The world of the peasantry in the work
The people in the novel “War and Peace” are widely represented. The peasantry is described in detail by the author. In Tolstoy's depiction, the world of the peasantry is self-sufficient and harmonious. The writer did not believe that his representatives needed intellectual influence. The noble heroes do not even think about the need to “develop” the peasants. On the contrary, it is the latter who are often closer to understanding the meaning of life. Lev Nikolaevich portrays the complex spiritual world of representatives of the nobility and the artless spirituality of the Russian peasant as different, but at the same time complementary principles of the existence of our country. The ability to establish contact with the people is an indicator of the moral health of the nobles in the novel.
The theme of the people in the novel “War and Peace”
The famous novel by L.N.
Tolstoy's "War and Peace", along with the themes of love, friendship, revenge and compassion, raises the theme of folk thought. Along with the description of military operations, the great Russian writer made efforts to reveal the life of the common people, serfs, not only the nobility and members of the intelligentsia. The consequences of any war are endured only in the form of victory or defeat of countries and commanders. But at that very time, the nature of the war itself is determined precisely by the people going to fight for the Fatherland under the auspices of this or that general. It is thanks to ordinary people that the outcome of any military action is determined. The great master of words L.N. did not forget about those who serve as the main link in any battle. Tolstoy.
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The author brings to the fore the lives and destinies of two families - the Rostovs and the Bolkonskys. The reader gets acquainted with the mood of each of the heroes of a particular family and draws a conclusion about how they lived and what all the people of that time thought about. For example, Andrei Bolkonsky appears at the beginning of the work as a man eager to gain glory in the military field. He talks rather superficially about the purpose of the war with Napoleon, pursuing only his own ambitious goals.
His attitude towards the war changes only after a while, after a series of failures. The hero begins to see what has always been hidden from his understanding. In Napoleon, in whom he once saw a hero and idol, he now notices a low, insignificant person. The very essence of the war also becomes clear to him, and he no longer craves glory, but wants to fight only for the good of the Fatherland. This happens after the defeat of the Russian army at Austerlitz.
The representative of the Rostov family, young Petya Rostov, is not at all similar in his way of thinking to Bolkonsky. He is passionately devoted to his homeland, honors and respects the Russian Tsar and is ready to lay down his head for him. He is not eager for personal victories and glory, he wants one thing - to serve for the good of his country.
The reader also gets to know Pierre Bezukhov, who is not at all similar to the other two characters. Pierre doesn’t want to fight, he doesn’t see the point in it. He doesn't know the meaning of his life, but he is desperately trying to find it. A meeting in captivity with a simple peasant Platon Karataev helps the hero in this. Platon Karataev is a typical representative of serfs. He is calm, hardworking, submissive to fate and loyal to his country. The peasant never seriously thought about life and war, and went to fight only because he was forced to. His wisdom and kindness delight Pierre and prompt new thoughts and some plans.
The battle of Borodino demonstrates the courage of the entire Russian people. Each of the ordinary people understands that the decisive moment has come in the life of the entire state. They fiercely go into battle, ready to do anything to defend victory.
The historical event, the war with the French army led by Napoleon, became the main idea in the plot of the novel War and Peace. The author was able to adequately integrate popular thought into the course of hostilities, describing to the reader the fate of each individual character in the work.
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Fluctuating boundaries between classes
Tolstoy repeatedly emphasizes the fragility of boundaries between classes. Humanity, commonality makes them “transparent”. The people in the novel “War and Peace” often get closer and interact with the higher strata of society. The hunter Danilo, for example, is filled with “contempt for everything” and “independence.” This hunter allows himself to look at the master Nikolai Rostov “contemptuously.” However, this was not offensive to Nicholas. He understood that this man still belonged to him. Everyone is equal during the hunt, everyone obeys the order established once. Only in the heat of the hunt can Danilo curse Ilya Andreevich, who missed the wolf, and even swing his arapnik at him. Such behavior of a serf under normal conditions is impossible in relation to the master.
Let us give another example of how the nobility and the people interact in the novel War and Peace. An important stage in the spiritual life of one of the main characters, Pierre Bezukhov, was a meeting in a barracks for prisoners with Platon Karataev. It was this peasant soldier who restored his lost faith in life. The main moral criterion in the epilogue of the novel becomes for Pierre Karataev’s possible attitude towards his activities. And he concludes that he probably would not have understood his social activities, but would certainly have approved of his family life, since he loved “pretty” in everything.
Depiction of a peasant revolt
The theme of the people in the novel “War and Peace” is diverse. Tolstoy, depicting the rebellion of Bogucharov’s peasants, expressed his own attitude towards the conservative layers of the patriarchal-communal world, accustomed to resisting any changes. In Bogucharovo, the spontaneity of people's life is much more noticeable than in other areas, since there were very few landowners, literate people and servants. Peasants live here in a small closed community. They are virtually isolated from the rest of the world. The peasants, for no apparent reason, suddenly begin to move in a certain direction, obeying the incomprehensible laws of existence. Tolstoy emphasizes that in the life of the peasants from Bogucharovo, the mysterious currents of life of the Russian people were stronger and more noticeable than in other areas, the meaning and reasons of which are inexplicable to contemporaries. Through the depiction of rebellion, the theme of the people in the novel “War and Peace” is revealed from a new side.
The reason for the peasant revolt
The general mood, the element of rebellion, completely subjugates every peasant. Even the elder Dron was caught up in the general impulse. Princess Marya's attempt to distribute the master's bread to the peasants ended in failure. Only Rostov’s “unreasonable animal anger,” his “unreasonable act” could sober up this indignant crowd. The men submitted to brute force unquestioningly, admitting that they rebelled “out of stupidity.” Lev Nikolaevich in the work showed not only the external causes of the rebellion (“relations with the French” and rumors about the “will” that the gentlemen took away). The hidden, deep socio-historical reason for this event lay in the internal “force” that accumulated gradually and, like lava, burst out of a boiling volcano. This is why the common people rebelled in the novel War and Peace.
Essay Theme of the people in the novel War and Peace
The epic novel “War and Peace” written by Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy still excites human consciousness to this day. Everything that is presented in these four volumes are eternal themes: love, fathers and sons, family, morality, relationships, people, war, etc. How subtly the author felt and managed to convey the life, excitement of the people, various class groups, character, richness of human destinies and most importantly - a description of real events that took place in the nineteenth century.
Lev Nikolaevich himself said that he wanted to show “folk thought” as much as possible in his work. It’s not for nothing that so many characters are presented - these are people of different classes from ordinary peasants to the most privileged such as the Balkonskys, Rostovs, Bezukhovs. This is all one Russian people, who have to overcome the difficulties caused by fate in different ways. Since this is a historical work, the people described in it are not without respect for their homeland. Also, in contrast to them, there are people who are absolutely indifferent to the fate of the country. The spirit of patriotism hovers from the very first to the very last page.
It turns out that the theme of the people in the novel is great, rather it is the leading one. One single person is part of an entire people. This is especially evident during times of war. How one person, by leading oneself, can prevent some terrible events. The great spirit of patriotism, integrity, high moral qualities, fulfillment of duty of honor. These are synonyms for the Russian people. Thanks to these qualities, Russia was able to win in 1812.
For example, at the Battle of Borodino at that moment Pierre Bezukhov clearly sees that Russian soldiers understand everything that is happening, all the deep meaning. This can't help but delight. Before the battle, the soldiers put on clean white grunts, because they know that today there will be a mortal battle. But they are not afraid, but accept this blow of fate with dignity. Such endurance and calmness cannot but admire.
Thus, the power of the people is so great that it cannot leave anyone indifferent. This endless patriotism, faith in God and in oneself never leaves the Russian person. He knows that he is not alone, that there is a whole people with him who will never leave. This is what the Russian people are like. No one in the world can understand him. Thanks to their faith and inner strength, Russians were able to win the most terrible and deadly wars.
Other works: ← Description of the ball (story After the Ball) ↑ Tolstoy L. N. Character traits of Andrei Bolkonsky in the novel War and Peace →
Image of Tikhon Shcherbaty
The image of Tikhon Shcherbaty is an important detail of the fresco about the people's war that Tolstoy created. Tikhon was the only one from his entire village who attacked the French. He joined Denisov’s “party” on his own initiative and soon became one of the most necessary people in it, showing great ability and desire for guerrilla warfare. The common people in the novel “War and Peace” are also analyzed through his image.
Tikhon occupied a special place in the partisan detachment. He did all the menial work and was the bravest and most useful person. Tikhon, in addition, played the role of a jester and willingly succumbed to this rank. In his behavior and appearance, the writer sharpened the features of a holy fool. Yellowfang had a face pitted with wrinkles and pockmarks, with narrow, small eyes.
Image of Platon Karataev
One of the key images of the work is the image of Platon Karataev. It is especially important when revealing the topic: “The people in the novel “War and Peace.” It is impossible to write an essay on this topic without mentioning this character. This is a peasant who found himself cut off from his usual way of life and placed in new conditions (French captivity, army), in which his spirituality manifested itself especially clearly. The hero lives in harmony with the whole world. He treats all people with love. Plato feels life deeply, perceives people directly and vividly. In Tolstoy’s depiction, Karataev is an example of a “natural” person who emerged from the people, the embodiment of folk morality, largely instinctive.
This hero, personifying the Russian people in the novel “War and Peace,” is shown in the work mainly through Bezukhov’s perception of him. Pierre notes that the very presence of this man in the barracks created a feeling of comfort for the prisoners. Bezukhov was interested in how Plato took off his shoes and settled in his corner, since something “round,” “calming,” and “pleasant” was felt even in this.
Karataev looked very youthful, although he was over 50 years old. He seemed to be a healthy and physically strong person. Particularly striking was the “youthful” expression on Plato’s face, which had the appearance of “youth” and “innocence.” Karataev was always doing something that probably became a habit for this hero. Having been captured, he did not seem to feel what illness and fatigue were, he felt in the barracks just like at home.
Return of Karataev to peasant life in unusual conditions
Outside of the usual conditions, outside of everything that pressed on him, Karataev naturally and imperceptibly returned to the serf way of life. He threw away everything alien that was forcefully imposed on him from the outside. For Plato, who represents the people in Tolstoy's novel War and Peace, peasant life is especially attractive: dear memories, as well as ideas about decency, are associated with it. Therefore, he spoke mainly about the events of “Christian” life, as he called it.
Plato died naturally, experiencing tenderness and “quiet delight” before the mystery of death. He did not perceive it as torment or punishment, therefore there was no suffering on his face: it was illuminated by the expression of “quiet solemnity.”
The image of Platon Karataev is the image of a righteous peasant who not only lived in harmony with people and the whole world, admiring the manifestations of life, but was also able to resurrect Pierre Bezukhov, who had reached a spiritual impasse. For Pierre, he forever remained the personification of “simplicity and truth.”
The image of the peasantry in the novel "War and Peace"
Tolstoy, going against revolutionary peasant democracy, obscures the severity of the class contradictions between the peasantry and the landowners. There are no cruel bar or unhappy servants in the novel. The revolt in Bogucharovo arises spontaneously, by chance, and is explained by the special character of the Bogucharovo peasants, who lived for a long time without a master, and by the fact that there were generally few landowners in this area. French proclamations calling on residents to stay in their villages circulated among the peasants of these places. But the “rebellion” that broke out on this basis takes on a purely passive character.
character and is expressed only in the refusal of the peasants to give Marya Bolkonskaya horses to leave her estate. Only three people suppress the “rebellion”. And then Tolstoy talks about a sudden change in the mood of the peasants. The “rebels” not only do everything required of them, but cheerfully, with smiles and with special care they put the master’s things on the carts. Speaking with such an ahistorical depiction of pictures of serf life and preventing possible reproaches from criticism, Tolstoy directly states: “I know what this character of the time consists of, which is not found in my novel - these are the horrors of serfdom, the imprisonment of wives in the walls, the cutting of adult sons , Saltychikha, etc., and I do not consider this character of that time, which lives in our imagination, to be true and do not want to express it.” Tolstoy places agricultural labor extremely highly, believing that it morally purifies a person. In the peasantry he saw a special world, rapprochement with which could improve the health of a person from the privileged classes. And in the novel, Tolstoy illuminates the peasants from the moral and psychological, and not from the class side. The image of Karataev was supposed to most fully embody all the best features of the Russian peasantry, as Tolstoy understood it. Pierre Bezukhov meets Karataev in extremely difficult conditions, in a barracks for prisoners of war, where he was brought after the execution of innocent Russian people by the French. Pierre himself had just, thanks to a lucky chance, escaped death. The senselessness and cruelty of what happened destroyed in Pierre’s soul the belief in the improvement of the world. “He felt that returning to faith in life was not in his power.” At this moment of spiritual catastrophe, Pierre meets Plato. The first impression of Karataev was that of beauty and simplicity, a kind of spiritual harmony. At Karataev’s first question to Pierre, “there was such an expression of affection and simplicity in the melodious voice that... Pierre’s jaw trembled and he felt tears.” When he saw Karataev the next day, “the first impression of something round was completely confirmed. He admires Karataev." In Karataev, the personal, individual is overshadowed by the “swarm”, unity with the peasant world, in which the author does not want to see the complexity of class contradictions. Non-resistance is also emphasized by the nature of the proverbs and sayings with which Karataev’s speech is full: “Not by our mind, but by God’s judgment”; “Rock is looking for his head”; “Our happiness, my friend, is like water in delirium: if you pull it, it’s inflated, but if you pull it out, there’s nothing.”
In the image of Karataev, Tolstoy tried to embody the features of the patriarchal peasantry he idealized. Meanwhile, “Karataevism” among the patriarchal peasantry was one of the reasons that slowed down the democratic liberation movement in Russia. Tolstoy did not want to see that part of the peasantry was actively fighting against the landowners, even taking up arms. Karataev personifies in the novel only a certain part of the Russian peasantry. It should be emphasized that ordinary people, soldiers, are not inclined to admire Karataev: they treat him condescendingly, good-naturedly - and nothing more. The Russian army owed its victory over Napoleon not to the Karataevs, but to such national heroes as Tikhon Shcherbaty. Tikhon Shcherbaty, a peasant from Denisov’s detachment, appears before us as a man of heroic strength. A jack of all trades, he “equally correctly, from all sides, split logs with an ax and, taking the ax by the butt, used it to cut out thin pegs and cut out spoons.” Possessing a lively folk sense, agile and resourceful, he is distinguished by that rather cunning eccentricity that serves as the object of constant jokes in Denisov’s detachment. Outwardly calm and balanced, Shcherbaty was irreconcilable with the enemies of his native land; he tracked down the French day and night, destroyed them and took them prisoner. “Tikhon, who at first corrected the menial work of laying fires, delivering water, skinning horses, etc., soon showed greater willingness and ability for guerrilla warfare. He went out at night to hunt for prey, and each time he brought with him French clothes and weapons, and when he was ordered, he also brought prisoners.” Skillfully using the techniques and forms of guerrilla warfare, Shcherbaty displays remarkable heroism and selfless courage. The image of Shcherbaty clearly reflects that national patriotic aspiration, that heroism that opposes Karataev’s humility and submission. It is in the image of this fearless, resourceful partisan, who passionately hates the enemy and all his heroic strength, prowess, resourcefulness, and endurance who devotes himself to the defense of his homeland, that the best typical character traits of the Russian peasant warrior are embodied in the novel. The image of Kutuzov as a bearer of Russian folk thought
"People's Thought" in the novel
“People's thought” is the main idea of the work “War and Peace”. Lev Nikolaevich knew that the simple life of the Russian people, with its “private” interests, destinies, joys, proceeds regardless of Napoleon’s meetings with Alexander, Speransky’s state plans or the diplomatic game. Only those events of history that set the masses in motion, concern national destinies, are capable of changing, always beneficially, albeit dramatically, an individual person. It was the patriotism of the people (in the novel “War and Peace” Tolstoy also describes their patriotic feelings) that led to the victory of the Russians over the French.
Essay The People in the novel War and Peace by Tolstoy
People's thought is very vividly depicted in the work of Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy in the work “War and Peace”. In this novel, the author introduces the reader to bright personalities. Tolstoy also characterizes the relationship between the intelligentsia and the common people.
At the very beginning of the work, the author shows the reader an intelligent person with spiritual development. Lev Nikolaevich describes him as a man immersed in his dreams. Andrei Bolkonsky is very arrogant and only the Battle of Borodino and the heroism of ordinary people makes him understand that his attitude was wrong.
Pierre Bezukhov was the opposite of Bolkonsky, he always felt his people. The meeting in captivity with Plato greatly shocked him. Pierre was constantly puzzled by something, was in constant search for something. But Plato, on the contrary, was very calm, he was submissive to his fate. He was very wise, which is why he was very peaceful.
The greatness of the people is very clearly demonstrated in the Battle of Borodino. People understood that the moment had come when the fate of the entire country was being decided. The officials thought only about receiving awards. The people were connected with their country, they were like one whole. And they were faced with the choice of either defeating the enemy or dying.
Lev Nikolaevich in his work presented the Russian people with different characters. He collected the traits of ordinary people and created characters that embodied several images. Leo Tolstoy did not idealize the people at all; he could also show their anger and base actions. In the description of one of the scenes where the men tried to keep what they had acquired, they did not let the princess out. With this episode, he wanted to show that there are not only heroic, brave people, but also such scoundrels.
In the novel there were also partisans who seemed to playfully destroy troops. Religious pilgrims traveling to holy places. Men in simple white shirts who dug trenches before the Battle of Borodino
Most of all, Kutuzov understands the strength and spirit of the people. He understood that every minute the spirit of the people was strengthening and its strength was growing. Despite the fact that Kutuzov reproached himself for letting the enemy onto the border of his country, he understood that he was no longer able to change anything. He was calm and understood that he was no longer able to restrain the people; they were not ready to retreat again. The fighting spirit of his soldiers was too strong. He knew that everything was going as usual, everything was as it should be. Kutuzov pulled back a little from the battle; he believed in his people.
Other works: ← Tolstoy’s favorite characters in the novel War and Peace ↑ Tolstoy L. N. Description of the ball (story After the ball) →
