Search for the meaning of life by Andrei Bolkonsky and Pierre Bezukhov. (based on the novel by L.N. Tolstoy "War and Peace") Andrei Bolkonsky and Pierre Bezukhov are L. Tolstoy's favorite heroes, whom he told us about in his novel "War and Peace". they are so attractive as in modern world for many they became a role model.? The fact is that the life of both is a path of searching for an activity that would make sense of their existence. This is important today. What to do to become useful? Let's try to answer this question. Tolstoy's favorite heroes change throughout the novel, make mistakes, correct them and come to the only truth, in the writer's opinion. The path of Prince Andrei's quest is complex and multifaceted. He is educated, intelligent and active. Bored in the company of social minions and his wife, he is getting ready for war, dreaming of glory. I love nothing but glory, human love?" the sky, his former idol seemed small and insignificant to him. Having experienced severe depression, having become disillusioned with the pursuit of fame, having lost his wife, the hero decides to live in solitude for the sake of his son. But this period will be short-lived. Such an active person cannot reconcile and calm down. What revives him to a new life is not only a conversation with Pierre, who has found for a way out in caring for the peasants, but also an old oak tree, which suddenly blossomed in lush color, as if telling Andrei that life is not over at 30 years old. "Andrei significantly improves the situation of his peasants by showing concern for them. We must live, we must love, “one must believe” - this is the prince’s new motto. The meeting with Natasha helped the hero to know the joy of life. New love revives him. And at the same time, the betrayal of his beloved plunges him into new suffering, from which he emerges by deciding to take up government activities under the leadership of Speransky. Bolkonsky writes notes on the transformation of Russia. But they are of no interest to anyone. State activity is a fiction. The hero understands. It would seem that there is no way out? But the year 1812 broke out. And Andrei understands that this is what is needed for him. To serve his homeland. He does not want to be in the Tsar’s retinue. He does not want to sit in the headquarters. He commands a regiment, trying in every possible way to make the life of his soldiers easier. Mortally wounded in the battle of Borodino, Bolkonsky dies without realizing all his plans. But his son, Nikolenka, is going to continue his father’s work And he has a dream where his father is next to Pierre. And what about Pierre? What is his path of quest? We first meet him in the salon of A.P. Scherer, in 1804, he returned from abroad and is imbued with the ideas of the French Revolution. His idol is Napoleon. Pierre is smart and kind, he is very natural, for which the sarcastic Andrei Bolkonsky loves him. The fascination with social life and its joys will pass quickly. But under the influence of the people around him, Pierre makes a number of mistakes. He takes part in revelries and excesses in the company of Kuragin and Dolokhov. For a while he becomes a toy in the hands of the cunning prince Vasily Kuragin, who robs him and marries him to his daughter , the immoral Helen. Pierre indulges in gluttony: he eats, drinks a lot, leads an unworthy lifestyle.. He shoots himself in a duel with Dolokhov, realizing the unnecessaryness of this act. He breaks off relations with his wife, giving her most of his fortune. Pierre moves away from the capitals, without seeing any goals in life. But refusing such a life gives Pierre the opportunity to change it. He becomes a Freemason. This teaching revived the hero to life. The idea of self-improvement attracted him. He strives to improve the situation of his peasants. (and although not everything succeeds due to gullibility and inexperience Bezukhov, we rejoice at the hero’s new actions) But the real apogee of Pierre’s revival was the war of 1812. We see the hero on the Borodino field, bringing boxes with shells and not dodging bullets. We see that he equipped a regiment at his own expense. We see him on the streets of captured Moscow. He intends to kill Napoleon as a universal evil. He will save the girl. He is captured. Cold, hunger, lice, dirt and lack of rights do not make the hero a slave. He exclaims, “They want to enslave me, my immortal soul!” On the contrary. He meets Platon Karataev in captivity, who had a huge influence on his worldview. Pierre realized that all the delights of a well-fed life are nonsense. The hero comes to the conclusion that he must live “for the sake of simplicity, goodness and truth.” With this thought, he returns from captivity. marries Natasha (whom he loved for a long time, appreciating in her simplicity. kindness." Pierre becomes a Decembrist in order to alleviate the fate of his people. Thus way, both Andrey and Pierre, found the meaning of life in serving the Motherland and their people. Both heroes were typical of their time, although there were few such people. They were characterized by dissatisfaction with life, a desire for useful activity, and patriotism.
MOU average secondary school № 175
Leninsky district of Nizhny Novgorod
What do the main characters of the novel by L.N. see as the meaning of life? Tolstoy "War and Peace"
Completed by: student of class 10 “A”
Goreva Anna
Checked by: literature teacher
Grishina Lyudmila Leonidovna
N. Novgorod, 2010
Introduction
L.N. Tolstoy inherited from his father, a participant foreign trips times Patriotic War, self-esteem, independence of judgment, pride. Having entered Kazan University, he showed extraordinary abilities in studying foreign languages however, he quickly became disillusioned student life. At the age of 19 he leaves the university and goes to Yasnaya Polyana, deciding to devote himself to improving the lives of his peasants. The time begins for Tolstoy to search for a purpose in life. He is either going to go to Siberia, then going to Moscow, then to St. Petersburg; then he decides to join the Horse Guards Regiment... During these same years, L. Tolstoy was seriously involved in music, pedagogy, and philosophy. In a painful search, Tolstoy comes to the main task of his life - literary creativity. Total great writer created over 200 works, including the epic novel War and Peace. According to Turgenev, “nothing better has ever been written by anyone.” It is enough to note that the text of the novel was rewritten 7 times; its composition is striking in its complexity and harmony.
The novel “War and Peace” was created by Tolstoy in the 1860s, and the final edition appeared in the 1870s, when there were debates in Russian society about the further paths of development of Russia. The epic basis of the work is the feeling of life as a whole and being in the full breadth of this concept. According to Tolstoy, life is specific in national and socio-historical content, it is presented in the diversity of its forms and contradictions.
Issues of life and death, truth and lies, joy and suffering, personality and society, freedom and necessity, happiness and unhappiness, war and peace constitute the problems of the novel. Tolstoy showed many spheres of existence in which human life takes place.
The study of human consciousness, prepared by introspection, allowed him to become a profound psychologist. In the images he created, especially in the images of the main characters of the novel, inner life human - a complex contradictory process usually hidden from prying eyes. He is interested in the path a person’s soul takes in its quest for the high, the ideal, in its quest to know itself. It is he who helps the reader learn to highlight the most important thing in his life, to direct his strengths and talents in the right direction. Depicting a modern society for his era, Leo Tolstoy clearly divides its representatives into those who are constantly in search, who are not satisfied with generally accepted norms of behavior, who do not stop there and constantly improve their soul, and those who go with the flow and are afraid to turn into side, look deep into yourself, who prefers to succumb to the established rules of life. That is why such heroes as Andrei and Marya Bolkonsky, Pierre Bezukhov, Natasha and Nikolai Rostov, who are the best people, born into noble Russian noble families, are clearly contrasted with the Kuragin family, Boris Drubetsky, Colonel Berg and many other representatives secular society.
Spiritual quests of the main characters (using the example of Prince Andrei Bolkonsky and Count Pierre Bezukhov)
Heroes of L.N. Tolstoy is very difficult to define unambiguously. They are not divided into good and bad, kind and evil, smart and stupid, they simply live, search, often making mistakes in their search.
Prince Andrei Bolkonsky is one of the brightest and most tragic figures in the novel “War and Peace”. From his first appearance on the pages of the work until his death from wounds in the Rostov house, Bolkonsky’s life is subject to its own internal logic.
And in military service, and in political activity, both in the world and, most strangely, in love, Andrei remains lonely and misunderstood. Closedness and skepticism - here distinctive features Andrei even in his communication with his loved ones: father, sister, Pierre, Natasha. Marya tells him: “You are good to everyone, Andre, but you have some kind of pride of thought.” But he is far from a misanthrope. With all his soul he wants to find a use for his mind and abilities, “with all the strength of his soul he was looking for one thing: to be completely good...” But his life is not like a search for the new, but like an escape from the old. A sharp mind pushes him to activity, but the inner feeling of the elements of life stops him, pointing out the futility of a person’s efforts. Andrey's endeavors end in disappointment. His sincere desire to serve his homeland and cause is faced with general indifference.
A man with a sober and skeptical mind, Prince Andrei could not find a place for himself in the environment of deceitful self-interest and flattering careerism that reigned in secular and military life. His patriotism and responsibility for the cause are most clearly manifested in the service of Speransky and in the War of 1812: “He was entirely devoted to the affairs of his regiment, he was caring about his people and officers and affectionate with them. In the regiment they called him “our prince,” they were proud of him and loved him.” But gradually he comes to the conclusion that all his efforts are nothing more than vanity.
Life path Prince Andrey is a story of disappointments, but at the same time a story of comprehension of the meaning of life. Bolkonsky is gradually getting rid of illusions - the desire for secular glory, a military career, and socially useful activities. In a dispute with Pierre, he denies the possibility of transformation even within the estate. However, he himself reforms his farm and sets the peasants free, which was an unheard-of innovation at that time.
The main thing in Andrei Bolkonsky’s nature is honesty and sincerity, so he is afraid of big words and promises. It is better to remain silent and inactive, and if you do something, then also without further ado.
Even with Speransky, he behaves warily, although in his heart he welcomes his endeavors.
The prince considers any talk about love for “neighbors” to be hypocrisy. You should love yourself and your family first. And by respecting himself and acting with honor, a person will inevitably be useful to people, in any case, he will not harm them. Andrei considers responsibility for other people an exorbitant burden, and making decisions for them as irresponsible and narcissistic.
Prince Andrei's periods of disappointment are replaced by periods of happiness and spiritual rebirth. Such a happy time for him was the battles at Austerlitz, his service in the military commission, and his love for Natasha.
But these happy moments were again replaced by inner devastation and disappointment.
One of the most important issues, tormented by Andrei Bolkonsky, there was a question about man’s place in life. He is convinced that everything happens not at the behest of heroes and leaders, but by itself, by chance or by the will of fate.
This truth was revealed to him especially clearly on the eve of the Battle of Borodino. Honest and frank with himself, Andrei wants the same frankness and clarity in the expected events: “If there is war now, then war. War is not a courtesy, but the most disgusting thing in life, and we must understand this and not play at war.” He reaches the value of the life of the individual, from the marshal to the soldier.
The wound and the dying thoughts that followed it turn Andrei’s consciousness upside down. For him, it becomes clearer what he always carried within himself, but did not let out, an understanding of the simplicity of life and love as main value, which makes people people. Dying, he forgives Natasha, Anatoly Kuragin, and the whole world with all its shortcomings.
Andrei Bolkonsky went from ambitious egoism and pride to self-denial. His life is the evolution of the pride of the human mind, resisting the unconscious kindness and love that constitute the meaning of human life. A lonely and proud hero, even if very smart and positive in all respects, according to L.N. Tolstoy, cannot be useful to this world.
The image of Pierre is presented in the work in the process continuous development. Throughout the entire novel, one can observe the train of thought of this hero, as well as the slightest fluctuations of his soul. He's not just looking for life position, in particular, a convenient for him, but absolute truth, the meaning of life in general. The search for this truth is a search through all of fate.
In the novel, Pierre first appears in Anna Pavlovna Scherer's salon. “He had not served anywhere yet, he had just arrived from abroad, where he was brought up, and was for the first time in society.” At the beginning of the epic, Pierre is a weak-willed young man, constantly in need of someone’s guidance and therefore falling under various influences: either Prince Andrei, then the company of Anatoly Kuragin, or Prince Vasily. His outlook on life is not yet firmly established. Pierre returned from France, overwhelmed with ideas French Revolution. Napoleon for him is a hero, the embodiment of the French national spirit. Going to the Assembly of the Nobility, he recalls the communication of the monarch with the people in 1789 and hopes that he will see something similar to what happened in France. In the epilogue, Tolstoy makes it clear that Pierre takes an active part in the secret Decembrist societies.
As a personality, Pierre has not yet formed, and therefore his intelligence is combined with “dreamy philosophizing,” and absent-mindedness, weakness of will, lack of initiative, unsuitability for practical activities - s exceptional kindness.
Pierre is just beginning his life and therefore has not yet been spoiled by social conventions and prejudices, by that environment for which only dinners, gossip and, in particular, who the old Count Bezukhov will leave his inheritance are interested in.
Gradually, Pierre begins to understand the laws by which this society lives. Before his eyes there is a struggle for the mosaic briefcase of Count Bezukhov. The hero also observes a change in attitude towards himself that occurred after he received the inheritance. And yet Pierre is not characterized by a sober assessment of what is happening. He is perplexed, sincerely surprised by the changes and yet takes it for granted, without trying to find out the reasons for himself.
L.N. Tolstoy is a writer of enormous, truly global scale, and the subject of his research has always been man, the human soul. For Tolstoy, man is part of the universe. He is interested in the path a person’s soul takes in the pursuit of the high, the ideal, in attempts to know itself. It is no coincidence that when reading Tolstoy we remember the term first introduced into literary use by N. G. Chernyshevsky - “dialectics of the soul.” According to him, the writer is most interested in the mental process itself, its forms, its laws, the dialectics of the soul...How is this process shown in Leo Tolstoy’s immortal epic novel “War and Peace”? Main problem, which the writer poses in his novel, is the problem of human happiness, the problem of searching for the meaning of life. His favorite heroes are Andrei Bolkonsky, Pierre Bezukhov, Natasha and Nikolai Rostov, people searching, tormenting, suffering. They are characterized by a restless soul, a desire to be useful, needed, loved. The most beloved and closest hero to the writer is Pierre Bezukhov. Like Andrei Bolkonsky, Pierre is honest and highly educated. But if Andrei is a rationalist (for him, reason prevails over feelings), then Bezukhov is a “spontaneous person”, capable of acutely feeling and easily being excited.” Pierre is characterized by deep thoughts and doubts in search of the meaning of life. His life path is complex -; At first, due to the recklessness of his youth and under the influence of the environment, he makes many mistakes: he leads the reckless life of a social reveler and a slacker, allows Prince Kuragin to rob himself and marry the frivolous beauty Helene, shoots himself in a duel with Dolokhov, breaks up with his wife, and becomes disappointed. in life. He hates the universally recognized lies of secular society, and he understands the need for a different path.
At this critical moment, Bezukhov meets the freemason Bazdeev. This “preacher” deftly places before the gullible Count the networks of a religious-mystical society that called for the moral improvement of people and their unification on the basis of brotherly love. Pierre understood Freemasonry as a doctrine of equality, brotherhood and love, and this helps him direct his efforts to improve the lives of serfs. He was going to free the peasants, establish hospitals, shelters, and schools.
The War of 1812 forces Pierre to get down to business again, but his passionate appeal to help the Motherland causes general discontent among the Moscow nobility. He fails again. However, overwhelmed by a patriotic feeling, Pierre, with his own money, equips a thousand militia and himself remains in Moscow to kill Napoleon. Either die, or stop the misfortunes of all of Europe, which, according to Pierre, came from Napoleon alone. This is how the author arranges his forces at this moment.
An important step in Pierre's quest is his visit to the Borodino field during the famous battle. Here he realized that history is created by the most powerful force in the world - the people. The sight of animated and sweaty militia men, working in the field with loud talk and laughter, “affected Pierre more than anything that he had seen and heard so far about the solemnity and significance of the present moment.” Pierre's even closer rapprochement with ordinary people occurs after a meeting with a soldier, former peasant, Platon Karataev, who, according to Tolstoy, is a part of the masses. From Karataev, Pierre gains peasant wisdom, and in communication with him “finds that calmness and self-satisfaction for which he had vainly strived before.”
The life path of Pierre Bezukhov is typical of the best part of the noble youth of that time. It was from such people that the iron cohort of the Decembrists was made up. They have much in common with the author of the epic, who was faithful to the oath given to him and his youth: “To live honestly, you have to struggle, get confused, fight, make mistakes, start and give up again, and start again and give up again, and forever fight and lose. And calmness is spiritual meanness.”
Other heroes of Tolstoy's novel are also mentally restless: Andrei Bolkonsky, who achieves harmony with himself only on the Borodino field, Natasha - when she becomes a wife and mother, Nikolai - having made a military career. With the fates of the heroes of the novel, Tolstoy confirmed his main idea: “Man is everything... he is a fluid substance.” In his work, L.N. Tolstoy managed to fulfill the main task - to capture and show the moment of fluidity of life.
Table of contents.
1. Introduction.
2. Creative history"War and Peace".
3. First meetings with Pierre Bezukhov and Andrei Bolkonsky.
4. Pierre's Freemasonry.
5. “No, life is not over at thirty-one...”
6. Participation in the War of 1812.
7. Death of Andrei Bolkonsky.
8. Captivity of Pierre. Meeting Karataev. Marriage to Natasha.
9. Decembrist plans of Pierre Bezukhov.
Introduction.
Recently, in literature lessons, we studied the epic novel “War and Peace” by L. N. Tolstoy. In this novel, L. N. Tolstoy depicted the life, worries, hobbies, love of the noble class of Russia in early XIX century. In his novel, the writer very vividly, figuratively and without embellishment depicted the war of 1805-1807 and 1812 with the French and the participation of his main characters in these wars and their greatest patriotism in defending their Motherland. Shows how the worldview and way of thinking of the advanced part of the Russian aristocracy and nobility is changing. Among the huge number of characters in War and Peace (and there are about six hundred of them) there are both outstanding historical figures and ordinary participants in 1812. Andrei Bolkonsky and Pierre Bezukhov, as well as Tolstoy, who were looking for truth, justice and real human happiness in life, are depicted with great sympathy. The greatness and significance of this novel in world literature is confirmed by the statements of contemporaries. Gorky called "War and Peace" greatest work world literature in the 19th century." “This novel is perhaps the greatest that has ever been written,” said the French communist writer Louis Aragon. The classic of French literature G. Flaubert, having become acquainted with this work, wrote to Turgenev: “Thank you for making me read Tolstoy’s novel. It's first class. What a painter and what a psychologist!..” Next, I will try to show the full validity of these statements about L.N. Tolstoy as a great writer.
Creative history of "War and Peace".
In the early 60s, Tolstoy plunged headlong into social work. Welcoming the reform of 1861, he becomes a “world mediator” and defends the interests of the peasants. Tolstoy gets carried away pedagogical activity, twice travels abroad to study the organization of public education in Western Europe...
But is it even possible for the nobles to reconcile with the people? Are their hopes not utopian? Tolstoy recalled the besieged Sevastopol in December 1854 and convinced himself once again that it was possible: after all, then the Sevastopol garrison really represented a world of officers, sailors and soldiers united into one whole. And the Decembrists, who gave their lives for the interests of the people, and the Patriotic War of 1812........
Conclusion.
So, let's summarize. In "War and Peace" Tolstoy's ability to depict human experiences was very clearly demonstrated. The writer achieved the ability to convey the “dialectic human soul", using the internal monologues of the characters. Such, for example, are the thoughts of Andrei Bolkonsky, who suddenly saw the high sky above him.
Tolstoy was able to convey with extraordinary force the patriotic uplift that the Russian people experienced in 1812. “In War and Peace, I loved the people’s thought,” said the writer.
Everything that was removed and debunked by life during the War of 1812 - both proud dreams of glory, and the high Bolkonsky sky, and painful introspection in search of truth - all this returns to normal again in the finale of the epic novel. Pierre Bezukhov, who discovered the universal meaning of Karataev's folk truth in the trials of the Patriotic War, leaves him for proud dreams, doubts and anxieties. Glory again calls young Bolkonsky, who dreams of following in his father’s footsteps.
If L.N. Tolstoy would have written this the only novel in our lives, we would still consider him a great Russian writer.
References.
1. Tolstoy L.N., War and Peace, ed. Education, M., 1981, volume 1-4.
2. Popovkin A., L. N. Tolstoy, ed. GIDL, M., 1963.
3. Children's Encyclopedia, ed. Enlightenment, M., 1968
4. Collection of articles-L. N. Tolstoy in Russian criticism, ed. Soviet Russia, M., 1978.
5. A short reference book for schoolchildren, ed. Astrel, M., 2003.
6. Great encyclopedia Cyril and Methodius, ed. "LLC "Cyril and Methodius"", M., 2005.
“War and Peace."
Leo Tolstoy is a writer of enormous, worldwide scale. Main subject his research is man, his soul. The writer is interested in the path a person’s soul takes in its quest for the high, the ideal, in its quest to understand itself. It is no coincidence that when talking about the heroes of Tolstoy’s epic “War and Peace”, we recall the term first introduced into literary usage by N.G. Chernyshevsky - “dialectics of the soul”.
(N.G. Chernyshevsky wrote: “Psychological analysis can take different directions: one poet is most occupied with the outlines of characters; another - the influence of social relations and clashes on characters; a third - the connection of feelings with actions... Count Tolstoy is most of all concerned with the mental process itself, his forms, its laws, dialectics of the soul”).
The main problem that the writer poses in his novel is the problem of human happiness, the problem of searching for the meaning of life. Tolstoy's favorite heroes are Bolkonsky, Bezukhov, Rostova - heroes who are walking, who are suffering. They are characterized by a restless soul, a desire to be useful, needed, loved. They have many things in common with the writer, first of all the desire to live honestly. Tolstoy wrote in his youth: “To live honestly, you have to struggle, get confused, struggle, make mistakes, start and give up, and start again and give up again, and always struggle and lose. And calmness is spiritual meanness.” His favorite heroes go through the path of trial, error, loss and gain.
Andrei Nikolaevich Bolkonsky is the main character of the novel, the son of the famous Prince Nikolai Andreevich Bolkonsky. The old prince, who valued his honor, was independent, and distinguished by his straightforward judgment, valued knowledge, education, accuracy, and pedantry; He instills these qualities in his son.
For Pierre Bezukhov, Prince Andrei is perfection; he combines in himself those qualities that Pierre does not have, first of all, willpower.
Meeting him at an evening in Anna Pavlovna Sherer’s salon, we see a handsome young man with a tired, bored look; a grimace mars his face when he addresses his wife, the charming Princess Lisa. He is tired of the world of glitter and vanity, although he belongs completely to him. Prince Andrei's idol during this period of his life is Napoleon, whose military glory and talent he admires. Andrey also wants to reach the heights of fame, dreams of being famous, being loved and admired. For this purpose, he went to the war of 1805. During the events of this war, he understands a lot. In the Battle of Shengraben, he witnesses how Tushin’s battery fought the enemy to the last, while the staff officers did not even transmit the order to retreat and did not take care of covering the battery. People like Tushin, ordinary soldiers, help Prince Andrei understand what a real military feat is.
Prince Andrei was looking for an opportunity to prove himself, and this opportunity presented itself: during the Battle of Austerlitz, he, picking up the banner, tries to stop the fleeing army and leads the soldiers into battle. At this moment it seems to him that the goal he was striving for has been achieved. But he is wounded. And on the Field of Austerlitz, having come to his senses, he hears the voice of his idol, Napoleon, and the words he said about Prince Andrey: “What a wonderful death!” But they do not bring him happiness. Prince Andrey sees an endless high sky with clouds floating across the sky, which symbolize life. His ideal turns out to be insignificant and petty, “little Napoleon.”
The next step moral quest Prince Andrei had a meeting with Pierre Bezukhov in Bogucharovo. Pierre was struck by the change that happened to Andrei, his “dead, extinct look.” Disappointed in the glory of Napoleon, for which thousands of human lives were sacrificed, Andrei confesses to Pierre: “If Bonaparte had stood here - near Smolensk, then I would not have served in the Russian army...”, “I live - and it’s not my fault.” ; therefore, it is necessary to live until death somehow better, without interfering with anyone.”
Andrei focuses on raising his son, building a house, helping his father engage in the militia, and refuses the position of leader of the nobility. Andrei is gloomy and skeptical, but Pierre energizes his friend, and therefore “the meeting with Pierre was for Prince Andrei the era that began... inner world his new life."
Having lived in the village for 2 years, Andrei managed to accomplish many useful things. One of his estates of three hundred souls was transferred to free cultivators; in others, corvee was replaced by quitrent. A midwife was assigned to Bogucharovo, and the priest taught the peasant children to read and write.