"Real life" in the understanding of L. Tolstoy (based on the novel by L.N.

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Real life in the understanding of Tolstoy

Real life is life without fetters and restrictions. This is the supremacy of feelings and mind over secular etiquette.

Tolstoy contrasts "false life" and "real life". All of Tolstoy's favorite characters live "Real Life". Tolstoy in the first chapters of his work shows us only "false life" through the inhabitants of secular society: Anna Scherrer, Vasily Kuragin, his daughter and many others. A sharp contrast to this society is the Rostov family. They live only by feelings and may not observe general decency. So, for example, Natasha Rostova, who ran out into the hall on her name day and loudly asked what kind of dessert would be served. This, according to Tolstoy, is real life.

The best time to understand the insignificance of all problems is war. In 1812, everyone rushed to fight Napoleon. In the war, everyone forgot about their quarrels and disputes. Everyone thought only about victory and the enemy. Indeed, even Pierre Bezukhov forgot about his differences with Dolokhov. War eliminates everything that is not real, false in people's lives, gives a person the opportunity to open up to the end, feeling the need for it, as Nikolai Rostov and the hussars of his squadron feel it, they feel it at the moment when it was impossible not to launch an attack. Heroes who do not specifically seek to be useful to the general course of events, but live their normal lives, are the most useful participants in it. The criterion of real life is real, sincere feelings.

But Tolstoy has heroes who live according to the laws of reason. These are the Bolkonsky family, except, perhaps, Marya. But Tolstoy also refers to these heroes as "real". Prince Andrei Bolkonsky is a very intelligent person. He lives according to the laws of reason and does not obey feelings. He rarely obeyed etiquette. He could easily walk away if he wasn't interested. Prince Andrei wanted to live "not for himself alone." He always tried to be helpful.

Tolstoy also shows us Pierre Bezukhov, who was looked at disapprovingly in Anna Pavlovna's living room. He, unlike the others, did not greet the "useless aunt." He did not do it out of disrespect, but only because he did not consider it necessary. In the image of Pierre, two benefactors are connected: intelligence and simplicity. By "simplicity" I mean that he can freely express his feelings and emotions. Pierre was looking for his destiny for a long time and did not know what to do. A simple Russian peasant, Platon Karataev, helped him figure it out. He explained to him that there is nothing better than freedom. Karataev became for Pierre the personification of simplicity and clarity of the basic laws of life.

“The goal of the artist is not to undeniably resolve the issue, but to make you love life in its countless, never exhausted manifestations. If I were told that I could write a novel by which I would undeniably establish what seems to me the right view of all social questions, I would not devote two hours of labor to such a novel, but if I were told that what I write will be read today's children in twenty years and will cry and laugh at him and love life, I would devote my whole life and all my strength to him, ”wrote JI.H. Tolstoy in one of his letters during the years of work on the novel War and Peace.
The idea of the novel is revealed in the juxtaposition indicated in the title itself, in the juxtaposition of "peace" and "war" as life and death, good and evil.
At the beginning of the third part of the second volume, Lev Nikolaevich gives a kind of formula for “real life”: “Life, meanwhile, is the real life of people with their own essential interests of health, illness, work, rest, with their own interests of thought, science, poetry, music, love , friendship, hatred, passions went on, as always, independently and outside of political proximity or enmity with Napoleon Bonaparte, and outside of all possible transformations.
Hunting and Christmas, Natasha's first ball, a moonlit night in Otradnoye and a girl at the window, Prince Andrei's meeting with an old oak tree, the death of Petya Rostov ... The episodes are very different, whether they refer to "war" or "peace", "historical" or "family" line, all are significant for the creator of the work, because in each the essential meaning of life is very fully expressed.
Tolstoy's best heroes repeat his moral code, which is why one of the basic principles of Tolstoy's creation of positive heroes is to portray them in all their spiritual complexity, in a continuous search for truth. Tolstoy leads his heroes through a continuous series of hobbies for what seems to be the most interesting and significant in the existence of man and society. These hobbies often bring with them bitter disappointments. “Significant” often turns out to be insignificant, having no truly human value. And only as a result of collisions with the world, as a result of liberation from illusions, Andrei Bolkonsky and Pierre Bezukhov gradually discover in life what, from their point of view, is undeniable, genuine.
Perhaps the main point of reflection of Bolkonsky and Bezukhov is I and the world, the connection between them and the people around them. How to become happy yourself and needed, needed by others, without denying yourself and not suppressing others? They are people of "light", but Tolstoy denies the norms of life of a secular society and, behind its outward decency, grace, reveals emptiness, selfishness, selfishness and careerism. The life of people of the aristocratic circle is predominantly "ritual", ceremonial in nature: imbued with the cult of empty conventions, it is devoid of real human relationships, feelings, aspirations; This. not real, but artificial life.
Human nature, according to Tolstoy, is multifaceted, in most people there is good and bad, human development depends on the struggle of these principles, and character is determined by what is in the foreground. Tolstoy sees one and the same person “either as a villain, or as an angel, or as a sage, or as an idiot, or as a strong man, or as a powerless being” (diary entry on March 21, 1898). His heroes make mistakes and are tormented by this, they know impulses upward and are influenced by low passions. Such contradictions, heights and breakdowns are full of Pierre's life from the moment he returned to Russia. Prince Andrei repeatedly experiences hobbies and disappointments. Tolstoy's favorite heroes are highly characterized by dissatisfaction with themselves, lack of complacency, continuous search for the meaning of life and a real place in it. “In order to live honestly, one must tear, get confused, fight, make mistakes, start and quit again, and always fight and lose. And calmness is spiritual meanness, ”Leo Nikolayevich wrote in one of his letters.
On the eve of 1812, both Pierre and Prince Andrei will once again be convinced of the illusory nature of their hobbies: both Freemasonry and the Speransky committee will turn out to be “not right”, not real. The present will open in the Patriotic War. The writer will lead his heroes through common trials for the whole people. In a single fight against the French invasion, the interests and behavior of Natasha Rostova, her brothers Peter and Nikolai, Pierre Bezukhov, the Bolkonsky family, Kutuzov and Bagration, Dolokhov and Denisov coincide. All of them are included in the "swarm" of people who make history. The basis of national unity is the common people, like the majority of the nation, but the best part of the nobility also strives for complicity in its fate.
The most precious thing for Tolstoy is the love unity of people whose life is subject to a common goal. Therefore, as the writer shows, it was precisely in the time of the national disaster that the best national features of the Russian person appeared, and the best that was characteristic of Tolstoy's favorite heroes was revealed.
The writer contrasts the cruel cause of war with the peaceful life of nature, which gives joy to all living on earth. Consider the famous hunting scene. A feeling of the fullness of life and the joy of struggle emanates from this picture.
Waking up and looking out the window, Nikolai Rostov saw a morning that could not be better for hunting. And Natasha immediately appears with the statement that it is impossible not to go. This belief is shared by everyone: the dexterous Danila, and the old uncle, and the hunting dogs, who, seeing the owner, rushed to him in excitement, understanding his desire. From the first minutes of this day, everyone lives in a special atmosphere, with a keen sense of the uniqueness of what is happening. What previously seemed important, brought grief, worried, now, in this simple and clear world, has faded into the background. Nikolay recalls his failures connected with Alexander I, with Dolokhov as distant and illusory, and now prays about the most important thing: “Only once in my life to hunt down a seasoned wolf.” And at the sight of a wolf, he feels that "the greatest happiness has happened." And young Natasha, and the old uncle, and Count Rostov, and the serf Mitka are all equally absorbed in persecution, intoxicated by the fast gallop, the excitement of hunting, the fresh autumn air.
A person becomes a particle of the whole - the people, nature. Nature, which is beautiful, because everything is natural, simple, clear in it, and communication with it elevates, purifies a person, gives him true happiness. And it is quite natural to hear such strange appeals to dogs in especially tense moments: “Karayushka! Father”, “Darling, mother!”, “Erzynka, sister!”. And no one is surprised that "Natasha, without taking a breath, joyfully and enthusiastically squealed so piercingly that her ears rang." At the critical moment of chasing the wolf, which the old count managed to miss, the furious hunter Danilo threatens him with a raised rapnik and curses him with a strong word. And the count stands as if punished, thereby recognizing Danila's right at that moment to treat him like that. Hunting time is a special time, with its own laws, when roles shift, the usual measure is shifted in everything - in emotions, behavior, even spoken language. Through this deep shift, the “real” is reached, the fullness and brightness of experiences, cleansed of the interests of that life that awaits the same people outside the special time of the hunt.
The "spirit of the hunt" is preserved in subsequent episodes, when Natasha and Nikolai are visiting their uncle. Like Danilo, uncle seems to us a living particle of nature and people. As if the continuation of everything Natasha and Nikolai saw and experienced on the hunt, his song sounds:
Like powder from the evening
Turned out good...
“Uncle sang like the people sing ... this unconscious tune, like the song of a bird, and my uncle was unusually good.” And this song awakened in Natasha's soul something important, iconic, dear, about which she, perhaps, did not know and did not think, and which was vividly manifested in her dance. Natasha "knew how to understand everything that was in Anisya, and in Anisya's father, and in her aunt, and in her mother, and in every Russian person."
Swift, expansive, "overflowing with life", Natasha surprisingly always has a powerful influence on those around her. Here Nikolai returns home after a big loss to Dolokhov. He promised to pay tomorrow, gave his word of honor, and is horrified by the impossibility of keeping it. It is strange for Nikolai in his condition to see the usual peaceful home comfort: “They have everything the same. They don't know anything! Where should I go? Natasha is going to sing, this is incomprehensible and irritates him: what can she be happy about, a bullet in the forehead, and not sing. Nikolai, as it were, is separated from his loved ones by the misfortune that happened to him, and through this misfortune he perceives the familiar environment. But then Natasha's singing is heard ... And something unexpected happens to him: “Suddenly the whole world for him concentrated in anticipation of the next note, the next phrase ... Oh, our stupid life! thought Nikolai. - All this: misfortune, and money, and Dolokhov, and anger, and honor - all this is nonsense ... but here it is - the real one. Nikolai, who had just been the most unfortunate person, is experiencing a minute of the most complete happiness.
The mere impression of meeting Natasha contributed to an instant and complete change in the worldview in Prince Andrei. “It never occurred to him that he was in love with Rostov; he thought of her; he only imagined it to himself, and as a result of this, his whole life appeared to him in a new light.
Likewise for Pierre “a terrible question: why? for what? - which previously presented itself to him in the middle of every lesson, has now been replaced for him not by another question and not by an answer to the previous question, but by presenting it. He remembered her as he had last seen her, and the doubts that tormented him disappeared. Natasha's extraordinary attractiveness and charm lie primarily in the spiritual naturalness with which she perceives the world, lives in it, in her sincerity and truthfulness.
Leo Tolstoy showed the poetry and prose of family life in their inseparable connection. In his happy families there is prose, but there is no earthiness. The significance of a happy family life in the system of main human values is emphasized by the writer with a reference to Platon Karataev. Remembering him, Pierre says to Natasha: “He would approve of this family life of ours. He so desired to see beauty, happiness, tranquility in everything, and I would proudly show him us, ”that is, a happy family is recognized by Pierre as an integral part of a correct (“pretty”) life.
The peaceful life in the epilogue is the “real life” that the heroes dreamed of. It includes ordinary, natural human interests: the health and illness of children, the work of adults, rest, friendship, hatred, passions, that is, everything that was shown in the second volume.
But the fundamental difference of this life is that here the heroes already find satisfaction, feeling themselves as a part of the people as a result of the war. "Pairing" with the life of the people in Borodino and in captivity changed Pierre. His servants found that he had "lost" a lot. “Now a smile of the joy of life constantly played around his mouth, and in his eyes shone concern for people - the question is: are they happy just like he is?” The main wisdom to which he came: “... if vicious people are interconnected and constitute a force, then honest people need to do only the same. After all, it's so simple."
Natural life, according to Tolstoy, can be deeply humanized, spiritualized, provided that it is illuminated from within by the light of a higher moral consciousness. The writer sees the apotheosis of life, its meaning in the harmony of the physical and spiritual.

Real life in the understanding of Tolstoy

Real life is life without fetters and restrictions. This is the supremacy of feelings and mind over secular etiquette.

L.N. Tolstoy is known throughout the world not only as a writer, but also as a philosopher. He even created his own philosophical school. It is not surprising that in his works, in addition to social and moral problems, philosophical ones also appear. The problem of life, its meaning occupies an honorable place in the writer's work. In the novel "War and Peace" L.N. Tolstoy divides heroes into those who live a "real" life and "fake".

In such salons as Anna Pavlovna Sherer's, people forget about the true meaning of their being. They learn how to help others, to bring good to the world. For them, there is nothing but power, money, intrigue. But all this is just an illusion of life, which can collapse in one moment. Heroes living a "fake" life are guided only by their narrow-minded mind. Why close? They are incapable of thinking beyond the secular framework. In the novel, such characters are Anna Pavlovna Sherer, the Kuragin family, officers who, for the sake of a feat, are ready to go over the heads of others.

The heroes of "War and Peace", who live a "real" life, know how to listen to their feelings. These are Natasha Rostova, Marya Bolkonskaya, Pierre Bezukhov, Andrey Bolkonsky. Guided by the advice of their hearts, these heroes find themselves in awkward situations in secular society, making enemies in the highest circles.

A vivid example is the evening scene in the Scherer salon. at this reception "newbie", so he subtly feels the artificiality of this society. When everyone stands up to say hello to the "aunt", Pierre does not follow the general example. This act is not meant to be disrespectful. The man just feels like he doesn't want to do it. Bezukhov causes contempt, but it quickly fades away, because a lot of money is behind the young man.

And Marya Bolkonskaya are similar in spirit. They act according to the laws of conscience. Their mind is often overshadowed by feelings. Girls know how to sincerely love, regardless of material circumstances or ranks. They suffer from love, but they live a full life, unlike the same Helen Kuragina, who until the end of her short life did not know how to truly love.

The prince is a man of extraordinary intelligence. He also lives "for real", but his actions are guided not only by feelings, but also by reason. On the example of Bolkonsky, L. N. Tolstoy shows that the mind, not entangled in lies and intrigues, can lead a person to a “real” life. Prince Andrei is also one of the few heroes to whom the true meaning of human existence is revealed. And if before the Austerlitz wound the mind of a young man is overshadowed by a thirst for heroism and glory, then the tragedy helps to realize that one must live for the sake of love.

Thus, in the novel by L.N. Tolstoy's "War and Peace" is "real" life. Some heroes live it from birth, others step on the true path of being thanks to personal dramas and tragedies. Characters who live behind artificial masks die mentally or physically. The opposition of the two groups of heroes allows the writer to show all the facets of the two types of life.

Real life is life without fetters and restrictions. This is the supremacy of feelings and mind over secular etiquette.
Tolstoy contrasts “false life” and “real life”. All of Tolstoy's favorite characters live "The Real Life". Tolstoy in the first chapters of his work shows us only “false life” through the inhabitants of secular society: Anna Scherrer, Vasily Kuragin, his daughter and many others. A sharp contrast to this society is the Rostov family. They live only by feelings and may not comply with the universal

Decency. So. for example, Natasha Rostova, who ran out into the hall on her name day and loudly asked what dessert would be served. This. According to Tolstoy, this is real life.
The best time to understand the insignificance of all problems is war. In 1812, everyone rushed to fight Napoleon. In the war, everyone forgot about their quarrels and disputes. Everyone thought only about victory and the enemy. Indeed, even Pierre Bezukhov forgot about his differences with Dolokhov. War eliminates everything fake, false in people's lives, gives a person the opportunity to open up to the end, feeling the need for it, as Nikolai Rostov and the hussars of his squadron feel it, they feel it at the moment when it was impossible not to launch an attack. Heroes who do not specifically seek to be useful to the general course of events, but live their normal lives, are the most useful participants in it. The criterion of real life is real, sincere feelings.
But Tolstoy has heroes who live according to the laws of reason. These are the Bolkonsky family, except, perhaps, Marya. But Tolstoy also refers to these heroes as “real”. Prince Andrei Bolkonsky is a very intelligent person. He lives according to the laws of reason and does not obey feelings. He rarely obeyed etiquette. He could easily walk away if he wasn't interested. Prince Andrei wanted to live "not for himself alone." He always tried to be helpful.
Tolstoy also shows us Pierre Bezukhov, who was looked at disapprovingly in Anna Pavlovna's living room. He, unlike the others, did not greet the “useless aunt”. He did not do it out of disrespect, but only because he did not consider it necessary. In the image of Pierre, two benefactors are connected: intelligence and simplicity. By “simplicity” I mean that he can freely express his feelings and emotions. Pierre was looking for his destiny for a long time and did not know what to do. A simple Russian peasant, Platon Karataev, helped him figure it out. He explained to him that there is nothing better than freedom. Karataev became for Pierre the personification of simplicity and clarity of the basic laws of life.
All of Tolstoy's favorite characters love life in all its manifestations. Real life is always natural. Tolstoy loves the depicted life and the characters living it.

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