Thought of the people's novel war the world of Tolstoy. The essay “People's Thought” in the novel “War and Peace”
“I tried to write the history of the people,” words of L.N. Tolstoy about his novel “War and Peace”. This is not just a phrase: the great writer really depicted in the work not so much individual heroes, but the entire people as a whole. “People's Thought” defines in the novel Tolstoy’s philosophical views, the depiction of historical events, specific historical figures, and the moral assessment of the heroes’ actions.
“War and Peace,” as Yu.V. rightly noted. Lebedev, “this is a book about different phases in the historical life of Russia.” At the beginning of the novel "War and Peace" there is a disunity between people at the family, state and national levels. Tolstoy shows the tragic consequences of such confusion in the family spheres of the Rostovs - Bolkonskys and in the events of the war of 1805, lost by the Russians. Then, according to Tolstoy, another historical stage of Russia opens in 1812, when the unity of people, “people's thought,” triumphs. “War and Peace” is a multi-component and integral narrative about how the principles of selfishness and disunity lead to disaster, but are met with opposition from the elements of “peace” and “unity” rising from the depths of people’s Russia.” Tolstoy called for “leaving kings, ministers and generals alone,” and studying the history of peoples, “infinitesimal elements,” since they play a decisive role in the development of mankind. What force moves nations? Who is the creator of history - the individual or the people? The writer asks such questions at the beginning of the novel and tries to answer them throughout the course of the narrative.
The great Russian writer argues in the novel with the cult of an outstanding historical figure, which was very widespread at that time in Russia and abroad. This cult relied heavily on the teachings of the German philosopher Hegel. According to Hegel, the closest guides of the World Mind, which determines the destinies of peoples and states, are great people who are the first to guess what is given to understand only to them and is not given to the mass of people, the passive material of history, to understand. These views of Hegel were directly reflected in the inhumane theory of Rodion Raskolnikov (“Crime and Punishment”), who divided all people into “lords” and “trembling creatures.” Leo Tolstoy, like Dostoevsky, “saw in this teaching something godless and inhuman, fundamentally contrary to the Russian moral ideal. In Tolstoy, it is not an exceptional personality, but the life of the people as a whole turns out to be the most sensitive organism, responding to the hidden meaning of historical movement. The calling of a great man lies in the ability to listen to the will of the majority, to the “collective subject” of history, to the life of the people.”
Therefore, the writer’s attention is drawn primarily to the life of the people: peasants, soldiers, officers - those who form the very basis of it. Tolstoy “poeticizes in War and Peace the people as a whole spiritual unity of people, based on strong, age-old cultural traditions... The greatness of a person is determined by the depth of his connection with the organic life of the people.”
Leo Tolstoy shows on the pages of the novel that the historical process does not depend on the whim or bad mood of one person. It is impossible to predict or change the direction of historical events, since they depend on everyone and no one in particular.
We can say that the will of the commander does not affect the outcome of the battle, because no commander can lead tens and hundreds of thousands of people, but it is the soldiers themselves (i.e., the people) who decide the fate of the battle. “The fate of the battle is decided not by the orders of the commander-in-chief, not by the place where the troops stand, not by the number of guns and killed people, but by that elusive force called the spirit of the army,” writes Tolstoy. Therefore, it was not Napoleon who lost the Battle of Borodino or Kutuzov who won it, but the Russian people who won this battle, because the “spirit” of the Russian army was immeasurably higher than the French.
Tolstoy writes that Kutuzov was able to “guess so correctly the meaning of the popular meaning of events,” i.e. “guess” the entire pattern of historical events. And the source of this brilliant insight was that “national feeling” that the great commander carried in his soul. It was precisely the understanding of the popular nature of historical processes that allowed Kutuzov, according to Tolstoy, to win not only the Battle of Borodino, but also the entire military campaign and fulfill his destiny - to save Russia from the Napoleonic invasion.
Tolstoy notes that it was not only the Russian army that opposed Napoleon. “The feeling of revenge that lay in the soul of every person” and the entire Russian people gave rise to partisan warfare. “The partisans destroyed the great army piece by piece. There were small, prefabricated parties, on foot and on horseback, there were peasant and landowner parties, unknown to anyone. The head of the party was a sexton who took several hundred prisoners a month. There was the elder Vasilisa, who killed a hundred French.” The “club of the people’s war” rose and fell on the heads of the French until the entire invasion was destroyed.
This people's war arose soon after the Russian troops abandoned Smolensk and continued until the very end of hostilities on Russian territory. What awaited Napoleon was not a ceremonial reception with the keys to the surrendered cities, but fires and peasant pitchforks. “The hidden warmth of patriotism” was in the soul not only of such people’s representatives as the merchant Ferapontov or Tikhon Shcherbaty, but also in the soul of Natasha Rostova, Petya, Andrei Bolkonsky, PRINCESS Marya, Pierre Bezukhov, Denisov, Dolokhov. All of them, in a moment of terrible trial, turned out to be spiritually close to the people and together with them ensured victory in the War of 1812.
And in conclusion, I would like to emphasize once again that Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace” is not an ordinary novel, but an epic novel, which reflected human destinies and the people’s fate, which became the main object of study for the writer in this great work.
Introduction
“The subject of history is the life of peoples and humanity,” this is how L.N. Tolstoy begins the second part of the epilogue of the epic novel “War and Peace.” He further asks the question: “What force moves nations?” Reflecting on these “theories,” Tolstoy comes to the conclusion that: “The life of peoples does not fit into the lives of a few people, because the connection between these several people and nations has not been found...” In other words, Tolstoy says that the role of the people in history is undeniable, and the eternal truth that history is made by the people was proven by him in his novel. “People's thought” in Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace” is indeed one of the main themes of the epic novel.
The people in the novel "War and Peace"
Many readers understand the word “people” not quite the way Tolstoy understands it. Lev Nikolaevich means by “people” not only soldiers, peasants, men, not only that “huge mass” driven by some force. For Tolstoy, the “people” included officers, generals, and the nobility. This is Kutuzov, and Bolkonsky, and the Rostovs, and Bezukhov - this is all of humanity, embraced by one thought, one deed, one purpose. All the main characters of Tolstoy's novel are directly connected with their people and are inseparable from them.
Heroes of the novel and “folk thought”
The fates of the beloved heroes of Tolstoy’s novel are connected with the life of the people. “People's thought” in “War and Peace” runs like a red thread through the life of Pierre Bezukhov. While in captivity, Pierre learned his truth of life. Platon Karataev, a peasant peasant, opened it to Bezukhov: “In captivity, in a booth, Pierre learned not with his mind, but with his whole being, with his life, that man was created for happiness, that happiness is in himself, in the satisfaction of natural human needs, that all misfortune occurs not from lack, but from excess.” The French offered Pierre to transfer from a soldier's booth to an officer's, but he refused, remaining faithful to those with whom he suffered his fate. And for a long time afterwards he recalled with rapture this month of captivity as “complete peace of mind, complete inner freedom, which he experienced only at that time.”
Andrei Bolkonsky also felt his people at the Battle of Austerlitz. Grabbing the flagpole and rushing forward, he did not think that the soldiers would follow him. And they, seeing Bolkonsky with a banner and hearing: “Guys, go ahead!” rushed at the enemy behind their leader. The unity of officers and ordinary soldiers confirms that the people are not divided into ranks and titles, the people are united, and Andrei Bolkonsky understood this.
Natasha Rostova, leaving Moscow, dumps her family property on the ground and gives away her carts for the wounded. This decision comes to her immediately, without thinking, which suggests that the heroine does not separate herself from the people. Another episode that speaks of the true Russian spirit of Rostova, in which L. Tolstoy himself admires his beloved heroine: “Where, how, when did she suck into herself from the Russian air that she breathed - this countess, raised by a French governess - this spirit, where she got these techniques from... But these spirits and techniques were the same, inimitable, unstudied, Russian.”
And Captain Tushin, who sacrificed his own life for the sake of victory, for the sake of Russia. Captain Timokhin, who rushed at the Frenchman with “one skewer.” Denisov, Nikolai Rostov, Petya Rostov and many other Russian people who stood with the people and knew true patriotism.
Tolstoy created a collective image of a people - a united, invincible people, when not only soldiers and troops fight, but also militias. Civilians help not with weapons, but with their own methods: men burn hay so as not to take it to Moscow, people leave the city only because they do not want to obey Napoleon. This is what “folk thought” is and how it is revealed in the novel. Tolstoy makes it clear that the Russian people are strong in a single thought - not to surrender to the enemy. A sense of patriotism is important for all Russian people.
Platon Karataev and Tikhon Shcherbaty
The novel also shows the partisan movement. A prominent representative here was Tikhon Shcherbaty, who fought the French with all his disobedience, dexterity, and cunning. His active work brings success to the Russians. Denisov is proud of his partisan detachment thanks to Tikhon.
Opposite to the image of Tikhon Shcherbaty is the image of Platon Karataev. Kind, wise, with his worldly philosophy, he calms Pierre and helps him survive captivity. Plato's speech is filled with Russian proverbs, which emphasizes his nationality.
Kutuzov and the people
The only commander-in-chief of the army who never separated himself and the people was Kutuzov. “He knew not with his mind or science, but with his whole Russian being, he knew and felt what every Russian soldier felt...” The disunity of the Russian army in the alliance with Austria, the deception of the Austrian army, when the allies abandoned the Russians in battles, were unbearable pain for Kutuzov. To Napoleon’s letter about peace, Kutuzov replied: “I would be damned if they looked at me as the first instigator of any deal: such is the will of our people” (italics by L.N. Tolstoy). Kutuzov did not write on his own behalf, he expressed the opinion of the entire people, all Russian people.
The image of Kutuzov is contrasted with the image of Napoleon, who was very far from his people. He was only interested in personal interest in the struggle for power. An empire of worldwide submission to Bonaparte - and an abyss in the interests of the people. As a result, the war of 1812 was lost, the French fled, and Napoleon was the first to leave Moscow. He abandoned his army, abandoned his people.
conclusions
In his novel War and Peace, Tolstoy shows that people's power is invincible. And in every Russian person there is “simplicity, goodness and truth.” True patriotism does not measure everyone by rank, does not build a career, does not seek fame. At the beginning of the third volume, Tolstoy writes: “There are two sides of life in every person: personal life, which is the more free the more abstract its interests are, and spontaneous, swarm life, where a person inevitably fulfills the laws prescribed to him.” Laws of honor, conscience, common culture, common history.
This essay on the topic “People's Thought” in the novel “War and Peace” reveals only a small part of what the author wanted to tell us. The people live in the novel in every chapter, in every line.
Work test
Tolstoy believed that a work can be good only when the writer loves his main idea in it. In War and Peace, the writer, as he admitted, loved "people's thought". It lies not only and not so much in the depiction of the people themselves, their way of life, their life, but in the fact that every positive hero of the novel ultimately connects his fate with the fate of the nation.
The crisis situation in the country, caused by the rapid advance of Napoleonic troops into the depths of Russia, revealed their best qualities in people and made it possible to take a closer look at the man who was previously perceived by the nobles only as an obligatory attribute of the landowner’s estate, whose lot was hard peasant labor. When a serious threat of enslavement loomed over Russia, the men, dressed in soldiers' greatcoats, forgetting their long-standing sorrows and grievances, together with the “gentlemen” courageously and steadfastly defended their homeland from a powerful enemy. Commanding a regiment, Andrei Bolkonsky for the first time saw patriotic heroes in the serfs, ready to die to save the fatherland. These main human values, in the spirit of “simplicity, goodness and truth,” according to Tolstoy, represent “folk thought,” which constitutes the soul of the novel and its main meaning. It is she who unites the peasantry with the best part of the nobility with a single goal - the fight for the freedom of the Fatherland. The peasantry, which organized partisan detachments that fearlessly exterminated the French army in the rear, played a huge role in the final destruction of the enemy.
By the word “people” Tolstoy understood the entire patriotic population of Russia, including the peasantry, the urban poor, the nobility, and the merchant class. The author poetizes the simplicity, kindness, and morality of the people, contrasting them with the falsehood and hypocrisy of the world. Tolstoy shows the dual psychology of the peasantry using the example of two of its typical representatives: Tikhon Shcherbaty and Platon Karataev.
Tikhon Shcherbaty stands out in Denisov’s detachment for his unusual daring, agility and desperate courage. This man, who at first fought alone against the “miroders” in his native village, attached to Denisov’s partisan detachment, soon became the most useful person in the detachment. Tolstoy concentrated in this hero the typical features of the Russian folk character. The image of Platon Karataev shows a different type of Russian peasant. With his humanity, kindness, simplicity, indifference to hardships, and a sense of collectivism, this inconspicuous “round” man was able to return to Pierre Bezukhov, who was in captivity, faith in people, goodness, love, and justice. His spiritual qualities are contrasted with the arrogance, selfishness and careerism of the highest St. Petersburg society. Platon Karataev remained the most precious memory for Pierre, “the personification of everything Russian, good and round.”
In the images of Tikhon Shcherbaty and Platon Karataev, Tolstoy concentrated the main qualities of the Russian people, who appear in the novel in the person of soldiers, partisans, servants, peasants, and the urban poor. Both heroes are dear to the writer’s heart: Plato as the embodiment of “everything Russian, good and round,” all those qualities (patriarchalism, kindness, humility, non-resistance, religiosity) that the writer highly valued among the Russian peasantry; Tikhon is the embodiment of a heroic people who rose up to fight, but only at a critical, exceptional time for the country (the Patriotic War of 1812). Tolstoy condemns Tikhon’s rebellious sentiments in peacetime.
Tolstoy correctly assessed the nature and goals of the Patriotic War of 1812, deeply understood the decisive role of the people defending their homeland in the war from foreign invaders, rejecting official assessments of the war of 1812 as a war of two emperors - Alexander and Napoleon. On the pages of the novel and, especially in the second part of the epilogue, Tolstoy says that until now all history was written as the history of individuals, as a rule, tyrants, monarchs, and no one thought about what is the driving force of history. According to Tolstoy, this is the so-called “swarm principle”, the spirit and will of not one person, but the nation as a whole, and how strong the spirit and will of the people are, so probable are certain historical events. In Tolstoy’s Patriotic War, two wills collided: the will of the French soldiers and the will of the entire Russian people. This war was fair for the Russians, they fought for their Motherland, so their spirit and will to win turned out to be stronger than the French spirit and will. Therefore, Russia's victory over France was predetermined.
The main idea determined not only the artistic form of the work, but also the characters and the assessment of its heroes. The War of 1812 became a milestone, a test for all the good characters in the novel: for Prince Andrei, who feels an extraordinary uplift before the Battle of Borodino and believes in victory; for Pierre Bezukhov, all of whose thoughts are aimed at helping to expel the invaders; for Natasha, who gave the carts to the wounded, because it was impossible not to give them back, it was shameful and disgusting not to give them back; for Petya Rostov, who takes part in the hostilities of a partisan detachment and dies in a battle with the enemy; for Denisov, Dolokhov, even Anatoly Kuragin. All these people, throwing away everything personal, become one and participate in the formation of the will to win.
The theme of guerrilla warfare occupies a special place in the novel. Tolstoy emphasizes that the war of 1812 was truly a people's war, because the people themselves rose up to fight the invaders. The detachments of elders Vasilisa Kozhina and Denis Davydov were already operating, and the heroes of the novel, Vasily Denisov and Dolokhov, were also creating their own detachments. Tolstoy calls the brutal, life-and-death war “the club of the people’s war”: “The club of the people’s war rose with all its formidable and majestic force, and, without asking anyone’s tastes and rules, with stupid simplicity, but with expediency, without understanding nothing, it rose, fell and nailed the French until the entire invasion was destroyed.” In the actions of the partisan detachments of 1812, Tolstoy saw the highest form of unity between the people and the army, which radically changed the attitude towards war.
Tolstoy glorifies the “club of the people’s war”, glorifies the people who raised it against the enemy. “Karps and Vlass” did not sell hay to the French even for good money, but burned it, thereby undermining the enemy army. The small merchant Ferapontov, before the French entered Smolensk, asked the soldiers to take his goods for free, since if “Raceya decided,” he himself would burn everything. Residents of Moscow and Smolensk did the same, burning their houses so that they would not fall to the enemy. The Rostovs, leaving Moscow, gave up all their carts to transport the wounded, thus completing their ruin. Pierre Bezukhov invested huge amounts of money in the formation of a regiment, which he took as his own support, while he himself remained in Moscow, hoping to kill Napoleon in order to behead the enemy army.
“And good for that people,” wrote Lev Nikolaevich, “who, not like the French in 1813, saluted according to all the rules of art and turned the sword over with the hilt, gracefully and courteously handing it over to the magnanimous winner, but good for those people who, in a moment of testing, without asking how others acted according to the rules in similar cases, with simplicity and ease he picks up the first club he comes across and nails it until in his soul the feeling of insult and revenge is replaced by contempt and pity.”
The true feeling of love for the Motherland is contrasted with the ostentatious, false patriotism of Rostopchin, who, instead of fulfilling the duty assigned to him - to remove everything valuable from Moscow - worried the people with the distribution of weapons and posters, since he liked the “beautiful role of the leader of popular feeling.” At an important time for Russia, this false patriot dreamed only of a “heroic effect.” When a huge number of people sacrificed their lives to save their homeland, the St. Petersburg nobility wanted only one thing for themselves: benefits and pleasures. A bright type of careerist is given in the image of Boris Drubetsky, who skillfully and deftly used connections and the sincere goodwill of people, pretending to be a patriot, in order to move up the career ladder. The problem of true and false patriotism posed by the writer allowed him to broadly and comprehensively paint a picture of military everyday life and express his attitude towards the war.
The aggressive, aggressive war was hateful and disgusting to Tolstoy, but, from the point of view of the people, it was fair and liberating. The writer's views are revealed both in realistic paintings, saturated with blood, death and suffering, and in the contrasting comparison of the eternal harmony of nature with the madness of people killing each other. Tolstoy often puts his own thoughts about the war into the mouths of his favorite heroes. Andrei Bolkonsky hates her because he understands that her main goal is murder, which is accompanied by treason, theft, robbery, and drunkenness.
“His hero is an entire country struggling with the onslaught of mash.”
V.G. Korolenko
Tolstoy believed that the decisive role in the outcome of the war is played not by military leaders, but by soldiers, partisans, and Russian people. That is why the author tried to portray not individual heroes, but characters who are in close connection with the whole people.
The novel covers a broad time period, but the years 1805 and 1812 are decisive. These are the years of two completely different wars. In the War of 1812, the people knew what they were fighting for, why these bloodshed and deaths were needed. But in the war of 1805, people did not understand why their loved ones, friends and themselves were giving their lives. Therefore, at the beginning of the novel, Tolstoy asks the question:
“What force moves nations? Who is the creator of history - an individual or a people?
Looking for answers to them, we notice: with what accuracy the author depicts individual characters and portraits of the masses, battle paintings, scenes of folk heroism, and we understand that the people are the main character of the epic.
We see that the soldiers have different views on life, communication with people, but they all have one thing in common - a great love for the Fatherland and a willingness to do anything just to protect the Motherland from invaders. This is manifested in the images of two ordinary soldiers: Platon Karataev and Tikhon Shcherbaty.
Tikhon Shcherbaty hates invaders with all his heart, while being "the most useful and brave man" in Denisov's detachment. He is a brave and determined volunteer partisan, "Rebel" ready to sacrifice himself for the cause. It embodies the spirit of the people: vindictiveness, courage, resourcefulness of the Russian peasant. He doesn't care about any difficulties.
“When it was necessary to do something especially difficult - to turn a cart out of the mud with your shoulder, to pull a horse out of a swamp by the tail, to drive into the very middle of the French, to walk 50 miles a day, everyone pointed, laughing, at Tikhon:
What the hell will happen to him!
Platon Karataev is the complete opposite of this energetic man who does not like enemies. He is the embodiment of everything round, good and eternal. He loves everyone around him, even the French, and is imbued with a feeling of universal loving unity of people. But he has one not very good trait - he is ready to suffer for nothing, he lives according to the principle “Everything that is done is for the better.” If it were his will, he would not interfere anywhere, but would simply be a passive contemplator.
In Tolstoy's novel, readers get to see how soldiers treat their opponents.
During the battle - mercilessly to achieve victory. Shcherbaty's behavior.
During the halt, the attitude towards the prisoners changes to generosity, which makes the soldiers similar to Karataev.
The soldiers understand the difference between two situations: in the first, the one who forgets about humanity and compassion will win and survive; in the second, discarding stereotypes, they forget that they are soldiers of warring armies, understanding only that prisoners are also people and they also need warmth and food. This shows the purity of the soul and heart of the soldiers.
In every Russian person in 1812 there appears "the hidden warmth of patriotism", including the Rostov family, who gave carts and a house for the wounded. The merchant Ferapontov, who was incredibly greedy before the war, now gives everything when fleeing Smolensk. All the people of Russia during that difficult period were united, united, in order to protect their homeland from foreign invaders. Napoleon does not achieve his goal, because the bravery of the Russian regiments inspires superstitious horror in the French.
The main conflict of the novel is not determined by a private clash between historical figures or fictional characters. The conflict of the novel lies in the struggle of the Russian people, an entire nation, with the aggressor, the outcome of which determines the fate of the entire people. Tolstoy created poetry of the greatest feats of ordinary people, showing how great things are born in small things.
The main idea of the 19th century was the search and explanation of popular consciousness. Naturally, Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy could not help but become interested in this problem. So, “folk thought” in Leo Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace”.
There are two forms of consciousness in the novel: intellectual and this very, popular consciousness. A representative of the first consciousness was, for example, Andrei Bolkonsky. He always asked the question “Why?”, he was eager to remake this world to one degree or another. The representative of the people's consciousness was Platon Karataev (he even spoke in sayings), and then Pierre Bezukhov (he did not disdain to eat from the same cauldron with the soldiers, but Bolkonsky could not bathe with everyone, he had a dislike for the people, he was by itself). Plato is met by Pierre in captivity of the French. Before this meeting, Pierre was in a mental crisis.
What place does Plato occupy in the system of images? He has no distinctive features, as he is a representative of the swarm structure. Karataev is an exclusively collective image. His description is replete with circular features. The circle is a symbol of completeness and perfection, and the circle is also a simple figure. This simplicity really lives in Plato. He accepts life as it is, for him all issues are initially resolved. Tolstoy himself believed that swarm consciousness is better than intellectual consciousness. Platon Karataev is not afraid of death, because it is natural for him... a common phenomenon of nature. The dog feels this free love, and therefore is attracted to Plato.
It’s interesting to look at Pierre Bezukhov’s dream while in captivity. He dreams of a ball consisting of drops, and a drop is visible, which either rises outward or sinks back into the depths. A person also rises to understand something, but return or separation is inevitable. In this situation, only family and simplicity return, this is the key to attraction (this attraction is also visible in Pierre Bezukhov, but Andrei Bolkonsky did not have it). If you break away, you'll die.
Let's think about how intellectual consciousness and popular consciousness relate to each other. Tolstoy usually does not explore heroes and problems, he simply explains them. But not all questions found their answer in Tolstoy. The author still could not fully explain the idea of the people. Tolstoy and Dostoevsky took literature into the section of ethnophilosophy, but no one followed them further.
The popular thought is:
1) national character,
2) the soul of the people.
Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy embodies the idea of a nation in the image of Platon Karataev. This idea reveals that the people's consciousness is not opposed to the ideas of war and peace, this idea is simply outside the other. This is not a confrontation. Even when Plato died, no one turned around, because nothing will happen due to the death of one person (according to the swarm consciousness). There should be no unnecessary suffering and worries. That is why it is impossible to simplify the scheme of the novel to a banal triangle (Napoleon-Kutuzov-Platon Karataev).
