The family thought of Tolstoy and mine. Family thought in Leo Tolstoy's epic novel War and Peace
Family thought in the novel
L. N. Tolstoy “War and Peace”.
In the novel "War and Peace" the author shows a fifteen-year layer of life of many people during a period of great upheaval and change in Russia. Along with the depiction of grandiose historical events, with philosophical reflections The author pays significant attention in the novel to family as the basis of foundations. At the center of the novel are three families: the Rostovs, the Bolkonskys, and the Kuragins. Together with these families, we experience all the events from the beginning of the novel to its end, we see their difficult and happy moments.
The first time we meet the Rostov family is on the countess’s name day. You immediately find yourself in an atmosphere of cordiality, love and goodwill, since “there is an air of love in the Rostov house.” The Count and Countess are kind and simple people, open to children with all my soul and heart. They welcome everyone who comes to their home. Living in a house where peace, mutual understanding and respect reign is happiness. Everyone in the family is frank
with a friend: sincerely having fun and crying, experiencing life’s dramas together. All children in the family feel parental tenderness and affection. Natasha is a sincere, selfless, charming girl, ready to love the whole world. Younger son Petya is kind, honest and childishly naive. Sonya is a gentle and sensitive girl. Despite the fact that she is not the natural daughter in this house, she is very comfortable here, because she is loved just as reverently as other children. This family is truly amazing world, although she is far from complete harmony. The strange, cold and selfish behavior of the Rostovs' eldest daughter Vera does not fit in with the situation in the family. “The countess has done something clever,” says the father. From the novel we know that in his youth best friend The countess was Princess Drubetskaya. Her influence is felt in the upbringing of Vera (she raised her son Boris to be a selfish, cold person). Apparently, the mother raised her first child as the world required, and not at the behest of her own soul. All members of the Rostov family are unusually close to each other. Even the courtyard people Tikhon, Prokofy, Praskovya Savvishna are very devoted to the Rostov family and feel like one family with them. But Tolstoy shows us this family even in difficult moments of their lives, when their destinies are closely intertwined with the destinies of thousands of Russians noble families during the War of 1812.
The Rostovs remain in Moscow until the last minute. But the hour comes when you need to make a decision: to go or stay. The Rostovs decide to leave, orders are given to load the carts. But the wounded remain in the house, people who defended the city. And the elder Rostov is faced with the question: what to do - leave the acquired property (the dowry of the children) and give the carts to the army or leave with the goods, not paying attention to the heartbreaking requests and groans of the wounded. But Natasha's intervention solves the problem. She screams with distorted face that it is disgusting and shameful to leave helpless people at the mercy of the enemy. The Rostovs leave without things, taking only the most necessary things, and give the carts to the wounded.
The Bolkonsky family presents a slightly different picture. Tolstoy showed three generations of this family: Prince Nikolai Andreevich, his children Andrei and Marya and grandson Nikolenka. From generation to generation, such qualities as a sense of duty, the concept of honor, nobility, and patriotism were passed on in this family. But this family is built on a different foundation than the Rostov family. In the Balkonsky family, reason reigns, not feeling. Old Prince Bolkonsky, who believes that in the world “there are only two virtues - activity and intelligence,” always follows his convictions. He is constantly working: either he writes a new military manual, or he works on a machine, or he works with his daughter. These traits are also inherent in his son, Prince Andrei. The desire to benefit people forces Prince Andrei to participate in work with Speransky, lead transformations in the village and constantly look for his place in life. From his father, a participant in Suvorov’s campaigns, Prince Andrei passed on the spirit of patriotism. The elder Bolkonsky, having learned about Napoleon’s campaign against Moscow, wants to help his country in some way. Despite his age, he becomes the commander-in-chief of the militia and devotes himself to this cause with all his soul. Andrey's love for the Motherland and life are fused together, he
wants to accomplish a feat in the name of Russia. During the War of 1812, despite the fact that Prince Andrei promised himself never to participate in military campaigns, he returned to duty and fought on the front line. Princess Marya's relationship with her father is different. Nikolai Andreevich loved his daughter very much, but he hid his feelings in every possible way, sometimes treating her too harshly. Princess Marya suffered greatly from such an attitude towards herself. Just before death, in last minutes life, first and last time Nikolai Andreevich felt that highest and at the same time worldly kinship with his daughter, which, according to Tolstoy, is spirituality and which, without heartache It’s not easy for anyone to do for themselves and others. Marya is the embodiment of amazing, selfless love. The upbringing given to her by her father taught her to sacrifice everything she has for the sake of other people. The third generation of Bolkonskys is Nikolenka, the son of Prince Andrei. We see him as a little boy in the epilogue of the novel, but even then he listens attentively to Pierre, and some special, independent, complex and strong work feelings and thoughts.
the Rostov and Bolkonsky families. And here we guess the same antithesis that is contained in the title of the novel - “War and Peace”.
Only to those who long for unity does Tolstoy grant, at the end of his epic, the acquisition of family and peace. In the epilogue we are presented with happy families Natasha and Pierre, Marya and Nikolai. They combined the best features of the best families. Natasha, with her love for her husband, creates that amazing atmosphere that inspires and supports him, and Pierre is happy, admiring the purity of her feelings, the wonderful intuition with which she penetrates his soul. They are ready to walk together to the end along the road of life, maintaining the harmony that has arisen between them.
In the Rostov family, Nikolai is a good owner, the support of the family. Countess Marya brings her spirituality, kindness and tenderness to the family. Their marriage is as happy as the marriage of Pierre and Natasha.
We see that in his novel Tolstoy pays quite a lot of attention to “family thought,” since he believes that a strong family is the basis of the state, of Russia.
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“Family Thought” in L. N. Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace”
In the novel "War and Peace" the main noble families are the Rostovs, Bolkonskys and Kuragins, who were taken as the basis of the plot and play a key role.
The most striking and important clan, which the writer himself prefers, is the Rostov clan, consisting of Count Ilya Andreevich and his wife Natalya, who raised and raised four children in prosperity and well-being: Vera, Natasha, Nikolai and Petya. Also part of the Rostov family, along with the other children, was Sonya, the Count’s niece, who was raised by the Rostovs from childhood. Each of them has naivety and spiritual simplicity. Only Vera was different and separated from the rest by her coldness and did not reveal herself in any way in the novel. The Countess-mother does not hide the fact that she raised Vera not like other children, but in strictness and restrictions. Unlike the older sister, the others grew up very friendly and sincere with each other. The joint upbringing of Count Ilya and Countess Natalia is noticeable in everything. Lev Nikolaevich created his ideal family in Rostov, where he sees a clear distribution - the mother is responsible for spiritual qualities, and the father is responsible for courage. For example, Count Ilya managed to instill in the children a sense of duty, courage and honor, and the Countess - mother - kindness, responsiveness and honesty.
The most interesting and beloved heroine by the author himself is Natasha. She goes from a young girl who makes mistakes (which are certainly forgivable for her) to a woman who is finally happy with the man she loves. We saw her in joy, in sorrow, and in those reckless situations when she decided to run away with Anatoly Kuragin. No matter how hard one sometimes dares to call Natasha narrow-minded and stupid, one cannot help but remember that she was young and, like all young people, feelings prevailed over reason.
The Rostov family is closely connected with the Bolkonsky family - lovers Andrei and Natasha, and then Nikolai with Marya Bolkonskaya. The situation in this family is somewhat different from that of the Rostovs. The head of the family is Nikolai Andreevich, a man who proudly carries the established family way of life, the spirit and character of his family and passes it on to his children - Marya and Andrey. Nikolai Andreevich feels enormous responsibility for his honor and duty; let us also remember that the Count was good friends with General Kutuzov and, in fact, the Bolkonsky family is a hereditary military man, and military affairs implies subordination, rigor, precision and toughness.
“If something happens to you, it will hurt me, but if you do not act like Bolkonsky’s son, I will be ashamed,” the Count says to his son. And Nikolai Andreevich is trying in every possible way to make his daughter Marya savvy and educated girl, since she was less fortunate with her appearance.
The Bolkonsky family in the novel is contrasted with the Kuragin family. Both the Bolkonskys and the Kuragins occupy a prominent place in social life Moscow and St. Petersburg. Describing the members of the Bolkonsky family, the author draws attention to issues of pride and honor, and portrays the Kuragins as active participants in intrigues and behind-the-scenes games (the story with Count Bezukhov’s briefcase). The Kuragin family is full of balls and receptions, lies and pretense, prudence and baseness. The head of the family is Vasily Kuragin, an egoist and careerist. It’s not hard to guess that his children, Helen and Anatole, were no different either. worthy actions. They both believe that everything should only bring pleasure, but this is not that good pleasure, but rather vulgarity and debauchery. His children are among those people who have beautiful appearance, but not matching inner world. But we still have no right to condemn them, since we do not know what made them like this besides their upbringing.
Analysis of these families can only be done by giving brief description and once again make sure that family is the basis of everything. The writer once again let us know that the family is the basis for education human soul and that each genus is a separate world. The world of the Rostovs is bright, noisy, cheerful. The world of the Bolkonskys is serious, orderly, conservative, luxurious. The world of the Kuragins is free, feigned, calculating and immoral. The author even shows us the outcome of all the family's vices - Natalya and Nikolai remain with their loved ones, and Helen and Anatole died in their cunning and deceit.
“War and Peace” is a Russian national epic, which is reflected national character of the Russian people at the moment when it was being decided historical fate. L.N. Tolstoy worked on the novel for almost six years: from 1863 to 1869. From the very beginning of work on the work, the writer’s attention was attracted not only historical events, but also private family life.
For L.N. Tolstoy himself, one of his main values was family. The family in which he grew up, without which we would not have known Tolstoy the writer, the family that he created himself. Family as a school of life and family as an institution. In life, family is a way of reproduction and the best remedy to instill moral principles in a person, to develop his talents. Family is the transfer of experience of generations, the uniqueness of a nation.
“Family thought” was first seriously touched upon by Tolstoy in “Childhood.” He depicts his family, its climate, the relationship between children and parents and the influence of the family atmosphere on himself. The apogee of the development of “family thought” in Tolstoy’s work was the novel “Anna Karenina”. In the novel “War and Peace” through the prism of “ family thought» is being considered Patriotic War 1812
The novel “War and Peace” describes the life of several noble families: the Rostovs, the Bolkonskys and the Kuragins.
The Bolkonskys and Rostovs are families with whom Tolstoy sympathizes. From them come Marya and Andrei Bolkonsky, Natasha - the writer’s favorite characters. The members of these families were subjected to three main tests by the writer: social life, love, war. Families are shown not in isolation from the surrounding world, but in close contact with it and contacts with each other. It is in this way that Tolstoy reveals the “family thought.”
In the Rostov family, it was customary not to be afraid to express their feelings: cry, fall in love. This was one of the most hospitable families in Moscow. In addition to their children, they raised Boris and Sonya. An atmosphere of universal love and trust reigned in the house. Love binds all family members. It manifests itself in sensitivity, attention, and closeness. With the Rostovs, everything is sincere, it comes from the heart. In this family, cordiality, hospitality, hospitality reign, and the traditions and customs of Russian life are preserved. Only from such a family can children like Nikolai and Natasha come out. These are people with a strong intuitive beginning, but do not carry any spiritual values. That is why they are drawn to the Bolkonsky family, who carry moral and spiritual values.
The Bolkonsky family has a spartan atmosphere. It’s not customary to cry here, they don’t like guests here, everything here is subordinated to reason. This is an old aristocratic family. In addition to blood ties, the members of this family are also connected by spiritual closeness. Nikolai Andreevich, loving his daughter, forces her to study natural sciences, believing that she is completely bad. However, the princess’s spiritual foundations prevail. The happiness given to her at the end of the novel is a reward for suffering. Prince Andrey is the image of a real man: strong-willed, strong, practical, educated, moderately sensitive.
These two families form, as it were, two halves, and it is quite natural that they are attracted to each other, and they form harmonious couples. The spiritual and practical are reunited in the pair Nikolai - Princess Marya. The same thing should have happened between Prince Andrei and Natasha, but Bolkonsky’s death prevents this.
Tolstoy contrasts the Kuragin family with the Rostovs and Bolkonskys. Kuragins are a symbol of a degraded family, a family in which material interests are placed above spiritual ones. The members of this family appear before us in all their insignificance, vulgarity, callousness, and greed. Kuragins live artificial life, they are selfishly occupied with everyday interests. The family is devoid of spirituality. For Helen and Anatole, the main thing in life is the satisfaction of their base desires. They are completely disconnected from folk life, live in a brilliant but cold world, where all feelings are perverted. Prince Vasily is so carried away by secular affairs that he has lost all human essence. According to Tolstoy, this family has no right to exist, almost all of its members die. The family of Vera and Berg can be compared with the Kuragins. Their whole life consists of imitating others. Their motto is “like others.” This family will be given children, but they will certainly be moral monsters.
The couple Natasha Rostova - Pierre Bezukhov becomes the ideal of a harmonious family. All of Pierre’s spiritual quests and all of Natasha’s tireless energy went towards creating a strong and reliable family. It is safe to say that their children will grow up healthy physically and morally.
By showing three families most fully in the novel, Tolstoy makes it clear to the reader that the future belongs to families such as the Rostov and Bolkonsky families, who embody sincerity of feelings and high spirituality.
“War and Peace” is one of best works Russian and world literature. In it, the author historically correctly recreated the life of Russian people in early XIX century. The writer describes in detail the events of 1805-1807 and 1812. Despite the fact that the “family thought” is the main one in the novel “Anna Karenina”, in the epic novel “War and Peace” it also occupies a very important place. Tolstoy saw the beginning of all beginnings in the family. As you know, a person is not born good or bad, but his family and the atmosphere that prevails within it make him so. The author brilliantly outlined many of the characters in the novel, showed their formation and development, which is called the “dialectics of the soul.” Tolstoy, paying great attention the origins of the formation of human personality, has similarities with Goncharov. The hero of the novel “Oblomov” was not born apathetic and lazy, but life in his Oblomovka, where 300 Zakharovs were ready to fulfill his every desire, made him so.
Following the traditions of realism, the author wanted to show and also compare various families that are typical of their era. In this comparison, the author often uses the technique of antithesis: some families are shown in development, while others are frozen. The latter includes the Kuragin family. Tolstoy, showing all its members, be it Helen or Prince Vasily, pays great attention to the portrait, appearance. This is no coincidence: outer beauty Kuraginykh replaces the spiritual. There are many in this family human vices. Thus, the meanness and hypocrisy of Prince Vasily are revealed in his attitude towards the inexperienced Pierre, whom he despises as an illegitimate. As soon as Pierre receives an inheritance from the deceased Count Bezukhov, his opinion about him completely changes, and Prince Vasily begins to see in Pierre an excellent match for his daughter Helen. This turn of events is explained by the low and selfish interests of Prince Vasily and his daughter. Helen, having agreed to a marriage of convenience, reveals her moral baseness. Her relationship with Pierre can hardly be called a family one; the spouses are constantly separated. In addition, Helen ridicules Pierre's desire to have children: she does not want to burden herself with unnecessary worries. Children, in her understanding, are a burden that interferes with life. Tolstoy considered such a low moral decline to be the most terrible thing for a woman. He wrote that the main purpose of a woman is to become a good mother and raise worthy children. The author shows all the uselessness and emptiness of Helen's life. Having failed to fulfill her destiny in this world, she dies. None of the Kuragin family leaves behind heirs.
The complete opposite of the Kuragins is the Bolkonsky family. Here you can feel the author’s desire to show people of honor and duty, highly moral and complex characters.
The father of the family is Prince Nikolai Andreevich Bolkonsky, a man of Catherine’s temperament, who places honor and duty above other human values. This is most clearly manifested in the scene of farewell to his son, Prince Andrei Bolkonsky, who is leaving for the war. The son does not let his father down, does not lose honor. Unlike many adjutants, he does not sit at headquarters, but is on the front line, in the very center of military operations. The author emphasizes his intelligence and nobility. After the death of his wife, Prince Andrey was left with Nikolenka. We have no doubt that he will worthy person and, like his father and grandfather, will not tarnish the honor of the ancient Bolkonsky family.
The daughter of the old Prince Bolkonsky is Marya, a person of pure soul, pious, patient, kind. The father did not show his feelings for her, since it was not in his rules. Marya understands all the prince’s whims and treats them resignedly, because she knows that her father’s love for her is hidden in the depths of his soul. The author emphasizes in the character of Princess Marya self-sacrifice for the sake of another, a deep understanding of daughterly duty. The old prince, unable to pour out his love, withdraws into himself, sometimes acting cruelly. Princess Marya will not contradict him: the ability to understand another person, to enter into his position - this is one of the main traits of her character. This trait often helps save a family and prevents it from falling apart.
Another antithesis to the Kuragin clan is the Rostov family, showing whom Tolstoy emphasizes such qualities of people as kindness, spiritual openness within the family, hospitality, moral purity, unspoiled, close to people's life. Many people are drawn to the Rostovs, many sympathize with them. Unlike the Bolkonskys, an atmosphere of trust and mutual understanding often reigns within the Rostov family. This may not always be the case in reality, but Tolstoy wanted to idealize openness and show its necessity between all family members. Each member of the Rostov family is an individual.
Nikolai, the eldest son of the Rostovs, is a brave, selfless man, he passionately loves his parents and sisters. Tolstoy notes that Nikolai does not hide from his family his feelings and desires that overwhelm him. Faith, eldest daughter Rostov, noticeably different from other family members. She grew up an outsider in her family, withdrawn and angry. The old count says that the countess “did something tricky with her.” Showing the Countess, Tolstoy focuses on her trait of selfishness. The Countess thinks exclusively about her family and wants to see her children happy at all costs, even if their happiness is built on the misfortune of other people. Tolstoy showed in her the ideal of a female mother who worries only about her cubs. This is most clearly demonstrated in the scene of the family's departure from Moscow during the fire. Natasha having kind soul and heart, helps the wounded leave Moscow, giving them carts, and leaves all the accumulated wealth and belongings in the city, since this is a gainful business. She does not hesitate to make a choice between her well-being and the lives of other people. The Countess, not without hesitation, agrees to such a sacrifice. Blind maternal instinct shines through here.
At the end of the novel, the author shows us the formation of two families: Nikolai Rostov and Princess Marya Bolkonskaya, Pierre Bezukhov and Natasha Rostova. Both the princess and Natasha, each in their own way, are morally high and noble. They both suffered a lot and finally found their happiness in family life, became the guardians of the family hearth. As Dostoevsky wrote: “Man is not born for happiness and deserves it through suffering.” These two heroines have one thing in common: they will be able to become wonderful mothers, they will be able to raise a worthy generation, which, according to the author, is the main thing in a woman’s life, and Tolstoy, in the name of this, forgives them some of the shortcomings characteristic of ordinary people.
As a result, we see that “family thought” is one of the fundamental ones in the novel. Tolstoy shows not only individuals, but also families, shows the complexity of relationships both within one family and between families.
Tolstoy considered family to be the basis of everything. It contains love, and the future, and peace, and goodness. Families make up society, the moral laws of which are laid down and preserved in the family. The writer’s family is a society in miniature. Tolstoy's heroes are almost all family people, and he characterizes them through families.
In the novel, the life of three families unfolds before us: the Rostovs, the Bolkonskys, the Kuragins. In the epilogue of the novel, the author shows the happy “new” families of Nikolai and Marya, Pierre and Natasha. Each family is endowed with characteristic features and also embodies its own view of the world and its values. Members of these families participate in one way or another in all the events described in the work. The novel covers fifteen years of life, families are traced through three generations: fathers, children and grandchildren.
The Rostov family is an example of an ideal relationship between loved ones who love and respect each other. The father of the family, Count Ilya Rostov, is depicted as a typical Russian gentleman. The manager Mitenka constantly deceives the count. Only Nikolai Rostov exposes and fires him. No one in the family accuses anyone, suspects anyone, or deceives anyone. They are one whole, always sincerely ready to help each other. Joys and sorrows are experienced together, together they look for answers to difficult questions. They quickly experience troubles; the emotional and intuitive principles predominate in them. All Rostovs are passionate people, but the mistakes and mistakes of family members do not cause hostility and hostility towards each other. The family is upset and grieving when Nikolai Rostov loses at cards, experiences the story of Natasha’s love for Anatoly Kuragin and an attempt to escape with him, although everything secular society discusses this shameful event.
In the Rostov family there is a “Russian spirit”, everyone loves national culture and art. They live in accordance with national traditions: they are happy to have guests, they are generous, they love living in the countryside, they enjoy taking part in folk holidays. All Rostovs are talented and have musical abilities. The courtyard people who serve in the house are deeply devoted to the masters and live with them like one family.
During the war, the Rostov family remained in Moscow until last moment while it is still possible to evacuate. Their house houses the wounded, who need to be taken out of the city so that they are not killed by the French. The Rostovs decide to give up their acquired property and give away the carts for the soldiers. This is how the true patriotism of this family is manifested.
A different order reigns in the Bolkonsky family. All living feelings are driven to the very bottom of the soul. In the relationship between them there is only cold rationality. Prince Andrei and Princess Marya do not have a mother, and the father replaces parental love with over-demandingness, which makes his children unhappy. Princess Marya is a girl with a strong, courageous character. She was not broken by her father’s cruel attitude, she did not become embittered, and did not lose her pure and gentle soul.
Old Bolkonsky is sure that in the world “there are only two virtues - activity and intelligence.” He himself works all his life: he writes the charter, works in the workshop, studies with his daughter. Bolkonsky is a nobleman of the old school. He is a patriot of his homeland and wants to benefit it. Having learned that the French are advancing, he becomes the head of the people's militia, ready to defend his land with arms in hand, to prevent the enemy from setting foot on it.
Prince Andrei looks like his father. He also strives for power, works in Speransky’s committee, wants to become a big man, to serve for the good of the country. Although he promised himself never to participate in battles again, in 1812 he went to fight again. Saving his homeland is a sacred matter for him. Prince Andrei dies for his homeland like a hero.
The Kuragin family brings evil and destruction to the world. Using the example of the members of this family, Tolstoy showed how deceptive external beauty can be. Helen and Anatole are beautiful people, but this beauty is imaginary. External shine hides the emptiness of their low souls. Anatole leaves a bad memory of himself everywhere. Because of money, he wooes Princess Marya and destroys the relationship between Prince Andrei and Natasha. Helen loves only herself, destroys Pierre's life, disgraces him.
Lies and hypocrisy, and contempt for others reign in the Kuragin family. The father of the family, Prince Vasily, is a court intriguer, he is only interested in gossip and vile deeds. For the sake of money, he is ready to do anything, even commit a crime. His behavior in the scene of the death of Count Bezukhov is the height of blasphemy and contempt for the laws of human morality.
There is no spiritual relationship in the Kuragin family. Tolstoy does not show us their house. They are primitive, undeveloped people, whom the author portrays in satirical tones. They cannot achieve happiness in life.
According to Tolstoy, good family is a reward for a righteous life. In the finale, he rewards his heroes with happiness in family life.
“Family Thought” in L. N. Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace” The main idea in the novel by L.N. Tolstoy“War and peace,” along with popular thought,” is “family thought.” The writer believed that the family is the basis of the entire society, and it reflects the processes that occur in society.
The novel shows heroes who go through a certain path of ideological and spiritual development; through trial and error, they try to find their place in life and realize their purpose. These characters are shown against the backdrop of family relationships. So, families appear before us Rostov and Bolkonsky. Tolstoy depicted in his novel the entire Russian nation from top to bottom, thereby showing that the top of the nation had become spiritually dead, having lost contact with the people. He shows this process using the example of the family of Prince Vasily Kuragin and his children, who are characterized by the expression of all the negative qualities inherent in people of high society - extreme selfishness, baseness of interests, lack of sincere feelings.
All the heroes of the novel are bright individuals, but the members of the same family have a certain common feature that unites them all.
Thus, the main feature of the Bolkonsky family can be called the desire to follow the laws of reason. None of them, except, perhaps, Princess Marya, is characterized by an open manifestation of their feelings. The image of the head of the family, the old prince Nikolai Andreevich Bolkonsky, embodies the best features of the ancient Russian nobility. He is a representative of an ancient aristocratic family, his character bizarrely combines the morals of an imperious nobleman, before whom all the household are in awe, from the servants to his own daughter, an aristocrat proud of his long pedigree, the traits of a man of great intelligence and simple habits. At a time when no one required women to display any special knowledge, he teaches his daughter geometry and algebra, motivating it this way: “I don’t want you to be like our stupid ladies.” He educated his daughter in order to develop in her the main virtues, which, in his opinion, were “activity and intelligence.”
His son, Prince Andrei, also embodied the best features of the nobility, the progressive noble youth. Prince Andrei has his own path to understanding real life. And he will go through errors, but his unerring moral sense will help him get rid of false ideals. So, Napoleon and Speransky turn out to be debunked in his mind, and his life will come Love To Natasha, so unlike all the other ladies of high society, the main features of which, in his opinion and the opinion of his father, are “selfishness, vanity, insignificance in everything.” Natasha will become for him the personification of real life, opposing the falsehood of the world. Her betrayal of him is tantamount to the collapse of an ideal. Just like his father, Prince Andrei is intolerant of simple human weaknesses that his wife, the most ordinary woman, has, a sister who is looking for some special truth from “God’s people,” and many other people whom he encounters in life.
A peculiar exception in the Bolkonsky family is Princess Marya. She lives only for the sake of self-sacrifice, which is elevated to moral principle, defining her entire life. She is ready to give all of herself to others, suppressing personal desires. Submission to her fate, to all the whims of her domineering father, who loves her in his own way, religiosity is combined in her with a thirst for simple, human happiness. Her humility is the result of a peculiarly understood sense of duty as a daughter who does not have the moral right to judge her father, as she says to Mademoiselle Burien: “I will not allow myself to judge him and would not want others to do so.” But nevertheless, when self-esteem demands, she can show the necessary firmness. This is revealed with particular force when her sense of patriotism, which distinguishes all Bolkonskys, is insulted. However, she can sacrifice her pride if it is necessary to save another person. So, she asks for forgiveness, although she is not guilty of anything, from her companion for herself and the serf servant, on whom her father’s wrath fell.
Another family depicted in the novel is in some way opposed to the Bolkonsky family. This is the Rostov family. If the Bolkonskys strive to follow the arguments of reason, then Rostov obey the voice of feelings. Natasha is little guided by the requirements of decency, she is spontaneous, she has many child traits, which is highly valued by the author. He emphasizes many times that Natasha is ugly, unlike Helen Kuragina. It’s not the outside that’s important to him. beauty a person, but his internal qualities.
The behavior of all members of this family shows high nobility of feelings, kindness, rare generosity, naturalness, closeness to the people, moral purity and integrity. The local nobility, unlike the highest St. Petersburg nobility, is faithful to national traditions. It was not for nothing that Natasha, dancing with her uncle after the hunt, “knew how to understand everything that was in Anisya, and in Anisya’s father, and in her aunt, and in her mother, and in every Russian person.”
Tolstoy's great importance attached to family ties, the unity of the whole family. Although the Bolkonsky family should unite with the Rostov family through the marriage of Prince Andrei and Natasha, her mother cannot come to terms with this, cannot accept Andrei into the family, “she wanted to love him like a son, but she felt that he was a stranger and terrible to her Human". Families cannot unite through Natasha and Andrei, but are united through the marriage of Princess Marya to Nikolai Rostov. This marriage is successful, it saves the Rostovs from ruin.
The novel also shows the Kuragin family: Prince Vasily and his three children: the soulless doll Helen, the “dead fool” Ippolit and the “restless fool” Anatole. Prince Vasily is a calculating and cold intriguer and ambitious man who lays claim to Kirila's inheritance Bezukhova without having any direct right to do so. He is connected with his children only by blood ties and common interests: they care only about their well-being and position in society.
The daughter of Prince Vasily, Helen, is a typical social beauty with impeccable manners and reputation. She amazes everyone with her beauty, which is described several times as “marble,” that is, cold beauty, devoid of feeling and soul, the beauty of a statue. The only thing that occupies Helen is her salon and social receptions.
The sons of Prince Vasily, in his opinion, are both “fools.” His father managed to place Hippolytus in the diplomatic service, and his fate is considered settled. The brawler and rake Anatole causes a lot of trouble for everyone around him, and, in order to calm him down, Prince Vasily wants to marry him to the rich heiress Princess Marya. This marriage cannot take place due to the fact that Princess Marya does not want to part with her father, and Anatole indulges in his former amusements with renewed vigor.
Thus, people who are not only related by blood, but also spiritually, unite into families. The ancient Bolkonsky family is not interrupted by the death of Prince Andrei; Nikolenka Bolkonsky remains, who will likely continue the tradition of moral quests of his father and grandfather. Marya Bolkonskaya brings high spirituality to the Rostov family. So, “family thought,” along with “folk thought,” is the main one in L. Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace.” Tolstoy's family is being studied in turning points stories. Having shown three families most fully in the novel, writer makes it clear to the reader that the future belongs to families such as the Rostov and Bolkonsky families, who embody sincerity of feelings and high spirituality, the most prominent representatives of which each go through their own path of rapprochement with the people.
Composition. “Family Thought” in the novel “War and Peace” by L.N. Tolstoy
In the novel "War and Peace" L.N. Tolstoy singled out and considered the most significant "people's thought." This theme is most vividly and multifacetedly reflected in those parts of the work that tell about the war. In the depiction of the “world,” the “family thought” predominates, playing a very important role in the novel.
Almost all the heroes of War and Peace are tested by love. They do not all come to true love and mutual understanding, to moral beauty, and not all at once, but only after going through mistakes and the suffering that redeems them, developing and purifying the soul.
Andrei Bolkonsky's path to happiness was thorny. A twenty-year-old inexperienced young man, carried away and blinded by “external” beauty, marries Lisa. However, very quickly Andrei came to a painful and depressing understanding of how “cruelly and irreparably” he had made a mistake. In a conversation with Pierre, Andrei, almost in despair, utters the words: “Never, never get married... until you have done everything you could... My God, what I wouldn’t give now not to be married! "
Family life did not bring Bolkonsky happiness and peace; he was burdened by it. He did not love his wife, but rather despised her as a child of an empty, stupid “world”. Prince Andrei was constantly oppressed by the feeling of the uselessness of his life, equating him with a “court lackey and idiot.”
Then there was the sky of Austerlitz, the death of Lisa, and a deep spiritual change, and fatigue, melancholy, contempt for life, disappointment. Bolkonsky at that time was like an oak tree, which “stood like an old, angry and contemptuous monster between the smiling birches” and “did not want to submit to the charm of spring.” “Yes, he’s right, this oak tree is right a thousand times,” thought Prince Andrei, “...our life is over.” This is how he first met Natasha in Otradnoye. And from contact with her natural life, illuminated by joy, “an unexpected confusion of young thoughts and hopes” arose in Andrei’s soul. He left transformed, and again in front of him was an oak tree, but not an old, ugly oak tree, but covered with “a tent of lush, dark greenery,” so that “no sores, no old mistrust, no grief - nothing was visible.”
Love, like a miracle, revives Tolstoy's heroes to a new life. True feelings for Natasha, so unlike the empty, absurd women of the “society,” came to Prince Andrei later and with incredible strength turned him upside down and renewed his soul. He “seemed and was a completely different, new person,” “as if he had walked out of a stuffy room into the free light of God.” True, even love did not help Prince Andrei to humble his pride; he never forgave Natasha for “betrayal.” Only after a mortal wound and a new mental fracture and rethinking of life did Bolkonsky understand her suffering, shame and repentance and realize the cruelty of the break with her. “I love you more, better than before,” he said then to Natasha, but nothing, not even her fiery feeling, could keep him in this world.
Pierre's fate is somewhat similar to the fate of his best friend. Just like Andrei, who in his youth was carried away by Liza, who has just arrived from Paris, childishly enthusiastic, Pierre is carried away by the “doll” beauty of Helen. The example of Prince Andrei did not become a “science” for him; Pierre was convinced from his own experience that external beauty is not always the key to internal - spiritual beauty.
Pierre felt that there were no barriers between him and Helen, she “was terribly close to him,” her beautiful “marble” body had power over him. And although Pierre felt that this was “not good for some reason,” he weakly succumbed to the feeling instilled in him by this “depraved woman” and eventually became her husband. As a result, a bitter feeling of disappointment, gloomy despondency, contempt for his wife, for life, for himself gripped him some time after the wedding, when Helen’s “mystery” turned into spiritual emptiness, stupidity and debauchery.
Having met Natasha, Pierre, like Andrei, was amazed and attracted by her purity and naturalness. Feelings for her had already timidly begun to grow in his soul when Volkonsky and Natasha fell in love with each other. The joy of their happiness mixed in his soul with sadness. Unlike Andrey, Pierre's kind heart understood and forgave Natasha after the incident with Anatole Kuragin. Although he tried to despise her, when he saw the exhausted, suffering Natasha, “a never-before-experienced feeling of pity filled Pierre’s soul.” And love entered his “soul, which blossomed towards a new life, softened and encouraged.” Pierre understood Natasha, perhaps because her connection with Anatole was similar to his infatuation with Helen. Natasha believed in the inner beauty and purity of the depraved and empty Kuragin, in communication with whom she, just like Pierre and Helen, “felt with horror that there was no barrier between him and her.”
After a disagreement with his wife, Pierre's journey through life continues. He became interested in Freemasonry, then there was the war, and the half-childish idea of killing Napoleon, and burning Moscow, terrible moments of waiting for death and captivity. Having gone through suffering, Pierre's renewed, purified soul retained his love for Natasha. Having met her, who had also changed greatly, had gone through her own path of spiritual quest and suffering, and had become wiser, he did not immediately recognize her, although he noticed the attentive, affectionate gaze of “a sweet, kind, glorious creature.” Pierre did not recognize Natasha because in her “kind, sad, questioning eyes” there was no “smile of the joy of life” characteristic of them. They both believed that after everything they had experienced they would be able to feel this joy, but love awoke in their hearts, and suddenly it “smelled and filled” with “long-forgotten happiness”, and the “forces of life” began to beat, and a “joyful, unexpected madness” took possession of them.
“Love has awakened, and life has awakened.”
The power of love revived Natasha after the mental apathy caused by the death of Prince Andrei. She thought that her life was over, but arose with new strength"love for her mother showed her that her essence... - love - was still alive in her." Her whole being was filled with a feeling of “love, boundless love... for everything that was close to a loved one,” a feeling of “pity, suffering for others and a passionate desire to give all of myself in order to help them.” This all-crushing power of love, which called Natasha herself to life, “persistent, patient,” called to life the people she loved, to whom it was directed.
The fates of Nikolai Rostov and Princess Marya were not easy. Quiet, meek, ugly in appearance, but beautiful soul During her father’s lifetime, the princess did not even hope to get married or raise children. The only wooer, and even then for the sake of a dowry, Anatole, of course, could not understand her high spirituality, moral beauty, her desire for the “infinite, eternal and perfect.”
A chance meeting with Rostov, his noble deed awakened an unfamiliar, exciting feeling in Marya. Her soul recognized in him a “noble, firm, selfless soul.”
Each meeting revealed each other more and more to them, connected them. In the presence of her beloved, Princess Marya was transformed, “some kind of new power life took possession of her." Awkward, shy, she became graceful and feminine, but in the presence of Anatole, the princess shrank, closed in on herself and became even uglier. When Rostov looked at her, he saw how "all her inner work, dissatisfied with herself, her suffering, the desire for good, humility, love, selflessness - all this shone in... radiant eyes, in a subtle smile, in every feature of her gentle face."
Nikolai admired the beautiful soul that had revealed itself to him and felt that Marya was better and higher than both himself and Sonechka, whom, as it seemed to him before, he loved, in whom she remained a “barren flower.” Sonya was always correct, like Vera, her soul did not live, did not make mistakes and did not suffer and, according to Tolstoy, did not “deserve” family happiness. Rostov also felt that he would never fully understand Princess Marya, and she also understood this, but her “submissive, tender” love seemed to become stronger from this. In their family, both happy and calm, there was no endless understanding, dissolution in each other, which, as Tolstoy believed, was the ideal of marriage.
The Bezukhov family became such an ideal in War and Peace. Natasha internally merged with Pierre, "gave herself... all - that is, with all her soul, leaving not a single corner open to him." She stopped paying attention to the “external” means that many thought were necessary to maintain love. She did not take beautiful poses, did not dress up, did not sing, left society, since all this was weak and ridiculous in front of “something solid, like the connection between her soul and body,” which was between her and her husband. The old countess, with her maternal instinct, guessed that “all Natasha’s impulses began only with the need to have a family, to have a husband.” And when they appeared, she gave them all of herself, served only them and all her interests, her whole life were focused on them. She fulfilled Pierre’s every wish, tried to guess his thoughts and will. Those around her noticed that she was arguing with them using her husband’s words. Often, when they argued, Pierre found in Natasha’s words his own thought, cleared of all superficial things. The wife unconsciously was a reflection of himself, absorbing all the best that she found in her husband.
In the epilogue of the novel "War and Peace" Tolstoy exalts the spiritual unity of people, which forms the basis of nepotism. Was created new family, in which seemingly different principles - the Rostovs and the Bolkonskys - were combined. “As in every real family, in the Lysogorsk house several completely different worlds lived together, which, each maintaining its own peculiarity and making concessions to one another, merged into one harmonious whole.”
