Early works of L. Tolstoy (trilogy “Childhood”
Count Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy is a great Russian writer, prose writer and playwright, critic and publicist. He was born on the Yasnaya Polyana estate near Tula, studied at Kazan University at the Oriental and Law faculties, served in the army as a junior officer, participated in the defense of Sevastopol and was awarded for bravery, then retired and devoted his life to literary creativity.
Like many other writers of that time, L.H. Tolstoy began by working in artistic and documentary genres. But at the same time, his literary debut was the artistic and autobiographical trilogy “Childhood” (1852), “Adolescence” (1854), “Youth” (1857). The desire for memoirs in a young author is a very rare phenomenon. This was reflected in the psychological and creative impact of the works of the authors of the natural school, with whom Tolstoy became acquainted in his adolescence and youth as the most authoritative examples of modern literature. However, of course, the characteristics of Tolstoy’s personality are also significant here. For example, it is significant that from the age of eighteen he persistently kept a diary - this indicates an exceptional tendency to introspection.
The trilogy "Childhood. Adolescence. Youth" begins, of course, with " childhood". For the narrator Nikolenka Irtenyev, it takes place in a noble estate, and the main collisions he recalls are connected with the personalities of his father, mother, teacher Karl Ivanovich, local holy fool Grisha, housekeeper Natalya Savvishna, etc.; with class activities, with “something like the first love" for the girl Katenka, with his childhood friend Seryozha Ivin, with a detailed description of the hunt in the spirit of "physiology", with an equally detailed description of the evening party in his parents' Moscow house, where the hero dances a quadrille with Sonechka, and after the mazurka he reflects that " for the first time in my life I cheated in love and for the first time I experienced the sweetness of this feeling.” The death of the mother, as it were, draws a line under a carefree childhood.
The trilogy "Childhood. Adolescence. Youth" continues " Boyhood" Here the reader encounters a similar rural and urban setting; almost all the same characters are preserved here, but the children are now a little older, their view of the world, their range of interests is changing. The narrator repeatedly notices this in himself, stating, for example, that upon his arrival in Moscow, his view of faces and objects changed. The domineering grandmother forces the father to remove Karl Ivanovich from the children - in her words, “a German man... a stupid man.” He is replaced by a French tutor, and the hero forever loses another loved one. Before leaving, Karl Ivanovich tells Nikolenka the most interesting story of his life, which in the composition of “Adolescence” resembles an insert short story.
Among brother Volodya's older friends, a curious figure appears - "student Prince Nekhlyudov." A person with this surname will repeatedly appear in the works of L.H. Tolstoy in the future - “The Morning of the Landowner” (1856), “Lucerne” (1857), the novel “Resurrection”. In “The Morning of the Landowner” and “Lucerne” he is given some lyrical features, clearly indicating a certain autobiography of him.
It is easy to notice that the image of Nekhlyudov already in “Adolescence” from the trilogy “Childhood. Adolescence. Youth” was given the features of the author’s alter ego. The difficulty is that this role is played by Nikolenka even before his appearance on the pages of the trilogy, and therefore Nekhlyudov looks after his appearance as a kind of spiritual “double” of the narrator and his spiritual “soul mate.” It is interesting that Nekhlyudov is made by Tolstoy older in age than Nikolenka, who matures intellectually under his influence.
Friendship with Nekhlyudov moves to the center of the narrative in the third part of the trilogy “Childhood. Adolescence. Youth” - “ Youth" The hero enters the university, goes to confession at the monastery, falls in love with Nekhlyudov’s sister Varenka, makes social visits on his own and meets Sonechka again (during his visits, a number of people described in “Childhood” pass before him again - thereby Tolstoy the author as would easily close the compositional “ring” of the trilogy). Father Irtenyev remarries, Nikolenka falls in love again, takes part in student revelry and makes new friends among the common student students. After the first year, the hero fails the exam, he is expelled from the university, he looks at home for “pistols with which he could shoot himself,” but his family advises him to move to another department. In the finale, Nikolsnka “found a moment of remorse and moral impulse.”
Tolstoy's trilogy "Childhood. Adolescence. Youth" was a story about the spiritual maturation of a young contemporary. It is not surprising that it was understood and accepted by contemporary readers, who perceived all its collisions especially keenly and specifically. The author brilliantly depicted the real life of the nobility, but at the same time artistically revealed the inner world of a growing man - a boy, a teenager and then a young man. The documentary basis of Tolstoy's narrative gave it a special flavor that cannot be achieved in a romance with fictional characters and situations. On the other hand, the young writer showed great skill in artistic generalization, turning the figures of real people into literary characters.
The literary activity of Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy lasted about sixty years. His first appearance in print dates back to 1852, when in the leading magazine of that era, Sovremennik, edited by Nekrasov, he appeared story Tolstoy's "Childhood". Meanwhile, “Childhood” testified not only to the strength, but also to the maturity of the young writer’s talent. This was the work of an established master, it attracted the attention of the readership and literary circles. Soon after the publication of “Childhood”, new works of Tolstoy appeared in print (in the same “Sovremennik”) - “Adolescence”, stories about the Caucasus, and then the famous Sevastopol stories. Tolstoy began working on Childhood in January 1851 and finished it in July 1852. In the interval between the beginning and the end of work on Childhood, a serious change occurred in Tolstoy’s life: in April 1851, he left with his older brother Nikolai for the Caucasus, where he served as an officer in the army. A few months later, Tolstoy was enlisted in military service. He was in the army until the fall of 1855 and took an active part in the heroic defense of Sevastopol. Tolstoy's departure to the Caucasus was caused by a deep crisis in his spiritual life. This crisis began during his student years. Tolstoy very early began to notice negative sides in the people around him, in himself, in the conditions among which he had to live. Tolstoy thinks about the question of the high purpose of man, he tries to find a real job in life. Studying at the university did not satisfy him; he left the university in 1847, after a three-year stay there, and headed from Kazan to his estate, Yasnaya Polyana. Here he tries to manage his estate himself, mainly with the goal of easing the situation of the serfs. Nothing comes of these attempts. The peasants do not trust him; his attempts to help them are viewed as cunning tricks of the landowner (“Morning of the Landowner”). Tolstoy's worldview was formed as the worldview of a man who sought to understand the most profound processes taking place in his contemporary reality. A document testifying to this is the diary of young Tolstoy. The diary served for the writer as the school in which his literary skills were formed. In the Caucasus, and then in Sevastopol, in communication with Russian soldiers, Tolstoy’s sympathy for the people grew stronger. The beginning of Tolstoy's literary activity coincides with the beginning of a new rise in the liberation movement in Russia. The connection with the people that Tolstoy established early in his life served as the starting point for all of his creative activity. The problem of the people is the main problem of Tolstoy's entire work. Tolstoy's realism constantly developed throughout his entire creative career, but it manifested itself with great strength and originality already in his earliest works.
The image of Tolstoy's hero largely reflects the personality traits of the author himself. “Childhood”, “Adolescence” and “Youth” are therefore usually called autobiographical stories. The very image of Nikolenka Irtenyev is a typical image. He embodies the features of the best representative of the noble environment, who entered into an irreconcilable rift with it. Tolstoy shows both how the environment in which his hero lived negatively affects him, and how the hero tries to resist the environment and rise above it. Tolstoy's hero is a man of strong character and outstanding abilities. The story “Childhood,” like the autobiographical trilogy as a whole, was often called a chronicle of the nobility. Tolstoy's autobiographical trilogy was contrasted with Gorky's autobiographical works. Some researchers of Gorky's work pointed out that Tolstoy described a “happy childhood” - a childhood that does not know worries and deprivations, the childhood of a noble child, and Gorky, according to these researchers, opposes Tolstoy as an artist who described an unhappy childhood. The childhood of Nikolenka Irtenyev, described by Tolstoy, is not similar to the childhood of Alyosha Peshkov, but it is by no means an idyllic, happy childhood. Tolstoy was least of all interested in admiring the contentment with which Nikolenka Irtenyev was surrounded. Tolstoy is interested in a completely different side of his hero. The leading, fundamental principle in the spiritual development of Nikolenka Irtenyev both during childhood, and during adolescence, and during youth is his desire for goodness, for truth, for truth, for love, for beauty. What are the reasons, what is the source of these aspirations of Nikolenka Irtenyev? The initial source of these high spiritual aspirations of Nikolenka Irtenyev is the image of his mother, who personified for him everything beautiful. A simple Russian woman, Natalya Savishna, played a big role in the spiritual development of Nikolenka Irtenyev. In his story, Tolstoy really calls childhood the happiest time of human life. But in what sense? What does he mean by childhood happiness? Chapter XV of the story is called: “Childhood.” It begins with the words:
“Happy, happy, irrevocable time of childhood! How not to love, not to cherish memories of her? These memories refresh, elevate my soul and serve as a source of the best pleasures for me.” At the end of the chapter, Tolstoy again turns to the characterization of childhood as a happy time of human life: “Will that freshness, carelessness, need for love and the power of faith that you possess in childhood ever return? What better time could there be than when the two best virtues - innocent gaiety and the boundless need for love - were the only motives in life? Tolstoy calls childhood the happy time of human life in the sense that at this time a person is most capable of experiencing love for others and doing good to them. It was only in this limited sense that childhood seemed to Tolstoy the happiest time of his life. In fact, Nikolenka Irtenyev’s childhood, described by Tolstoy, was by no means happy. In his childhood, Nikolenka Irtenyev experienced a lot of moral suffering, disappointment in the people around him, including in the people closest to him, disappointment in himself. The story “Childhood” begins with a scene in a children’s room, begins with an insignificant, trifling incident. Teacher Karl Ivanovich killed a fly, and the killed fly fell on Nikolenka Irtenyev’s head. Nikolenka begins to think about why Karl Ivanovich did this. Why did Karl Ivanovich kill a fly just above his crib? Why did Karl Ivanovich cause trouble for him, Nikolenka? Why didn’t Karl Ivanovich kill the fly over the crib of Volodya, Nikolenka’s brother? Having thought about these questions, Nikolenka Irtenyev comes to such a gloomy thought that the purpose of Karl Ivanovich’s life is to cause trouble for him, Nikolenka Irtenyev; that Karl Ivanovich is an evil, unpleasant person. But then a few minutes pass, and Karl Ivanovich comes up to Nikolenka’s crib and begins to tickle him. This act of Karl Ivanovich gives Nikolenka new material for thought. Nikolenka was pleased that Karl Ivanovich was tickling him, and now he thinks that he was extremely unfair, having earlier attributed to Karl Ivanovich (when he killed a fly over his head) the most evil intentions. This episode already gives Tolstoy the basis to show how complex the spiritual world of man is. An essential feature of Tolstoy’s portrayal of his hero is that Tolstoy shows how gradually the discrepancy between the outer shell of the world around him and its true content is revealed to Nikolenka Irteniev. Nikolenka Irteniev gradually realizes that the people he meets, not excluding those closest and dearest to him, are in fact not at all what they want to seem. Nikolenka Irtenyev notices unnaturalness and falsehood in every person, and this develops in him mercilessness towards people, as well as towards himself, since he sees the falseness and unnaturalness inherent in people in himself. Noticing this quality in himself, he morally punishes himself. Chapter XVI, “Poems,” is characteristic in this regard. The poems were written by Nikolenka on the occasion of her grandmother’s birthday. There is a line in them that says that he loves his grandmother like his own mother. Having discovered this, Nikolenka Irtenyev begins to find out how he could write such a line. On the one hand, he sees in these words a kind of betrayal towards his mother, and on the other hand, insincerity towards his grandmother. Nikolenka reasons like this: if this line is sincere, it means he has stopped loving his mother; and if he still loves his mother, it means that he committed falsehood in relation to his grandmother. All the above episodes testify to the spiritual growth of the hero. One expression of this is the development of analytical ability in him. But this same analytical ability, while helping to enrich the child’s spiritual world, destroys his naivety, unaccountable faith in everything good and beautiful, which Tolstoy considered the “best gift” of childhood. This is well illustrated by Chapter VIII - "Games". Children play, and the game gives them great pleasure. But they receive this pleasure to the extent that the game seems to them like real life. As soon as this naive faith is lost, the game ceases to give children pleasure. The first to express the idea that the game is not the real thing is Volodya, Nikolenka’s older brother. Nikolenka understands that Volodya is right, but, nevertheless, Volodya’s words deeply upset him. Nikolenka reflects: “If you really judge, then there will be no game. But there won’t be a game, then what remains?..” This last phrase is significant. It indicates that real life (not a game) brought little joy to Nikolenka Irtenyev. Real life for Nikolenka is the life of “big people,” that is, adults, people close to him. And so Nikolenka Irteniev lives, as it were, in two worlds - in the world of children, attractive with its harmony, and in the world of adults, full of mutual distrust. A large place in Tolstoy's story is occupied by the description of the feeling of love for people, and this child's ability to love others perhaps most admires Tolstoy. But admiring this feeling of a child, Tolstoy shows how the world of big people, the world of adults in noble society, destroys this feeling and does not give it the opportunity to develop in all its purity and spontaneity. Nikolenka Irtenyev was attached to the boy Seryozha Ivin. But he really couldn’t say about his affection; this feeling died in him. Nikolenka Irtenyev’s attitude towards Ilinka Grapu reveals another trait in his character, again reflecting the bad influence of the world of the “big” on him. Tolstoy shows that his hero was capable not only of love, but also of cruelty. Nikolenka does not lag behind her friends. But then, as always, he experiences a feeling of shame and remorse. The last chapters of the story, related to the description of the death of the hero's mother, seem to sum up his spiritual and moral development in his childhood. In these final chapters, the insincerity, falsehood and hypocrisy of secular people are literally castigated. Nikolenka Irtenyev watches how he and those close to him cope with the death of his mother. He establishes that none of them, with the exception of a simple Russian woman, Natalya Savishna, was completely sincere in expressing their feelings. The father seemed shocked by the misfortune, but Nikolenka notes that the father was spectacular, as always. And he didn’t like this about his father, it made him think that his father’s grief was not, as he puts it, “completely pure grief.” Nikolenka doesn’t even fully believe in the sincerity of her grandmother’s experiences. Nikolenka cruelly condemns himself for the fact that he was completely absorbed in his grief for only one minute. The only person in whose sincerity Nikolenka completely and completely believed was Natalya Savishna. But she just didn’t belong to the secular circle. It is important to note that the last pages of the story are devoted specifically to the image of Natalya Savishna. It is also extremely noteworthy that Nikolenka Irtenev places the image of Natalya Savishna next to the image of her mother. Thus, he admits that Natalya Savishna played in his life the same important role as his mother, and perhaps even more important. The final pages of the story “Childhood” are covered with deep sadness. Nikolenka Irtenyev is at the mercy of memories of her mother and Natalya Savishna, who had already died by that time. Nikolenka is sure that with their death the brightest pages of his life receded into the past. On the first pages of the initial part of the “Childhood” trilogy we see a little boy Nikolenka Ignatiev. The description of his life is a scrupulous study by the author of his spiritual content and moral concepts, which change depending on various life situations. The inner world of a child is vividly depicted in the episode when Nikolenka drew animals he saw while hunting. He only had blue paints and he painted all the trees and animals in blue. However, when he began to depict hares, his father, who was observing the process, told the boy that blue hares do not exist in nature, nor do blue plants. Kolya perceived this very vulnerablely and became the first call of disappointment and doubts in life. One day, a boy and his friends began to play a game: the children sat on the ground and began to imagine that they were sailing on the sea, vigorously waving their arms, imitating rowing. Nikolenka’s older brother, seeing the children’s fun, sarcastically remarked that despite their efforts, they would not budge, since in fact they were not on the water, but in the garden. The protagonist’s children’s world and his life perception began to collapse irrevocably from such words. The first cold echoes of adult reason began to burst into the soul-touching spontaneity that is characteristic of every child: you can’t sail on a non-existent ship, there are no blue hares, and the teacher’s funny hat no longer caused imaginary, but real irritation, just like Karl Ivanovich himself. However, the author does not condemn Nikolenka; these are the processes that sooner or later come into the life of every growing child, and fundamentally alienate him from the enthusiastic world of childhood.
In the story “Adolescence,” in contrast to “Childhood,” which shows a naive balance between the child’s analytical ability and his faith in everything good and beautiful, the hero’s analytical ability prevails over faith. "Adolescence" - story very gloomy, it differs in this respect from both “Childhood” and “Youth”. In the first chapters of “Adolescence,” Nikolenka Irtenyev seems to be saying goodbye to childhood before entering a new phase of her development. The final farewell to childhood occurs in the chapters dedicated to Karl Ivanovich. Parting with Nikolenka, Karl Ivanovich tells him his story. As a result of all the misadventures that Karl Ivanovich suffered, he became not only an unhappy person, but also alienated from the world. And it is this side of his character that Karl Ivanovich is close to Nikolenka Irtenyev, and this is why he is interesting to him. With the help of the story of Karl Ivanovich, Tolstoy helps the reader understand the essence of his hero. Following those chapters in which the story of Karl Ivanovich is told, there are chapters: “The Unit”, “The Key”, “Traitor”, “Eclipse”, “Dreams” - chapters that describe the misadventures of Nikolenka Irtenev himself.. In these chapters Nikolenka sometimes, despite the differences in age and position, he looks very similar to Karl Ivanovich. And Nikolenka here directly compares her fate with the fate of Karl Ivanovich. The point is to show that already at that time of Nikolenka Irtenyev’s spiritual development, he, just like Karl Ivanovich, felt like a person alienated from the world in which he lived. Karl Ivanovich, whose appearance corresponded to the spiritual world of Nikolenka Irtenyev, is replaced by a new tutor - the Frenchman Jerome. Jerome for Nikolenka Irtenyev is the embodiment of that world that has already become hateful for him, but which, due to his position, he had to respect. This irritated him and made him lonely. And after the chapter that bears such an expressive name - “Hatred” (this chapter is dedicated to Lyogbta and explains Nikolenka Irtenyev’s attitude towards the people around him), comes the chapter “Girlhood”. This chapter begins like this: “I felt more and more and more solitary, and my main pleasures were solitary reflections and observations." As a result of this loneliness, Nikolenka Irtenyev’s attraction to another society, to ordinary people, arises. However, the connection between Tolstoy’s hero and the world of ordinary people that emerged during this period is still very fragile. The relationship is still these are episodic and random. But, nevertheless, even during this period, the world of ordinary people was of very great importance for Nikolenka Irtenyev. Tolstoy’s hero is shown in movement and development. Complacency and complacency are completely alien to him. Constantly improving and enriching his spiritual world, he enters into ever deeper discord with the noble environment around him. Tolstoy's autobiographical stories are permeated with the spirit of social criticism and social denunciation of the dominant minority. Nikolenka Irteniev reveals those properties that Tolstoy would later endow with such of his heroes as Pierre Bezukhov (“War and Peace”), Konstantin Levin(“Anna Karenina”), Dmitry Nekhlyudov (“Sunday”). This story continues the analysis of the soul of a growing person. The period of adolescence begins for Nikolai after the death of his mother. His perception of the world around him changes - he comes to understand that the world does not revolve around him alone, that there are many people around who do not care about him. Nikolenka is interested in the lives of other people, he learns about class inequality. Among Nikolenka's dominant traits are shyness, which causes the hero a lot of suffering, the desire to be loved and introspection. Nikolenka is very complex about her appearance. According to the author, children's egoism - a natural phenomenon, so to speak, as well as a social one - becomes a consequence of upbringing in aristocratic families. Nikolai's relationships with the adults around him - his father, his tutor - are complicated. Growing up, he thinks about the meaning of life, about his own purpose. For the author, the process of gradually opening the individualistic isolation is very important, both from the moral and psychological sides. Nikolai begins his first real friendship with Dmitry Nekhlyudov. The beginning is arrival in Moscow. The climax is the death of the grandmother. The denouement is preparation for entering the university.
The story “Youth” conveys the moral quest, awareness of one’s self, dreams, feelings and emotional experiences of Nikolai Irtenyev. At the beginning of the story, Nikolai explains at what moment the time of youth begins for him. It comes from the time when he himself came up with the idea that “the purpose of man is the desire for moral improvement.” Nikolai is 16 years old and “involuntarily and reluctantly” is preparing to enter university. His soul is filled with thoughts about the meaning of life, the future, and the purpose of man. He tries to find his place in the surrounding society, strive to defend his independence. Overcome “habitual” views, the way of thinking with which you constantly come into contact. Nikolai is at that age when a person most fully feels himself in the world and his unity with it and, at the same time, awareness of his individuality. At the university, Irtenyev becomes a person of a certain social circle, and his inquisitiveness, penchant for introspection, analysis of people and events acquires an even deeper character. He feels that the aristocrats who are one step higher treat him with disrespect and arrogance, just as he treats people of lower origin. Nikolai becomes close to the student commoners, although he was irritated by their appearance, manner of communication, mistakes in language, but he “anticipated something good in these people, envied the cheerful camaraderie that united them, felt attracted to them and wanted to get closer with them". He comes into conflict with himself, since he is also attracted and attracted by the “sticky mores” of a secular lifestyle imposed by an aristocratic society. He begins to be burdened by the awareness of his shortcomings: “I am tormented by the pettiness of my life... I myself am petty, but still I have the strength to despise both myself and my life,” “I was a coward at first... - I’m ashamed...”, “... I chatted with everyone and without I lied for any reason...", "I noticed a lot of vanity in myself on this occasion."
Like all the works of L. N. Tolstoy, the trilogy “Childhood. Adolescence. Youth” was, in fact, the embodiment of a large number of plans and undertakings. The main goal of L. N. Tolstoy is to show the development of a person as an individual during his childhood, adolescence and youth, that is, in those periods of life when a person most fully feels himself in the world, his indissolubility with it, and then, when he begins to separate himself from the world and comprehend his environment.Individual stories form a trilogy, the action in them takes place according to the idea , first in the Irtenievs’ estate (“Childhood”), then the world expands significantly (“Adolescence”). In the story “Youth,” the theme of family and home sounds many times more muted, giving way to the theme of Nikolenka’s relationship with the outside world. It is no coincidence that with the death of the mother in the first part the harmony of relationships in the family is destroyed, in the second the grandmother dies, taking with her enormous moral strength, and in the third the father remarries a woman whose smile is always the same. The return of former family happiness becomes completely impossible. There is a logical connection between the stories, justified primarily by the writer’s logic: the formation of a person, although divided into certain stages, is actually continuous. The first-person narration in the trilogy establishes the connection of the work with the literary traditions of the time. In addition, it psychologically brings the reader closer to the hero. And finally, such a presentation of events indicates a certain degree of autobiographical nature of the work. However, it cannot be said that autobiography was the most convenient way to realize a certain idea in a work, since it was precisely this, judging by the statements of the writer himself, that did not allow the original idea to be realized. L. N. Tolstoy conceived the work as a tetralogy, that is, he wanted to show the four stages of development of the human personality, but the philosophical views of the writer himself at that time did not fit into the framework of the plot. Why an autobiography? The fact is that, as N. G. Chernyshevsky said, L. N. Tolstoy “extremely carefully studied the types of life of the human spirit in himself,” which gave him the opportunity to “paint pictures of the internal movements of a person.” However, what is important is that there are actually two main characters in the trilogy: Nikolenka Irtenyev and an adult who remembers his childhood, adolescence, and youth. Comparison of the views of a child and an adult has always been an object of interest for L. N. Tolstoy. Yes, and distance in time is simply necessary: L. N. Tolstoy wrote his works about everything that worried him at the moment, and this means that in the trilogy there should have been a place for the analysis of Russian life in general. Each chapter contains a certain thought, an episode from a person’s life. Therefore, the construction within the chapters is subordinated to internal development, the conveyance of the hero’s state. L. N. Tolstoy shows his heroes in those conditions and in those circumstances where their personality can manifest itself most clearly. The hero of the trilogy finds himself facing death, and here all conventions no longer matter. The hero’s relationship with ordinary people is shown, that is, the person is, as it were, tested by the “nationality”. In small but incredibly bright inclusions, moments are woven into the fabric of the narrative in which we are talking about something that goes beyond the understanding of a child, which can only be known to the hero from the stories of other people, for example, war. Contact with something unknown, as a rule, turns into almost a tragedy for a child, and memories of such moments come to mind primarily in moments of despair. For example, after a quarrel with St. Jerome. Nikolenka begins to sincerely consider herself illegitimate, recalling snatches of other people’s conversations. L. N. Tolstoy uses such traditional Russian literature methods of presenting a person’s characteristics as describing a portrait of a hero, depicting his gesture, manner of behavior, since all of these are external manifestations of the inner world. The speech characteristics of the heroes of the trilogy are extremely important. Refined French language good for people comme il faut, a mixture of German and broken Russian characterizes Karl Ivanovich. It is also not surprising that the German’s heartfelt story is written in Russian with occasional inclusions of German phrases. So, we see that L. N. Tolstoy’s trilogy “Childhood. Adolescence. Youth” is built on a constant comparison of the inner and outer world of a person. The main goal of the writer, of course, was to analyze what constitutes the essence of each person. In “Youth” Three days are especially highlighted: the day after entering the university, the day following it, when Nikolenka makes visits, and then his visit to the Nekhlyudov family. Nikolenka and Nekhlyudov discover a new moral law. But correcting all of humanity turned out to be very difficult, because even sincere and persistent attempts self-improvement most often failed. Behind all these lofty concepts, ordinary vanity, narcissism, and arrogance were often hidden. In his youth, Nikolenka constantly plays some role with varying success. Either the role of a lover, with an eye on the novels he read, or a philosopher, since in he was little noticed in the world, and with thoughtfulness he could disguise his failure, then - a great original.All this pushed his real feelings and thoughts into the background. Nikolenka strives to be loved, tries to please. But no matter how much the hero wants to be like the people around him, the author shows that this cannot be done because the world is morally alien to him. These people never created moral values and did not try to follow them, much less suffered from the fact that they could not be realized in life. They, unlike Nikolenka, always used those moral laws that were accepted in their environment and were considered mandatory.
While in military service, Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy thought painfully about the war. What is war, does humanity need it? These questions confronted the writer at the very beginning of his literary career and occupied him throughout his life. Tolstoy uncompromisingly condemns the war. “Is it really cramped for people to live in this beautiful world, under this immeasurable starry sky?” In the fall of 1853, the war between Russia and Turkey began, Tolstoy was allowed to transfer to Sevastopol. Once in the besieged city, Tolstoy was shocked by the heroic spirit of the army and the population. “The spirit in the troops is beyond any description,” he wrote to his brother Sergei. “In the days of Ancient Greece there was not so much heroism.” Under the roar of the guns of the fourth bastion, shrouded in gunpowder smoke, L. N. Tolstoy began to write his first story about the heroic defense of the city, “Sevastopol in December,” followed by two others: “Sevastopol in May” and “Sevastopol in August 1855.” " In his stories about the three stages of the Crimean epic, Tolstoy showed the war “not in a correct, beautiful and brilliant system, with music and drumming, with waving banners and prancing generals... but in its real expression - in blood, in suffering, in death...” .
The first story speaks of Sevastopol in December 1854. This was a moment of some weakening and slowing down of military operations, the interval between the bloody battle of Inkerman and Evpatoria. But while the Russian field army stationed in the vicinity of Sevastopol could rest a little and recover, the city and its garrison did not know respite and forgot what the word “peace” means. Soldiers and sailors worked in the snow and pouring rain, half-starved and tormented. Tolstoy talks about a sailor with a severed leg, who is being carried on a stretcher, and he asks to stop to look at the volley of our battery. “Nothing, there are two hundred of us here on the bastion, we’ll have enough for two more days!” Such answers were given by soldiers and sailors, and none of them even suspected what a courageous person, despising death, one must be in order to talk so simply, calmly, businesslikely about his own inevitable death tomorrow or the day after tomorrow! The women, these friends worthy of their husbands, endured terrible injuries and death without complaint.
The second story dates back to May 1855, and this story was dated June 26, 1855. In May, a bloody battle took place between the garrison and almost the entire army besieging the city, which wanted to capture the three advanced fortifications at all costs. Tolstoy does not describe these bloody May and June meetings, but it is clear to the reader of the story that quite recently, very large events have just taken place near the besieged city. Tolstoy shows how soldiers use a short truce to remove and bury the dead. Can enemies, who have just cut and stabbed each other in a fierce hand-to-hand fight, speak so friendly, with such affection, treat each other so kindly and considerately? But here, as elsewhere, Tolstoy is extremely sincere and truthful, he is an eyewitness, he does not need to invent, speculate, reality is much richer than fantasy.
The third story tells about Sevastopol in August 1855. This is the last, most terrible month of a long siege, continuous, brutal, day and night bombing, the month of the fall of Sevastopol. “During lunch, a bomb fell near the house where the officers were sitting. The floor and walls shook as if from an earthquake, and the windows were covered with gunpowder smoke. “I don’t think you saw this in St. Petersburg; and here there are often such surprises,” said the battery commander. “Look, Vlang, where it burst.” The writer shows the heroism of people accustomed to everyday shelling. Living a normal life. They do not recognize themselves as heroes, but perform their duty. Without loud phrases, everyday, these wonderful people make history, sometimes “fading” into oblivion. Tolstoy shows that only the superiority of Turkey's allies in military equipment and material resources physically broke the fearless Russian heroes.
Exposing the war, the writer affirms the moral greatness and strength of the Russian people, who courageously accepted the retreat of the Russian army from Sevastopol. L. Tolstoy's innovation in depicting war, realism, and artistic merits of “Sevastopol Stories” earned high praise from his contemporaries. In July 1855, at the very height of the Crimean War, when the eyes of all Russia were focused on the heroic defense of Sevastopol, Sevastopol stories by L.N. began to appear in the Sovremennik magazine. Tolstoy, which were met with particular interest. According to A.V. Druzhinin, “all reading Russia admired “Sevastopol in December,” “Sevastopol in May,” “Sevastopol in the month of August.” Not only the poetic merits of the stories attracted keen attention and ardent interest to them. These stories contained very important political truths were expressed, exciting social questions were raised.Tolstoy reflected deep social sentiments, and this, along with their high artistic skill, was the secret of the great impression that Tolstoy's stories made on the advanced strata of Russian society. The truth, the deep, sober truth- this is what readers first of all saw and appreciated in the Sevastopol stories. The truth about the patriotic uplift and heroism of the defenders of Sevastopol, about the courage of Russian soldiers, about those feelings and moods that were close to the entire Russian society, and, on the other hand, the truth about the insolvency of tsarism in the war, about the backwardness of the Nicholas army, about the deep gulf between the simple a man in an overcoat and a noble officer elite. Tolstoy shows Sevastopol and its courageous defenders not in ceremonial, not in their traditional literary attire, but in their true form - “in blood, in suffering, in death.” He tore off its romantic veils from the war and showed it realistically, truthfully, without embellishment. It cannot be said that before Tolstoy no one showed the war like this. For all Tolstoy's innovation, he had a predecessor in his depiction of war, Lermontov. The innovation of Tolstoy’s war stories lies in the fact that, depicting the war truthfully, without embellishment, the writer placed a living person at the center of his battle scenes, revealing his inner world, motivated his actions and deeds with his innermost, deeply hidden thoughts and feelings. At the same time, at the center of Tolstoy’s military narratives is always a man from the people, who with his labor, his inconspicuous feat, decides the fate of the fatherland, and all other characters are illuminated from the position of the great goal by which the people are inspired. In Tolstoy's stories, for the first time in Russian and world literature, traditional battle painting was "humanized", that is, deepened and enriched with truthful descriptions of the subtlest feelings and experiences of a person participating in the battle, given through the prism of his consciousness. The war with all its horrors and greatness was shown “from the inside”, by revealing the internal attitude of its ordinary participants towards it, and the participants themselves were characterized depending on their place in the national struggle - this was the step forward that Tolstoy in his war stories did compared to its predecessors. In Tolstoy’s descriptions of human behavior in war, what is most striking is his exceptionally accurate and keen observation. Scattered throughout the Sevastopol stories are dozens of apt psychological observations on the general properties of soldiers in battle. But Tolstoy is not limited to these observations. He strives to penetrate the inner world of each of his characters, to capture his individual, unique experiences in a combat situation. And through this individualization we comprehend the general features of human behavior and experiences in war. Exceptionally varied psychologization techniques, used by Tolstoy. Revealing "dialectics of the soul" of his heroes, he shows not only the final results of mental movements, but also the process of inner life itself. On the first accurate reproduction of inner speech. The author seems to “hear” the secret conversations that people have with themselves, as if he “sees” the whole process of the movement of thought and accurately reproduces it in the story. And precisely because the writer penetrates deeply into the souls of his characters, their “inaudible” conversations become their most truthful and convincing characteristic. By confronting two characters, the author simultaneously “hears” the thoughts of both of them and conveys them to us. It turns out to be peculiar inner duet, parallel process two interconnected thoughts. But Tolstoy achieves special artistic power in his depiction dying thoughts their heroes. Revealing to us the inner world of his heroes, Tolstoy does not limit himself to the role of an objective observer of this world. He actively intervenes in the introspection of the heroes, in their thoughts, reminds us of what they have forgotten, and corrects all deviations from the truth that they allow in their thoughts and actions. This author's intervention helps a more in-depth perception of the characters’ inner experiences and reveals their true character. Most often, the method of authorial intervention serves Tolstoy to directly expose the character, to "tearing off masks" Features of innovation are also noted composition of Tolstoy's stories. It is characterized, on the one hand, by a strict selection of life material, limiting the narrative within a certain time and space, and on the other hand, by a tendency towards a broad, multifaceted depiction of reality, towards the formulation of current social problems. The first Sevastopol story, for example, covers events that fall between dawn and evening sunset, that is, the events of one day. And what enormous life content this story contains! Peculiar, new and principles of image construction, used by the author in Sevastopol stories. Along with the subtlety and truthfulness of psychological characteristics, the writer always strives for a truthful depiction of the actions of his heroes, as well as for a concrete, visual depiction of the environment in which they operate. Tolstoy's heroes, even minor ones, have their own individual personality, clear social characteristics, and a unique manner of speaking and acting.
Related information.
In September 1852, N.A. Nekrasov’s magazine “Sovremennik” published a story by L.N. "The story of my childhood." Behind the signature with initials was twenty-four-year-old Count Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy. At that time he was on military service in the village of Starogladkovskaya. Tolstoy was very unhappy with the change to the simple title “Childhood.” "Who cares about history? my childhood?- he then wrote to Nekrasov.
He will tell the story of his childhood half a century later and, starting “Memoirs,” he will note: “In order not to repeat myself in the description of childhood, I re-read my writing under this title and regretted that I wrote it, it was not well written, literary, insincerely written. It could not have been otherwise: firstly, because my idea was to describe the story not of my own, but of my childhood friends, and therefore there was an awkward confusion of the events of their and my childhood, and secondly, because at the time of writing this I was far from independent in forms of expression, but was influenced by two writers, Stern (his “Sentimental Jorney”) and Töpfer (“Bibliothéque de mon oncle”), who had a strong influence on me at that time.”
Tolstoy talks about Laurence Stern’s “Sentimental Journey,” which was very popular in his youth, and about the novel “My Uncle’s Library” by the Swiss writer Rodolphe Töpfer. As for childhood friends, these are the sons of A.M. Islenyev, a neighbor on the estate. But in fact, Nikolenka Irteniev is to a very large extent Leo Tolstoy himself in childhood, Volodya is brother Sergei (one of the four Tolstoy brothers, the one who was two years older than Leo and had a strong influence on him), Lyubochka is Masha’s sister. Natalya Savishna - housekeeper Praskovya Isaevna, “a representative of the mysterious old life of my grandfather with Ochakov and smoking”, as it is said about her in “Memoirs”. And the teacher, the German Fyodor Ivanovich (in the story Karl Ivanovich), was with the Tolstoy brothers. And other characters are either exact portraits or mixing real characters. Therefore, very often “Childhood”, “Adolescence”, “Youth” are called an autobiographical trilogy.
While working on Memoirs, Tolstoy strove not for novelistic, but for genuine truth; I thought that "very, very true" biography “It will be better, most importantly, it will be more useful” for people than all the volumes of his artistic works. He spoke in detail about his relatives, his closest servants, about the events and mental states of his real childhood, adolescence, and youth. “Memoirs” contains the famous story about Fanfaron Mountain, the ant brotherhood and the green stick - the game of the Tolstoy brothers, which left such a deep and lasting impression on Lev Nikolayevich.
“The ideal of ant brothers clinging lovingly to each other, only not under two armchairs hung with scarves, but under the entire firmament of all the people of the world, remained the same for me. And just as I believed then that there was that green stick on which was written something that should destroy all evil in people and give them great good, so I believe now that there is this truth and that it will be revealed to people and will give them that what she promises". This “one of the most distant and sweetest and most important memories” Tolstoy conveys, being a seventy-five-year-old man and a living legend of Russian literature.
And the cadet, preparing himself for probable death in the Caucasian War, writes the first part of the planned novel “Four Epochs of Development” (“Childhood”, “Adolescence”, “Youth”, “Youth”). In childhood, not so long ago, he sees a happy, irrevocable time, “when the two best virtues - innocent gaiety and the boundless need of love - were the only motives of life". There is a lot of tenderness here. But also subtle, strange, barely explainable movements of a child’s soul. Sudden lies, cooling to games, prayerful delight, "something like first love", all-consuming, even unbearable friendship, unaccountable cruelty, a child's experience of grief, hidden and true understanding of adults. “Childhood” describes, in essence, three days from one year in the life of ten-year-old Nikolenka Irtenyev. And at the beginning of the story there is a fake dream about the death of the mother, invented to justify the morning tears. At the end is the actual death of the mother, when childhood also ends.
The story “Boyhood” was created in 1852-53, partly in the active army in Bucharest. Some pages of “Youth” were written during the defense of Sevastopol, at the same time as “Sevastopol Stories”. These era of development Nikolenki Irtenyev touched the young author even less. It must be said that adolescence here is up to the age of sixteen, adolescence is a year of studying at the university. Thus, the author is some ten years older than his hero, but this is a lot, considering that the author is a military officer, and the hero is a noble boy who never went out alone until he was sixteen years old (read the chapter “A Trip to the Monastery” "). “Adolescence” and “Youth” are, first of all, the history of the delusions and hobbies of Irtenyev, who then "neither big nor child".
Teachers and writers often use the expression "desert of adolescence". Let us remind you: it comes from “Adolescence”, from the chapter “Volodya”. In his unfinished Memoirs, Tolstoy wanted to judge even more harshly the period of life after fourteen (and up to thirty-four). "Youth" ends "moral impulse" hero to the right life and the promise of a story about a happier time. The fourth part of the novel remained unwritten. From the drafts it is known that its first chapter was to be called “Inner Work.”
The stories about Nikolenka Irteniev, which appeared in Sovremennik in 1852, 1854 and 1857, were warmly praised by N.A. Nekrasov, I.S. Turgenev, N.G. Chernyshevsky, S.T. Aksakov. The name of the critic S.S. Dudyshkin is not at all as widely known today as these names, and readers of that time listened to his opinion. And rightly so: “...whoever is not affected by the description of the thunderstorm in “Adolescence” is not advised to read the poems of either Mr. Tyutchev or Mr. Fet: he will understand absolutely nothing in them; Anyone who is not affected by the last chapters of “Childhood,” where the death of the mother is described, will not be able to make a hole in his imagination and feelings. Whoever reads Chapter XV of “Childhood” and doesn’t think about it, has absolutely no memories in his life.”
“Childhood”, “Adolescence”, “Youth” by Leo Tolstoy (and even more so his “Memoirs”!) are essentially not children’s books in terms of the depth of psychological analysis, pace and manner of narration. The trilogy, of course, is traditionally included in school reading. But reading it at Nikolenka Irtenyev’s age and as an adult are completely different activities.
Bibliography:
Tolstoy L.N. Childhood; Adolescence; Youth / Intro. Art. and note. L. Opulskaya. - M.: Pravda, 1987. - 429 p.
Tolstoy L.N. Childhood; Adolescence; Youth / Post-Secondary K. Lomunova; Artist N. Abakumov. - M.: Education, 1988. - 299 p.: ill. - (School library).
Tolstoy L.N. Childhood; Adolescence; Youth; After the ball / Comp., preface, commentary, reference. and method. materials by N. Vershinina. - M.: Olympus: AST, 1999. - 576 p. - (The School of Classics: A Book for Students and Teachers).
Tolstoy L.N. Childhood; Adolescence; Youth. - M.: Synergy, 2005. - 410 pp.: ill. - (New school).
Tolstoy L.N. Childhood; Adolescence; Youth. - M.: Eksmo, 2008. - 640 p. - (Russian classics).
Tolstoy L.N. Childhood / [Comp., intro. Art. and comment. V. Sotnikova]. - M.: Bustard, 2009. - 174 p. - (B-ka domestic classic. art. lit.).
Tolstoy's first book, “Childhood,” together with his last two stories, “Adolescence” (1853) and “Youth” (1857), became his first masterpiece. The story “Youth” was also conceived. The story of the soul of a child, teenager, young man was placed at the center of the narrative. The outwardly simple story about Nikolenka Irteniev opened new horizons for literature. N. G. Chernyshevsky defined the essence of the young writer’s artistic discoveries in two terms: “ dialectic of the soul" And " purity of moral feelings“T.’s discovery was that for him the instrument for studying mental life became the main one among other scientific means. "Dial.d." and “chnch” are not two different features, but a single feature of T.’s approach to people, society, the world. According to him, only internal. The ability of an individual, each being, to move and develop opens the way to morality. Growing. The most important changes occur in the soul and from them changes in the world can occur. " People are like rivers"- a famous aphorism from “Resurrection”. The man has it all, man. flowing matter. This judgment formed the basis of “Childhood”.
The idea of T.'s first book is defined by the characteristic title “Four Epochs of Development.” It was assumed that the internal development of Nikolenka, and in essence of every person, would be traced from childhood to youth. Afterbirth. part of “Youth” was embodied in the stories “Morning of the Landowner”, “Cossacks”. One of T.’s most favorite thoughts is connected with the image of Irtenyev - the thought of the enormous possibilities of a person born for movement. The position of childhood - a happy, irrevocable time - is replaced by the desert of adolescence, when the affirmation of one’s “I” occurs in continuous conflict with the people around him, so that in the new time of youth the world seems divided into two parts: one, illuminated by friendship and spirits. Proximity; the other is morally hostile, even if she is sometimes attracted to herself. At the same time, the accuracy of the final assessments is ensured by “purity of character.” Feelings" by the author.
Entering adolescence and youth N.I. asks questions that are of little interest to his elder brother and father: questions of relations with ordinary people, with Natalya Savishna, with a wide range of characters representing the people in Tolstoy’s narrative. Irteniev does not distinguish himself from this circle, but at the same time does not belong to it. But he had already clearly discovered for himself the truth and beauty of the people. In landscape descriptions, in the image of an old house, in portraits of ordinary people, in stylistic assessments of the narrative lies one of the main ideas of the trilogy- the thought of national art and national way of life as the fundamental basis of historical existence. Descriptions of nature, hunting scenes, pictures of rural life reveal the hero’s native country.
Stages of formation:
- Childhood. The most important era. It's a happy time, but there is a discrepancy between the inner content and the outer shell of people. Ends with the death of the mother. The theme of a simple person winning in front of the light begins.
- Adolescence. The motive of the road, the image of home, the feeling of homeland. An atmosphere of general unrest. The hero finds support in the purity of his moral feelings. In N. Savishna-temper. The ideal, the beauty of the people.
- Youth. The hero is more complex, trying to find harmony. The world is divided into 2 parts (see above)
Tolstoy did not paint a self-portrait, but rather a portrait of a peer who belonged to that generation of Russian people whose youth fell in the middle of the century.
In 1851, Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy traveled to the Caucasus. At that moment there were fierce battles with the mountaineers, in which the writer took part without interrupting his fruitful creative work. It was at this moment that Tolstoy came up with the idea of creating a novel about the spiritual growth and personal development of a person.
Already in the summer of 1852, Lev Nikolaevich sent his first story, “Childhood,” to his editor. In 1854, the part “Adolescence” was published, and three years later - “Youth”.
This is how the autobiographical trilogy was designed, which today is included in the compulsory school curriculum.
Analysis of a trilogy of works
Main character
The plot is based on the life of Nikolai Irtenyev, a nobleman from a noble family who is trying to find the meaning of existence to build the right relationship with the environment. The characteristics of the main character are quite autobiographical, so the process of finding spiritual harmony is especially important for the reader, who finds parallels with the fate of Leo Tolstoy. It is interesting that the author seeks to present a portrait of Nikolai Petrovich through the points of view of other people whom fate brings together with the main character.
Plot
Childhood
In the story “Childhood” Kolenka Irtenyev appears as a modest child who experiences not only joyful, but also sorrowful events. In this part, the writer reveals the idea of the dialectic of the soul as much as possible. At the same time, “Childhood” is not without the power of faith and hope for the future, since the author describes the life of a child with undisguised tenderness. It is interesting that the plot makes no mention of Nikolenka’s life in her parents’ home. The fact is that the boy’s formation was influenced by people who did not belong to his immediate family circle. First of all, this is Irtenyev’s tutor Karl Ivanovich and his housekeeper Natalya Savishna. Interesting episodes from “Childhood” include the process of creating a blue drawing, as well as the game of rowers.
Boyhood
The story “Adolescence” begins with the thoughts of the main character who visited him after the death of his mother. In this part, the character touches on philosophical issues of wealth and poverty, intimacy and loss, jealousy and hatred. In this story, Tolstoy seeks to convey the idea that an analytical mindset inevitably reduces the freshness of feelings, but at the same time does not prevent a person from striving for self-improvement. In “Adolescence,” the Irtenyev family moves to Moscow, and Nikolenka continues to communicate with the tutor Karl Ivanovich, receiving punishments for bad grades and dangerous games. A separate storyline is the development of the relationship between the main character and Katya, Lyuba, and also his friend Dmitry.
Youth
The finale of the trilogy - “Youth” - is dedicated to the main character’s attempts to get out of the labyrinth of internal contradictions. Irtenyev’s plans for moral development collapse against the background of an idle and petty lifestyle. Here the character encounters the first love worries, unfulfilled dreams, and the consequences of vanity. In “Youth” the plot begins with Irtenyev’s 16th year of life, who is preparing to enter university. The hero experiences the joy of confession for the first time, and also faces difficulties in communicating with friends. Tolstoy strives to show that life has made the main character less sincere and kind towards people. Nikolai Petrovich's neglect and pride leads him to expulsion from the university. The series of ups and downs does not end, but Irtenyev decides to create new rules for a good life.
Tolstoy's trilogy was realized with an interesting compositional idea. The author does not follow the chronology of events, but the stages of personality formation and turning points in fate. Lev Nikolaevich conveys through the main character the basic values of a child, teenager, and youth. There is also an edifying aspect to this book, since Tolstoy appeals to all families not to miss the most important moments in raising a new generation.
According to many literary scholars, this is a book about the most important role of kindness, which helps a person to stay away from cruelty and indifference, even despite serious life trials. Despite the apparent ease of narration and fascinating plot, Tolstoy’s novel hides the deepest philosophical subtext - without hiding moments from his own life, the author seeks to answer the question of what challenges of fate a person has to respond to in the process of growing up. Moreover, the writer helps the reader decide what kind of answer to give.
