The story “The Enchanted Wanderer” presents its reader with the image of a person who cannot be compared with any of the characters in Russian literature. This is the image of a hero who easily merges with any troubles of life. Flyagin Ivan Severyanych or the “enchanted wanderer,” as the author of the story called him, is “charmed” by his own life, in particular, and by the whole world, in general. He accepts life as a gift, a great miracle that has no limits or boundaries. Wherever the hero’s fate takes him, he discovers something new and surprising and, perhaps because of this, is absolutely not afraid of change.
The image of Flyagin absorbed everything Russian. This is a man similar to the hero of ancient epics - huge in stature, open-faced, and his hair is curly and has a noble gray cast. He looks about fifty years old, he is kind, simple-minded and open-hearted to everyone he meets. The fact that Ivan Severyanych cannot get along in one place does not mean that he is fickle or frivolous; this way of life rather suggests that the hero strives to drink the whole world to the dregs. At least as much as he will manage in the years God has given him.
The life of Ivan Severyanych Flyagin
At birth, Flyagin took the life of his mother (he was born with a very large head, for which he received the nickname “Golovan”), but at the same time, he himself seemed invulnerable to death, which he was ready to accept at any moment. The hero holds his horses at the edge of a cliff, almost commits suicide, wins a dangerous fight, escapes from captivity, and avoids bullets during military operations. All his life he walks on the edge of death, but the earth is in no hurry to accept him.
Since childhood, Ivan loved horses and knew how to handle them. But his fate was such that he had to flee and steal horses. Wandering, Flyagin ends up among the Tatars and spends 10 years of his life in captivity (he is captured at the age of 23). After some time, Flyagin entered the army and served in the Caucasus for 15 years. Here he accomplishes a feat, for which he is promoted to officer and given a reward (St. George's Cross). As a result, Flyagin becomes a nobleman. In the end, at the age of about 50, Flyagin entered a monastery (on one of the islands in Lake Ladoga). In the monastery Flyagin receives church name- Father Ishmael. Having become a monk, Flyagin also serves as a coachman in the monastery. But Flyagin does not find peace even in the monastery: he is overcome by demons, and the gift of prophecy is revealed to him. The monks are trying in every possible way to drive him out of " evil spirits", but all to no avail. Finally, Flyagin is released from the monastery, and he goes to wander through holy places.
Flyagin observes the canons of his own morality, remaining honest in life to others and to himself. On his account, the lives of a monk, a Tatar and a young gypsy were cut short. But not a single one of the wanderer’s misdeeds was born out of hatred or lies, nor was it committed with a thirst for profit or out of fear for own life. The monk died as a result of an accident, the Tatar was killed in battle on equal terms, and the gypsy herself begged to end her unbearable existence. In the story of this unfortunate woman, Ivan took the sin upon himself, thereby freeing the girl from the need to commit suicide.
Ivan Severyanych talks about his life to random fellow travelers during a boat trip. The hero does not hide anything, since his soul is an open book. In the fight for justice, he is cruel, as in the case when he cut off the tail of the master's cat because she got into the habit of strangling his pigeons. But in another situation, Flyagin went to war for a boy whom his loving parents were afraid of losing. The only reason Ivan’s actions are a natural force that overflows from him. All this power and prowess of a Russian hero is quite difficult to manage. That’s why Ivan Severyanych could not always calculate it correctly. And therefore the hero of the story cannot be called impeccable; he is multifaceted - merciless and kind, smart and naive, daring and romantic.
The life of N. S. Leskov was difficult and painful. Misunderstood and unappreciated by his contemporaries, he received blows from right-wing critics as not being loyal enough and from the left, the same N.A. Nekrasov, who could not help but see the depth of the writer’s talent, but did not publish it in his Sovremennik. And Leskov, the wizard of words, weaved patterns of Russian speech and lowered his heroes into those abysses in which Dostoevsky’s heroes painfully existed, and then raised them to heaven, where the world of Leo Tolstoy was.
He paved a path in our prose that connected these two geniuses. This is especially noticeable when you dive into the structure of the story “The Enchanted Wanderer.” Ivan Flyagin, whose characteristics will be presented below, either descends into the underworld, or soars to the heights of the spirit.
Hero's appearance
Leskov presents the enchanted wanderer as a typical Russian hero. He is enormous in stature, and the long black cassock and high cap on his head make him even larger.
Ivan is dark-skinned, over 50. His hair is thick, but streaked with lead grey. In stature and power, he resembles Ilya Muromets, the good-natured hero from Russian epics. This is what Ivan Flyagin looks like, whose characterization will reveal the connection between the external and the internal, his wanderings and the dynamics of his development.
Childhood and first murder
He grew up in a stable and knew the temperament of every horse, knew how to cope with the most restive horse, and this requires not only physical strength, but strength of spirit, which the horse will feel and even recognize in a child as its owner. And a strong personality grew up, who was morally somewhat undeveloped. The author tells in detail what Ivan Flyagin was like at that time. His characterization is given in the episode when he, just like that, from the fullness of his strength, which he had nowhere to use, playfully killed an innocent monk. There was just a swing of the whip, with which the eleven-year-old boy hit the monk, and the horses bolted, and the monk, falling, immediately died without repentance.
But the soul of the murdered man appeared to the boy and promised that he would die many times, but would still become a monk without perishing on the roads of life.
Rescue of the noble family
And right there next to Leskov, like stringing beads, tells a story about the exact opposite case, when, again without thinking about anything, Ivan Flyagin saves the lives of his masters. His characteristics are courage and daring, which the fool does not even think about, but again simply acts without any thought.
God led the child, and he saved him from certain death in a deep abyss. These are the abysses into which Leskov immediately throws his character. But from a young age he is completely unselfish. Ivan Flyagin asked for an accordion for his feat. Characteristics of his subsequent actions, for example, refusal big money for the ransom of the girl with whom he was forced to babysit, they will show that he never seeks benefits for himself.
Second murder and escape
Quite calmly, in a fair fight, he killed (and it was a dispute over who would beat whom with a whip), as if it was supposed to be, the Tatar Ivan Flyagin. The characteristics of this act show that 23-year-old young Ivan has not matured enough to evaluate his own actions, but is ready to accept any, even immoral, rules of the game that are offered to him.
And as a result, he is hiding from justice among the Tatars. But in the end, he is in captivity, in a Tatar prison. Ivan will spend ten years with his “non-religious saviors” and will yearn for his homeland until he runs away. And he will be driven by determination, endurance and willpower.
Test of love
On his life's journey, Ivan will meet a beautiful singer, the gypsy Grushenka. She is so beautiful in appearance that Ivan is breathtaking from her beauty, but her spiritual world is also rich.
The girl, feeling that Flyagin will understand her, tells her simple, eternal girlish grief: her beloved played with her and abandoned her. But she cannot live without him and is afraid that she will either kill him along with his new lover, or commit suicide. Both frighten her - this is not Christian. And Grusha asks Ivan to take the sin on his soul - to kill it. Ivan was embarrassed and did not dare at first, but then pity for the girl’s unrequited torment outweighed all his doubts. The strength of her suffering led to Ivan Flyagin pushing Grusha into the abyss. The characteristic of this act is the special side of humanity. Killing is scary, and Christ’s commandment says: “Thou shalt not kill.” But Ivan, transgressing through her, goes to highest level self-sacrifice - he sacrifices his immortal soul to save the girl’s soul. While he is alive, he hopes to atone for this sin.
Becoming a soldier
And here again chance confronts Ivan with someone else’s grief. Under a false name, Ivan Severyanych Flyagin goes to war, to certain death. The characteristics of this episode in his life are a continuation of the previous one: compassion and sacrifice lead him to this act. What is higher than everything? To die for the fatherland, for the people. But fate is protecting him - Ivan has not yet passed all the tests that she is going to send him.
What is the meaning of life?
A wanderer, a wanderer, a wanderer, Ivan is a seeker of truth. For him, the main thing is to find the meaning of life associated with poetry. The image and characterization of Ivan Flyagin in the story “The Enchanted Wanderer” enable the author to embody the dreaminess characteristic of the people themselves. Ivan conveys the spirit of seeking truth. Ivan Flyagin is a wretched man who has experienced so much in his life that it would be enough for several people. He takes upon his soul countless sufferings, which take him to a new, higher spiritual orbit, in which life and poetry are united.
Characteristics of Ivan Flyagin as a storyteller
Flyagin-Leskov's tale is deliberately slowed down, as in an epic, thoughtful song. But when the forces of events and characters gradually accumulate, it becomes dynamic and impetuous. In the episode of bridling a horse that even the Englishman Rarey cannot handle, the method of storytelling is dynamic and sharp. Descriptions of horses are given in such a way that one remembers folk songs and epics. The horse in chapter 6 is compared to a bird that does not fly by its own strength.
The image is extremely poetic and closes with Gogol’s bird-troika. This prose should be read declamatory, slow, like a prose poem. And there are many such poems. What is the episode at the end of the 7th chapter worth, when the tormented wanderer prays so that the snow under his knees melts, and where the tears fell, grass appears in the morning. This is said by a lyrical poet - a passion-bearer. This and other miniatures have the right to a separate existence. But those inserted by Leskov into the larger narrative give it the necessary coloring, an enriching reflection.
Characteristic plan of Ivan Flyagin
When writing an essay, you can be guided by this brief plan:
- Introduction - an enchanted wanderer.
- Character's appearance.
- Wandering.
- Amulet for life.
- "Sinfulness" of Ivan.
- Immeasurable heroic forces.
- Hero's traits.
In conclusion, it should be said that N.S. Leskov himself walked the earth as an enchanted traveler, although he saw life in all its multilayeredness. The poetry of life was revealed to N. S. Leskov in contemplation and reflection, in the word. Perhaps the key to “The Enchanted Wanderer” is F. Tyutchev’s poem “The Lord send your joy...”. Re-read and ponder the pilgrim's path.
The epithet “enchanted” increases the feeling of poetry in the figure of the traveler. Bewitched, captivated, bewitched, driven mad, conquered - the range of this spiritual quality great For the writer, the enchanted wanderer was a characteristic figure of a person to whom one could entrust part of one’s dreams, making him the spokesman for the cherished thoughts and aspirations of the people.
In the 19th century, the topic of searching for God in a person’s life and the righteous path was relevant. Leskov developed and rethought the theme of righteousness, giving literature several original images. A righteous person is a person who comprehends the truth, or rather the truth of life. The title of the story “The Enchanted Wanderer” is symbolic: “enchanted” - bewitched, enchanted, “wanderer” - a person who travels paths, but not in physical terms, but in spiritual ones.
History of creation
In 1872 Leskov traveled around Lake Ladoga, visited Korely, the islands of Konevets and Valaam. After the trip, the writer begins to think about writing a story about a simple Russian man, a wanderer. Leskov writes the story “Black Earth Telemachus” - this is the first title of the work. In 1873, the writer received a refusal to publish the story in the Russian Messenger magazine. In the same year, the work was published in the Russian World under the title “The Enchanted Wanderer, His Life, Experiences, Opinions and Adventures. A Story. Dedicated to Sergei Egorovich Kushelev.” In the next independent publication in 1874, the dedication was removed.
Analysis of the work
Description of the work
The hero goes through the path of life and he is bewitched by it. The work tells the story of Ivan Flyagin, a simple Russian man who is fond of horses. On the way, tragedies happen to him, in particular, he commits a murder. He goes to a monastery, but wants to defend his homeland, because “I really want to die for the people.” His “truth” is self-sacrifice.
Main character
Ivan Flyagin, the reader meets him at the end of his sacrificial path, in monastic clothes, is about 50 years old. He looks like a hero who guards the Russian land. All Leskov's heroes, and Flyagin is no exception, are people of low rank, but of the highest spiritual beauty. He is an enthusiastic person, loves horses to such an extent that he is ready to sell his relatives for them. The circumstances of his life put him in different, sometimes unimaginable positions: he was a robber and a nanny. Ivan is a hero of “dubious holiness,” as Gorky aptly noted. He tortures a cat and commits murder of a man - he kills the girl he loves because he doesn't want to suffer anymore. But he goes to war instead of his son strangers, and in the end he goes to the monastery.
The hero talks about himself - this is a story within a story. This composition is called a frame composition. Ivan Flyagin is a typical representative of the Russian people, thanks to whom the essence of the nation is revealed. Leskov's hero, like many heroes of the works of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, passing life path, comprehends the dialectic of the soul. At the beginning, the reader sees a careless guy who does not think about his actions, for example, when he commits the murder of an old monk. In the end, he appears before us as a wise confessor with difficult life experience.
The story “The Enchanted Wanderer” is the story of the hero’s search for the path and place of spirituality in life. The hero managed to find moral ideal, he conquered sin within himself. Now Flyagin is led along the road of life by a feeling of beauty, fascination with the world, self-denial, sacrifice: “I want to die for the people.” A tall, morally stable personality appears before the reader, who has found meaning in a simple truth - to live for the sake of others.
Gorky wrote about Leskov’s works that “Russian fools... foolishly climb into the thickest mud of earthly life.” But the reader also remembers the biblical truth: a village is not worthwhile without a righteous person. It is Ivan Flyagins who allow humanity not to lose hope that God will win in man and the Devil and his temptations will be put to shame. Leskov's story made a significant contribution to Russian literature and is studied in school curriculum, known in other languages of the world.
Leskov's story, published in 1873, presents the unusual image of Ivan Flyagin, a Russian wanderer, whose life story is given by himself in the manner of an oral folk tale in a colloquial but surprisingly poetic language.
At the same time, the presentation of the events of the hero’s life, his biography, resembles the canons of the hagiography genre.
The image and characteristics of Ivan Flyagin in the story “The Enchanted Wanderer”
In the work, the image of the main character, although outwardly unpretentious and simple, is ambiguous and complex. The author, studying the deep layers of the Russian soul, looks for holiness in the actions of a sinner, shows an impatient lover of truth who makes many mistakes, but, suffering and comprehending what he has done, comes to the path of repentance and true faith.
Key words that reveal the image of Ivan Flyagin: a deeply religious person, a selfish and simple-minded nature, independence and openness, self-esteem, exceptional physical and spiritual strength, an expert in his field.
Portrait, characteristics and description of the main character
He was remarkable in appearance: heroic in stature, dark-skinned, with thick, curly hair streaked with gray, a gray mustache curled like a hussar, dressed in monastic robes. The author compares his appearance with the simple-minded, kind Russian hero Ilya Muromets from Vereshchagin’s painting. The hero was in his fifty-third year, and in the world his name was Ivan Severyanovich Flyagin.
Ivan's life path
We first meet the hero on a ship sailing along Lake Ladoga to Valaam. Talking with fellow travelers, he tells the story of his difficult life. The brief but frank confession of this handsome monk captivates the listeners.
By origin, the hero belonged to the serf rank, his mother died early, and his father served as a coachman at the stable, where the boy was assigned. Once he saved the count's family from death, risking his life. Miraculously surviving, the boy asks for a harmonica as a reward.
Once, for fun, Ivan whipped a monk who was dozing off in a cart so that he wouldn’t block the road, and he fell asleep under the wheels and died. This monk appeared to him in a dream and announced to Ivan that for his mother he was not only a long-awaited and prayed-for son, but also promised to God, therefore he needed to go to a monastery.
All his life this prophecy haunted him in unexpected situations. More than once he looked into the eyes of death, but neither earth nor water took him.
For mocking a cat that ate his pigeons, he was given a severe punishment: to crush stones for garden paths. Unable to bear the bullying and hardships, he decides to commit suicide. But a gypsy saves his life by persuading him to steal horses and go with him to the free life. And Ivan decided to do this, it was so painful for him. The gypsy deceived and cheated, and Ivan, having straightened out false documents for his pectoral cross, goes into the service of a nanny for a master whose wife has abandoned him.
There the hero became attached to the girl, fed goat milk, on the advice of the doctor, he began to carry her to the shore of the estuary and bury her sore legs in the sand. The inconsolable mother found the child, and, telling Ivan her story, began to beg him to give her her daughter. But Ivan was relentless, reproaching her for violating her Christian duty. When her partner offers the hero a thousand rubles, he, saying that he never sold himself, spits on the money with disgust, throws it at the soldier’s feet and fights with him. But, seeing the owner running with a pistol, he himself gives up the child and runs away with the one he had just beaten.
Left without documents and money, he again finds himself in trouble. At the horse auction he sees how the Tatars fight for horses, hitting each other with whips, and he also wants to try his hand. In a duel for a horse that was his for only a minute, he survived, but his opponent dies. The Tatars hide him and take him away with them, saving him from the police. So Flyagin is captured by the Gentiles, but a plan to escape is brewing in his mind and one day he manages to carry out his plan.
Returning to his homeland, he helps men buy horses at fairs. And then, thanks to rumor, the prince takes him into his service. Life has come calm and well-fed, only sometimes out of melancholy he breaks into sprees. And in the last exit, fate brings him together with the gypsy Grushenka, who conquered him, and Flyagin, as if spellbound, threw all the money he had at her feet. The prince, having learned about Pear, being carried away by her beauty and singing, brings her to the estate.
Ivan sincerely became attached to this extraordinary girl and looked after her. But when the impoverished prince decided to leave his annoying beloved for the sake of a profitable marriage, Ivan, pitying Grusha, distraught with grief and jealousy, who begged to save her from her shameful fate, pushes her off the cliff into the river.
Tormented by what he had done, seeking his own destruction, he leaves instead of another recruit to fight in the Caucasus, where he stayed for more than fifteen years. For faithful service and courage he was awarded the Cross of St. George and awarded the rank of officer. Having received a letter of recommendation from the colonel, he gets a job in the capital as a clerk at the address desk, but the work is not for him: boring, without money. But they no longer hire him as a coachman; his noble position does not allow his riders to scold or hit him. He settled down in a booth, where they did not disdain his nobility, to play a demon. But he didn’t stay there either; he got into a fight, protecting the young actress from harassment.
Again, left without shelter and food, he decided to go to the monastery. Having taken the name Ishmael, he fulfilled his obedience in the monastery stable, which he was very pleased with, because he did not need to attend all the services in the church. But his believing soul toils that it is not for him to serve in the temple, he cannot even light a candle properly, he will drop the entire candlestick. And he also killed a cow, accidentally mistaking him for a demon.
More than once he accepted punishment for his negligence. And he began to prophesy war in order to stand up for the fatherland with faith. Tired of this wonderful monk, the abbot sends him on a pilgrimage to Solovki. On his way to a pilgrimage, the enchanted wanderer meets his grateful listeners, to whom he told about the stages of his life’s journey.
Professions in the life of Ivan Flyagin
As a child, a boy is assigned to be a horseman to help control six horses, sitting on one of the first ones. After escaping from the count's estate with the gypsies, she serves as a nanny. In captivity among the Tatars he treats people and horses. Returning from captivity, he helps choose horses at fairs, then works as a horseman in the service of the prince.
After Grushenka’s death, he leaves for the Caucasus under an assumed name, where he serves as a soldier for fifteen years and is promoted to officer for his bravery. Returning from the war, he gets a job as a clerk in an address office. I tried to become a coachman, but they didn’t take me because officer rank. Due to lack of money, he becomes an actor, but is kicked out for fighting. And then he goes to the monastery.
Why is Flyagin called a wanderer?
Ivan wandered all his life; he never had the opportunity to lead a sedentary life, find a family and a home.
He is an “inspired vagabond” with an infant soul, whom no one is chasing, he himself runs in search of happiness.
But all his wanderings were aimless, only by going to a monastery did he become a pilgrim, going on pilgrimages to holy places.
What ridiculous things does Flyagin do?
All his actions are dictated by spiritual impulses. Without thinking, he often does ridiculous things. Then he runs away with the officer with whom he first fought, without giving up the child. Then, when he imagines demons, he throws off candles in the church, and accidentally kills a cow in his sleep.
How long did Flyagin spend in captivity?
Ivan falls into a long ten-year captivity among the steppe nomads-Tatars. To prevent him from running away, horse bristles are sewn into his cut heels, thus making him crippled. But they call him a friend and give him wives to look after him.
But he toils that he is not married, that his children are unbaptized, and is eager to return to his homeland. Having seized the moment when only old people, women and children remained on the migration, he runs away.
Can Ivan Flyagin be called a righteous man?
Ivan himself considers himself a terrible sinner and repents for the lives he ruined. But the deaths he caused were without malice: the monk died accidentally, due to his own negligence, the Tatar died in a fair fight, Grushenka was saved from a terrible fate at her request. Will repentance be given to the prince who crippled other people's destinies, to Grushenka's father who sold his daughter, to the Tatars who killed the missionaries?
Ivan is strong in his faith in moral principles, but he is not given Christian humility, and it is difficult to put up with injustice. He is fascinated by life, but having resisted temptations and endured the trials of fate, he finds peace in righteous faith and service. By atoning for his sins, he becomes righteous.
Quote from Flyagin
THE IMAGE OF IVAN FLYAGIN IN THE STORY "THE CHARMED WANDERER"
In the story “The Enchanted Wanderer,” Leskov creates a completely special image of a person, incomparable with any of the heroes of Russian literature, who is so organically fused with the changing elements of life that he is not afraid to get lost in it. This is Ivan Severyanych Flyagin, the “enchanted wanderer”; he is “fascinated” by the fairy tale of life, its magic, so for him there are no boundaries in it. This world, which the hero perceives as a miracle, is endless, just as his journey in it is endless. He has no specific purpose for the journey, because life is inexhaustible. Each new refuge of Flyagin is another discovery of life, and not just a change in one activity or another. The broad soul of the wanderer gets along with absolutely everyone - be it wild Kyrgyz or strict Orthodox monks; he is so flexible that he agrees to live according to the laws of those who accepted him: according to Tatar custom, he fights to the death with Savarikei, according to Muslim custom, has several wives, takes for granted the cruel “operation” that the Tatars performed on him ; In the monastery, he not only does not complain about the fact that, as punishment, he was locked up for the whole summer in a dark cellar, but he even knows how to find joy in it: “Here you can hear the church bells, and your comrades have visited.” But despite such an accommodating nature, he does not stay anywhere for long. It may seem that Ivan is frivolous, fickle, unfaithful to himself and others, so he wanders around the world and cannot find refuge for himself. But that's not true. He proved his devotion and fidelity more than once - both when he saved the family of Count K. from imminent death, and in his relations with the prince and Grusha - and such a frequent change of habitat and the constant motive for Flyagin’s flight are explained not by dissatisfaction with life, but by , on the contrary, with thirst to drink it to the last drop. He is so open to life that it carries him, and he follows its flow with wise humility. But this is not a consequence of mental weakness and passivity, but a complete acceptance of one’s fate. Often Flyagin is not aware of his actions, intuitively relying on the wisdom of life, trusting it in everything. AND higher power, to whom he is open and honest, rewards him for this and keeps him. Ivan is invulnerable to death, for which he is always prepared. Miraculously, he escapes death, keeping his horses on the edge of the abyss; the gypsy takes him out of the noose; he gains the upper hand in a duel with a Tatar; escapes from captivity; escapes bullets during the war. Flyagin says about himself that he “perished all his life, but could not perish,” and explains this by saying that he is a “great sinner” whom “neither the earth nor the water wants to accept.” On his conscience are the deaths of the monk, the Tatar and the gypsy Grusha, without a twinge of conscience he abandons his children from his Tatar wives, he is “tempted by demons.” But none of his “sinful” actions were generated by hatred, lies, or thirst for personal gain. The monk’s death is the result of an accident, Ivan pinned Savarikey to death in a fair fight, and in the story with Grusha, he acted following the dictates of his conscience, fully aware that he was committing murder... Realizing the inevitability of the gypsy’s death, he takes the sin upon himself, hoping in the future to beg God's forgiveness. “You will live, you will pray to God for my soul and for yours, don’t destroy me so that I will raise my hand against myself,” the unfortunate Grusha begs him. Ivan has his own religion, his own morality, but in life he is always honest with himself and with others. Narrating about his life, Flyagin does not hide anything, for his soul is open both to God and to random fellow travelers. Flyagin is naive and simple, like a baby, but when he fights injustice and evil, he can be decisive and even cruel. For torturing the bird, he punishes the master's cat and cuts off its tail, for which he himself suffers severe punishment. He “really wants to die for the people,” and he goes to war in place of the young man, with whom his parents are unable to part.
Flyagin is an unusually gifted person; nothing is impossible for him. The secret of his strength, invulnerability and amazing gift - to always feel joy - lies in the fact that he always acts as circumstances require. He is in harmony with the world when the world is harmonious, and he is ready to fight evil when it stands in his way.