Andrei Bolkonsky and Pierre Bezukhov in search of the meaning of life (based on the novel by Leo Tolstoy "War and Peace")

In Tolstoy's novel "War and Peace" only two characters go through a difficult path of internal development, undergoing spiritual evolution. These are the writer's favorite characters - Andrei Bolkonsky and Pierre Bezukhov. Despite their serious differences (age, social status, character, etc.), the heroes felt sincere sympathy for each other, a warm friendly interest. Bolkonsky saw in Pierre a younger comrade, a pure and bright soul that needed to be "taught by life", instructed. Prince Andrei for Bezukhov was a role model, a person with whom he was interested, from whom you can learn a lot.

Like Andrei Bolkonsky, young Pierre is a representative of the intellectual noble elite of Russia. Their life views, instilled in secular society, were in many ways similar. So, both heroes treated with contempt "close" and "understandable". Tolstoy emphasizes the "optical self-deception" of these people, alienated from everyday life: in the ordinary they are not able to consider the great and the infinite, but they see only "one limited, petty, worldly, meaningless."

Both heroes, striving for self-realization, considered Napoleon their idol, dreamed of imitating him. And both heroes, having gone through a difficult path of spiritual development, were disappointed in this figure, having found for themselves other - close to true - ideals.

Bolkonsky and Bezukhov are united by the most important quality - their desire for development, the tireless search for the meaning of life, the desire to comprehend the world and its laws. For both heroes, this difficult path is strewn with disappointments and crises, which, however, are followed by a revival and a new round of development.

In the early stages of the spiritual life of Andrei Bolkonsky, he is characterized by an arrogant and contemptuous alienation from people: he disdainfully treats his wife, is burdened by any collision with the ordinary and vulgar. Under the influence of Natasha, the hero discovers for himself the opportunity to enjoy life, he understands that he used to busy himself senselessly in a "narrow, closed frame."

During periods of moral delusions, Prince Andrei focuses on immediate practical tasks, feeling that his spiritual horizon is sharply narrowing: “As if that endless receding vault of the sky that used to stand above him suddenly turned into a low, definite, crushing vault, in which everything was clear, but nothing was eternal and mysterious.

New spiritual experience makes Prince Andrei reconsider decisions that seemed to him final and irrevocable. So, having fallen in love with Natasha, he forgets about his intention to never marry. The break with Natasha and the invasion of Napoleon determined his decision to join the army in spite of the fact that after Austerlitz and the death of his wife, he promised never to serve in the Russian army, even "if Bonaparte stood ... at Smolensk, threatening the Bald Mountains."

Pierre Bezukhov in the early stages of his spiritual life is infantile and unusually trusting, willingly and even joyfully submits to someone else's will. He lacks the resolve to resist her.

Pierre's main spiritual insight is the comprehension of the value of an ordinary, non-heroic "life (which Prince Andrei intuitively understood). Having experienced captivity, humiliation, seeing the wrong side of human relations and high spirituality in an ordinary Russian peasant Platon Karataev, Bezukhov realized that happiness is in the person himself , in the "satisfaction of needs. "... He learned to see the great, eternal and infinite in everything, and therefore ... he threw a pipe into which he had looked until now through people's heads, "- emphasizes Tolstoy.

At each stage of his spiritual development, Pierre painfully solves philosophical questions that “cannot be rid of”: “What is bad? What is good? What should I love, what should I hate? Why live, and what am I? power governs everything?"

The tension of moral searches intensifies in moments of crisis. Pierre often experiences "disgust for everything around him", everything in himself and in people seems to him "confusing, meaningless and disgusting." But after violent bouts of despair, Pierre again looks at the world through the eyes of a happy man who has comprehended the wise simplicity of human relations.

"Living" life constantly corrects the hero's moral self-awareness. Being in captivity, Pierre for the first time felt a feeling of complete merging with the world: "and all this is mine, and all this is in me, and all this is me." He continues to experience joyful enlightenment even after liberation - the whole universe seems to him reasonable and "well-arranged." Life no longer requires rational reflection and rigid planning: “now he did not make any plans,” and most importantly, “he could not have goals, because he now had faith - not faith in words, rules and thoughts, but faith in the living, the ever-perceivable God."

As long as a person is alive, Tolstoy argued, he follows the path of disappointments, gains and new losses. This applies to Andrei Bolkonsky and Pierre Bezukhov. The periods of delusions and disappointments that replaced spiritual enlightenment were not the moral degradation of the heroes, a return to a lower level of moral self-awareness. The spiritual development of Tolstoy's characters is a complex spiral, each new turn of which not only repeats the previous one in some way, but also brings them to a new spiritual height.

Tolstoy's novel "War and Peace" introduced us to many heroes who possess the best human qualities, noble, purposeful, kind-hearted zealots of high moral ideals. And above all, they include Pierre Bezukhoe and Andrei Bolkonsky. Each of them is a bright personality, has attractive individual character traits. But at the same time, they have much in common, and both of them are the embodiment of the same author's ideal - a person who is able to think deeply and, as a result, develop morally and spiritually improve, and perform truly heroic deeds. Depicting his heroes, the author did not at all embellish or idealize them: he endowed Pierre and Andrei with contradictory features, advantages and disadvantages. In their image, he presented ordinary people who are able to be both strong and weak at certain moments of their lives, but who are able to overcome the internal struggle and independently rise above lies and everyday life, to be spiritually reborn and find their calling in life. Their paths are different, but at the same time they have much in common. And, in particular, the similarity lies in their spiritual ordeals, in the struggle. Pierre has his own weakness of character, cowardice, excessive gullibility and ideological impassability. Andrei Bolkonsky - with pride, arrogance, ambition and illusory aspirations for glory. Pierre Bezukhov is one of the central, most attractive heroes of the novel. His image, like the image of Andrei Bolkonsky, is depicted in constant dynamics. The writer focuses on the almost childish gullibility, kindness and sincerity of the thoughts of his hero, and at first Pierre is presented as a confused, passive, absolutely inactive young man. Pierre obviously does not fit into the false society of flatterers and careerists present in the Scherer salon. In addition, Earless is indifferent to money and luxury, he is disinterested and, in spite of everything, keenly feels the line between innocent jokes and dangerous games that can cripple someone's life. In the turning points of life, a strong will and the best sides of Pierre's character are manifested, and then he is capable of much. Who would have thought that Pierre Bezukhov, this soft and weak-willed person, would subsequently appear as the organizer of a secret society of "independent and free people" and would later accuse the tsar of inaction, sharply criticize the social system, reaction and Arakcheevism and lead huge masses of people? Like Pierre, Andrei Bolkonsky from the first lines stands out from the general crowd of characters in the novel in that he feels uncomfortable in a secular environment. He feels his own important purpose. He appears as a cultured, educated, whole person - one of the best representatives of the noble society of that era. Particularly striking is his love of work, the desire for useful, vigorous activity. Andrei is burdened by a quiet family life and empty public affairs, his soul yearns for something significant, he dreams of great deeds, "of his Toulon", of glory. It is for this purpose that Bolkonsky decides to go to war with Napoleon and explains to Pierre the reason for his decision with the following words: "The life that I lead here is not for me." But he is destined to be disappointed in his idol Napoleon, survive the death of his wife and miraculously survive after the battle himself, and in addition, experience true love for Natasha and come to terms with her loss. After all this, Andrey loses faith in himself, so that later he can again find meaning in life and perk up. Once again in the center of military events, but no longer in search of glory and deed, Andrei changes externally and internally. Defending the family, Bolkonsky wants to destroy the enemy of the entire Russian people and feels his benefit and need.

So, freed from the gobbling lies of secular society and finding themselves in difficult military conditions, finding themselves among ordinary Russian soldiers, Pierre and Andrei begin to feel the taste of life, gain peace of mind. Having gone through a difficult path of mistakes and their own delusions, these two heroes find themselves, while maintaining their natural essence and not succumbing to the influence of society. The ideal woman for Tolstoy is the heroine of the novel "War and Peace" Natasha Rostova. From the first lines, we see how much the writer sympathizes with her, who tried to show his beloved heroine in the brightest moments of her life. Natasha Rostova immediately attracts attention as a sincere and deeply sensitive nature, which contains the best human qualities: love of life, kindness, sincerity, naivety, the ability to sacrifice and compassion, the ability to love, enjoy life and give your love and joy to others. The author admits that his favorite does not have an impeccable appearance. At first she is thin and fragile, like an ugly duckling, "black-eyed, with a big mouth, an ugly, but lively girl", and later - a plump, slightly unkempt woman. But Tolstoy convinces readers that the marble beauty of Helen Kuragina is nothing compared to the prettiness, natural charm and charm of Natalia Rostova, whose beauty is in simplicity, in naturalness, in immediacy and genuine femininity. His little Natasha is "gunpowder", she is always on the move, full of life, she manages so much in one day of the name day that you wonder - how is this possible? She seems to want to live and feel for everyone, to take an active part in everything, and this is how she appears at the first meeting. The author notes that the indestructible thirst for life of Natasha Rostova somehow influenced the people who were next to her. And how beautiful Natasha is during the first ball in her life! How sincere she is in her anxieties and dreams, in her hope to be liked! An even greater impression on readers is made by the heroine in a state of love. To love and be loved is a need that she needs like air. In love, she is transformed, becomes more restrained, thoughtful, serious. In addition, we see how Natasha's love influenced Andrei Bolkonsky, who was going through a difficult life crisis. Andrey seemed to wake up from a dream, and the night spent in Otradnoye played an important role in his future fate. The bright, poetically colored world of Natasha helps him look into himself, feel life in a new way and change his attitude to many things. But even in a state of love, Natasha is still a naive child, whose gullibility is cunningly used by people like Anatole and Helen Kuragin. Therefore, it takes time for the carefree and eternally enthusiastic young girl to turn into a real Natalya Rostova - a devoted and attentive daughter, a loving and faithful wife, a caring mother. And Natasha goes through many trials before becoming a truly adult and growing spiritually: she receives the first cruel lesson in her life, knowing the pain of betrayal, she experiences the loss of a loved one, and then the death of her brother. One after another, troubles fall on the share of a fragile girl, and it seems that heavy blows of fate should break her. But no, on the contrary, it is misfortunes that awaken in her love for people, for life. In the atmosphere of the events of 1812, new features of the inner image of the heroine appear: the strength of her character, a sense of compassion and mutual assistance are revealed (in the scene of sending the wounded from Moscow, in caring for her parents, etc.). Natasha is even more attracted in the epilogue: she is a wonderful mother of four children, a wife devoted to her husband in everything and happy with him. For her, there is nothing more important than home and family, and this is the best period of her life. In my opinion, in the image of Natalia Rostova Tolstoy embodied the best features of the national female character.

Pierre Bezukhov and Prince Andrei Bolkonsky are two incarnations of the same author's ideal (based on the novel by L. Tolstoy "War and Peace")

In Russian literature, perhaps, there is no work that can be compared with an epic novel."War and Peace" by the significance of the problems raised in it, by the artistic expressiveness of the narration, by the educational impact. Hundreds of human images pass before us, the fates of some come into contact with the fates of others, but each of the heroes is an original, unique personality. So throughout the novel, the life paths of Pierre Bezukhov and Prince Andrei Bolkonsky intersect. The writer introduces us to them already on the first pages - in the salon of Anna Pavlovna Scherer. They are very different - the arrogant, ambitious prince and the gullible, weak-willed Pierre, but at the same time both are the embodiment of the author's ideal - a person striving to know the meaning of life, to determine his place in this world, going through moral suffering on the path of spiritual perfection . Heroes have to go through a lot in order to finally find harmony in their souls. First of all, they are trying to get rid of false beliefs, impartial character traits. And only after overcoming their weaknesses, having experienced many disappointments caused by collisions with cruel reality, Prince Andrei and Pierre acquire what, in their opinion, is an indisputable truth, not subject to falsehood.

Tolstoy shows the reader the same phenomena through the eyes of his so different characters. Both of them have a feeling of admiration for Napoleon. For Pierre Bezukhov, brought up on the ideas of the French Enlightenment, Napoleon was a strong, invincible "heir" of the French Revolution, who brought the temptation of bourgeois freedom. Prince Andrei embodied in his thoughts about Bonaparte his own dreams of nationwide recognition, glory, unlimited power. But both of them, faced with certain circumstances, debunked their idol. Bolkonsky realized the insignificance of both his own ambitious thoughts and the deeds of the French emperor, seeing the boundless, majestic sky that appeared to him as the highest revelation after being wounded at Austerlitz: “How quiet, calm and solemn ... everything is empty, everything is a lie, except for this endless sky "," ... at that moment Napoleon seemed to him such a small, insignificant person in comparison with what was now happening between his soul and this ... sky ... ". Prince Andrei realized that fame should not be the main goal of human activity, that there are other, higher ideals. Pierre, on the other hand, began to hate the French commander as a result of understanding the suffering of the Russian people in the unjust war of 1812. Communication with the common people opened up new values ​​for Bezukhov, a different meaning of life, which consists in kindness, compassion, service to people: "... I lived for myself and ruined my life. And only now, when I live ... for others, only Now I understand the happiness of life." Through the attitude of his favorite heroes to Napoleon, the writer expresses his own thoughts about this statesman, who for Tolstoy was the embodiment of "world evil."

It is no coincidence that the writer guides his heroes through the test of love for Natasha Rostova - a symbol of inner beauty, purity and spontaneity.

According to Tolstoy, Natasha is life itself. And the evolution of heroes would be imperfect if they did not know love for this bright girl: where "she ... there is all happiness, hope, light; the other half - everything where she is not, there is all despondency and darkness ... ". Natasha helps the heroes to discover new, still unknown depths of their souls, to know true love and forgiveness. Prince Andrei and Pierre Bezukhov are the personification of the ideal hero of Tolstoy, and Natasha became the ideal, but not idealized heroine not only of the novel, but of a whole generation.

Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy loves the people he describes in various works, not for any special merits, but truly for their inner consciousness and perception of the world, for their moral qualities and foundations. So, Lev Nikolaevich refers to one of the most important attributes of the inner world of a person as a constant desire for self-improvement. Everything would seem simple, but the author is not content with just one desire for moral ideals - he is interested in the path chosen to achieve this goal.

The world famous novel by L.N. Tolstoy's "War and Peace" is a very problematic work that highlights the difficulties of the social, political and family spheres of life. Among this, the writer highlights the basis - the search for the meaning of life and simple human well-being. In the novel "War and Peace" there are two overlapping characters - Pierre Bezukhov and Andrei Bolkonsky, who are self-improving personalities, and whom Tolstoy closely watches, noting their ups and downs.

Pierre Bezukhov in the novel initially leads a reckless social life of an idle reveler. Pierre is so subservient to someone else's will that he allows himself to be stripped to the skin and married to Helen Kuragina, who almost ruined Pierre's life, entangling him in a web of lies and falsehood.

The duel with Dolokhov leaves a deep moral shock and causes hatred for secular pathos and pretense. This state pushes Pierre to join the ranks of Freemasonry. But, after a while, he becomes disillusioned with this.

After a spiritual crisis, Pierre is again filled with patriotism and participates in the war of 1812. The turning point in Bezukhov's quest was a visit to the Battle of Borodino, and a meeting with Platon Karataev, a soldier who does not complain about anything, is kind to others and meek, introduces a new worldview of Pierre Bezukhov to the common people. The end point of Bezukhov's quest is the camp of the Decembrists, where he finds himself.

Glory is what the young Bolkonsky dreams of, and only for this he goes to the army. However, these youthful thoughts about dignity, valor, glory and other sublime quickly evaporate when he visits the Austerlitz field. Lying on the ground and bleeding, Bolkonsky understands that glory is not the ultimate goal of existence. This disappointment is followed by another: his idol - Napoleon - "falls" in the eyes of Bolkonsky and appears to him as a petty little man.

After these incidents, Bolkonsky decides to devote his life to a child left without a mother. Andrei, being in a depressed state, will retire to his estate. However, this is tantamount to a small death for him, so Andrei again rushes into the cycle of life.

Arriving in St. Petersburg, he works with Speransky, but not for long. The war of 1812 caused fundamental changes in the life of the hero. He takes part in the battle and feels like the right person here. He is related to the people and knows that the fate of the Motherland depends on him.

A. Bolkonsky completed his spiritual quest before his death, when he stopped being afraid of her and realized that life was given for love of one's neighbor.

Both of these heroes strove for moral self-improvement, both started from scratch, and both reached the truth, which is as old as the world: "We must live, we must love, we must believe."

Each writer has his own view of his time, the choice of heroes. This is determined by the personality of the author, his worldview, his understanding of the purpose of man on earth. Therefore, there are books over which time has no power. There are heroes who will always be interesting, whose thoughts and actions will excite more than one generation of descendants.

Such for me are the characters of Leo Tolstoy's novel War and Peace. What attracts me to the characters of Andrei Bolkonsky and Pierre Bezukhov? Why do they seem so alive and close almost two centuries later? Why is Natasha Rostova perceived not as some distant countess, from a completely different life, a different upbringing, but as my age? Why every time I return to a novel, I discover something new for myself in it? Probably, because for me they are really alive, not static, because they live not only for today, strive not only for privileges, rewards, material wealth, but also do not “sleep” with their souls, reflect on their lives, intensely search for the meaning of life. The great and inimitable L. Tolstoy, who throughout his life never ceased to seek good and learn, analyze himself, his era and human life in general, teaches us, readers, to observe life and analyze our actions. Andrei Bolkonsky and Pierre Bezukhov immediately attract attention, stand out for their sincerity, supreme decency and intelligence. Despite the fact that they are so different - the stern, arrogant Prince Andrei, who respects himself very much and therefore leaves people, and such an awkward, at first naive Pierre, whom the world does not take seriously - they are true friends. They can talk about high matters, confide the secrets of the soul to each other, protect and support in difficult times.

It would seem that each of them has their own path, their victories and defeats, but how many times their destinies intertwined, how much they are similar in different life ambitions, how much they have in common in feelings! A talented officer, Prince Andrei goes to war in order to find an application for his strength and mind, to find "his own Toulon", to become famous. He made it a rule not to interfere in other people's affairs, not to pay attention to fuss and disputes, "not to stoop." But in the headquarters corridor, the prince cuts off the presumptuous adjutant, who dared to speak insultingly about the defeated ally: “We are either officers who serve our tsar and fatherland and rejoice at our common success and grieve about our common failure, or we are lackeys who do not care about the master’s business!”

Having given the order to evacuate, Prince Andrei cannot abandon Captain Tushin's battery and remains to help them, not hiding from dust and powder smoke with his adjutant position. And during the discussion at the headquarters of the battle of Shengraben, he will come out in defense of Tushin.

Maybe it was this meeting and participation in hostilities (under the bullets of the enemy) side by side with ordinary soldiers and junior officers that helped both to fulfill the father’s order so that “there was no shame”, and to raise the banner, turning back the retreating, not only because his “finest hour” has come, but because, like Kutuzov, he feels pain for the retreat of the army. Maybe that's why Andrei Bolkonsky deliberately did not notice insulting words about the staff officers of Nikolai Rostov and authoritatively, with dignity, suggested that he calm down, because another duel would now take place - with a common enemy, where they should not feel like rivals. Similarly, Pierre, striving for self-improvement, trying to do so much for his peasants, must come to understand the difference between good deeds for his own sake and dissolution in the common affairs and aspirations of many people. Therefore, he comes to the Freemasons, hoping that this is a real hearth of goodness. What's wrong? What well? What should you love, what should you hate? Why live and what is "I"? What is life and what is death? What power controls everything? Of course, the person who has put these questions before himself is worthy of respect, even if his searches lead first to denial, to rejection ...

Prince Andrey also experiences a spiritual crisis after a reassessment of his idol, Napoleon, and after the death of his wife. Changes in the estate (at the beginning of the 19th century, he transferred his serfs to free cultivators), raising an infant son, reading books and periodicals could fill the life of an ordinary, dozen-of-a-kind person to the brim. Bolkonsky, however, is crushed by the ceiling of limitation - he needs the expanse of a high blue sky. Like a spark, Pierre's words will flare up in a conversation on the ferry: “We must live, we must love, we must believe,” and they will ignite a new interest in life! Now he knows the criterion of the usefulness of this work and, having applied the project highly appreciated by the Speransky committee to specific people, “remembering the peasants, Drona the headman, and applying to them the rights of persons that he divided into paragraphs, it became strange to him how he could take so long do such a wasteful job." The hope for personal happiness raises Prince Andrei as if on wings and proves that "life is not over at thirty-one." How will his credo, his yesterday’s Napoleonic “I am above everyone”, “my thoughts and efforts as a gift for everyone” change to another: “Everyone must know me, so that my life does not go on for me alone, so that they do not live like this like this girl, regardless of my life, so that it affects everyone and that they all live with me together! This is “everything through me”, this path from the arrogantly selfish to the selfish will give Bolkonsky a different perception of the world, teach him to see and understand the feelings of other people: and dreamy Natasha on a moonlit night, her bright personality, which he missed so much, and girls with green plums, who needed to pass unnoticed by him, and Timokhin, and all the officers and soldiers of their regiment. Maybe that's why he will not lose interest in life, plunging into the personal grief of breaking up with his beloved, when he encounters the common grief of the Motherland, with an enemy invasion.

So Pierre, who was deceived by everyone - from estate managers to his own wife - needed to feel a threat not only to his own "I", but at least to a close person, so that he would find in himself both strength, and firmness, and real tact, and, finally, the ability to manage the situation, as in the case of Anatoly Kuragin, so that he does not blacken Natasha's reputation and does not meet with Prince Andrei, does not become a threat to the life of a friend.

When the enemy attacked the Motherland, Pierre, a civilian to the marrow of his bones, acts as a real patriot. He not only equips a whole regiment at his own expense - he himself wants to stay in Moscow to kill Napoleon. It is symbolic that, looking for the answer to the question in the Apocalypse: who will defeat Bonaparte, Pierre finds the answer - “Russian Bezukhov”, emphasizing not only his name and title, but precisely belonging to the nation, that is, feeling himself a part of the country. On the Borodino field, on the battery, Pierre, with his desire to help bring shells, is somewhat reminiscent of Prince Andrei near Shengraben.

Andrei Bolkonsky also feels himself a part of his people. In a conversation with a new person for him, he strikes with frankness, simplicity of words, closeness to ordinary soldiers. Prince Andrei refuses Kutuzov's offer to serve as his adjutant, wishing to remain in the regiment. He will learn to fight on the front line, to appreciate the warm attitude of the soldiers towards him, their affectionate “our prince”. Once attaching great importance to military strategy and calculation, Andrei Bolkonsky indignantly discards this before the battle of Borodino: the Napoleonic comparison of regiments with chess pieces and the words of staff officers about "war in space." According to Prince Andrei, only one feeling that “is in me, in him, in every soldier” can protect a small homeland (one’s own house, estate, city) and the great Fatherland. This is a feeling of love for the Motherland and a sense of unity with the fate of the people.

Bolkonsky stands under the bullets, considering it "his duty to arouse the courage of the soldiers." He will forgive Anatoly Kuragin a personal offense when he meets him wounded, in a hospital ward on the front line. And love for Natasha, aggravated by common grief and common losses, flares up in Prince Andrei with renewed vigor. Pierre Bezukhov had to go through a great purification of physical and moral suffering in captivity in order to meet Platon Karataev, immerse himself in the life of the common people and understand that “he had been looking somewhere over the heads of those around him all his life, but he had not to strain his eyes, but just look ahead. With new eyes, he will see the real path to the goal, the sphere of application of his own forces. It is painful for him, like many heroes of the Patriotic War, to look at the unrest in the Fatherland: “There is theft in the courts, in the army there is only one stick: shagistika, settlements, they torment the people, education is stifled. What is young, honestly, is ruining! Now everything that happens in his country becomes close to Pierre, and he stands up for this "young and honest", bowing to the glorious past, fighting for the purity of the present and future.

Bezukhov is one of the organizers and leaders of the Decembrist circle. He deliberately chooses a dangerous and troubled path. It is symbolic that next to him "to glory", through the swords of the reactionaries, goes, in the view of Nikolinka Bolkonsky, both the teenager himself and Prince Andrei.

I think if Pierre had remained alive, he would not hesitate to take part in a speech on Senate Square. This would be the logical result of ideological searches, spiritual self-improvement and the growth of one's own "I" into a common "we". At a new stage of development, as L. N. Tolstoy shows, their continuation, Nikolinka, takes the same path. And his cherished words sound so close and understandable for each of us: “I only ask God for one thing, that what happened to Plutarch's people be with me, and I will do the same. I will do better. Everyone will know, everyone will love me, everyone will admire me. The meaning of the spiritual quest of a real person cannot have an end.

The epic "War and Peace" grew out of Tolstoy's idea to write the novel "The Decembrists". Tolstoy began to write his work, left it, returned to it again, until the Great French Revolution, the theme of which sounds from the first pages of the novel, and the Patriotic War of 1812 were in the center of his attention. The idea of ​​writing a book about the Decembrist was swallowed up by a broader idea - Tolstoy began to write about the world, shaken by the war. This is how the epic novel turned out, where the feat of the Russian people in the war of 1812 is shown on a historical scale. At the same time, "War and Peace" is also a "family chronicle" showing a noble society represented by several generations. And, finally, it describes the life of a young nobleman, his views and spiritual development. Many of the features that, according to the author, a Decembrist should have, Tolstoy endowed Andrei Bolkonsky.

The novel shows the whole life of Prince Andrey. Probably, every person once in his life thinks about the questions: “Who am I? Why do I live? What am I living for? Tolstoy's hero tries to answer these and many other questions on the pages of the novel. The author sympathizes with the young prince Bolkonsky. This confirms the fact that Tolstoy endowed Prince Andrei with many of his views and beliefs. Therefore, Bolkonsky is, as it were, a conductor of the ideas of the author himself.

We meet Andrei Bolkonsky in the salon of Anna Sherer. Even then we see that this is an extraordinary person. Prince Andrei is handsome, he is impeccably and fashionably dressed. He is fluent in French, which at that time was considered a sign of education and culture. He even pronounces the name Kutuzov with an emphasis on the last syllable, like a Frenchman. Prince Andrei is a man of the world. In this sense, he is subject to all the influences of fashion, not only in clothes, but also in behavior and lifestyle. Tolstoy draws our attention to his slow, quiet, senile step and boredom in his eyes. On his face we read superiority and self-confidence. He considers those around him to be lower than himself, and therefore worse, hence boredom. Soon we realize that all this is superficial. Seeing Pierre in the salon, Prince Andrei is transformed. He is happy with his old friend and does not hide it. The prince's smile becomes "unexpectedly kind and pleasant." Despite the fact that Pierre is younger than Andrey, they talk on equal terms, and the conversation is a pleasure for both. By the time we meet him, Andrey is already a fully formed personality, but he will still have many trials in life. Prince Andrey will have to go through war, injury, love, slow dying, and all this time the prince will know himself, look for that “moment of truth” through which the truth of life will be revealed to him.

In the meantime, Andrei Bolkonsky is looking for fame. It was in the pursuit of glory that he went to the war of 1805. Andrey is eager to become a hero. In his dreams, he sees how the army gets into a dangerous position and he saves it alone. The idol of the prince, the subject of his worship is Napoleon. I must say that many young people of that time were fond of the personality of Napoleon. Andrey wants to be like him and tries to imitate him in everything. In such high spirits, the young Bol-konsky goes to war. We see Prince Andrei in the battle of Austerlitz. He runs ahead of the attacking soldiers with a banner in his hands, then falls, being wounded. The first thing that Andrei sees after the fall is the sky. High, endless sky, over which clouds run. It calls, beckons, bewitches, lives with its greatness, that Prince Andrey is even surprised when he discovers it for himself for the first time. “How could I not have seen this lofty sky before? And how happy I am that I finally got to know him,” Andrei thinks. But at this moment, another truth is revealed to the prince. All that he aspired to, for which he lived, now seems like a trifle that does not deserve attention. He is no longer interested in the political life to which he aspired, and he does not need a military career, to which he recently wanted to devote himself entirely. His recent idol Napoleon seems small and insignificant. Prince Andrei begins to rethink life. His thoughts return to his native home in the Ly-sykh Gory, where his father, wife, sister and unborn child remained. The war turned out to be not at all what Andrei imagined it to be. Intoxicated with a thirst for glory, he idealized military life. In fact, he had to face death and blood. Fierce fights, embittered faces of people showed him the real face of the war. All his dreams of military exploits now seem like child's play to him. Prince Andrei returns home. But at home, another blow awaits him - the death of his wife. At one time, Prince Andrei somewhat cooled towards her, and now he reads pain and reproach in her eyes. After the death of his wife, the prince withdraws into himself, even his little son does not bring him joy. To keep himself busy, he innovates in his village. Pierre sees the spiritual state of Prince Bolkonsky, his depression and disappointment. “He was struck by the change that had taken place in Prince Andrei. The words were kind, there was a smile on his lips and face ... but his eyes were dead, dead ... ”Pierre tries to bring Andrei back to life. True, a lot of time has passed since their last meeting, and friends have somewhat drifted away from each other. Nevertheless, the conversation in Bogucharov made Bolkonsky think about the words of Pierre “... if there is a God and there is a future life, then there is truth, there is virtue; and the highest happiness of a person lies in striving to achieve them”, “one must live, one must love, one must believe”. Despite the fact that these statements seemed controversial to Prince Andrei at that time, he realizes that Pierre was right. From this moment, Andrey's revival to life begins.

On the way to Otradnoye, Prince Bolkonsky sees a huge oak "with broken off ... boughs and with broken bark, overgrown with old sores," which "was an old, angry and contemptuous freak between smiling birches." Oak is a symbol of Andrey's state of mind. This tree seems to say that there is neither spring nor happiness on earth, only deceit remains. And Prince Andrei agrees with the oak: “... yes, he is right, this oak is a thousand times right ... let others, young ones, again succumb to this deception, and we know life, our life is over!”

In Otradnoye, the prince saw Natasha. This little girl was full of happiness, energy, cheerfulness. “And she doesn’t care about my existence!” thought Prince Andrei. But he is already challenging fate. He understands that you can’t bury yourself alive in the village, you just need to be able to live, enjoy life the way Natasha does. And the symbolic oak tree “all transformed, spreading out like a tent of juicy, dark greenery, was thrilled, slightly swaying in the rays of the evening sun.” Natasha changed Andrei's life in an instant, made him wake up from hibernation and believe in love again. Andrei says: “Not only ... what is in me, it is necessary that everyone knows this ... so that my life goes not for me alone ... so that it is reflected on everyone and that they all live with me ".

But for now, Bolkonsky leaves Natasha and leaves for St. Petersburg. There he meets the leading people of his time, participates in the preparation of transformative projects, in a word, plunges into the political life of the country. In St. Petersburg, he spends more time than he thought at first, and, returning, Andrei finds out that Natasha has cheated on him, carried away by Anatole Kuragin. Bolkonsky loves Natasha, but he is too proud and arrogant to forgive her betrayal. Therefore, they are forced to part, each having an unhealed wound in his soul.

Prince Andrei once again meets with Pierre. Now just before the Battle of Borodino. Pierre feels that Andrei is not destined to live, it seems that Andrei also understands this. In the battle of Borodino, Bolkonsky again gets wounded. Now he's reaching for the ground. He envies grass, flowers, not proud, domineering clouds. He himself now had nothing left of that pride that forced him to part with Natasha. For the first time, Prince Andrei does not think about himself, but about others. It is now that the truth about which Pierre spoke to him is revealed to him. He forgives Natasha. Moreover, he also forgives Anatole. Already on the verge of death, Andrei realizes that “a new happiness has opened up to him, inalienable from a person ... happiness that is beyond material forces, beyond material influences on a person, the happiness of one soul, the happiness of love! Any person can understand it, but only God could recognize and prescribe it. Andrey meets Natasha again. The minutes spent with her turn out to be the happiest for Andrei. Natasha once again brings him back to life. But, alas, he did not have long to live. “Prince Andrei died. But at the same moment as he died, Prince Andrey remembered that he was sleeping, and at the same moment as he died, he, having made an effort on himself, woke up. From that moment, "for Prince Andrei, along with the awakening from sleep, the awakening from life began."

Thus, the novel shows two concepts of the happiness of Prince Andrei. At first, Andrei believes that one must live for oneself, that each person must live in his own way. There are two misfortunes in life: remorse and sickness. And a person is happy only when these misfortunes are absent. And only at the end of his life Andrey realized true happiness - to live for others.

Question 27. The spiritual path of Andrei Bolkonsky and Pierre Bezukhov in Leo Tolstoy's novel War and Peace.

1. The ability to internally change a person.

2. The problem of human happiness in the novel.

3. Spiritual quest of Andrey Bolkonsky.

4. Pierre Bezukhov in search of the meaning of life.

5. Faith, hope, love are eternal values.

1. One of the most important properties of a person L.N. Tolstoy considered the ability to internal change, his desire for self-improvement, moral search. For Tolstoy, a person is a part of the Universe, and he is interested in what path the human soul goes in striving for the high, ideal, in striving to understand oneself.

2. One of the main problems that Tolstoy poses in the novel "War and Peace" is the problem of human happiness, the problem of searching for the meaning of life. His favorite heroes are Andrey Bolkonsky and Pierre Bezukhov - natures seeking, tormented, suffering. They are characterized by restlessness of the soul, the desire to be useful, necessary, loved. In the life of both, several stages can be distinguished at which their worldview changes, a certain turning point occurs in the soul.

3. We meet Andrei Bolkonsky in the salon of Anna Pavlovna Sherer. On the face of the prince boredom and fatigue. “This life is not for me,” he tells Pierre. Striving for useful activities, Prince Andrei goes to the army, dreaming of his glory. But romantic notions of honor and glory were dispelled on the field of Austerlitz. Lying on the battlefield, seriously wounded, Prince Andrei sees a high sky above him, and everything that he dreamed about before seems to him “empty”, “deceit”. He realized that there is something more important in life than fame. Having met with his idol Napoleon, Bolkonsky is also disappointed in him: “All the interests that occupied Napoleon seemed so insignificant to him at that moment, his hero himself seemed so petty to him ...” Disappointed in his previous aspirations and ideals, having experienced grief and remorse, Andrey comes to the conclusion that living for himself and his loved ones is the only thing left for him. But the active, ebullient nature of Bolkonsky cannot be content with just the family circle. Slowly he returns to life, to people. Pierre and Natasha help him get out of this state of mind. “We must live, we must love, we must believe” - these words of Pierre make Prince Andrei see the world in a new way, with its new colors, with the awakening spring. The desire for activity and fame returns to him.

He goes to St. Petersburg, where he begins his state activity in the Speransky commission. But disappointment soon followed, as Prince Andrei realized that this work was far from the vital interests of the people.

He is again close to a spiritual crisis, from which his love for Natasha Rostova saves him. Bolkonsky surrenders entirely to his feeling. The break with Natasha became a tragedy for him: “It was as if the endless vault of the sky that stood above him turned into a low, crushing vault, in which ... there was nothing eternal and mysterious.” The Patriotic War of 1812 dramatically changed the life path of the hero. She found Prince Andrei in confusion, thinking about the offense inflicted on him. But personal grief drowned in the people's grief. The French invasion aroused in him a desire to fight, to be together with the people. He returns to the army and takes part in the Battle of Borodino. Here he realizes himself as a particle of the people, and the fate of Russia depends on him, like on many soldiers.

The path of improvement of Andrei Bolkonsky passes through the blood, death and suffering of people in the war. Physical pain after being wounded and mental pain at the sight of suffering people lead Prince Andrei to an understanding of the truth about the need for love for one's neighbor, to the forgiveness of human sins, thereby bringing him closer to spiritual perfection. Prince Andrei knows that he still has to go the last way, but he no longer he is afraid of death, because he managed to overcome mental suffering, and physical suffering no longer frightens him. Just before his death, he forgives Anatole Kuragin. He clearly understands the whole depth of Natasha's soul, forgives her everything and says: "I love you more, better than before."

The war for Andrei served as the test that is necessary for the moral self-purification of a person on the path of knowing the truth of God.

4. Like Andrei Bolkonsky, Pierre is also characterized by deep reflections and doubts in search of the meaning of life.

At first, in his youth and under the influence of the environment, he makes many mistakes: he leads a reckless life of a secular reveler and loafer, allows Prince Kuragin to rob himself and marry the frivolous beauty Helen.

The moral shock experienced by Pierre in a collision with Dolokhov awakens remorse in him. He hates the lies of secular society, he often thinks about the question of the meaning of human life. This leads him to Freemasonry, which he understood as the doctrine of equality, brotherhood and love. He sincerely strives to alleviate the situation of his peasants up to their liberation from serfdom. Here Pierre first comes into contact with the people's environment, but rather superficially. However, Pierre soon becomes convinced of the futility of the Masonic movement and moves away from it. The war of 1812 arouses patriotic feelings in Pierre, and he equips a thousand militias with his own money, while he himself remains in Moscow to kill Napoleon and "stop the misfortunes of all Europe."

An important stage on the path of Pierre's search is his visit to the Borodino field at the time of the battle. Here he understands that history is created not by the individual, but by the people. The sight of lively and sweaty "muzhiks affected Pierre more than anything that he had seen and heard so far about the solemnity and significance of the present moment."

The meeting with Platon Karataev, a former peasant and soldier, makes him even closer to the people. From Karataev, Pierre gains peasant wisdom, in communication with him "finds peace and contentment with himself, to which he vainly sought before." The life path of Pierre Bezukhov is typical for the best part of the noble youth of that time. It was these people who came to the camp of the Decembrists.

5. Each of these heroes has their own destiny, their own difficult path to understanding the meaning of life. But both heroes come to the same truth: "We must live, we must love, we must believe."