This essay explores the theme of popular patriotism in the epic novel by Leo Tolstoy. In the introduction, the definition of the genre of the work and its features is given. The main part analyzes the historical events of 1805-1812 depicted in the novel. On the basis of episodes from the work, the patriotism of the Russian people in the Patriotic War of 1812, the greatness of his feat in the Battle of Borodino and in the partisan movement are shown.
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Russian literature
abstract
The theme of popular patriotism in the epic novel by L. N. Tolstoy
"War and Peace"
Plan.
I Historical theme in the work of Leo Tolstoy.
"War and Peace" - a novel - an epic. genre features.
II The theme of popular patriotism in the novel by Leo Tolstoy "War and Peace".
- The depiction in the novel of the historical events of 1805-1812.
- "People's Thought" in the novel.
- Patriotism of the Russian people in the fight against enemies.
- Partisan movement of the Patriotic War of 1812.
- The feat of the Russian people in the Battle of Borodino.
- Who are the real heroes? (images of Timokhin, Tushin, Shcherbaty).
III. The main idea of the novel is the condemnation of wars of conquest.
At the end of 1863, Tolstoy began working on the novel War and Peace. Work on the novel took Tolstoy over six years. “I have never felt my mental and even all my moral forces so capable of work,” he wrote about himself at that time. “I am now a writer with all the strength of my soul, and I write and think as I have never written and thought before.” Initially, the novel was conceived as a work about a Decembrist who returns from exile with his family in 1856 "and tries on his strict and somewhat ideal view of the new Russia." Tolstoy was attracted in the Decembrists by a sense of high civic duty and service to the social ideal. The work on the material fascinated the writer so much that he changed his plan and gradually came to the conclusion that he needed to write a historical novel from the era of the Napoleonic wars.
Tolstoy was prompted to do this by his own era. Modern researchers of his work rightly emphasize that "the historical theme in Tolstoy's work was prepared by all his previous development and the events of Russian social and political life", which also explains "why he advanced from the era of 1825 to the era of 1812"
The era of 1812 fascinated Tolstoy from an early age. He was keenly interested in the heroic events of that history, heard and wrote down the stories of some participants in the war of 1812, knew well the documentary, memoir and fiction about the war of the Russian people against Napoleon, including the works of Pushkin, admired Lermontov's "Borodino", which later became, by recognition Tolstoy, the "grain" of his "War and Peace".
But, understanding all the greatness and significance of 1812 for Russia, Tolstoy, by his own admission, “was ashamed to write about our triumph in the fight against Bonaparte France, without describing our failures and our shame. If the reason for our triumph was not accidental, but lay in the essence of the character of the Russian people and troops, then this character should have been expressed even more clearly in an era of failures and defeats.
Work on the novel required enormous efforts from Tolstoy. “Wherever historical figures speak and act in my novel,” the writer admitted in the article “A few words about the book“ War and Peace ”, I did not invent, but used materials from which I formed a whole library during my work ... ". In the work, problems of great importance were posed, which did not lose their importance for subsequent generations. A national heroic epic and a realistic novel were created at the same time. The novel covers 15 years from the life of Russia and Europe, filled to the limit with grandiose historical and military events. It has more than five hundred characters, many artistic images are based on historical prototypes.
The epic novel, the widely accepted genre definition of Tolstoy's War and Peace, undoubtedly contains many of the most important features of the epic.
The completeness of the coverage of being - from great to small, the universality of content - one of the main features of the epic - is evident in Tolstoy's narrative.
The book is essentially made up of many pictures of peaceful and military life, each of which, in Tolstoy, in addition to its significance in the system of the whole, also has some kind of its own, “intrinsic” meaning.
This desire to "capture everything", as Tolstoy himself put it, is generally a way of his artistic vision, thinking in "War and Peace".
Historical figures (Alexander I, Napoleon, Speransky, Kutuzov and many others), inconspicuous participants in the war, the best people of their time and money-grubbers, careerists pass through the pages of the novel. Tolstoy created many different types, characters, showed exactly the mass of people.
But the writer imagined hundreds of thousands of people - the creators of history - not as a faceless mass. It depicts the unique peculiar features of each person. All Tolstoy's heroes are living people, so alive that we see their faces, hear their voices, penetrate into their inner world, recognize their secret thoughts, love or despise them. World literature did not know such a work. “This is not a novel, even less a poem, even less a historical chronicle,” Tolstoy wrote, “War and Peace is what the author wanted and could express in the form in which it was expressed.” Studying this grandiose work, literary critics called it a historical epic novel. The epic novel tells us about significant events in the history of the country, highlights important aspects of people's life, views, ideals, life and customs of various strata of society. The assessment of events in the epic novel is given from the point of view of the interests of the whole people.
Huge life material in the epic novel is united by a common meaning, which gives it completeness and harmony.
“In order for a work to be good, one must love the main, basic idea in it,” said Tolstoy. According to him, in the novel "War and Peace" he loved the "thought of the people", as a result of the war of 1812.
The interest in the heroic era of 1812 was not accidental: the recent military defeat in the Crimean War increasingly forced the writer to think about the fact that the Russian people have not only enormous moral forces that allow them to survive the catastrophe and subsequently rise to a higher level of social development; in the mind of Tolstoy, the Russian people were clothed in the main historical force of the movement of life in Russia.
"People's thought" determines the unity of the entire work, pervades all its chapters. The writer believed that only "inspired thought" makes "truly great works of the human mind and heart immortal." Studying "War and Peace", we see how the writer's favorite thought lives in every image, in every scene, in every detail of the great epic he created.
"The People's Thought" pervades both Tolstoy's philosophical conclusions, and the depiction of specific historical events, historical figures, and the depiction of ordinary people, an assessment of their moral character and life behavior.
The main idea of the novel is the condemnation of aggressive wars and the establishment of peace.
Volume II of the epic is devoted to describing the peaceful life of Russian society between 18007 and 18012. These paintings, which have absorbed the anxious expectation and premonition of first love, the unique charm of human happiness, like the slow lyrical part of the symphony, precede the heroic chapters of volumes III and IV, dedicated to grandiose historical events with their enthusiasm for the people's struggle at the time of 1812. The culminating point in the development of the novel is the Battle of Borodino, which, according to Tolstoy, "remained forever an unparalleled feat." Tolstoy deeply penetrated the essence of the historical process and showed in the last stage of work on the novel that the main force that crushed the glory and greatness of Napoleon was the Russian people. He talked about the people's war, which "nailed" the French until it destroyed the entire invasion and ultimately brought Napoleon to defeat at Waterloo and imprisonment on St. Helena.
Drawing pictures of a guerrilla war that was terrible for the French, the writer shows the full power of the Russian people, "leaning" on the enemy. Denis Davydov, according to Tolstoy's true observation, "with his Russian instinct was the first to understand the significance of that terrible weapon, which, without asking the rules of military art, destroyed the French." According to Prince Andrei Bolkonsky, victory depends "on the feeling that is in me, in him, in every soldier." And this proud feeling of being right in the fight against the invaders, which in turn gave rise to confidence in victory, this formidable “spirit of the people”, the force of which the foreigners immediately felt the force of the blow, were the main motives for Tolstoy the battle painter in depicting the events at Borodino and subsequent battles.
Tolstoy described in detail the retreat of three Russian armies (Barclay, Bagration and Tormasov). The armies of Barclay and Bagration were separated by a space 100 miles long, and the main forces of the French rushed into this breakthrough, aiming to defeat them one by one, one by one. Trying to delay the advance of the French, Barclay de Tolly sent Osterman-Tolstoy's corps and cavalry units to meet them. The novel describes the battle that began 60 km from Vitebsk, near Beshenkovichi, the siege and surrender of Smolensk, it is told how the court circles reacted to the appointment of Kutuzov as commander-in-chief, a review of the troops made by the commander at Tsarevo-Zaimishch is mentioned. Kutuzov understood that the salvation of Russia consisted in the systematic retreat of the Russian army into the interior of the country; however, being well aware of the mood in the army, he clearly realized the necessity of the truth that in order to maintain the morale of the army, it is necessary to give a general battle. The novel describes a historic meeting with the commander-in-chief in Fili after the battle of Borodino, abandonment and fire in Moscow.
After the capture of Smolensk by the French, a guerrilla war began, the people “calmly awaited their fate, feeling the strength in themselves to find what they had to do in the most difficult moment. And as soon as the enemy approached, the richest elements of the population left, leaving their property; the poorest remained and set fire to and destroyed what was left.” Napoleon accused Kutuzov of non-compliance with the "rules of war". Tolstoy showed that for the Russian people the war was not a duel of swordsmen, where the fulfillment of "rules" was required, but a struggle where the fate of the country was decided. “And it’s good for that people,” the writer notes, “... who, in a moment of trial, without asking how others acted according to the rules in such cases, with simplicity and ease picks up the first club that comes across and nails it until the feeling of insult and revenge will not be replaced by contempt and pity.
The people began partisan actions on their own, spontaneously. Denis Davydov was the first to legitimize them and give them organized forms. The war took on a popular character. “The guerrillas destroyed the great army in parts ... There were small parties, prefabricated, on foot and horseback, there were peasants and landlords, unknown to anyone. He was the head of the party, a deacon who took several hundred prisoners a month. There was an elder, Vasilisa, who beat a hundred Frenchmen.
The goals of the Patriotic War are clear to every militia, peasant, and soldier. The general opinion is expressed by a soldier who met Pierre in Mozhaisk: “They want to pile on all the people; one word - Moscow. They want to make one end." The Battle of Borodino is portrayed as a "people's battle". The "hidden warmth of patriotism" that flared up in the soul of every soldier, and the general "spirit of the army" determined the victory of the Russians.
Let us recall the scenes on Raevsky's battery. And the young officer, and Pierre, and the red-skinned soldier - all are embraced by a common feeling, although no one directly expresses it.
The true beauty of the Russian people is revealed in the Battle of Borodino. Tolstoy claims that the Russians won "a moral victory, one that convinces the enemy of the moral superiority of his enemy and of his impotence." On Napoleonic France in this battle "the hand of the strongest enemy in spirit" was imposed.
Tolstoy depicts the greatness of the feat of the struggling people and at the same time the hardships, disasters, and torments that war brings. The men are ruined. Cities and villages perish in the fire of conflagrations. It hurts to look at the “broken, beaten out, like hail, rye”, at the road laid by artillery across the arable land.
Let us remember the retreat of our troops along the Smolensk road or the pursuit of the French in the winter of 1812, what heavy hardships the Russian army, the Russian peasants, endured on their shoulders! People “with faces disfigured by suffering”, “frightened or distraught soldiers”, “disasters of the people and troops” - all this is truthfully drawn by the writer. But he calls all this a “terrible necessity” and speaks with love, pride and delight of those who endured severe trials in the name of the liberation of their native land.
Soldiers, peasants, other characters from the people appear in various parts of the work, act, express their opinions and disappear. Each of them represents an individuality, endowed with specific features, and together they give an idea of the people as a whole, of its complex dialectically contradictory worldview and activity. Kutuzov's words "wonderful, incomparable people" are the words of the author himself. The merchant Ferapontov came out of the peasantry and retained all the features of popular ideas about the war. He is convinced that the French will not be allowed into Moscow: “Ours must have taken it, it is said: they will not be allowed. So it's strength." He associates Moscow with all of Russia. The announcement of the surrender of Moscow gives rise to a disturbing thought about the “death” of Russia. If Russia is perishing, then there is nothing to save and your good. Ferapontov shouts to the soldiers to take away all his goods, so that nothing is left for the "devils". “Done! Russia! he shouted. - Alpatych! decided! I'll burn it myself. I decided ... ”Tolstoy shows that among the merchants there were those who tried to keep their property. Such is the Gostinodvorets with "an expression of calculation on a well-fed face", asking the officer to protect his goods. Very soon, the peasants of the villages near Moscow saw the true face of their enemy: Karp and Vlas refused to sell fodder to the French, took up arms and went into the forest. During the war of 1805, the Russian army fought on foreign territory, there were strangers around. Russia in this war had no vital interests, the soldiers did not know why they were driven to distant lands. The old bachelor Shinshin expresses his thoughts with the question: "Why is it not easy for us to fight with Bonoparte ...". The soldiers, in their own way, understand the impending threat of war with Napoleon: “Now the Prussian is in revolt. The Austrian, therefore, pacifies him. As soon as he reconciles, then the war with Bunopart will open. After talking a little about the war, they move on to talking about the rest and food that await them after a difficult march. Soldiers are portrayed by Tolstoy in less detail than officers. They are good-natured, cheerful, do not lose their spirit, love their native Russian song, which also inspires them in a foreign land. "Songwriters Go!" - I heard the cry of the captain. And twenty people ran out in front of the company from different sides. The drummer-singer turned around to face the songbooks and, waving his hand, began a drawn-out soldier's song that began: "So, brothers, glory will be to us with Kamensky - father ...". This song was composed in Turkey and now sung in Austria, only with the change that in place of "Kamensky-father" the words "Kutuzov-father" were inserted. The soldiers sing and “Oh, you, my canopy, canopy!”, The danger makes them more collected and calm: “... The closer ... to the French chain, the more self-confident the appearance of our troops became.” On the front line, soldiers are cheerfully engaged in peaceful affairs: they carry firewood and brushwood, build "booths", mend clothes around the fires. “All the faces were so calm, as if everything was happening not in the mind of the enemy, before the case, where at least half of the detachment should have remained in place, but as if somewhere in their homeland, waiting for a quiet stop.” Soldier Sidorov, distorting Russian words, begins to mumble "in French", and this causes such laughter in the chain that even the French begin to laugh. “... After that,” writes Tolstoy, “it seemed that it was necessary to quickly unload the guns, blow up the charges and go home as soon as possible.” At the beginning of the battle near Shengraben, Andrei Bolkonsky sees a revival on the faces of the soldiers: “It has begun! Here it is! Scary and fun! - said the face of every soldier and officer. In a moment of danger, the mass of soldiers rally even more.
Before the battle of Borodino in the army, there was general enthusiasm. After all, you need to protect your native land, Moscow. Prince Andrei tells Pierre that the whole army, both himself and Timokhin, treat the French as enemies, criminals who have come to ruin their homes, to ruin Moscow. Soldiers have an inherent sense of military duty. Tolstoy describes in particular detail the actions of artillerymen in the Battle of Borodino. On Raevsky's battery, "one felt the same and common to everyone, as if family revival", the soldiers loaded their guns and fired without any panic, good spirits did not leave them at the most dangerous moments. They "applied charges, turned, loaded and did their job with intense panache." Some of the soldiers are scared, but they jokingly hide their anxiety. So the "red-skinned" soldier, who was afraid of death, accompanied the flight of each projectile to the battery with a joke. “Ay, I almost knocked off our master’s hat”; “Oh, clumsy,” he says of an enemy cannon ball that hit the cannon wheel and crushed a soldier’s leg. One of the gunners, seeing a peasant crouching under a flying cannonball, ironically: “What, friend?” Tolstoy writes that in the Battle of Borodino, Napoleonic France "was laid the hand of the strongest enemy in spirit." On this day, Russian soldiers and officers showed their moral superiority over the enemy.
On the Borodino field in the novel there are thousands of people, representatives of all types of weapons. All of them create the image of a collective hero. The description of some characters is short - from two to three phrases, but it gives an idea about this person, is a necessary touch in the general panorama of a tense, unceasing battle. In the picture created by the writer, there are no conditional dramatic effects, romantic elation and pathos, everything is simple, businesslike, the description of death is adjacent to the joke of one of the participants in the battle. The world depicted by Tolstoy is in continuous motion, one state is replaced by another. But the commonality of experience, a single patriotic feeling and goal remains immutable.
Depicting the war, Tolstoy follows the principles that he developed at the time of the Sevastopol Tales: he does not show galloping warriors with unfolded banners and their commanders, not a parade, not the brilliance of victories, but military everyday life, ordinary soldiers, their everyday hard work. It reveals the inner world of an ordinary person, who has a unique personality, attracting with his spiritual beauty. The writer claims that the outcome of historical events depends on the will and efforts of a mass of such simple, ordinary people.
Let us recall the chapters devoted to the battle of Shengraben. Before us are infantry regiments, upset under the influence of the meaningless terrible word “Cut off!”. "The moral hesitation that decides the fate of the battles has obviously been resolved in favor of fear." But here the modest, inconspicuous Timokhin comes to the rescue. Since the time of Ishmael, he knows what hand-to-hand combat is. Not numerical superiority, not the strategic plans of wise commanders, but the enthusiasm of the company commander, dragging along the soldiers, influenced the course of the battle. “Timokhin, with such a desperate cry, rushed at the French and with such insane and drunken determination, with one skewer, ran into the enemy that the French, not having time to come to their senses, threw down their weapons and ran.” The writer shows the heroism of a man whom no one considers a hero, who himself least of all thinks about his heroism. But it was not for nothing that Kutuzov remembered Timokhin and called him during the review in Braunau "Izmailov's comrade", "brave officer". Apparently, this is not the first time that a modest officer has performed a truly heroic deed.
One of the most significant characters in the novel is Captain Tushin. The reader first meets this "little dirty, thin artillery officer" in the tent of a sutler. For the second time, he appears on the Shengraben field, where his battery occupied a central position. Prince Andrei hears a conversation coming from the booth. Captain Tushin says: "If it were possible to know what would happen after death, then none of us would be afraid of death." The soldiers of Tushin's company are cheerful, cheerful, "handsome fellows" who know their business. In the midst of the battle, Tushin and his soldiers are unusually active. Their feelings are the same. "The soldiers ... all looked at their commander like children in a predicament." And he addresses them not as a boss, but as a good friend. He calls his beloved soldier "uncle", admires his every movement, affectionately addresses the fireworks: "darling", consults with sergeant major Zakharchenko, for whom he has great respect. In every word Tushin sounds simplicity and extraordinary kindness. "Dear soul! Farewell, my dear, ”he says to Prince Andrei.
Tolstoy repeatedly emphasizes that in the appearance of Tushin there is nothing military, much less militant. Let us remember how he and Zherkov salute the authorities. Tushin, with his weak, timid and awkward movements, does this "not at all like the salute of the military." Zherkov, on the other hand, salutes "briskly, without taking his hands off his cap." But in battle, Zherkov got cold feet, and Tushin showed himself to be a real warrior. Not without reason, in that fantastic world that, under the influence of extreme tension of mental strength, developed in his head, “he himself imagined himself of enormous stature, a powerful man who throws cannonballs at the French with both hands.” Outwardly, Tushin is completely different, but such is the strength of his spirit. It is Tushin and Timokhin who are shown as the true heroes of the Shengraben battle. Victory in the battle of Borodino, according to Prince Andrei, will depend on the feeling that is in him, in Timokhin and in every soldier. “Tomorrow, no matter what, we will win the battle!” - says Prince Andrei, and Timokhin agrees with him: "Here, your excellency, the truth, the truth is true."
The spirit of the people - the avenger, the resourcefulness and prowess of the Russian peasantry is embodied by Tolstoy in the image of the partisan Tikhon Shcherbaty. This is "the most useful and brave man" in Denisov's detachment. With an ax in his hands, he goes to the enemy not because someone is forcing him, but under the influence of a natural patriotic feeling and hatred for uninvited guests. These feelings are sometimes so strong that Tikhon becomes cruel, the French are enemies and only enemies for him. We do not yet see Tikhon, but we hear how his comrades in arms talk about him. In their rude words one can feel admiration, respect, even a kind of affection: “Eka rogue”, “Well, clever”, “What a beast”. His movements are dexterous and fast: for the first time he appears running, we follow how he “flopped” into the river, “got out on all fours”, “ran further”.
He is full of action. Telling, he "suddenly and flexibly lay down on his belly", "quickly and easily jumped up", "waving his arms". His speech is just as dynamic: “One and well up ... I will rob him in this manner ... Let's go, I say, to the colonel. How to roar! And here are four of them. They rushed at me with skewers. I attacked them in such a manner with an ax: why are you, they say, Christ is with you ... ”.
Tikhon Shcherbaty personifies the qualities inherent in the entire Russian people, with his strength, endurance, courage; the figure of Tikhon Shcherbatov with an ax in his hands, as it were, symbolizes the war of 1812 as a whole. Shcherbaty was wounded several times, but did not go to the infirmary; he was unaware of the feeling of fear. “When it was necessary to do something especially difficult and ugly - to turn a wagon out of the mud, pull a horse out of the swamp by the tail, skin it, climb into the very middle of the French, walk 50 miles a day, everyone pointed, chuckling, at Tikhon:" What the hell is he doing…” Tolstoy shows that in moments of responsibility for the motherland, the activity of people increases; the people not only struggle with an external enemy, but also begin to think about their position, realize themselves as a force.
Creating the image of the people - the avenger, Tolstoy shows not only his hatred of the enemy, determination, energy, courage, but also his humanism. Not without reason, after all that Pierre saw on the Borodino field, the soldiers and militias appear to him "with their simple, kind and firm faces." “Simplicity, kindness and truth” are those high qualities that distinguish both the individual heroes of “War and Peace” and the collective image of the people. In this image, Tolstoy reveals both unity and contradiction, both integrity and diversity.
Tolstoy considered the war of 1812 a people's war, realizing that it was the people who defeated the previously invincible army of Napoleon. This point of view on the Patriotic War is most clearly expressed in the conversation between Prince Andrei and Pierre on the eve of the Battle of Borodino. Recalling the wars of 1805-1807, Bolkonsky states: “We “went to fight in Austria and Prussia, without knowing why.” About the war of 1812, he spoke in a completely different way: “The French have ruined my house and are going to ruin Moscow, insulted and insult me every second. They are my enemies, they are all criminals, according to my concepts. And Timokhin and the whole army think the same way. They must be executed."
While working on the novel, Tolstoy thought hard about the role of the people in history. He came to the logical conclusion that the main strength of Russia is in the people. The people are all those who work hard to earn their own bread, are deprived of many benefits and rights in life, have not received an education, this is the vast majority of the nation, its essence, its foundation. Tolstoy witnessed the heroism of the Russian people in Sevastopol, and this remained forever in his mind. He is convinced that the war of 1812 was won by the people. In this he turned out to be close to the Decembrists and the leading figures of this era. The same idea permeates Herzen's article "Russia", in which he wrote that Napoleon raised the entire Russian people against him. Chernyshevsky emphasized that the Russians twice saved Europe from the yoke of the Mongols and "another yoke - the French and Napoleon." Dobrolyubov called the war of 1812 the People's War.
"War and Peace" is a great heroic-epic patriotic work that captures the feat of the Russian people in a just liberation war. It will always retain this meaning, inspiring and inspiring the peoples to defend their native land from foreign invaders, to the sacred struggle for liberation.
The condemnation of unjust aggressive wars was already heard in Tolstoy's works, written a decade before War and Peace. For five years the writer wore a military uniform, being an artillery officer in the active Russian army.
Taking part in the heroic defense of Sevastopol in the Crimean War of 1853-1855, he wrote stories under enemy cannonballs and bullets in which he forever immortalized the unparalleled valor and courage of the defenders of the city and at the same time showed the war not from the front side, but as he says, "in its present expression - in blood, suffering, death."
Here is what one of the main characters of War and Peace, Captain Tushin, says about her: “War, in my opinion, is the extreme degree of human irrationality, is a manifestation of the most senseless side of human nature: people, having no reason to do so, kill each other. friend."
Expressing the thoughts of the author himself, another of Tolstoy's favorite heroes, Prince Andrei, speaks with hatred of those military men for whom "war is their favorite pastime." Such “heroes,” he says, “will come together to kill each other, kill, maim tens of thousands of people, and then they will serve thanksgiving prayers for having beaten many people ... Believing that the more people they beat, the greater the merit.”
There is only one type of war in which Prince Andrei finds it possible to participate - that war, when "the question of life and death of the fatherland was decided." And Tolstoy and his favorite heroes accept this war as a "terrible thing" and as a "terrible necessity." In the unforgettable scene of a nighttime conversation with Pierre on the eve of the Battle of Borodino, Prince Andrei sets out his thoughts on the merciless extermination of the enemies who invaded Russian soil. Elsewhere in the novel, Tolstoy asserts that this consciousness "lay and lies in the soul of the Russian man" and that "it will always be so."
But at the same time, in many scenes of the novel, Tolstoy portrays the deep, primordial, genuine peacefulness of the Russian people. Suffice it to recall the touching concern that Petya Rostov showed for the captured French drummer Vincent, the “pathetic boy,” as Denisov called him, “Spring,” as the soldiers affectionately called him.
Or let's remember how Kutuzov, addressing the soldiers near Krasnoye, said, pointing to the French prisoners who had become "worse than the beggars of the last", that "now you can pity them." Or let us remember the words of Nikolai Rostov “Long live the whole world!”, with which he greeted the inhabitants of the Austrian village ...
Our contemporaries, reading War and Peace, pay special attention to those pages where Tolstoy's favorite heroes solve problems that are in tune with our time. When Pierre Bezukhov was faced with the question of what to do to people of good will in the face of growing danger, he answered it like this: “... All thoughts that have huge consequences are always simple. My whole idea is that if vicious people are interconnected and constitute a force, then honest people need only do the same. After all, it's so simple."
Indeed - how simple! But how difficult it is to bring about this unity of people of good will! “But I say,” insists Pierre, “take hand in hand, those who love goodness, and let there be one banner - active virtue.”
There is something extraordinarily consonant in these words from Tolstoy's novel to those passionate calls to unite and fight against the threat of war, which today are addressed to all people of good will by participants in the peace movement.
There is no need to remind that the problem of war and peace in our era has become a thousand times more terrible than in the era of Tolstoy. But his heroes are dear to us because they also reflected on its decision, passionately wishing all people peace, goodness and happiness.
In one of the early editions of the novel, the young heroes of "War and Peace" discuss the question: "How to arrange the fate of mankind in such a way that human rights are equally recognized by the entire educated world and that the possibility of war between peoples is destroyed?"
In the great epic of Tolstoy, the idea of a just world triumphs over the idea of an aggressive, aggressive war. And this alone makes War and Peace an eminently modern book, in tune with the dearest aspirations of the advanced and progressive people of our time.
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3. Kuzmin A. I. The heroic theme in Russian literature.
4. Lomunov K. N. Leo Tolstoy in the modern world.
True patriotism and heroism in the understanding of Leo Tolstoy.
“The cudgel of the people’s war rose with all its formidable and majestic strength and, without asking anyone’s tastes and rules, with stupid simplicity, but with expediency, without analyzing anything, rose and nailed the French until everything perished on - procession. The novel "War and Peace" is a historical epic of the valor and courage of the Russian people - the winner in the war of 1812. The protagonist of the novel is the Russian people. As in Sevastopol Tales, so in this novel Tolstoy realistically depicts war in "blood, in suffering, in death." Tolstoy tells us about the severity of the war, about its horrors, grief (departure of the population from Smolensk and Moscow, famine), death (Andrey Bolkonsky dies after being wounded, Petya Rostov dies). War requires the utmost exertion of moral and physical strength from everyone. During the Patriotic War, during the period of robbery, violence and atrocities committed by the invaders, Russia bears huge material sacrifices. This is the burning and devastation of cities.
Of great importance in the course of military events is the general mood of soldiers, partisans and other defenders of the Motherland. War 1905-1907 was conducted outside of Russia and was alien to the Russian people. When the French invaded the territory of Russia, the entire Russian people, young and old, rose to defend their Fatherland.
In the novel "War and Peace" Tolstoy divides people according to moral principles, especially highlighting the attitude towards patriotic duty. The writer depicts true patriotism and false patriotism, which cannot even be called patriotism. True patriotism is, first of all, patriotism of duty, an act in the name of the Fatherland, the ability, at a decisive moment for the Motherland, to rise above the personal, to be imbued with a sense of responsibility for the fate of the people. According to Tolstoy, the Russian people are deeply patriotic. When the French occupied Smolensk, the peasants burned hay so as not to sell it to their enemies. Each in his own way tried to hurt the enemy so that they felt the hatred of the true owners of the earth. The merchant Ferapontov burned down his own shop so that the French would not get it. Residents of Moscow are shown as true patriots, who, leaving their native city, leave their homes, as they consider it impossible to remain under the rule of impostors.
Russian soldiers are real patriots. We see the true patriotism and heroism of the people in the depiction of classical scenes near Shengraben, Austerlitz, Smolensk, Borodin. It was in the Battle of Borodino that the extraordinary stamina and courage of the Russian soldiers manifested itself with particular emphasis. The Battle of Borodino is a moral victory for Russian soldiers. The feeling of patriotism is a truly national feeling. It covers all soldiers without exception. The soldiers calmly, simply, confidently do their job without uttering big words. Tolstoy talks about the battles near Smolensk. Despite the courage and stamina of the Russian army, she is forced to retreat.
Outwardly unremarkable people become heroes and true patriots for Tolstoy. Such is Captain Tushin, who finds himself in the face of his superiors in a comical position without boots, embarrassed, stumbling, and at the same time doing just that at the most critical moment. what is needed. The strength of the people's spirit will give birth to outstanding generals. Like Mikhail Kutuzov. He lives only by the feelings, thoughts, interests of the soldiers, perfectly understands their mood, takes care of them like a father. He firmly believes that the outcome of the battle is determined by “an elusive force called the spirit of the army” and strives with all his might to maintain this hidden warmth of patriotism in the army.
For Kutuzov, who is deeply alien to all the false, far-fetched, senseless rantings of Bennigsen at the military council in Fili about the defense of the sacred ancient capital of Moscow. For a Russian person, a true patriot, it is clear what Moscow is. But the question of her fate, the fate of Russia, was decided by Kutuzov in purely military terms.
The writer attaches great importance to the partisan movement. Here is how Tolstoy describes its spontaneous growth: “Before the partisan war was officially accepted by our government, thousands of people of the enemy army - backward marauders, foragers - were exterminated by Cossacks and peasants, who beat these people as unconsciously as dogs unconsciously bite a mad dog. Tolstoy draws the partisan detachments of Dolokhov and Denisov, tells about the peasant Tikhon Shcherbat, who was an indispensable person in the detachment and took part in the most risky operations. Thanks to the huge mass patriotic movement of the Russian people against the French invaders, the enemy was defeated and expelled.
Tolstoy shows that patriotic feelings embrace people of various political views: the progressive intelligentsia (Pierre, Andrei), the old prince Bolkonsky, the conservative Nikolai Rostov, the meek Princess Marya. A patriotic impulse also penetrates into the hearts of people who seem to be far from the war - Petya, Natasha Rostovs. But it only seemed to be. According to Tolstoy, a real person cannot but be a patriot of his Fatherland. All these people are united by a feeling that is in the soul of every Russian person. (The Rostov family, leaving the city, gives all the carts to the wounded, thereby losing their property. After the death of her father, Maria Bolkonskaya leaves the estate, not wanting to live in the territory occupied by enemies. Pierre Bezukhov thinks to kill Napoleon, knowing full well how this could end.) Having gathered in the Sloboda Palace, merchants and nobles sacrifice their property to protect Russia. “Having learned that Count Mamontov was donating a regiment, Bezukhov immediately announced that he was giving away a thousand people and their maintenance.” To the true patriotism of the bulk of the Russian people, Tolstoy opposes the false patriotism of the highest noble society. These are false people, whose patriotic words and deeds become a means to achieve base goals. Ruthlessly Tolstoy tears off the mask of patriotism from German and semi-German generals in the Russian service, "golden youth" like Anatoly Kuragin, careerists like Boris Drubetskoy. Tolstoy angrily denounces that part of the senior staff officers who did not take part in the battles, but tried to get settled at the headquarters and receive awards for nothing.
At the height of the war, A. Scherer is busy choosing a worthy groom. In her salon, they take a fine for every spoken French word.
Of course, the native Russian patriotic feeling is alien to these people, far from the people.
Tolstoy convinces us that only those nobles who comprehend the spirit of the people, for whom there can be no happiness outside the peace and prosperity of their country, can be true patriots.
By uniting people according to a moral principle, emphasizing the special importance in evaluating a person of the truth of his patriotic feeling, Tolstoy brings together people very different in their social status. They turn out to be close in spirit, rise to the greatness of national patriotism. And it’s not without reason that in a difficult period of life, Pierre Bezukhov, once on the Borodino field, comes to the conclusion that true happiness is merging with the common people. (“Be a soldier, just a soldier. Enter this common life with all your being.”) Thus, true patriotism and heroism in the understanding of Tolstoy is the highest manifestation of the moral strength and spirit of the people. Popular patriotism is an invincible force in the fight against enemies. The winner is the Russian people. True heroes - ordinary Russian people who did a great thing - defeated the "invincible Napoleon".
Bibliography
For the preparation of this work, materials from the site http://www.coolsoch.ru/ were used.
(402 words) Telling readers about the Patriotic War against Napoleon in his epic novel "War and Peace", Tolstoy touched on the theme of the patriotic struggle of the Russian people. But the author, refraining from blind glorification of that struggle, was primarily interested in the question of what real patriotism is and how to distinguish it from ordinary populism.
Already at the very beginning, the writer in all its glory shows us the concept of false patriotism. We see a noble society mired in vulgarity and hypocrisy, discussing the war in Europe. Loud pathetic speeches are heard, cursing Napoleon, pathetic wishes for the victory of Russia. But behind these big words there are no real deeds, the nobility, cut off from reality, has no real idea about the war and simply follows the official position of the government. The vast majority of the noble society seeks only to achieve their personal goals and strengthen their positions on the social ladder. The picture of lies and hypocrisy becomes even brighter when we are transported to Austria, where we see demoralized soldiers who do not even understand who they are fighting. Tolstoy shows how the elite of the Russian Empire, hiding behind fashionable slogans about saving the fatherland, sends soldiers into a senseless meat grinder for the sake of the interests of rulers and generals.
It is also characteristic that after the Peace of Tilsit, the anti-Napoleonic rhetoric of the nobility instantly changes to the strictly opposite. Toasts are proclaimed to the French emperor, Russian-French friendship is extolled. Tolstoy once again emphasizes the unscrupulousness of the nobility, adapting to the powers that be.
Already in the twelfth year, Napoleon's troops invaded the territory of Russia. Tolstoy again stigmatizes the society of the nobility, which, even at the most critical hour for the country, is unable to see beyond its own nose. Prince Kuragin, who is trying to maneuver between two opposing opinions about Kutuzov, Elena Kuragina, who, in the midst of the war, converts to Catholicism and is only interested in a divorce from her husband, staff officers who are solely concerned with promotion. Only those nobles who have moved away from high society show real patriotism and really care about the country and people. However, even such outstanding personalities as Nikolai and Pyotr Rostov, Andrei Bolkonsky, Fedor Dolokhov, are just grains of sand against the backdrop of the popular upsurge that swept the country. According to Tolstoy, it was the universal, not even always conscious strength of the simple Russian people that was able to break Napoleon's previously invincible army. At the same time, Tolstoy remains true to himself: war, in his opinion, is a monstrous atrocity covered in mud and blood. People, defending their country, are capable of the most brutal and inhuman acts.
Tolstoy shows us that real patriotic feeling awakens during the hours of the most difficult trials. It is his spontaneity and sincerity, devoid of striving for his own benefit and empty bragging, that distinguish him from false patriotism, which scoundrels and swindlers use for their own purposes.
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L. N. Tolstoy, according to A. P. Chekhov, belongs to the first place among the figures of Russian art. The brilliant author of "War and Peace" is known throughout the world. Anatole France wrote: "Tolstoy is our common teacher." Wonderful stories, novellas, dramas and three brilliant novels - "War and Peace", "Anna Karenina" and "Resurrection" - will never cease to excite human minds and hearts. Throughout the 1960s, Tolstoy worked on the epic novel War and Peace, which covers Russian life in the early 19th century. With great sympathy, the author portrays Andrei Bolkonsky, Pierre Bezukhov, who were looking for truth, justice and genuine human happiness in life.
The focus of the novel is the Patriotic War of 1812. Among the huge number of characters in "War and Peace" there are both outstanding historical figures and ordinary participants in the war. Tolstoy managed with extraordinary force to convey the patriotic enthusiasm that the Russian people experienced in 1812. "In War and Peace, I loved folk thought," the writer said. With the entire content of War and Peace, Tolstoy showed that it was the Russian people, who had risen to fight for national independence, that drove the French out of their country and ensured victory.
War forces everyone to act and act in a way that is impossible not to act. People act not on orders, but in obedience to an inner feeling, a sense of the significance of the moment. Tolstoy writes that they united in their aspirations and actions when they sensed the danger hanging over the people. In the battle of Shengraben, the Russians sacrificed themselves in the name of saving their comrades, showing miracles of courage, and this was done unconsciously, instinctively.
The patriotism of the Russian people was expressed very simply. The small merchant Ferapontov, before the French entered Smolensk, shouted to the soldiers to take all the goods from his shop, since "Raseya decided" and he himself would burn everything. The Karps and Vlass did not sell hay to the French "for the good money they were offered, but burned it" so that the enemy would not get it. The Rostov family gave carts for the wounded in Moscow, thus completing their ruin. The Moscow poor wanted to arm themselves in order to protect the old capital, the peasants joined partisan detachments and destroyed the invaders. Muscovites left the capital simply from the consideration that it was impossible to live in it under Bonaparte, even if they were not directly threatened by any danger. The Moscow lady leaves the capital with her black-haired and pugs: back in June, for the reason that "she is not Bonaparte's servant."
Natasha Rostova also does not remain aloof from the events of 1812. She understands that no one will be able to help Russia, but it is not in her power to remain indifferent. Before the capture of Moscow by the French, people are urgently evacuated to the cities, there are many wounded in Moscow, carts are urgently needed. And when Natasha finds out about this, she does not hesitate for a minute: she cannot understand how it is possible to take out some things when people are dying. The Russian principle that lies in him helps Prince Andrei in critical moments of his life, it helps him to understand all the deceit and hypocrisy of his idol, Napoleon: “All the interests that occupied Napoleon seemed so insignificant to him at that moment, his hero himself seemed so petty to him, with this petty vanity, and the joy of victory, in comparison with that high, just and kind sky that he saw and understood - that he could not answer him.
The greatest manifestation of patriotism was the Battle of Borodino, in which the Russian army defeated the numerically strongest enemy. The French generals reported to Napoleon that "the Russians are holding their positions and are producing hellish fire, from which the French army is melting." “Our fire is tearing them out in rows, and they are standing,” the adjutants reported to Napoleon, and he felt how “a terrible swing of the arm fell magically and powerlessly.” At the same time, Raevsky informed Kutuzov that "the troops are firmly in their places and that the French do not dare to attack anymore."
Kutuzov is an exponent of the patriotic: the spirit of the Russian army, its ideological inspirer and leader. Outwardly, the decrepit, inert and weak old man turned out to be strong: he was handsome internally: he alone made bold, sober and correct decisions, did not think about himself, about honors and glory, seeing in front of him only one great goal, which was his desire for desire, - victory over the hated invaders. His "simple, modest and therefore truly majestic figure could not lie down in that deceitful form of a European hero, allegedly controlling people, which they invented."
Kutuzov's strategy was to combine two forces: patience and time - on the one hand, and on the other - the morale of the army, which he always zealously cared about. He understood more deeply than others the significance of every event in the course of the war; connection with his homeland, with the Russian land, unity with the army were the source of his strength as a commander and as a person. Kutuzov's patriotism, like the patriotism of ordinary Russian people - Tushin, Timokhin, Tikhon Shcherbaty - is completely devoid of external effects, his patriotism is based on confidence in the strength and courage of the Russian people, on his faith in victory.
Tolstoy makes a sharp distinction between true and false patriotism. True patriotism is hatred for enemies, but love for people in general. And false - only hatred.
In the episode on the bridge, K. B. Schubert reports how many were wounded and killed after the battle, and some kind of satisfaction is heard in his voice, and Nikolai Rostov, who is present at the same time, cannot understand such a conversation, because behind these people stand in bare figures. The true patriotism of the Russian people manifests itself in moments of real danger to the motherland, that is, only when "the swarm is disturbed." When a war is going on on foreign territory, the Russian people do not join the fight, and the soldiers only do their military duty.
Tolstoy also distinguishes between hidden and ostentatious patriotism. The ostentatious patriotism is deceit, unnaturalness. This idea, most likely, comes to Tolstoy from the Gospel, the Sermon on the Mount: “But when you pray, go into your room and, having shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you openly. ".
There is no other work in Russian literature where the power and greatness of the Russian people were depicted with such persuasiveness and force as in War and Peace. Tolstoy's patriotic novel has worldwide significance: "This novel is perhaps the greatest of all that has ever been written," said the French writer Louis Aragon.
The novel "War and Peace" is a great work of Russian and world literature, a grandiose epic, the hero of which is the Russian people, who showed unprecedented heroism and patriotism in the struggle for the freedom and independence of their homeland in the war of 1812.
The huge vital material of this novel is united by a single idea, "I tried to write the history of the people," says Tolstoy. The people, according to Tolstoy, are not only peasants, but also nobles, those people who are worried about the fate of the country, who are in the whirlpool of great events. A colossal wave of anger rose among the people after the French attack. All Russian people, with the exception of a small handful of court aristocrats, could not imagine how they could live under the rule of the French. Every Russian acted as he found it possible for himself. Who attacked the active army, who went to partisan detachments. People like Pierre Bezukhov gave part of their money to equip the militias. Many, like the Smolensk merchant Ferapontov, burned shops and their property so that nothing was left for the enemies. And many simply gathered and left their native places, destroying everything after themselves.
Tolstoy notes in the Russian people a simple, sometimes incomprehensible feeling of patriotism, which was expressed not in loud phrases about love for the fatherland, but in decisive actions. Residents of Moscow left the ancient capital without any call. Tolstoy emphasizes that for Muscovites there could be no question of what would be good or bad under French rule in Moscow. It was simply impossible to live like this, as it was the worst of all.
The same thing happens in other cities and villages of the Russian land. On the territory where the enemy had already entered, he saw the hatred and genuine indignation of the people. The peasants refused to sell food and hay to the French. A partisan movement sprang up spontaneously, without any order from above. According to Tolstoy's figurative expression, "the partisans picked up fallen leaves that fell from the common tree of the French army, and sometimes shook this tree."
Not only the common people, but also the advanced layers of the nobility and intelligentsia were imbued with bitterness towards the enemy. No wonder Prince Andrei says that they smashed his house, and now they are going to ruin Moscow, insulting it every second ”And therefore, according to his concepts, they are not only enemies, but also criminals. Prince Andrei honestly fulfills his duty by joining the army at the very beginning of the war, although before that he had decided that he would never be a military man again. He did not stay at the headquarters, as he was offered, but goes to the forefront of events. The heroism and genuine love of Russians for their homeland was especially clearly manifested in the battle of Borodino. On the eve of the battles, Andrei Bolkonsky says: “The battle will be won by the one who firmly decided to win it ... and who will fight harder ... Tomorrow, no matter what, we will win the battle.”
Defending their home, their family, their homeland, the right to life, the Russian people showed amazing fortitude and self-sacrifice, showed miracles of courage. They aroused surprise in Napoleon, who had been invincible so far, and then fear. It is impossible not to be proud of the Russian people. And there is no doubt that such a people has a great future.