiritual or loving. She is more animal than human. They are similar to each other, that's why they stick together. Tolstoy shows us that families like the Kuragins are ultimately doomed. None of its members is capable of being “reborn” from filth and vice. The Kuragin family dies, leaving no descendants.
In the epilogue of the novel, two more families are shown. This is the Bezukhov family (Pierre and Natasha), which embodied the author's ideal of a family based on mutual understanding and trust, and the Rostov family - Marya and Nikolai. Marya brought high spirituality to the Rostov family, and Nikolai continued to honor the value family comfort and cordiality.
By showing different families in his novel, Tolstoy wanted to say that the future belongs to families such as the Rostovs, Bezukhovs, and Bolkonskys. Such families will never die.
The Rostov family in the novel "War and Peace"
In War and Peace, family associations and the hero’s belonging to a “breed” mean a lot. Actually, the Bolkonskys or Rostovs are more than families, they are entire ways of life, families of the old type, with a patriarchal basis, old clans with their own special tradition for each family,” wrote (“War and Peace.” - In the book: Three masterpiece of Russian classics. M., 1971. p. 65).
Let's try to consider the Rostov family in this aspect, the features of the “Rostov breed”. The basic concepts that characterize all members of this family are simplicity, breadth of soul, life with feeling. The Rostovs are not intellectual, not pedantic, not rational, but for Tolstoy the absence of these traits is not a disadvantage, but only “one of the aspects of life.”
The Rostovs are emotional, generous, responsive, open, hospitable and friendly in the Russian way. In their family, in addition to their own children, Sonya, the niece of the old count, is being brought up; Boris Drubetskoy, the son of Anna Mikhailovna, who is a distant relative of them, has lived here since childhood. IN big house On Povarskaya there is enough space, warmth, love for everyone; there is that special atmosphere that attracts others.
And people themselves create it. The head of the family is the old count, Ilya Andreevich. This is a good-natured, eccentric gentleman, carefree and simple-minded, the foreman of the English club, a passionate hunter, and a lover of home holidays. He adores his family, the count has a close, trusting relationship with his children: he does not interfere with Petya’s desire to join the army, he worries about Natasha’s fate and health after her breakup with Bolkonsky. Ilya Andreevich literally saves Nikolai, who got into an unpleasant situation with Dolokhov.
At the same time, the Rostov household is left to chance, the manager deceives them, and the family gradually goes bankrupt. But the old count is not able to correct the current situation - Ilya Andreevich is too trusting, weak-willed and wasteful. However, as V. Ermilov notes, it is precisely these qualities of the hero that appear in a “completely different, new meaning and significance” in the great, heroic era (Tolstoy the artist and the novel “War and Peace.” M., 1961, p. 92).
In difficult times of war, Ilya Andreevich abandons his property and gives up carts to carry the wounded. Here in the novel there is a special internal motive, the motive of “transformation of the world”: liberation from the world of material things is liberation “from all the wardrobes of the old, evil, stupid world that Tolstoy was sick of with its deathly and deadening egoism - that happiness of liberation that he dreamed of for myself” and the writer himself. Therefore, Tolstoy sympathizes with this character, justifying him in many ways. “...He was a most wonderful man. You won’t meet such people these days,” friends say after the death of the old count.
The image of Countess Rostova, who has a real gift for teaching, is also remarkable in the novel. She also has a very close, trusting relationship with her children: the Countess is the first adviser to her daughters. “If I had kept her strictly, I had forbidden her... God knows what they would have done on the sly (the Countess meant, they would have kissed), but now I know her every word. She’ll come running in the evening and tell me everything,” says the countess about Natasha, who is in love with Boris. The Countess is generous, like all the Rostovs. Despite the difficult financial situation of her family, she helps her longtime friend, Princess Anna Mikhailovna Drubetskaya, by obtaining money for uniforms for her son, Boris.
The same warmth, love, and mutual understanding reign in the relationships between children. Long intimate conversations in the sofa are an integral part of this relationship. Natasha and Sonya open up for a long time when left alone. Natasha and Nikolai are spiritually close and tenderly attached to each other. Rejoicing at her brother’s arrival, Natasha, a lively, impetuous girl, cannot remember herself from delight: she has fun from the bottom of her heart, kisses Denisov, tells Nikolai her secrets and discusses Sonya’s feelings with him.
When girls grow up, that special elusive atmosphere is established in the house, “as it happens in a house where there are very nice and very young girls.” “Every young man who came to the Rostovs’ house, looking at these young, receptive, smiling girlish faces for something (probably their happiness), at this animated running around, listening to this inconsistent, but affectionate to everyone, ready for anything, full of hope the babble of female youth... experienced the same feeling of readiness for love and expectation of happiness that the youth of the Rostov house themselves experienced.”
Sonya and Natasha standing at the clavichord, “pretty and happy”, Vera playing chess with Shinshin, the old countess playing solitaire - this is the poetic atmosphere that reigns in the house on Povarskaya.
This one family world Nikolai Rostov is so dear to him, it is he who gives him one of the “best pleasures of life.” Tolstoy remarks about this hero: “gifted and limited.” Rostov is simple-minded, simple, noble, honest and straightforward, sympathetic and generous. Remembering his former friendship with the Drubetskys, Nikolai, without hesitation, forgives them their old debt. Like Natasha, he is receptive to music, to a romantic situation, to goodness. At the same time, the hero is deprived of a creative beginning in life; Rostov’s interests are limited to the world of his family and the landowner’s economy. Pierre's thoughts about a new direction for the whole world are not only incomprehensible to Nikolai, but also seem seditious to him.
The soul of the Rostov family is Natasha. This image serves in the novel as that “arch”, “without which the work could not exist as a whole. Natasha is the living embodiment of the very essence of human unity.
At the same time, Natasha embodies selfishness as a natural beginning human life, as a property necessary for happiness, for real activity, for fruitful human communication. In the novel, Natasha’s “natural egoism” is contrasted with the “cold egoism” of Vera and Helen, the sublime altruism and self-denial of Princess Marya, and Sonya’s “selfish self-sacrifice.” None of these properties, according to Tolstoy, are suitable for living, authentic life.
Natasha intuitively feels the very essence of people and events, she is simple and open, close to nature and music. Like the other Rostovs, she is not very intellectual, she is not characterized by deep thoughts about the meaning of life, or the sober introspection of the Bolkonskys. As Pierre remarks, she “doesn’t deign to be smart.” Main role For her, feelings play, “living with the heart” and not with the mind. At the end of the novel, Natasha finds her happiness in marriage with Pierre.
The Rostov family is unusually artistic and musical; all members of this family (with the exception of Vera) love singing and dancing. During a dinner party, the old count famously dances “Danila Kupora” with Marya Dmitrievna Akhrosimova, captivating the audience with “the surprise of deft twists and light jumps of his soft legs.” “Our father! Eagle!" - exclaims the nanny, delighted with this wonderful dance. Natasha’s dancing at her uncle’s in Mikhailovka and her singing are also extraordinary. Natasha has a beautiful raw voice, captivating precisely with its virginity, innocence, and velvet. Nikolai is deeply touched by Natasha’s singing: “All this, and misfortune, and money, and Dolokhov, and anger, and honor - all this is nonsense... but here it is real... My God! how good!... how happy!... Oh, how this third trembled and how something better that was in Rostov’s soul was touched. And this something was independent of everything in the world and above everything in the world.”
The only difference from all the Rostovs is the cold, calm, “beautiful” Vera, whose correct remarks make everyone feel “uneasy.” She lacks the simplicity and warmth of the “Rostov breed”; she can easily offend Sonya and read endless moral lectures to children.
Thus, in the life of the Rostov family, feelings and emotions prevail over will and reason. The heroes are not very practical and businesslike, but they life values- generosity, nobility, admiration for beauty, aesthetic feelings, patriotism - worthy of respect.