"Peter the First" (Tolstoy): analysis of the novel, the image of Peter, the system of characters. Genre and compositional features of the novel “Peter the Great”

Novel "Peter the Great". The idea of ​​the work. Features of composition and plot. What were the tasks facing A. Tolstoy as the author of a historical novel?

First of all, Tolstoy had to determine what would be the main thing for him in the work. This, according to the writer, is “the formation of personality in historical era" The author wrote more than just a biography historical figure, but sought to show, on the one hand, how the era influenced the formation of Peter’s personality, and on the other, what was the impact of Peter’s transformations on the fate of the country.

All other problems of the novel are also connected with the solution of this main problem: the question of the objective necessity and significance of Peter’s transformations; “identifying the driving forces of the era” - first of all, the image historical role people, complex relationships between Peter and the people; depicting the intense struggle between the new and the old.

The concept of the work determined the features of the composition and plot. The basis of the plot is the decisive events in the life of the country, the movement of history itself. Name what historical events are depicted in each book. Compose short list these events. Prove that the selection of events itself is dictated by the main task - to show the formation of personality in the era. How are Peter's character traits revealed in these events?

Re-read the first chapter of the novel, which is exposition. What do we learn about life pre-Petrine Russia from these scenes? What role do the author’s digressions play in the first book of the novel (see the beginning of chapter 2; chapter 5, subchapter 12; the beginning of chapter 1)1 Why are the events described through the eyes of a child, Sanka Brovkina? How is the need to transform the life of Russia shown in these scenes?

Compare the description of Moscow at the beginning of the second and third books of the novel. What role does the technique of contrast play here?

“Man,” wrote A.N. Tolstoy, as well as the historical period of time, can only be understood dialectically - in movement, in struggle, in contradiction.” Name the episodes in which the main conflicts of the work are revealed: the struggle of the new with the old; deepening contradictions between the king and the people.

How does Tolstoy show the role of the people in the implementation of Peter's reforms? Give examples of crowd scenes, analyze their significance in the work. Show the writer's skill in conveying polylogue and highlighting close-up individual figures. Analyze the ending of the second book of the novel.

At the center of the work’s image system is Peter. The remaining characters, in accordance with the conflict of the work, are divided into two main groups, supporters and opponents of Peter’s reforms. The peculiarity of the novel is that in relation to all characters, even minor ones, the principle of versatility of the image applies, the desire to show the hero in dynamics, to reveal how the contradictions of time are reflected in him (see, for example, the image of Menshikov, the Brovkin family, on the other hand, boyar Buinosov).

Thus, the formation of Peter’s personality and the depiction of the era in its development through struggle and contradictions determined the features of the novel’s composition. The multifaceted composition gave the author the opportunity to depict the life of all classes and groups of Russian society: peasants, soldiers, archers, artisans, nobles, boyars. Russia is shown in a turbulent, contradictory movement, the fate of the nation is revealed at a turning point in history, the role of masses in history. All this allows us to talk about “Peter the Great” as an epic novel.

The novel by A. N. Tolstoy has a special value for me, a person interested in the history of Russia. In the novel we find a description of the era, a description of the characters (both the characters of the people and the characters of the aristocrats). There are also threads connecting the people and the government. From Tolstoy's novel we get full picture the relationship between power and the people and the people with power, which worries the minds of many historians and is so important to me. The problem of relations between the people and the state is, without a doubt, an eternal problem for Russia. Of course, A.N. Tolstoy could not bypass her in his work. After all, every talented writer is always part of his people, and this problem becomes a personal problem for him. Tolstoy had the opportunity to live and work in a very difficult and controversial period of our history, when, in my opinion, the problem of the relationship between the people and the authorities acquired unprecedented urgency. Therefore, it is legitimate for the writer to turn to the origins, to our history. After all, to understand and comprehend the past means to understand and comprehend the present and the future (in my opinion, this statement does not require proof). The era of Peter's reforms, indirect transformations of Russian life early XVIII century, in the best possible way, in my opinion, helps to understand the whole essence of this eternal problem in the conditions of our country.
The theme of the relationship between the people and the state clearly emerges from the first pages of the novel. The king has died, it begins Time of Troubles. The novel shows the people's anxiety about their fate and the fate of Russia. Tolstoy correctly showed that the Russian people do not think of their fate in isolation from the fate of the Fatherland. True, in my opinion, the people of Russia are inclined to fear drastic, radical restructuring of both the life of the state and the restructuring of their own lives. Perhaps that is why the supporters of Princess Sophia, who wanted a serene reign “in the old way,” were able to direct the people against Peter, from whom they expected reforms. Scenes of Matveev's murder and popular unrest once again emphasize the people's fear for their future. The uneducated masses are not deprived of the opportunity to understand the need for change (perhaps this is what causes our current problems).
As the young king grows, so does the people's dissatisfaction with Sophia's government. Peter begins to gain the support of the people. Aleksashka Menshikov, coming from the people, becomes his main assistant. The Preobrazhensky and Semenovsky regiments, which served the Fatherland so gloriously, were formed from peasant children.
Having come to power, Peter begins reforms. He starts them off cruelly. But Tolstoy, in my opinion, correctly justifies this cruelty. “Dark” people are unable to understand their good, and this is what causes their forced involvement in change.
Peter, instilling customs that are alien to the Russian way of life, causes popular discontent, which resulted in the Streltsy revolt. By brutally punishing the rebels, Tolstoy shows the state’s reluctance to understand the psychology of the people. This, it seems to me, the main problem relations between government and people in Russia.
The enormous merit of A.N. Tolstoy, in my opinion, is that he was able to show not only the confrontation between the people and the authorities, but also their unity with the state. Such an example is scenes of battles with the Swedes. These scenes perfectly show the unity of power with the people, and above all through the example of the king. Peter helps move the cannons, is in the thick of the battles, and talks with the soldiers. Here Tolstoy showed how the abyss separating power and people is disappearing. A united people, a mighty people comes to the fore. But at the same time, I have a deep sense of bitterness about the circumstance in which the people and the government united. Is this really possible only in the face of external danger? So far I have come to the conclusion that yes.
Having conceived the construction of St. Petersburg on the reclaimed mouth of the Neva, Peter again begins to build that ditch, that abyss that faces the people and the authorities. The city is growing “on the bones”. This serves as another confirmation: the unity of the people and the authorities in peacetime is unattainable.
For me, in Tolstoy’s novel “Peter I,” the relationship between the people and the government appeared in all its diversity and contradiction. For himself, the author solves the problem unambiguously: he denies the violence of the state over the people, no matter how it is justified. Everyone must decide this question for themselves. My point of view coincides with the point of view of the author. It is hardly possible to justify the suffering of the people with good intentions.

The novel's time covers an entire era, limited, however, by the scope of activity central character- Peter I, whom the writer has been showing for 25 years.
Initially, Alexei Tolstoy intended to bring the story about Peter to the Battle of Poltava, but the death of the writer stopped work on the manuscript, and the novel ends with the victory of Russian troops near Narva.
Thus, the historical fate of the main character determined the composition of the novel.
In the first volume, A. N. Tolstoy draws childhood and early youth Petra. Historically, this is outlined by the return of Peter from his first trip abroad and the events of the Streltsy revolt.
The second volume recreates the first period of Peter's transformative activity, including the beginning of the Northern War and the founding of St. Petersburg.
The third book of the novel was written in last period creativity and remained unfinished. Alexey Tolstoy argued that “the third book is the most main part novel", since it is one of the most interesting period life of the hero and in it all the main tasks that the writer set for himself when starting to create “Peter the Great” will be accomplished.
According to A.V. Alpatov, despite the fact that Tolstoy failed to fully implement the plan he outlined for the third book, the six chapters he wrote unfold before us rich content. The narrative marks new horizons, new ones emerge storylines... The image of Peter acquires much greater completeness and brightness.
The content of the third book is based on the themes of the growing military power of Russia and the cultural rise of Russian society, the victory of the new in the patriarchal structure of old Rus'.
All the various episodes and storylines are located around these two centers, attracting all the material in the third volume. The three books that make up the novel are linked together by the development of the plot - the gradual formation of the new Russian state and the personality of Peter - and by the characters common to all three books.
The personal fate of the tsar-reformer is tightly welded in a romance with historical destiny Russia. Sensitively capturing the urgent need for fundamental changes in life Russian state, the king begins to act decisively. Tolstoy shows how the era itself chooses Peter, how historical circumstances shape those qualities of his personality that help him awaken Russia from centuries of hibernation, bring it out. on new stage development, when there are no longer ghosts of merchant ships, but real Russian fleet goes to sea and the Russians gain a foothold on the Baltic coast, where the construction of a fortified city begins.
Thus, the composition of the novel is connected with the main creative task of the writer - to show “the formation of personality in the era.” All components of the work are subordinated to this artistic task. Particularly significant from the point of view artistic development Tolstoy's concept of the role of personality in history, comparison of the images of Peter and Vasily Golitsyn. An enlightened dreamer, Golitsyn, like Peter, is aware of the need for decisive social and state transformation Russia, but personal weakness, passivity, and indecision lead him to the camp of reactionary forces. In a systematic contrast to Golitsyn and Sophia, the writer depicts Peter in development, in the steady movement of his personality forward.
The principle of contrast is maintained by Tolstoy in subsequent chapters of the novel. Peter is constantly, but unobtrusively, contrasted with King Augustus (“charmant and sympathy”), the rude and limited martinet Karl, the hard-nosed commandant of Narva Gorn, as well as his closest associates Franz Lefort and Alexander Menshikov.
The main aspirations of the era, its essence, were clearly manifested in the character of Peter and his activities. Alexey Tolstoy was able to appreciate historical place of your hero, truthfully depict the scale of his activities, give artistic research an entire era.
A reliable story emerges from many episodes and pictures. art world, in the center of which is the king-transformer and his activities. Controversial image The sovereign becomes the connecting link of all events and destinies in the novel.

Alexey Tolstoy in the novel “Peter the First” paid tribute to the image of Peter the Great, creating novel of the same name. Having accepted revolutionary events To better understand them, Tolstoy chose the most accurate analogy in Russian history - with the era of Peter.

Works historical genre, especially large forms, are distinguished by the presence of a pronounced artistic means the author's idea of ​​the laws of history, its driving forces and conflicts.

In contrast to the novels of the 1920-1930s, which depicted popular uprisings and their leaders (“Razin Stepan” and “Walking People” by A. Chapygin, “Salavat Yulaev”
S. Zlobina, “The Tale of Bolotnikov” by G. Storm, etc.). A. Tolstoy placed in the center of the work the figure of the king, the figure historical scale. In Peter, the writer first of all showed his transformative genius, his understanding of the need for fundamental changes in the life of the country (“In Russia, everything needs to be broken - everything is new”).

The author no longer doubts the historical prospects of reforms. The meaning of the Peter the Great era in A. Tolstoy’s novel is a breakthrough from the past to the future, from isolation and patriarchy to the number of the leading powers of the world, a time of sharp collision between the old and the new. In this Tolstoy saw a consonance between the “tragic and creative” era of Peter and the revolutionary history of Russia.

If the traditional historical novel is characterized by a focus on
depiction of the past, then A. Tolstoy sought to recreate the connection of times, to reveal common features turning points in history. This approach has become a fundamentally new phenomenon for historical prose.

“The formation of personality in a historical era” - this is how A. Tolstoy defined it main principle Images. The author not only recreates the biography of Peter, he seeks to show, on the one hand, how the era influenced the formation of the hero’s personality, and on the other, what was the impact of Peter’s
transformations on the fate of the country.

All other problems of the novel are also connected with the solution of this main problem: the question of the objective necessity and significance of Peter’s transformations; depiction of an acute struggle between the new and the old; “identifying the driving forces of the era”, the role of the individual and the people in history.

The concept of the work determined the features of the composition and plot.

The work is distinguished by its epic scope in depicting the life of the country at the turn of the 17th-18th centuries. The basis of the plot is real events a short period, but rich in content, from 1682 to 1704.

The first book of the novel (1930) represents the background to Peter's reforms. This is the period of Peter's childhood and youth, cruel life lessons, studying with foreigners, the beginning of the creation of a fleet, the military “embarrassment,” the suppression of the Streltsy revolt.

The second book (1934) includes a description of the initial period of the Northern War and
ends with the construction of St. Petersburg.

Climax of the image government activities Peter was supposed to be the third book, but the novel remained unfinished. In the published chapters of the third book (1943-1944), in accordance with the spirit of wartime when it was created, the main motive was the glorious victories of Russian weapons (the capture of Narva). The novel recreates a living, dynamic, multifaceted picture of the era.

The first chapter is a historical exposition depicting the life of pre-Petrine Russia. The negative aspects of patriarchy are emphasized here. Russian life: “poverty, servility, lack of wealth,” lack of movement (“the sour twilight of a hundred years”).

The general dissatisfaction with life is emphasized by the author’s digressions (beginning of chapter 2; chapter 5, subchapter 12; beginning of chapter 7). They formulate general conclusion: “What kind of Russia is this, a cursed country? When will you move?”

Creating an image of Russia awaiting change, the author uses cinematic technique changing angles. Action that started in peasant hut Ivashki Brovkin, transferred to the estate of Vasily Volkov,
from there to Moscow, will be delayed more than once on the roads of Russia, will lead to royal chambers, where at the bedside of the dying Fyodor Alekseevich it is decided who should be king.

The scene of the action is a tavern on Varvarka, where opinions are expressed ordinary people, the room of Princess Sophia, the square where the archers riot, the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, Pereslavl, Arkhangelsk, Don, Voronezh, Germany and Holland, Narva.

The multifaceted composition gave the author the opportunity to depict the life of all classes and groups of Russian society: from royal family, boyars, foreigners to merchants and military people, peasants, schismatics, convicts, fugitives. Along with real facts and the characters of the story in the novel important role play fictional events and characters.

In this regard, we can especially note the closely related Peter - history the Brovkin family, the example of which shows specific changes in the lives of Russian people.

Life, morals, customs, the very spirit of a bygone era are recreated in the novel based on documents, historical works and other sources. The most important of them was the book of Professor N. Novombergsky “The Word and Deed of the Sovereign,” which contains acts of the Secret Chancery and the Preobrazhensky Order. In these “torture recordings” she “told, moaned, lied, screamed in pain and fear folk Rus'"(XIII, pp. 567-568).

Simple and accurate colloquial The 17th century formed the basis of the language of A. Tolstoy’s novel. This made it possible to give the work a historical flavor, liveliness and imagery, while making it accessible to the modern reader.

The language of the work reflects the spirit of Peter’s reforms, it combines folk words and expressions, archaisms, foreign borrowings. Researchers are unanimous in their opinion about Tolstoy’s novel as the pinnacle of the artist’s verbal and visual skills.

Image of Peter the Great.

The peculiarity of the image of the hero is that the writer shows Peter not as an already established statesman, but traces the process of personality formation under the influence of historical circumstances.

The depicted events in the life of the country become milestones in Peter’s personal biography, stages of his growing up. Tolstoy does young hero witness
massacres of the Streltsy with his loved ones, and this memory will be echoed in the future by an irreconcilable conflict with his sister Sophia and the boyars in the struggle for power and brutal reprisals against the Streltsy.

A visit to the German settlement awakens Peter's interest in European image life. A trip to Arkhangelsk and the sight of foreign ships strengthens in Peter’s mind the idea of ​​the need for transformation.

The author repeatedly uses the technique of paired episodes, showing rapid changes in the character of the hero (for example, two meetings of the Boyar Duma - before
Azov campaign (book 1, chapter 5, subchapter 20.) and after it (book 1, chapter 7, subchapter 1) - they emphasize: Peter is now “... a different person: angry, stubborn, businesslike.”

These contrasts reveal the energy and determination of the protagonist, his willingness to learn from the most different people, learning lessons from defeats, his sincere pain for the poverty and backwardness of the country, simplicity and lack of arrogance.

Alexey Tolstoy shows Peter as a complex and contradictory personality (for example, scenes procession in the Assumption Cathedral - book. 1, ch. 4, subch. 2; end of book 1 - suppression of the Streltsy rebellion; Peter at the Kurfürstin - Prince. 1, ch. 7, subch. 8; in Zhemov’s forge - book. 2. Ch. 1, subch. 10; Peter near Narva - Prince. 2, ch. 4, subch. 3; book Z. Ch. 4, subch. 1; Peter In the dugout - book. 3, ch. 2, subch. 5).

He, using Pushkin’s definition, “raised Russia on its hind legs with an iron hand.” Transformations are carried out through brutal exploitation, at the cost of thousands of lives; the country is breaking out of backwardness through mass executions, torture, and the forcible introduction of elements of European culture.

But the author balances the acute drama of the situation with attention to the image
the results of Peter’s case (you can compare the description of the life of peasants on Volkov’s estate during the reign of Sophia (book 1, chapter 4, subchapter 1) and on the Buinosov estate during the reign of Peter (book 2, chapter 1, subchapter 3) ; follow the changes in the life of Ivashka Brovkin).

Peter is shown through the eyes of different people: his mother, Sophia, boyars, comrades-in-arms: Menshikov, Brovkin, the German Lefort, ordinary people - the blacksmith Zhemov, the artist Golikov, peasants, builders, soldiers. This allows us to convey a polyphony of opinions about the main content of the image - the case of Peter.

The writer captured a phenomenon unique to the era depicted: a change in traditional social trajectories, the promotion of people not according to the nobility of their family, but according to their intelligence, efficiency, commitment to the new (Menshikov, Alyoshka Brovkin and his sister Sanka, Demidov, etc.).

Defining the relationship between the characters, the writer places them between two poles: supporters and opponents of Peter’s reforms. In relation to all characters, even minor ones, the principle of versatility of the image applies (for example, the image of the boyar Buinosov).

In revealing the psychology of the hero, Tolstoy widely uses the “internal gesture” technique. It's about transmission internal state through external manifestation. through movement, gesture. The writer was convinced that “you cannot paint a portrait of a hero on ten whole pages”, “the portrait of a hero must appear from the very movement, struggle, in clashes, in behavior”) (XIII, p. 499)3. That is why movement and its expression - the verb - are the basis for creating an image.

The people in the novel Peter the Great.

Peter In the novel by A.N. Tolstoy appears as the brightest embodiment of the Russian national character. Having placed the tsar-reformer at the center of the work, the writer devoted Special attention depicting the active role of the people in Peter's transformations. In the work one can constantly hear the people’s assessment of what is happening, and for the author this is the most important criterion for the historical justice of Peter’s cause. IN crowd scenes the people are not depicted statically, but in a clash of contradictory moods. Tolstoy masterfully uses polylogue, distinguishes in generalized image people individual figures.

In the second and third books, the author shows the growth of popular discontent, evidenced by the frequent mention of the name of the rebellious Stepan Razin. The schismatic movement is also interpreted by Tolstoy as one of the forms of protest against increased oppression in the era of Peter the Great.

The conflict was embodied in close-up images of Ovdokim, the piebald Ivan and Fedka Wash Yourself with Mud. The ending of the second book of the novel sounds symbolically: a gloomy, branded, shackled man “Fedka washed himself with Mud, throwing his hair on his sore wet forehead, beat and hit the piles with an oak sledgehammer...”. Here the bloody efforts to create a passage from Ladoga to the open sea are emphasized, and the threat posed by the construction of the new capital of the empire is emphasized.

Talking about the life of a Russian person, A. Tolstoy emphasizes his hard work and talent (images of Kuzma Zhemov, Kondrat Vorobyov (book 2, chapter 5, subchapter 3); Palekh painter Andrei Golikov (book 2, chapter 5, subchapter 3; book 2, chapter 2, subchapter 5).

In the battles that Peter wages, such qualities of the Russian people as heroism and courage are clearly manifested. Thanks to the interaction of the images of Peter and the people, the author was able to show the turbulent contradictory historical movement Russia and reveal the fate of the nation in crucial moment, which determined the course of its history for many centuries.

The novel "Peter the Great" is pinnacle piece Tolstoy, which received recognition both in Russia and abroad. If historical concept not everyone accepted the Peter the Great era, then highest craftsmanship figurativeness, living language, inexhaustible humor made the novel classic work Russian literature.

War as a test of Russian character “During the days of the war, Alexei Tolstoy found himself at his post. His words encouraged, amused, and excited the fighters. Tolstoy did not go into silence, did not wait, did not refer to the alienation of the muses from the music of battle. Tolstoy spoke in October 1941, and Russia will not forget this,” wrote Ilya Ehrenburg.

The leading theme of Tolstoy’s work is the Russian character in his historical development- during the years of the Great Patriotic War has acquired particular relevance. As in historical theme, the image of native land, watered with the blood of their ancestors, protected by “smart, clean, leisurely” Russian people who “protect their dignity”. Characteristic for public consciousness and culture of the period of the Great Patriotic War appeal to heroic images national history and culture, the exploits of fathers and grandfathers contributed to the strengthening national identity. The writer saw the task of literature as being “the voice of the heroic soul
people."

Analysis of the novel "Peter the Great"

The problem of relations between the people and the state is an eternal problem for Russia. Of course, outstanding writer A. N. Tolstoy could not bypass it in his work, because every talented writer is always part of his people.
A. N. Tolstoy had the opportunity to live and work in a very difficult and controversial period of our history, when the problem of the relationship between the people and the authorities acquired unprecedented urgency. In this regard, it is legitimate for the writer to turn to the origins, to our history. After all, to understand and comprehend the past means to understand and comprehend both the present and the future. The era of Peter's reforms, the radical transformations of life in Russia at the beginning of the 18th century, helps us understand the essence of this eternal problem in the conditions of our country in the best possible way. Incarnation creative concept A. N. Tolstoy became historical novel"Peter I".
The theme of the relationship between the people and the state clearly emerges literally from the first pages of the work. The king has died, and the time of troubles begins. And in the conversation of the men on the road, there is concern for the fate of Russia, for their own destiny. After all, the Russian people do not think of themselves separately from the Fatherland; the future of the country is also the future of the people. Everyone is waiting for changes, they are confident in their inevitability, but people are afraid of it. The people don’t know who to go with, where to go. He has no say in deciding his fate. The supporters of Princess Sophia skillfully push the people against the supporters of Peter. Scenes of riot brutal murder Matveev, who left such a deep mark on my soul little Peter, once again expose the senselessness and mercilessness of people caught up in confusion and afraid of their future.
The young king is growing, and the people's dissatisfaction with the ruler Sophia and Prince Vasily Golitsyn is growing. On the path to transformation, Peter sees his support precisely in the people. Aleksashka Menshikov, a native of the people, becomes his main assistant.
From the children of peasants and townspeople, Peter forms his amusing guard, the Preobrazhensky and Semenovsky regiments, which will subsequently serve the Tsar and the Fatherland gloriously.
Having come to power, Peter begins his reforms. He acts cruelly, even too cruelly, he realizes his plans without taking into account the opinions of the masses. Peter instills customs that are alien to the Russian people, and the people spontaneously protest against this. The reason, for example, for the Streltsy revolt was, first of all, the people’s misunderstanding of the tsar’s policies and rejection of the methods he used. The brutal reprisal against participants in the Streltsy riot serves a shining example the fact that the state still does not want to see the soul of the people, still considers it a blind instrument in its hands. If people do not understand the reforms carried out by the state, this always turns into violence, cruelty, and blood.
A completely different side of the relationship between the people and the authorities appears before us in the description of the war that Russia is waging with the Swedes. In these scenes, the patriotism of the people, their resilience, and the ability to sacrifice themselves for the good of the Fatherland come to the fore. At these moments, the gap between the people and the state disappears. The state becomes part of the people. Tsar Peter merges with his army. He helps soldiers pull cannons and carts during transitions, and is in the thick of battles with the enemy. The Tsar fights as a simple bombardier. There is no confrontation, there is no sovereign and his servants. There is only the Russian people, united, powerful, revealing all their best qualities.
Despite the first defeat at Narva, within a few years the Russian army would defeat the invincible Swedish corps. And through the mouth of the tsar, it is the people who give an angry rebuke to Field Marshal Otilvi, who does not want to see discipline and combat effectiveness in the Russian army. The scene of the siege of Narva demonstrates the complete unity of power with the people, which led to the final victory.
And it is deeply symbolic that it was Menshikov, who came from the masses, who came up with a military trick that made it possible to take the seemingly impregnable fortress of Narva.
Having won the mouth of the Neva from the Swedes, Peter decides to build here new capital. The construction of St. Petersburg required colossal strength and effort of the Russian people. The main tragedy here is that the authorities again see in the people only a means, only a tool for realizing their plans. This results in incalculable suffering, the death of hundreds of people, and a new growth in the people's opposition to the king. The authorities again find no other means of implementing their plans other than violence. Petersburg grows on the bones of thousands of convicts and serfs. The image of the convict Fedka, Wash Yourself with Mud, is very characteristic here. Together with him, the author protests against the arbitrariness of the authorities, permissiveness, and attitude towards people as cogs of the state machine.
With his novel “Peter I” A. N. Tolstoy denies state violence against the people, no matter how it is justified.