The image of the narrator in the story after the ball. The essay “The Image of Ivan Vasilyevich (According to the story of L

Target:enrich students’ knowledge about a long-past era, and in theoretical and artistic terms – about composition work of art(antithesis as a way of constructing a work and, therefore, a way of revealing life’s contradictions and the writer’s position);

form row reading skills(determination of the meaning of plot elements, composition, figurative and expressive means of language, characterization of characters in different situations and etc.);

help students to correctly comprehend and correctly evaluate the people, conflicts, social relations depicted by the writer;

achieve, to get students to think about moral problem everyone's responsibility for everyone's life.

During the classes

I. Organizing time.

II.

1. L.N. Tolstoy - the great Russian writer XIX century.

Outstanding contemporaries of Lev Nikolaevich Tolstov - Chekhov, Gorky, Repin, Tchaikovsky, Korolenko and many others who knew the writer admired the grandeur of this man’s personality.

His secretary said that Lev Nikolayevich did not rate himself highly, but on the other hand, it was clear to everyone who came across him that in front of them was not only a great writer and thinker, but also a tall, pure-spirited person.

2. Reading statements about Tolstoy.

3. The story about the portrait of L.N. Tolstoy by artist N.N. Ge (1884)

"Late evening. The room is in twilight. It seems that there is deep silence in the house, everyone around is sleeping, and only the great worker Tolstoy cannot tear himself away from work, which now constitutes the main work of his life... He wants the truth, understood by him, to become accessible to all people... Tolstoy is like here a wise and majestic prophet, a strict judge and teacher of life... An invisible candle brightly illuminates Tolstoy’s face, the light silvers his gray hair, and this creates a feeling of clarity of thought, inner peace and gentle humanity, so strangely combined with the severity of the preacher.”

III. Working on the topic of the lesson.

1.

The story has a peculiar introduction. It kind of sets the reader up to perceive subsequent events and introduces him to the narrator. It is interesting that the narrative begins immediately, even suddenly, without extensive exposition. And it also ends without any conclusions.

Questions that torment Ivan Vasilyevich and interest his interlocutors:

· What is the role of social conditions in changing a person's attitudes and behavior?

· Are these conditions omnipotent or is there something else that allows a person to see the light?

The emotional background of the story.

· Thoughts and internal polemics in the first words of Ivan Vasilyevich.

· The narrator's sentimental and enthusiastic feeling in the description of the ball.

· The motive of growing anxiety in the picture of late dawn.

· Intonation of horror in the scene of the soldier’s punishment.

2. Teacher's word.

Similar to " The captain's daughter", "Song about the merchant Kalashnikov", "Mtsyri", the story "After the Ball" paints pictures of the long past. But, unlike Pushkin and Lermontov, who turned to the past in search of heroic characters, L.N. Tolstoy, in the story “After the Ball,” restores the past to show that its horrors live in the present, only slightly changing their forms, that the past - with its social inequality, cruelty, inhumanity - holds Russia in a tenacious embrace and that a renewal of life is urgently needed.

In the story, you can hear the roll call of two eras - the one that Tolstoy directly depicts (the 40s of the 19th century, the reign of Nicholas I), and the one that is present invisibly, causing the formulation of certain philosophical, moral, and social issues.

Despite its apparent clarity and transparency, the story “After the Ball” is far from easy to understand. You are already familiar with the composition (structure) of a work when the narration is told in the first person. In this case, extra-plot elements help judge the author’s position, for example, in “The Captain’s Daughter” - epigraphs to the entire story and individual chapters.

In the story “After the Ball” there are two narrators: one is the one who introduces the reader to Ivan Vasilyevich, the other is Ivan Vasilyevich himself. What we have before us is, essentially, a kind of story within a story. It is impossible to recognize Tolstoy himself in any of the narrators. Therefore, the author's position should be judged only on the basis of a thoughtful analysis of the story.

3. Highlighting parts of the story.

4.

1. First part of the story:

· the leader's hall;

· hosts of the ball;

· Varenka;

Colonel

· Ivan Vasilievich.

2. Second part of the story:

· description of the street;

· soldiers;

· punished;

Colonel

· Ivan Vasilievich.

5.

6.

7.

8.

· contrasting comparison of events;

· description of the ball and execution;

· the colonel's behavior at the ball and after the ball;

· Ivan Vasilyevich’s mood in the same scenes.

IV. Conversation on issues.

1. Why is the story called: “After the Ball”? (obviously, the second scene - the reprisal of the soldier, has a special meaning).

2. Talk about illustrations for the story.

3. Compare the colonel’s behavior and appearance at the ball and after the ball.

4. Observations on linguistic means (according to the plan for parts of the story)

IPart:

1) Celebration at the leader's described with epithets: a wonderful ball, a beautiful hall, it will be magnificent, famous musicians; The mazurka motif sounds almost continuously.

2) Varenka- in a white dress, white gloves, white shoes. She has “a radiant, flushed face with dimples and gentle, sweet eyes.”

3) Varenka's father- handsome, stately, tall, fresh, with a white mustache, white sideburns, sparkling eyes, a joyful smile, a broad chest, strong shoulders and long slender legs.

4) Ivan Vasilievich– satisfied, happy, blissful, kind; looks at the dancers with rapturous emotion and feeling.

IIPart:

In this part of the story, after the ball, the colors darken sharply, although the student is still joyful and happy at first.

1) Street in spring wet fog, etc.

2) Soldiers in black uniforms.

3) Bloodied, tortured victim of execution.

4) Colonel still the same - with a ruddy face and white mustache and sideburns. But now. But now, in comparison with the one being punished, his beauty and military bearing look almost blasphemous.

V. Summing up the lesson.

VI. Homework.

A written essay on one of the topics:

· “What is the difference between people of the same circle: Ivan Vasilyevich and the colonel? (Based on the story by L.N. Tolstoy “After the Ball”).”

· “The morning that changed my life.”

· “What I learned about life in Russia first half of the 19th century century from the story of L.N. Tolstoy's "After the Ball"?

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Municipal government educational institution"Nikitsky educational complex" municipality Yalta District of the Republic of Crimea

LESSON

literature in 8th grade

« L.N. Tolstoy. “After the Ball” (1903): the problem of a person’s moral responsibility for the lives of others and his own destiny. Author and narrator of the work».

TEACHER OF RUSSIAN LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE

KHALFINA REBIYA ADZHIMETOVNA

YALTA, 2014

Subject. L.N. Tolstoy. “After the Ball” (1903): the problem of a person’s moral responsibility for the lives of others and his own destiny. The author and narrator of the work.

Goal: enrich students’ knowledge about a long-past era, and in theoretical and artistic terms, about the composition of a work of art (antithesis as a way of constructing a work and, therefore, a way of revealing life’s contradictions and the writer’s position);

form a number of reading skills (determining the meaning of plot elements, composition, visual and expressive means of language, characterizing characters in different situations, etc.);

help students to correctly comprehend and correctly evaluate the people, conflicts, social relations depicted by the writer;

achieve, so that students think about the moral problem of everyone’s responsibility for the lives of everyone.

During the classes

1. Organizing time.
2. A short introduction by the teacher.

1. L.N. Tolstoy is a great Russian writer of the 19th century.

Outstanding contemporaries of Lev Nikolaevich Tolstov - Chekhov, Gorky, Repin, Tchaikovsky, Korolenko and many others who knew the writer admired the grandeur of this man’s personality.

His secretary said that Lev Nikolayevich did not rate himself highly, but on the other hand, it was clear to everyone who came across him that in front of them was not only a great writer and thinker, but also a tall, pure-spirited person.

1. Reading statements about Tolstoy.
2. The story about the portrait of L.N. Tolstoy by artist N.N. Ge (1884)

"Late evening. The room is in twilight. It seems that there is deep silence in the house, everyone around is sleeping, and only the great worker Tolstoy cannot tear himself away from work, which now constitutes the main work of his life... He wants the truth, understood by him, to become accessible to all people... Tolstoy is like here a wise and majestic prophet, a strict judge and teacher of life... An invisible candle brightly illuminates Tolstoy’s face, the light silvers his gray hair, and this creates a feeling of clarity of thought, inner peace and gentle humanity, so strangely combined with the severity of the preacher.”

1. Working on the topic of the lesson.

1. Selective reading and commenting on the story.

The story has a peculiar introduction. It kind of sets the reader up to perceive subsequent events and introduces him to the narrator. It is interesting that the narrative begins immediately, even suddenly, without extensive exposition. And it also ends without any conclusions.

Questions that torment Ivan Vasilyevich and interest his interlocutors:

• What is the role of social conditions in changing a person's attitudes and behavior?
• Are these conditions omnipotent or is there something else that allows a person to see the light?

The emotional background of the story.

• Thoughts and internal polemics in the first words of Ivan Vasilyevich.
• The narrator's sentimental and enthusiastic feeling in the description of the ball.
• The motive of growing anxiety in the picture of late dawn.
• The intonation of horror in the scene of the soldier's punishment.

1. Teacher's word.

Like “The Captain's Daughter”, “Song about the Merchant Kalashnikov”, “Mtsyri”, the story “After the Ball” paints pictures of the past. But, unlike Pushkin and Lermontov, who turned to the past in search of heroic characters, L.N. Tolstoy, in the story “After the Ball,” restores the past to show that its horrors live in the present, only slightly changing their forms, that the past - with its social inequality, cruelty, inhumanity - holds Russia in a tenacious embrace and that a renewal of life is urgently needed.

In the story, you can hear the roll call of two eras - the one that Tolstoy directly depicts (the 40s of the 19th century, the reign of Nicholas I), and the one that is present invisibly, causing the formulation of certain philosophical, moral, and social issues.

Despite its apparent clarity and transparency, the story “After the Ball” is far from easy to understand. You are already familiar with the composition (structure) of a work when the narration is told in the first person. In this case, extra-plot elements help judge the author’s position, for example, in “The Captain’s Daughter” - epigraphs to the entire story and individual chapters.

In the story “After the Ball” there are two narrators: one is the one who introduces the reader to Ivan Vasilyevich, the other is Ivan Vasilyevich himself. What we have before us is, essentially, a kind of story within a story. It is impossible to recognize Tolstoy himself in any of the narrators. Therefore, the author's position should be judged only on the basis of a thoughtful analysis of the story.

1. Highlighting parts of the story.
2. Drawing up a plan for each part.

1. First part of the story:

• the leader's hall;
• the hosts of the ball;
• Varenka;
• colonel;
• Ivan Vasilievich.

1. Second part of the story:

• description of the street;
• soldiers;
• punishable;
• colonel;
• Ivan Vasilievich.

1. Retelling contrasting episodes and descriptions that correspond to each other.
2. Characteristics of the heroes (Colonel and Ivan Vasilyevich)
3. Performing stylistic exercises (linguistic expression of antithesis)
4. Observation of the composition of the story:

• contrasting comparison of events;
• description of the ball and execution;
• the colonel's behavior at the ball and after the ball;
• the mood of Ivan Vasilyevich in the same scenes.

1. Conversation on issues.

1. Why is the story called: “After the Ball”? (obviously, the second scene - the reprisal of the soldier, has a special meaning).
2. Talk about illustrations for the story.
3. Compare the colonel's behavior and appearance at the ball and after the ball.
4. Observations on linguistic means (according to the plan for parts of the story)

Part I:

1. Celebration at the leader'sdescribed with epithets: a wonderful ball, a beautiful hall, it will be magnificent, famous musicians; The mazurka motif sounds almost continuously.
2. Varenka - in a white dress, white gloves, white shoes. She has “a radiant, flushed face with dimples and gentle, sweet eyes.”
3. Varenka's father - handsome, stately, tall, fresh, with a white mustache, white sideburns, sparkling eyes, a joyful smile, a broad chest, strong shoulders and long slender legs.
4. Ivan Vasilievich – satisfied, happy, blissful, kind; looks at the dancers with rapturous emotion and feeling.

Part II:

In this part of the story, after the ball, the colors darken sharply, although the student is still joyful and happy at first.

1. Street in spring wet fog, etc.
2. Soldiers in black uniforms.
3. A bloodied, tortured victim of execution.
4. Colonel still the same - with a ruddy face and white mustache and sideburns. But now. But now, in comparison with the one being punished, his beauty and military bearing look almost blasphemous.

1. Summing up the lesson.
2. Homework.

A written essay on one of the topics:

• “What is the difference between people of the same circle: Ivan Vasilyevich and the colonel? (Based on the story by L.N. Tolstoy “After the Ball”).”
• "The morning that changed my life."
• “What did I learn about the life of Russia in the first half of the 19th century from the story of L.N. Tolstoy's "After the Ball"?

Tolstoy is the whole world.
A. M. Gorky
You never cease to admire the talent of the great Russian writer Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy. Every time you re-read his works, you come to the thought - what a great gift, what a gigantic sense of words was inherent in this man. The images created by Tolstoy still live and excite our imagination. Probably no writer left such a bright mark on the culture of the late 19th century. His works are rightfully included in the treasury of Russian literature. One of these works is the story “After the Ball.” It is based on real events of that time: all this happened to the writer’s brother, Sergei Nikolaevich Tolstoy.
It is interesting that the writer uses both first-person and third-person narration in his work. Each of these forms has its own ideological and artistic tasks. First-person narration creates the illusion of perceiving the narrator’s living voice and has a confidential intonation. This form makes it possible to especially express a person’s state, his mood, and experiences. In third-person narration, the narrator appears as someone who knows more than the first-person narrator. He observes the hero of the work as if from the outside. But still, the story is mainly told from the first person - Ivan Vasilyevich.
Ivan Vasilyevich is one of the main characters of this work. This is a person who denies that for personal improvement it is necessary, first of all, to change people’s living conditions: “So you say that a person cannot on his own understand what is good and what is bad, that it’s all about the environment, that the environment is corroding. And I think it’s all a matter of chance.” And to prove his words, he cites an incident from his experience life path, talks about one day that completely turned his life upside down...
The events take place in the 40s of the 19th century. At that time he was a student at a provincial university, lived as is typical for youth, studied and had fun. He was a lively fellow, rode down the mountains with young ladies, and caroused with his comrades. But his main pleasure was evenings and balls, since he danced well and was not ugly.
The hero of L. N. Tolstoy talks about one of these evenings. It was a ball at the “provincial leader, a good-natured old man, a rich hospitable man and a chamberlain.” Everything was simply wonderful: “The hall is beautiful, with choirs, musicians - the famous serfs of the amateur landowner at that time, a magnificent buffet and a spilled sea of ​​champagne.” At that time, Ivan Vasilyevich was drunk with love for Varenka B. She was lovely: “Tall, slender, graceful and majestic.” She always held herself unusually straight, “as if she couldn’t do otherwise, throwing her head back a little, and this gave her, with her beauty and tall, despite her thinness, even bonyness, a kind of regal appearance that would have scared her away if not for her affectionate, always cheerful smile.” That evening, the hero of the story did not notice the other girls; her “shining, blushing, dimpled face and gentle, sweet eyes” always stood before his eyes. He was truly happy. Ivan Vasilyevich danced almost all the dances with his beloved: both quadrilles and floor
ki, and waltzes; danced until I dropped.
The hero enjoyed Varenka’s company and was very afraid that she would leave him, that her father would take her away. But the girl’s parent, “a very handsome, stately, tall and fresh old man,” did not do this. Ivan Vasilyevich liked him. And this feeling intensified even more; when the hero saw Varenka’s father dancing with his daughter.
We see a person’s happiness, and this happiness is real. Ivan Vasilyevich himself describes his state of mind at that moment: “I was not only cheerful and contented, I was happy, blissful, I was kind, I was not me, but some unearthly creature who knows no evil and is capable of one thing.” good". At that time he embraced the whole world with his love and was afraid of only one thing - that something might spoil his happiness. That's how main character story at the ball.
At the ball, Ivan Vasilyevich did not even think that a completely different world could exist: evil and cruel. IN in a great mood he came home and could not sleep for a long time - from happiness. He went out for a walk and walked towards Varenka’s house. Everything was especially sweet to him: the horses, regularly swaying their wet heads under the glossy arches, and the matting-covered cabbies splashing about in huge boots next to the carts, and the houses that seemed very tall in the fog.
In Ivan Vasilyevich’s soul, everything was singing and occasionally the tune of a mazurka was heard, but that morning he also heard some other, cruel, bad music, and at the same time became a witness to a terrible spectacle. He saw how the soldiers were driving a Tatar through the line for escaping, who was tied to the guns of two soldiers and on whom blows rained down from both sides. With each blow, the person being punished turned his face, wrinkled with suffering, in the direction from which the blow fell, and did not say, but sobbed: “Brothers, have mercy. Brothers, have mercy.” But his voice was not heard. The Tatar’s back looked like “something so motley, wet, red, unnatural” that Ivan Vasilyevich did not believe that it could be a human body.
What he saw affected him strong impression, but he was especially shocked that the tall military man leading the detachment of soldiers turned out to be Varenka’s father. Ivan Vasilyevich felt so ashamed that, not knowing where to look, as if he had been caught in the most shameful act, he lowered his eyes and hurried to go home. “Meanwhile, there was an almost physical melancholy in my heart, almost to the point of nausea, such that I stopped several times, and it seemed to me that I was about to vomit with all the horror that entered me from this sight. I don’t remember how I got home and went to bed. But as soon as he began to fall asleep, he heard and saw everything again and jumped up.”
After this incident, Ivan Vasilyevich’s desire to enter military service disappeared; he decided not only not to enter the service, but not to serve anywhere at all, in order to always be at peace with his conscience. The hero changes morally. A kind of epiphany occurs, a different view of the world appears.
“And from that day on, love began to wane. When she, as often happened with her, with a smile on her face, thought, I immediately remembered the colonel in the square, and I felt somehow awkward and unpleasant... And the love faded away.”
In the image of the main character of the story “After the Ball,” L. N. Tolstoy showed the awakening in a person of conscience, a sense of responsibility for his neighbor and love for him. In this story, the accusatory pathos is especially strong compared to other works of the writer. It contains elements of a parable, and the idea of ​​enlightenment is contrasted with the idea of ​​spiritual improvement. This view of life is characteristic of the writer’s later works. In my opinion, this story very well reveals to us Tolstoy’s philanthropy, his true attitude towards life.

When people talk about L.N. Tolstoy, they immediately remember the wonderful epic works Russian classics such as “War and Peace” or “Anna Karenina”. But Lev Nikolaevich is good in small forms. When he takes on a story or story, his talent does not change him at all. The focus is on “After the Ball.” This article will examine the characteristics of the characters in “After the Ball.”

Plot

The reason for the story is old story, the age-old question: the environment makes a person or a person creates his environment. There is a conversation between familiar people, and it concerns personal improvement.

The main character, Ivan Vasilyevich, a man respected by everyone in the circle where the conversation is taking place, tells one story from his life, which refutes the fact that a person is shaped by his environment.

It was a long time ago, one of the main provincial officials held a ball in honor last day Maslenitsa. The entire provincial elite came to the ball.

Ivan Vasilyevich was then a university student from the same city. There was nothing to do, and the main entertainment was attending such events. At this ball he saw a girl - Varenka B. and fell madly in love with her. I only danced with her. Varenka was the daughter of Colonel Pyotr Vladislavovich, who, together with his wife, honored all those gathered with their presence at the holiday.

Father had to go home. And to say goodbye, he danced with his daughter, so dashingly that everyone was absolutely delighted. Seeing this, young Ivan Vasilyevich was imbued with warm feelings for the old man. The colonel left, but the young people (Varenka and Vanya) were still dancing. In the morning everyone left. Here the events of the work “After the Ball” calm down. The heroes of the story cannot yet be suspected of anything bad.

The hero couldn’t sleep, and he went wandering around the city. Accidentally, unconsciously, he came to the house of his sweetheart. In the field adjacent to the house there was a line of soldiers. Accompanied by the beating of drums and the sound of a flute, they let the fugitive Tatar pass through the ranks. He was beaten as hard as he could with sticks on his back. His back had already turned into a bloody mess, and he himself only repeated: “Lord, brothers, have mercy.” He said this quietly, because he no longer had enough strength to scream.

The torture was led by the “dear colonel,” who had recently danced with his daughter at a ball. After this event, Ivan Vasilyevich’s love for Varya passed. Every time he looked at her face, he saw the Tatar and his back.

Perhaps the reader is tired of the excessive detail of the plot, but its consideration is absolutely necessary in order to understand which characteristics of the characters in “After the Ball” most suit them.

Ivan Vasilyevich is a man whose conscience has awakened

What happened to Ivan Vasilyevich then? Then, after the ball, his conscience awoke, and he himself woke up from his sleep. So much so that it seems as if he was lashed with a whip, so sudden was the awareness of the baseness of the general, the “light”, which is no different from darkness in a moral sense. So, we can already say that the first characterization of the characters in “After the Ball” is ready: the main character can be defined as a person who has a conscience.

Colonel

Here everything is a little more complicated. It cannot be said that the colonel and his daughter are unscrupulous people. For them, the hierarchy that existed in Russia in the 19th century is simply normal. It is also normal that after the holiday they can warm up or calm their excited nerves by torturing a person. There is nothing out of the ordinary about this.

The reader can rightly say that if you really think about what characteristics of the heroes of “After the Ball” (meaning specifically the colonel), then you only need to blame the old soldier for everything. Oh no, that won't do. The colonel's women are no less to blame for his fanaticism than he himself. After all, they didn’t stop him from doing them.

Varenka

Nothing bad can be said about the daughter of a fanatic, but nothing good can be said about her either. She is a faceless character in the story. Only one memory will remain of her: she was stunningly beautiful, but it is difficult to define her meaningfully if we're talking about about the disclosure of the topic “Characteristics of the heroes “After the Ball””.

Moral issues raised in the work

So, here at the center of the work is the eternal dispute about the confrontation between the individual and society. The author also focuses his attention (and the reader’s attention) on the abomination human duplicity and double-mindedness.

L.N. Tolstoy in this story even indirectly gives an answer to the question of why, in fact, the Russian revolution happened: because the “tops” allowed themselves to treat the “bottoms” in such a way, and the “bottoms” took revenge. This is the brief moral content of “After the Ball.” In fact, this story may unfold with a fan of other moral problems, but that is a completely different story.

Story by L.N. Tolstoy's "After the Ball" refers to late works writer. It was written in 1903, but is based on the memories of Tolstoy's youth. The writer learned about the story described in the story while he was a student at Kazan University. Probably, this incident struck him so much that he remembered it all his life and, in the end, embodied it in his work.

Compositionally, “After the Ball” is a story-memory, a story about an incident from his youth that shook the hero-narrator to the core. The narrator, Ivan Vasilyevich, is an elderly man, respected and loved by everyone. We learn that he never served anywhere, but he helped many people get back on their feet and find themselves.

Apparently, Ivan Vasilyevich’s life was filled with bright events, which he gladly shares with young people. The author notes one special manner of the narrator: “... Ivan Vasilyevich had such a manner of responding to his own thoughts that arose as a result of the conversation and, on the occasion of these thoughts, telling episodes from his life. Often he completely forgot the reason for which he was telling, getting carried away by the story, especially since he told it very sincerely and truthfully.”

So, the narrator tells us about one morning that turned his whole life upside down. This happened in the 40s of the 19th century. The narrator was then studying at a provincial university. He lived enjoying his youth. Ivan Vasilyevich compares those times with his contemporary era. Like all older people, his words reveal a certain disapproval of “today’s” youth, their way of life and thoughts. It seems to me that the words of the author himself are heard here. Tolstoy is not happy that young people do not enjoy life, which should be typical for them, but create various political circles and are carried away by newfangled theories, often dangerous to reason and even life.

Ivan Vasilyevich enjoyed his youth, strength, beauty and wealth. Besides, he was in love. This feeling accompanied the hero constantly. But, at the moment he describes, the narrator was experiencing his most strong feeling. And no wonder: the object of his love was Varenka B., a rare beauty and clever girl. At this time, on the last day of Maslenitsa, the narrator went to a ball with the provincial leader, where Varenka was also present. Ivan Vasilyevich was immensely happy. He enjoyed the whole evening, without leaving a single step from the object of his love. Happiness, delight, love for the whole world overwhelmed the enthusiastic young man.

At this ball, the narrator first saw Varenka’s father, Colonel B. He seemed kind to Ivan Vasilyevich, decent person, madly in love with his daughter, ready to sacrifice anything for Varenka’s sake. The dance of father and daughter delighted not only the narrator, but also all the guests at the ball. At the end of the dance, everyone applauded Colonel B. and his Varenka. The narrator was very pleased when Pyotr Vladislavich himself brought his daughter to him for the next dance.

Ivan Vasilyevich says this about his state of mind at the ball: “At that time I embraced the whole world with my love. I loved the hostess in the feronniere, with her Elizabethan bust, and her husband, and her guests, and her lackeys, and even the engineer Anisimov, who was sulking at me. At that time I felt a kind of enthusiastic and tender feeling towards her father, with his home boots and a gentle smile similar to hers.”

After the ball, the hero returned home, but emotional tension, excitement, and joy did not give him the opportunity to sleep peacefully. The narrator decided to wander around the city and calm down a little. Early in the morning of the first day of Lent, Ivan Vasilyevich walks around the city. Everything he sees seems touching and beautiful to him. The cheerful melody of a mazurka sounds in my head. But... at this time the narrator comes across a terrifying scene. He witnesses how a fugitive Tatar is punished. The sight was very scary. And it was even more terrible because Varenka’s father, the same Colonel B, was in charge of all this. He mercilessly watched the execution scene, without showing any emotions. And all this happened on the first day of Lent!

The first feeling that overwhelmed the narrator was shame: “I was so ashamed that, not knowing where to look, as if I had been caught in the most shameful act, I lowered my eyes and hurried to go home.” Everything he saw stood before Ivan Vasilyevich’s eyes: “... meanwhile, there was an almost physical melancholy in my heart, almost to the point of nausea, such that I stopped several times, and it seemed to me that I was about to vomit with all the horror that had entered me from this spectacle."

The narrator tries to understand the reason for the colonel's cruelty. Maybe he knows something that the hero doesn’t know, and that’s why he behaves so ruthlessly? But no matter how much Ivan Vasilyevich suffered, he could not solve this mystery.

The result of such a terrible morning was that the narrator decided never to serve anywhere, so that, God forbid, he would not become a participant. terrible crime, similar to the one he saw that morning on the parade ground.

It seems to me that in this work the image of the narrator is very close to the author, his inner world, his views on life. Ivan Vasilievich - sensitive, emotional and deeply moral person. In my opinion, it psychological picture in his youth he was largely copied from Tolstoy himself, his feelings and reactions are similar to the feelings and reactions of the writer. Therefore, the narrator is deeply sympathetic to L.N. Tolstoy, in his mouth he puts his thoughts about the soul, God, man.