In general, no one else, perhaps, has depicted human fortitude and invincibility in such grandeur and brilliance as the author of War and Peace.

N.I.Soloviev

Leo Tolstoy's novel "War and Peace" is one of the most famous works Russian literature, the action of which is closely connected with the history of Russia early XIX century. This was the time of the Napoleonic wars, when the French army marched victoriously across Europe, moving towards the borders of our Motherland. The only force capable of stopping this movement was the Russian people, who rose up to fight the invaders. Most of the novel “War and Peace” is devoted to the theme of the Patriotic War of 1812, on the pages of which the author draws images of Russian soldiers who stood up to defend the Motherland, their exceptional heroism, courage, and loyalty to the oath.

But all these wonderful qualities appear only when the soldiers understand what they are fighting for. Therefore, the military campaign of 1805-1807 failed. It was a war on foreign territory for foreign interests. Started for the sake of glory, for the sake of the ambitious interests of court circles, it was incomprehensible and not needed by the people. Russian soldiers, being far from their homeland, not realizing the goals of the campaign, do not want to lay down their lives in vain. As a result, during the Battle of Austerlitz, Russian troops ran back in panic.

If battle turns out to be inevitable, Russian soldiers are ready to fight to the death. This is what happened during the Battle of Shengraben. Showing miracles of courage, the Russian troops took the main blow. A small detachment under the command of Bagration held back the onslaught of an enemy “eight times” outnumbered. Officer Timokhin’s unit also showed great courage. It not only did not retreat, but also struck back, which saved a significant part of the army.

The author has great sympathy for Captain Tushin. His portrait is unremarkable: “a small, dirty, thin artillery officer without boots... in only stockings.” There was something “completely unmilitary, somewhat comical, but extremely attractive” about his “figure.” The captain lives the same life with the soldiers: he eats and drinks with them, sings their songs, participates in their conversations. Tushin is shy in front of everyone: before his superiors, before senior officers. But during the Battle of Shengraben he is transformed: together with a handful of soldiers, he shows amazing courage and heroism, bravely fulfilling his military duty. His special attitude towards combat is striking. The captain calls the guns by name, speaks kindly to them, and imagines that he is throwing cannonballs at the enemy. The example of the commander makes the soldiers fight merrily and die merrily, laugh at the adjutant who orders them to leave the position and cowardly hides from the cannonballs. They all know that they are saving a retreating army, but they do not realize their own feat. Using the example of such humble heroes, Tolstoy showed true patriotism Russian soldiers, based on a sense of duty and loyalty to the oath.

But the patriotism of Russian soldiers manifested itself especially strongly during the Patriotic War of 1812, when the enemy invaded Russian territory.

According to Andrei Bolkonsky, the outcome of the battle depends on the feeling that lives in all participants in the battle. This feeling is popular patriotism, the huge rise of which on Borodin’s day convinces Bolkonsky that the Russians will certainly win: “Tomorrow, no matter what, we will win the battle!” Realizing the importance of the upcoming battle, the soldiers even refuse to drink the vodka they are given because it is “not that kind of day.”

Describing the battle through the eyes of Pierre Bezukhov, the author notes a high sense of camaraderie, a sense of duty, and the physical and moral strength of the soldiers and militia. On the Borodino field, the French army for the first time encountered an enemy whose morale was so high. Tolstoy believes that this is why the French were defeated.

The consequence of this was a guerrilla war that unfolded in the territories occupied by the French. The entire people rose up against the invaders - soldiers, men, Cossacks and even women. A prominent representative of partisan warfare in the novel, a person who embodies the main moods and feelings of the Russian people, is the partisan of Denisov’s detachment Tikhon Shcherbaty. This is the “most needed person” in the squad. He is courageous, brave, the French are his enemies, and he destroys them. It is Tikhon Shcherbaty who combines in himself those traits of the people that were especially evident during a threatening time for the Fatherland: hatred of invaders, unconscious but deep patriotism, courage and heroism in battle, perseverance and selflessness. Guerrilla warfare, in the understanding of Tikhon Shcherbaty, Denisov, Dolokhov and others, is retribution for the ruin and death of the Russian people, it is a club that “with all its formidable and majestic force... rose, fell and nailed the French until the entire invasion was destroyed” . This is the embodiment of “feelings of insult and revenge.”

But the quick-witted Russian heart cannot contain hatred and bitterness for long. They are quickly replaced by mercy towards the former invaders. Thus, having met the hungry and frozen captain Rambal and his orderly Morel in the forest, the Russians show compassion: “the soldiers surrounded the French, laid out an overcoat for the sick man and brought porridge and vodka to both of them.” At the same time, one of the privates says: “They are also people... And wormwood grows on its own root.” Former enemies, despite the harm they have caused, in their present pitiful and helpless state deserve leniency.

So, recreating pictures of the past, Tolstoy showed us many different, sometimes unfamiliar, Russian soldiers. We see that most of them are united by hatred of invaders, deep patriotism, loyalty to duty and oath, immense courage and perseverance. But most importantly, each of them is ready to sacrifice their life in the name of saving the Motherland. This is the strength of the Russian warrior.

Thus, L.N. Tolstoy, with his novel “War and Peace,” argues that a people with such defenders cannot be enslaved.

Introduction

The theme of love in Russian literature has always occupied one of the first places. Great poets and writers of all times turned to her. Love for the Motherland, for the mother, for the woman, for the land, for the family - the manifestation of this feeling is very different, it depends on people and circumstances. It is very clearly shown what love can be and what it is in the novel “War and Peace” by Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy. After all, it is love in the novel “War and Peace” that is the main driving force in the lives of the heroes. They love and suffer, hate and care, despise, discover truths, hope and wait - and all this is love.

The heroes of Leo Tolstoy's epic novel live full lives, their destinies are intertwined. Natasha Rostova, Andrei Bolkonsky, Helen Kuragina, Pierre Bezukhov, Marya Bolkonskaya, Nikolai Rostov, Anatol, Dolokhov and others - all of them, to a greater or lesser extent, experienced a feeling of love and went through the path of spiritual rebirth or moral decline. Therefore, today the theme of love in Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace” remains relevant. Whole lives of people, different in their status, character, meaning of life and beliefs, flash before us.

Love and heroes of the novel

Helen Kuragina

The secular beauty Helen had “an undoubted and too powerful and victorious beauty.” But all this beauty was present only in her appearance. Helen's soul was empty and ugly. For her, love is money, wealth and recognition in society. Helen enjoyed great success with men. Having married Pierre Bezukhov, she continued to flirt with everyone who attracted her attention. The status of a married woman did not bother her at all; she took advantage of Pierre’s kindness and deceived him.

All members of the Kuragin family showed the same attitude of love. Prince Vasily called his children “fools” and said: “My children are a burden to my existence.” He expected to marry his "junior" prodigal son» Anatole on the daughter of the old Count Bolkonsky - Marya. Their whole life was built on profitable calculations, and human relationships were alien to them. Vulgarity, meanness, secular entertainment and pleasures - this is the life ideal of the Kuragin family.

But the author of the novel does not support such love in War and Peace. L.N. Tolstoy shows us a completely different love - real, faithful, all-forgiving. Love that has stood the test of time, the test of war. Reborn, renewed, bright love is the love of the soul.

Andrey Bolkonsky

This hero went through a difficult time moral path to your true love, to understanding one's own purpose. Having married Lisa, he did not have family happiness. He was not interested in society, he himself said: “...this life that I lead here, this life is not for me!

“Andrei was going to war, despite the fact that his wife was pregnant. And in a conversation with Bezukhov, he said: “...what would I not give now in order not to be married!” Then the war, the sky of Austerlitz, disappointment in his idol, the death of his wife and the old oak tree... “our life is over!” The revival of his soul will occur after meeting Natasha Rostova - “... the wine of her charm went to his head: he felt revived and rejuvenated...” Dying, he forgave her for the fact that she refused to love him when she was enchanted by Anatoly Kuragin. But it was Natasha who took care of the dying Bolkonsky, it was she who sat at his head, it was she who received his last look. Wasn’t this the happiness of Andrei? He died in the arms of his beloved woman, and his soul found peace. Just before his death, he told Natasha: “...I love you too much. More than anything else". Andrei forgave Kuragin before his death: “Love your neighbors, love your enemies. To love everything—to love God in all his manifestations.”

Natasha Rostova

Natasha Rostova meets us in the novel as a thirteen-year-old girl who loves everyone around her. In general, the Rostov family was distinguished by its special cordiality and sincere care for each other. Love and harmony reigned in this family, so Natasha could not be different. Childhood love for Boris Drubetsky, who promised to wait for her for four years, sincere joy and kind attitude towards Denisov, who proposed to her, speak of the sensuality of the heroine’s nature. Her main need in life is to love. When Natasha saw Andrei Bolkonsky, a feeling of love completely overwhelmed her. But Bolkonsky, having proposed to Natasha, left for a year. Infatuation with Anatoly Kuragin in Andrei's absence gave Natasha doubt about her love. She even planned to escape, but Anatole’s revealed deception stopped her. The spiritual emptiness left by Natasha after her relationship with Kuragin gave rise to a new feeling for Pierre Bezukhov - a feeling of gratitude, tenderness and kindness. While Natasha did not know that it would be love.

She felt guilty before Bolkonsky. While caring for the wounded Andrei, she knew that he would soon die. He and she needed her care. It was important for her that she would be there when he closed his eyes.

Natasha's despair after all the events that happened - the flight from Moscow, the death of Bolkonsky, the death of Petya - was accepted by Pierre Bezukhov. After the end of the war, Natasha married him and found true family happiness. “Natasha needed a husband... And her husband gave her a family... all her spiritual strength was directed towards serving this husband and family...”

Pierre Bezukhov

Pierre came into the novel as the illegitimate son of Count Bezukhov. His attitude towards Elen Kuragina was based on trust and love, but after a while he realized that he was simply being led by the nose: “This is not love. On the contrary, there is something disgusting in the feeling that she aroused in me, something forbidden.” The difficult path has begun life's quest Pierre Bezukhov. He treated Natasha Rostova with care and tender feelings. But even in the absence of Bolkonsky, he did not dare to do anything extra. He knew that Andrei loved her, and Natasha was waiting for his return. Pierre tried to correct Rostova's situation when she became interested in Kuragin; he truly believed that Natasha was not like that. And he was not mistaken. His love survived all expectations and separation and found happiness. Having created a family with Natasha Rostova, Pierre was humanly happy: “After seven years of marriage, Pierre felt a joyful, firm consciousness that he was not a bad person, and he felt this because he was reflected in his wife.”

Marya Bolkonskaya

Tolstoy writes about Princess Marya Bolkonskaya: “...Princess Marya dreamed of family happiness and children, but her main, strongest and hidden dream was earthly love.” It was difficult to live in her father’s house; Prince Bolkonsky kept his daughter strictly. It cannot be said that he did not love her, only for him this love was expressed in activity and reason. Marya loved her father in her own way, she understood everything and said: “My calling is to be happy with another happiness, the happiness of love and self-sacrifice.” She was naive and pure and saw goodness and goodness in everyone. Even Anatoly Kuragin, who decided to marry her for an advantageous position, she considered kind person. But Marya found her happiness with Nikolai Rostov, for whom the path to love turned out to be thorny and confusing. This is how the Bolkonsky and Rostov families united. Nikolai and Marya did what Natasha and Andrey could not do.

Love to motherland

The fates of the heroes and their contact are inseparable from the fate of the country. The theme of love for the homeland runs like a red thread through the life of each character. Moral quest Andrei Bolkonsky led him to the idea that the Russian people cannot be defeated. Pierre Bezukhov went from " young man“who doesn’t know how to live” to a real man who dared to look Napoleon in the eye, save a girl in a fire, endure captivity, sacrifice himself for the sake of others. Natasha Rostova, who gave the carts to the wounded soldiers, knew how to wait and believe in the strength of the Russian people. Petya Rostov, who died at the age of fifteen for a “just cause,” experienced true patriotism. Platon Karataev, a peasant partisan who fought for victory with his bare hands, managed to explain the simple truth of life to Bezukhov. Kutuzov, who gave all of himself “for the Russian land,” believed to the end in the strength and spirit of Russian soldiers. L.N. Tolstoy in the novel showed the power of the Russian people in the unity, faith and steadfastness of Russia.

Love for parents

It is no coincidence that the Rostov, Bolkonsky, Kuragin families are presented in the novel by Tolstoy with a detailed description of the lives of almost all family members. They are opposed to each other on the principles of education, morality, and internal relationships. Reverence family traditions, love for parents, care and participation - this is the basis of the Rostov family. Respect, justice and non-questioning of one’s father are the principles of life of the Bolkonsky family. The Kuragins live at the mercy of money and vulgarity. Neither Hippolyte, nor Anatole, nor Helen have grateful feelings for their parents. A love problem arose in their family. They deceive others and deceive themselves, thinking that wealth is human happiness. In fact, their idleness, frivolity, and promiscuity do not bring happiness to anyone of them. Initially, this family did not cultivate a sense of love, kindness, or trust. Everyone lives for himself, without grieving for his neighbor.

Tolstoy gives this contrast of families for a complete picture of life. We see love in all its manifestations - destructive and all-forgiving. We understand whose ideal is close to us. We have the opportunity to see what path we need to take to achieve happiness.

Characteristics of the relationships of the main characters and a description of their love experiences will help 10th grade students when writing an essay on the topic “The Theme of Love in the novel “War and Peace” by Leo Tolstoy.”

Work test

Two extremes - friendship and enmity - are constant companions of man in life path. What is friendship, and what can it be? Who is a true friend and what role does friendship play in a person’s life? In my opinion, friendship is an integral part of our life. This is finding a soul mate. Without her, the world would be gloomy, boring and monotonous. Friendship is based on mutual trust and respect. It can be either small or large. For example, friendship of peoples, countries, friendship between people and animals. A friend is a person who shares your interests, who will not betray you in difficult times and will always support, help, and give advice. Enmity is the opposite feeling of friendship, namely hostility, antipathy and negative feelings towards a person or group of persons. Hostility destroys us from the inside, and friendship makes us stronger, but it is impossible to do without conflicts, just like without a true friend.

As an argument, I will give an example from L.N. Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace.” In this novel, the main characters are Andrei Bolkonsky and Pierre Bezukhov. They are antipodes according to the author's intention. He probably wanted to show that even the most different people can come together. Despite their dissimilarity in temperament, they become friends. Andrei differs from Pierre in his sober, reasonable mind, ability to complete the intended task, self-discipline and composure. Pierre, on the contrary, is a spontaneous, soft nature, capable of acutely feeling and empathizing. Pierre is characterized by doubts and deep thoughts in search of the meaning of life. Despite his simplicity, Pierre is very wise, and this quality brings him closer to Andrei. If Bezukhov is a philosopher, then Bolkonsky is a businessman. Having met, they begin to share their feelings, thoughts and advice. Having been burned by his relationship with Helen, Pierre, nevertheless, does not look for those to blame, and also sincerely, with all his might, to the detriment of his own feelings, rejoices at the appearance of Andrei’s feelings for Natasha. This is a true friend! This suggests that Pierre is not an egoist; he knows how to be happy for his friend, despite his recent disappointments and pains. The friendship of Andrei Bolkonsky and Pierre Bezukhov can be considered true, beautiful and immortal, because the foundation on which it is based was worthy and noble. This basis is the kinship of souls.

An example of generational enmity was brilliantly described by Turgenev in his novel Fathers and Sons. conflicted with Pavel Petrovich, the uncle of his friend Kirsanov. Their views were completely different. Pavel Petrovich believed that the young man was a smug boor and almost a revolutionary, which for the generation of his fathers was a grave insult. Eugene thought that the pathetic overripe aristocrat was useless to society and was just an unscrupulous drone among hardworking and important individuals. If a representative of the generation of fathers believed that class barriers freed them from work and responsibility, that selfishness and narcissism were excusable for them, then a representative of the generation of children hated the conventions and prejudices of the nobility, wanted everyone to serve progress with their work, both in science and in the categories of morality , morality and spirit. We can say that the hostility that Bazarov unleashed is unlikely to contribute to anything, but this state is a natural and honest reaction of two ideological opponents. These are precisely the debates during which the truth is born. Conflict can promote development when disputants want to explore the truth rather than the relationship. As in the novel “War and Peace,” the heroes are antipodes, but their opposition is not a personal quirk, it is a cost of the historical process, it is a pattern of existence, according to which today we argue with our parents, discovering new stage development of civilization.

Thus, friendship and enmity are equally natural for humans and can be equally beneficial. Friendship strengthens his strength and provides moral support. It enriches both, because between people there is a mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge, experience, interests and skills. Enmity also serves to enrich oneself, but not always, however, like friendship. Argument stimulates the mental activity of rivals and helps to find answers to the most difficult questions. Both enmity and friendship must be with one goal: to become better, stronger and smarter.

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In the novel “War and Peace,” L. N. Tolstoy, using the example of many heroes, showed us the true concept of love and friendship.

He revealed them to us as they should be in the relationship between person and person, person and family, person and people. The most vivid, living image that I would like to talk about is Natasha Rostova, as well as the Rostov family. Natasha "black-eyed, with big mouth, ugly, but lively girl.” And let Tolstoy not endow her external beauty, but he gave her the most beautiful thing that can be in a person’s soul: endless love for everything that surrounded her. Love and goodwill towards everyone and everything have always reigned in the Rostov family.

Friendship here was based on the fact that family members had no secrets from each other. In communication they are sincere and sensitive. Take, for example, the relationship between Natasha and her mother, Countess Rostova. More than once she (Natasha) ran to her bedroom and poured out her heart and soul. Not everyone is given the opportunity to talk as openly with their parents as Natasha did.

This showed great trust, and consequently, her love for her mother. Such selfless and tender relationships also existed between father and son - Nikolai Rostov, between Natasha and Sonya. Despite the fact that Sonya was the opposite in character to Natasha, the countess loved her dearly and was very worried about her relationship with Nikolai. Everyone loved Natasha for her liveliness; She radiated warmth and joy, so those around her developed a feeling of great friendliness towards her, which turned into strong love. Natasha was able to melt the cold in Andrei’s soul. She inspired him with her cheerfulness and love, thereby making him understand that life at thirty-one is not over yet.

It was the fervor of her soul that melted all the ice in the prince’s soul, and after his death Natasha was able to give sincere and tender love to Pierre, to whom Helen’s “cold” beauty could not give it. The image of this heroine is the opposite of the image of Natasha, and her fate confirms to us the importance of a person’s sincere love for everything. I would also like to note the attention and persistence with which Natasha asks that the wounded be resettled in their house.

She is ready to stay herself to help take care of them, and what interests Sonya at this moment: dishes, things and other things is the least of Natasha’s worries. For her, the most important thing is that they - the wounded - feel comfortable and cozy. This one concern of Natasha for the wounded speaks of her love for her people, and her attention warmed more than one soul. Tolstoy did not endow everyone with the same qualities that he endowed Natasha with. In the novel there are also heroes whose souls were filled with hatred and anger towards the world around them. It was these qualities that could not allow them to reveal their true feelings in love, dooming both themselves and others to suffering. These were A.

Kuragin and Dolokhov. The presence of such heroes in the novel is very important and necessary, because HTD, the reader, criticizing the bad, harmful and destructive both for society and for the person himself, will absorb those beautiful truths of friendship and love that L.N. discovered for us.

Tolstoy in his novel. We also learn about the truths of love and friendship by reading about the Bolkonsky family. In this family, a great friendship has developed between brother and sister, and although there is not such a pronounced atmosphere of love between father and children, there is a great feeling between them, and it is felt, only this feeling is hidden.

Also, reading about the Bolkonsky family, and especially about Princess Marya, we understand that a person’s appearance means nothing, the main thing is what is in his heart, in his soul: love or hatred, friendship or hostility. Eyes are the mirror of the soul, and they will always tell about a person. In Tolstoy's description, Princess Marya is not beautiful, even ugly, but her eyes radiated so much warmth, light and kindness that her ugliness became inconspicuous. Thinking about friendship and love, I want all people to learn to love as strongly and sincerely as Natasha Rostova, to be as kind and sensitive as Princess Marya.

Maybe if people could learn to radiate joy, tenderness, warmth and happiness towards each other, towards themselves and towards nature, homeland, family, then our world would be the most wonderful and beautiful and there would be no wars, tears mothers and suffering. I would like to write about the great friendship between Andrei Bolkonsky and Pierre Bezukhov and about Natasha’s love. Natasha Rostova was sure for a long time that life was a continuous holiday. Natasha was the family's favorite. She had so much energy, she was overflowing with strength and ready to fly away somewhere. Kindness and affection, love and joy emanated from Natasha. Natasha loved to listen folk music and often “rushed” into dancing.

At the first ball, Natasha freezes with fear that no one will invite her. But her fears were in vain: Natasha was invited by Andrei Bolkonsky, he highly appreciated her naivety and natural behavior. Natasha lived more with her heart and feelings than with her head. That's why she fell in love with Andrei Bolkonsky. Andrei Bolkonsky strove for useful activities and loved work. Andrei was not interested in those empty questions that were discussed in Anna Scherer’s salon; he walked there with a bored look and smiled only at his friend Pierre. Therefore, when Andrei met Natasha, he fell in love with her.

Natasha was not like the girls from the world: Natasha was so sincere, naive, and trusting. But it was Natasha’s gullibility that led her to fall in love with Anatoly Kuragin. And it was a mistake that led to a quarrel with Andrei Bolkonsky. But, apparently, Natasha did not love Andrei if she allowed herself to be carried away by someone else. Natasha was simply passionate about him, because she is a very young and naive girl.

And so she decided that she had fallen in love, although in fact it was only a hobby that was waiting for her ahead. However, when Natasha met the wounded Andrei, she realized what a mistake she had made by cheating on him.

She was worried about the consciousness of terrible guilt in front of her loved one. Just before his death, Andrei Bolkonsky forgives Natasha for her betrayal. Time is the best healer, and Natasha fell in love with someone else. She loved Pierre with all her heart, once and for all. The first time we met Pierre was in the salon of Anna Pavlovna Scherer. He came with Andrey.

Pierre was very large in build and looked like a bear, but at heart he was very kind, sincere, and sympathetic. There was little peace in Pierre's life until he met Natasha. Pierre lived making mistakes, he spent his energy and money on carousing with friends. But he made the biggest mistake by marrying Helen. He didn’t marry for love: he was simply forced.

And although Helen was very beautiful woman, in fact, she did not love anyone except herself and money. Helen was a very cold and calculating woman. Therefore, Pierre comprehended the full horror of having connected his life with a low woman; human meanness oppressed Pierre. And in order to be away from Helen and the world, Pierre leaves for the war.

During the war, Pierre was captured, and after being released from captivity, he learns about the death of his wife Helen and best friend Andrei Bolkonsky. After the war, Pierre returned home and met Natasha Rostova, but no longer a sixteen-year-old girl.

Pierre fell in love with Natasha and married her. Natasha was not like the girls of the world; her main priority was love. Therefore they lived very happily in the village.

Using the example of these heroes, Tolstoy showed friendship and love. Great friendship between Andrei and Pierre. Natasha's love for Andrey and real love between Natasha and Pierre.

In L. N. Tolstoy’s epic novel “War and Peace,” the key word is “peace.” It is contained in the very title of the work. In what sense did the author use it in the title? The question arises because in modern Russian there are two homonymous words “world”. In Tolstoy's time they also differed in writing. The main meanings of the word “mir”, according to V. Dahl’s dictionary, were: 1) universe; 2) Earth; 3) all people, the human race. “Peace” was used to denote the absence of war, hostility, or quarrel. In the work, episodes of war are replaced by episodes of peace, that is, peacetime. And at first glance it seems that the title contains one antithesis: war is peacetime and that the word “peace” should be understood only as the antithesis of the word “war”. But with Tolstoy everything is much more complicated. The title of the novel reflects the basic meaning of the word “world”. In addition, even these above meanings do not exhaust the use of the word “world” in the novel.

First of all, it was important for Tolstoy to show that a person is not only a representative of one or another national-historical, social, professional world; Man, according to Tolstoy, is the world itself. The brightness and plasticity of the image of man in “War and Peace” are based on the principle “man is special world" Most of all, in Tolstoy’s novel, he is interested in the inner world of Natasha Rostova, Prince Andrei, Pierre, Princess Marya and other characters close to the author. Describing their inner life, Tolstoy uses his favorite technique, called by N. G. Chernyshevsky “dialectics of the soul.” Each Tolstoy hero has his own world, and even the closest relationship between two people cannot unite individual worlds. In the epilogue, the relationship between Princess Marya and Nikolai Rostov is shown to be ideally close, and yet each of them had something of their own in life that was inaccessible to the other. Princess Marya could not understand Nicholas's relationship with the peasants and his love for farming. “She felt that he had a special world, passionately loved, with some laws that she did not understand.” But Nikolai, in turn, felt a sense of surprise at her spiritual purity, at that “almost inaccessible” to him “sublime moral world, in which his wife always lived."

Image inner world Tolstoy's image of man is combined with the image of another, larger world, of which his heroes are a part. In the novel we see a whole palette of worlds: the world of the Rostovs, the world of Lysogorsk, the world of high society, the world of headquarters life, the world of the front-line life of the army, the world of the people. This understanding of the world is associated in the novel with the image of a ball. The world-ball appears as a closed sphere; it has its own laws, which are not binding in other worlds. In Tolstoy's work, the characters are influenced by different worlds with your requirements. One world is often hostile to another. In one case, a person, merging with the world, remains free and happy (in captivity, Pierre ends up in the world of the people, unites with them and becomes better and purer; the true values ​​of life are revealed to him, he finally finds for himself an explanation of life and its meaning ), in the other, a world alien to the hero’s human essence suppresses him, deprives him of freedom and makes him unhappy. An example of this is the episode with Natasha at the opera.

Arriving at the opera, Natasha found herself in a world of light alien to her. At first, everything that happened around her and on stage seemed to her “so pretentious, false and unnatural.” She was not interested in the opera, the people around her were not interested, everything seemed unnatural and feigned to her. But then Anatol Kuragin appeared, he drew attention to her. And then the world, alien to Natasha, began to put pressure on her, to subjugate her will. After the third act, “Natasha no longer found this (what was happening around her) strange. She looked around her with pleasure, smiling joyfully.” Natasha was introduced to Anatole, she felt that she really liked him and she began to like him. Here the world of light has already completely taken over her feelings and desires. “Natasha returned to her father’s box, completely subjugated to the world in which she was.” After this, all the sorrows and suffering began in Natasha’s life.

Natasha’s submission to the world of light did not happen on its own; everything happened not without the participation of Helen Bezukhova and, of course, Anatoly Kuragin, the main and at the same time typical representatives of this world.

In general, all the heroes of War and Peace are divided into people of peace and people of war. The people of the world are Prince Andrei, Princess Marya, Pierre, the Rostovs - others are drawn to them, and they are able to unite people around them. The soldiers in the regiment loved Prince Andrey very much and called him “our prince.” During the Battle of Borodino at the Raevsky battery, the soldiers also became attached to Pierre, let him into their friendly family and called him “our master.” Together, the people of the world constitute a force of unification, which is opposed by a force of separation, consisting of people of war, such as Anatole, Vasily and Helen Kuragin, Drubetsky, etc. These Tolstoy characters are unable to create their own worlds. Each of them is for himself, each is used to only using the people around him, each is always trying to snatch something, each is busy only with his own interests, intrigues, and he does not care about others. And in peacetime these people are in a state of war. They constantly fight for their interests. Often people of war destroy the round worlds of other people. They break in and bring a lot of grief and suffering to the people of the world. It is enough to remember how many unpleasant moments and disappointments Helen brought into Pierre’s life and how Anatole fatally influenced the lives of Natasha and Prince Andrei. The forces of separation can operate on a larger scale. Intrigues, adventures, the struggle for profit, the desire to snatch something for oneself lead to destruction on a global scale, they lead to a war of nations, which destroys not only the small worlds of people, but also destroys Big world. The Napoleonic wars of 1805 and 1812 were caused by the forces of disunity, led by Napoleon himself, an evil genius, for the sake of personal glory, his pride, capable of sacrificing other people's lives, killing innocent people, wiping cities and towns off the face of the earth to satisfy his egoism. entire nations. Captured by the “Napoleonic idea,” Russia was involved in the campaign of 1805 due to the struggle of interests in the highest government strata of society. The War of 1805 was absolutely unnecessary and incomprehensible for the Russian people, for the Russian soldier. In the Battle of Austerlitz, ordinary soldiers did not know for what purpose they were fighting, did not understand for whom they were dying, so the forces of the Russian people did not unite, and the battle was shamefully lost.

War is always destruction, but, paradoxically, unification is also possible in war. Patriotic War 1812 is an example of the unification of the entire nation, the entire people in the face of the greatest danger. Soldiers unite with each other, officers with soldiers, and then battles are definitely won. After all, only together can we defeat the enemy. Prince Andrei's regiment, Raevsky's battery are perceived as large friendly families, where one for all and all for one. All of Russia united and defeated Napoleon.

Yes, people are capable of uniting in extreme situations, in the face of danger. But the danger passes, and the struggle of people with each other for inheritance, for a career, for power begins again; the war separates them. This is the reason for Tolstoy's pessimism. People have not yet learned to unite in a peaceful, calm time; they do not know how to live “as a whole.” From the world of an individual person through unification with loved ones to the universal unity of people and then to unity with nature, with everyone. The idea of ​​peace for Tolstoy is ONE of the main ones in the novel. The main meaning of the word "peace" here is the idea of ​​universal unity.

Happiness, according to Tolstoy, can only be found in harmony with the whole world: with other people, with nature, with the universe. From the world of an individual person through unification with loved ones to the universal unity of people and then to unity with nature, with the universe - this is the idea Tolstoy about the idea of ​​peace in the novel. A person who feels connected to the universe can be truly happy, calm, peaceful, and is not afraid of death. It is enough to recall the thoughts and descriptions of Pierre’s feelings during a very important and difficult period of his life in captivity of the French, when he begins to feel himself part of a boundless world.

“Pierre looked at the sky, into the depths of the receding, playing stars. “And all this is mine, and all this is in me, and all this is me! - thought Pierre. “And they all caught it and put it in a booth, fenced off with boards!” He smiled and went to bed with his comrades.” Feeling like a part huge world It also appears in the dream that Pierre sees after the murder of Karataev.

“A living, oscillating ball that has no dimensions” is the Earth, the universe; the surface of the ball “consisted of drops tightly compressed together” - these are small worlds of people. These drops “either merged from several into one, or from one they were divided into many.” But they remained unseparated particles of this oscillating ball. Separating meant death.

The deepest, most important need of a person, according to the views of the author of “War and Peace,” is to overcome one’s limitations and merge one’s “I” with the entire infinite world. This need manifests itself in persistent life's quest Prince Andrei and Pierre. Prince Andrei is constantly tormented by a burning interest in how they live, how other people are happy, he feels bitterness because they do not care about him, he longs to influence their destinies.

Prince Andrei says: “Not only do I know everything that is in me, it is necessary for everyone to know it: both Pierre and this girl who wanted to fly into the sky, it is necessary for everyone to know me, so that not for one My life led me, so that they would not live so independently of my life, so that it would be reflected on everyone, and so that they would all live with me!” - this is the main idea of ​​“War and Peace”, put by Tolstoy into the mouth of his favorite hero - Prince Andrei.

It is important to emphasize that the unity of the novel’s heroes with the world not only does not destroy the individual human “I” in the facelessness of the universal, but, on the contrary, expands the personality and affirms the true meaning of its life. The wider the world with which the hero feels his connection, the brighter and more joyful his existence. “A person feels like a person only because he comes into contact with other personalities. If a person were alone, he would not be a person,” Tolstoy wrote in his diary. But how can we achieve this unity, life “as a whole world”? Tolstoy answers this question with the images of his heroes. First of all, we must learn to understand other people, as Prince Andrei understood and felt them. “Pierre was always amazed at Prince Andrei’s ability to calmly deal with all kinds of people.”

You also need to be able to share with another person not only joy, but also suffering, like Natasha. At the beginning of the novel, Natasha could only convey to others joy, fun, good mood, but she did not know how to share suffering or sympathize. “No, I’m having too much fun to spoil my fun with sympathy for someone else’s grief,” she thought at the beginning of the novel. And only in the end, having experienced a lot of suffering, did she learn to share the grief of another. “My friend, mamma,” she said, straining all the forces of love in order to somehow relieve her of the excess grief that was pressing on her.”

In his novel, Tolstoy attaches great importance to the sudden and causeless sympathies between the characters, for example, Tushin to Prince Andrei, old Bolkonsky to Pierre, Prince Andrei to the Rostov family, soldiers and militias to Prince Andrei and Pierre. The sympathies that Prince Andrei, Pierre, Natasha and others experience have a very wide range; they sympathize with many people for various reasons. And most often for those that they themselves could not name.

“Yes, the best means to true happiness in life is: without any reason, to shoot out from yourself in all directions, like a spider, a tenacious web of love and catch everything that gets there, and an old woman, and a child, and a woman, and a policeman,” - wrote L.N. Tolstoy in his diary.

The “web of love,” the characters’ selfless sympathy for each other, entangles the entire book. It is impossible to live “with the whole world” without love. It is noteworthy that in the epilogue Nikolenka dreams of this “web of love”, “threads of the Mother of God”, it entangles him, and he feels the “weakness of love”.

Thus, the idea of ​​peace in Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace” is multifaceted and multifaceted. With his novel, Tolstoy proves that, on the one hand, each person is a unique, individual world, but on the other hand, he is a particle of the universal world, the Earth, the universe. But both the individual world and the universal world can exist only when people unite with each other and nature. The separation of all things, and war destroying these worlds, according to Tolstoy, is the most terrible evil. In his diaries, he defined evil as “the disunity of people.” L.N. Tolstoy, with his novel, warns people against this evil, showing the path to happiness through the unity of people.