“The Enchanted Wanderer” N.S. Leskova

Leskov’s story “The Enchanted Wanderer” dates back to 1873. Initially it was called “Black Earth Telemacus”. The image of the wanderer Ivan Flyagin summarizes the remarkable features of energetic, naturally talented people, inspired by boundless love for people. It depicts a man from the people in the intricacies of his difficult fate, not broken, even though “he died all his life and could not die.” In the story, a kaleidoscope of pictures of serf Russia appears, many of which anticipate Leskov’s satirical works of the 80s and 90s.

“The Enchanted Wanderer” was Leskov’s favorite hero; he placed him next to “Lefty”. “The Enchanted Wanderer should be published immediately (by winter) in one volume with “Lefty” under the same general title: “Well done,” he wrote in 1866.

The kind and simple-minded Russian giant is the main character and central figure of the story. This man with a childish soul is distinguished by irrepressible fortitude, heroic mischief and that excess of hobbies that is so alien to the moderation of virtuous bourgeois heroes. He acts at the behest of duty, often on the inspiration of feeling and in a random outburst of passion. However, all his actions, even the strangest ones, are invariably born from his inherent love for humanity. He strives for truth and beauty through mistakes and bitter repentance, he seeks love and generously gives love to people. “The Enchanted Wanderer” is a type of “Russian wanderer” (in the words of Dostoevsky). Of course, Flyagin has nothing in common with the noble “superfluous people” - Aleko, Onegin, whom Dostoevsky had in mind. But he is also searching and cannot find himself. He does not need to humble himself and want to work in his native field. He is already humble and with his peasant rank he is faced with the need to work. But he has no peace. In life he is not a participant, but only a wanderer, “black-earth Telemachus.”

In the story, the life of the main character is a chain of adventures, so diverse that each of them, being an episode of one life, at the same time can constitute a whole life. A postilion for Count K., a runaway serf, a nanny for an infant child, a Tatar prisoner, a soldier for a prince-repairer, a soldier, a Knight of St. George - a retired officer, an “inquirer” in the address desk, an actor in a booth and, finally, a monk in a monastery - and that’s all this is for the duration of one life, not yet completed.

The hero’s name itself turns out to be inconsistent: “Golovan” was a nickname in childhood and youth; “Ivan” - that’s what the Tatars call him) this name here is not so much a proper name as a common noun: “all of them, if an adult Russian person is Ivan, and a woman is Natasha, and they call boys Kolka”); Under the false name of Pyotr Serdyukov, he serves in the Caucasus: having become a soldier for another, he, as it were, inherits his fate and, after the expiration of his term of service, can no longer regain his name. And finally, having become a monk, he is called “Father Ishmael”, nevertheless always remaining himself - the Russian man Ivan Severyanych Flyagin.

In creating this image, Leskov will not forget anything - neither the childish spontaneity, nor the peculiar “artistry” and narrow “patriotism” of the “warrior”. For the first time, a writer’s personality is so multifaceted, so free, so freed to its own will.

In the very wandering of Leskov’s hero there is the deepest meaning; It is on the roads of life that the “enchanted wanderer” comes into contact with other people; these unexpected meetings confront the hero with problems the very existence of which he had not previously suspected.

Ivan Severyanych Flyagin amazes at first glance with his originality: “He was a man of enormous stature, with a dark, open face and thick, wavy, lead-colored hair; his gray hair had such a strange cast... he was in the full sense of the word a hero, reminiscent of grandfather Ilya Muromets in the beautiful painting by Vereshchagin and in the poem by Count A.K. Tolstoy. It seemed that he would not walk around in duckweed, but would sit on a “forelock” and ride in bast shoes through the forest and lazily smell how “the dark forest smells of resin and strawberries.”

The story about the taming of the horse does not seem to be at all connected with the two previous ones, but its ending - the death of the tamed horse - evokes the death of the exiled sexton. Both here and there there is violence against a free being of nature. Both man and animal who have shown disobedience are broken and cannot bear it. The story of Flyagin’s “extensive passing vitality” begins with the story of the taming of the horse, and it is not by chance that this episode is “taken out” of the sequential chain of events. This is like a kind of prologue to the biography of the hero.

According to the hero, his destiny is that he is the “prayed” and “promised” son, and is obliged to devote his life to serving God.

Ivan Severyanich Flyagin lives primarily not with his mind, but with his heart, and therefore the course of life imperiously carries him along, which is why the circumstances in which he finds himself are so varied. The path that the hero of the story goes through is a search for his place among other people, his calling, comprehension of the meaning of his life’s efforts, but not with his mind, but with his whole life and his destiny. Ivan Severyanich Flyagin does not seem to be interested in the questions of human existence, but with his whole life, with its bizarre course, he answers them in his own way.

The theme of “walking through torment” develops regardless of the fact that the hero does not attach much importance to it. Ivan Severyanych's story about his life seems almost implausible precisely because all this befell the lot of one person. “What a drum you are, brother: they beat you and beat you, but they still can’t finish you off,” the doctor tells him, having listened to the whole story.

In Leskov, the hero is deprived of life, robbed by it from the very beginning, but in the process of life itself he multiplies the spiritual wealth that he is endowed with by nature a hundredfold. His exclusivity grows on Russian folk soil and is all the more significant because the hero responds to everything with his own heart, and not with the constructs of his mind. The idea here is opposed to something unconditional that can withstand the most difficult tests.

In the leisurely narration of Leskov’s heroes, visible features of the recent past emerged and the figures of real people emerged. Therefore, “The Enchanted Wanderer” unfolds before the reader the main theme of Leskov’s work - the theme of the formation of man, the painful torment of his spirit in the struggle of passions and prudence, in the hero’s difficult self-knowledge. Behind the incident, the chance, the life of the individual emerged in these works.

The writer’s keen interest in national culture, his subtle sense of all shades of national life made it possible to create a unique artistic world and develop an original, artistic, inimitable “Leskovsky” way of depiction. Leskov knew how to depict the life of the people, fused together with the people's worldview, deeply rooted in national history. Leskov believed and was able to show that the people are capable of deeply “understanding the public benefit and serving it without pressure, and, moreover, serving with exemplary self-sacrifice even in such terrible historical moments when the salvation of the fatherland seemed impossible.” Deep faith in the great power of the people and love for the people gave him the opportunity to see and comprehend the “inspiration” of people’s characters. In “The Enchanted Wanderer”, for the first time in Leskov’s work, the theme of folk heroism is fully developed. Despite many unsightly features, realistically noted by the author, the collective semi-fairy-tale image of Ivan Flyagin appears before us in all the greatness, nobility of his soul, fearlessness and beauty and merges with the image of the heroic people. “I really want to die for the people,” says the enchanted wanderer . The “black earth Telemachus” deeply feels his involvement in his native land. What a great feeling is contained in his simple story about loneliness in Tatar captivity: “...There is no bottom to the depths of melancholy...You look, you don’t know where, and suddenly, no matter how much a monastery or a temple appears in front of you, you remember the baptized land and cry.”

In “The Enchanted Wanderer” Leskov talks about the “good Russian hero”, about “kind simplicity”, about “kind soul”, about “kind and strict life”. The life of the described heroes is full of wild, evil and cruel impulses, but in the hidden source of all human actions and thoughts rests kindness - unearthly, ideal, mystical. It does not reveal itself among people in its pure form, because kindness is a state of the soul that has come into contact with the deity.

Leskov always compares those heroes who are closest to his heart with the heroes of epics and fairy tales. N. Pleshchunov makes the following conclusion, discussing the “Enchanted Wanderer”: “... a guess arises that this “Enchanted Wanderer” is the people under the yoke of serfdom, seeking, waiting for the hour of their deliverance.” Not only the heroes of “The Enchanted Wanderer,” but also many other images of the writer were “icons,” but not in the sense that they were essentially religious, but in the fact that their most significant features were reflected by the writer “statically,” “traditionally.” , in the spirit of religious genres, genres of folklore and ancient Russian literature: lives and parables, legends and traditions, tales, anecdotes and fairy tales.

The hero of the story is called an enchanted wanderer - and in this name the whole worldview of the writer appears. Charm is a wise and benevolent fate, which, like the miraculous icon in the “Sealed Angel,” itself presents various temptations to a person. Even in moments of rebellion against her, she slowly and imperceptibly cultivates divine self-denial in a person, preparing a decisive turning point in his consciousness. Every life event casts some kind of shadow into the soul, preparing in it sorrowful doubts, quiet sadness about the vanity of life.

The religious perception of the world and the tendency to superstition correspond to the level of consciousness of the majority of Leskov’s heroes and are determined by the traditions and ideas about the world around them that weigh on them. However, under the cover of the religious thoughts and reasoning of his characters, the writer was able to see a completely worldly, everyday attitude to life and even (which is especially significant) was able to be critical of official religion and the church. Therefore, the work “The Enchanted Wanderer” has not lost its deep meaning to this day.

Whatever a religious man of the common people looks at, everything acquires a wonderful meaning for him. He sees God in phenomena - and these phenomena seem to him like one air chain that connects him with the last refuge of the spirit. As he makes his way through life, he sheds the light of his infant faith on it, without doubting that the road leads him to God. This idea runs through Leskov’s entire story “The Enchanted Wanderer.” His details are striking in their originality, and in places, through the thick colors of everyday description, one can feel the writer’s nature, with its varied, obvious and secret passions.

A deep sense of moral beauty, alien to corrupting indifference, “overwhelms the spirit” of Leskov’s righteous people. The native environment imparts, through its living example, not only inspired impulses, but a “stern and sober mood” to their “healthy soul living in a healthy and strong body.”

Leskov loved all of Russia as it is. He perceived it as an old fairy tale. This is a fairy tale about an enchanted hero. He depicted Rus', holy and sinful, wrong and righteous. Before us is an amazing country of amazing people. Where else can you find such righteous people, craftsmen, and eccentrics? But all of her was frozen in enchantment, frozen in her unexpressed beauty and holiness, and she had nowhere to put herself. She has daring, she has scope, she has great talent, but everything is dormant, everything is fettered, everything is enchanted.

“Enchanted Rus'” is a conventional, literary term. This is a cumulative image recreated by the artist in his work, incorporating some aspects of historical reality. These are the hidden great forces that Leskov saw in his people. This is an “old tale” about him.

Bibliography:

1. A. Volynsky “N.S. Leskov”;

2. V. Yu. Troitsky “Writer of the Russian Land”, “Leskov – Artist”;

3. L. Krupchanov “Thirst for Light”;

4. G. Gunn “The Enchanted Rus' of Nikolai Leskov.”

5. B. Dykhanova “The Sealed Angel” and “The Enchanted Wanderer” by N. S. Leskova.”

Leskov's story “The Enchanted Wanderer” has a number of its own characteristics. A wide system of themes and problems, a dynamic plot, devoid of details, makes this work difficult to perceive - sometimes the idea of ​​the work is lost behind numerous events.

History of creation

Plans to create a story about the life of monks visited Leskov during his trip to Lake Ladoga. During the trip, Leskov had to visit the islands of Valaam and Korelu - at that time this was a place of settlement for monks. The landscapes I saw contributed to the idea of ​​writing a work about the life of these people. By the end of 1872 (almost six months after the trip), the story was written, but its publication was not so quick.
Leskov sent the story to the editors of the Russian Bulletin magazine, whose editor at that time was M. Katkov. Unfortunately, the editorial commission thought this story was unfinished and they did not publish it.

In August 1873, readers still saw the story, but in the newspaper Russkiy Mir. Its title changed and was presented in expanded form: “The Enchanted Wanderer, His Life, Experiences, Opinions and Adventures.” A dedication was also added to the story - to Sergei Kushelev - it was in his house that the story was first presented to the general public.

Symbolism of the name

Leskov’s story was originally planned to be called “Black Earth Telemacus.” It is impossible to unequivocally answer the question of why such a specific name was chosen. With the first word - “chernozem” everything is quite logical - Leskov planned to emphasize the territorial affiliation of the protagonist and limited his range of action to the area of ​​distribution of chernozem as a typical type of soil. With Telomak, things are somewhat more complicated - in ancient mythology, Telemacus is the son of Odysseus and Penelope. He begins to search for his father and helps him get rid of his mother's suitors. It is difficult to imagine the similarities between Telemakos and Ivan. However, it is still present and lies in the search. Telemachus is looking for his father, and Ivan is looking for his place in the world, which allows him to exist harmoniously, “the charm of life itself.”

It was the last concept - “charm with life” that became the key concept in the second version of the title of the story. Ivan Flyagin spends his entire life wandering - fate and chance do not provide him with the opportunity to finally settle down.

However, at the same time, Flyagin does not experience extreme dissatisfaction with his fate; he perceives every new turn on the path of life as the will of fate, predestination in life. The actions of the protagonist, which entailed significant changes in his life, always occur as if unconsciously, the hero does not think about them or plan them, they occur spontaneously, as if by the will of witchcraft, a kind of “charm”.

According to researchers, there is one more episode in the story that allows us to talk about the “charm” of the main character - Ivan’s mother, even before birth, “promised God her son,” which predetermined his fate.

Heroes

All chapter-stories of “The Enchanted Wanderer” are united by the personality of Ivan Severyanych Flyagin (Golovin), who tells the unusual story of his life.

The second most important image in the story is the image of the gypsy Grusha. The girl became the subject of Flyagin's unrequited love. Grusha’s unrequited love for the prince did not allow the girl to consider Flyagin’s feelings towards her and contributed to her death - Grusha asks Flyagin to kill her.

All other characters have generalized character traits - they are represented by typical heroes in their social stratum.

• Count and Countess from Oryol Province- landowners, to whose estates Flyagin belonged from birth.
• Barin from Nikolaev- a man for whom Flyagin served as a nanny - looked after his little daughter.
• Girl's mother- the natural mother of the girl entrusted to Flyagin, who ran away with a certain officer from her husband.
• Officer- a young man in love with a girl’s mother. He offers Flyagin money to give them the child. Helps Flyagin financially after his escape from the master.
• A person with magnetism- a casual acquaintance of Flyagin, who hypnotized him about alcohol intoxication and addiction.
• Prince- a landowner for whom Flyagin serves as a coneser.
• Evgenia Semenovna- the prince's mistress.
• Gypsies– a generalized image of the gypsy community.
• Tatars– a generalized image.
• Natasha- Flyagin’s two wives, who appeared to him while living with the Tatars.

Plot

Ivan was a late child - his mother could not get pregnant for a long time, but fate was unfair to her - she never managed to experience the happiness of motherhood - the woman died during childbirth. The born child had an unusually large head, for which he was named Golovan. One day, due to carelessness, Ivan caused the death of a monk and from that moment he learned about a certain prophecy of his life - the deceased monk said in a dream that Ivan would always be saved from death, but at a critical moment he would enter a monastery and become a monk.

Dear readers! We invite you to read what Nikolai Leskov wrote.

The prediction begins to come true: first, Ivan miraculously remains alive after the carriage he was driving fell from a cliff, then a gypsy saves him from committing suicide by hanging.

Flyagin decides to join the gypsies - at the request of a new acquaintance, he steals horses from his master. Together with the gypsy, Ivan sells horses at the market, but does not receive the proper monetary reward for this. Ivan says goodbye to the gypsy and goes to Nikolaev.

Here Ivan begins to serve the master - he takes care of his daughter. After some time, the girl’s mother appears and asks to give the child to her. At first, Ivan resists, but at the last moment he changes his mind and runs away with the girl’s mother and her new husband. Then Ivan ends up with the Tatars - Flyagin takes part in a duel with the Tatar and defeats his opponent, unfortunately, the Tatar dies, and Ivan was forced to join the Tatars in order to avoid punishment. To prevent Flyagin from running away from them, the Tatars sew chopped horsehair into his heels - after this, Ivan could not walk normally - his hair was severely pricked. Ivan was in Tatar captivity twice - both the first and second time he was given two wives. From the wives of Flyagin’s second “marriage” children are born, but this did not bring any changes to Flyagin’s life - Ivan is indifferent to them. After escaping from the Tatars, Ivan serves the prince. Falling in love with the gypsy Grusha became tragic in Ivan’s life - Flyagin experienced the pangs of unrequited love.

Pear, in turn, was unrequitedly in love with the prince, the news of whose wedding caused the girl’s emotional breakdown. Grusha is afraid that her actions could cause irreparable harm to the prince and his wife and therefore asks Flyagin to kill her. After the murder of Grunya, Ivan goes into the army - having escaped from the prince, Flyagin met old men whose only son was taken into the army, out of pity for the old men, Ivan pretends to be another person and goes to serve instead of their son. The next point in Flyagin’s life was the monastery - Ivan ends up there after retirement. An officer's rank, not supported by proper knowledge, did not allow Ivan to realize his potential.

The strange behavior of Flyagin became the reason that the monks sent him to travel to holy places. The story ends here. During the trip, Flyagin himself expresses hope of returning to the front.

Structure

The story by Nikolai Leskov is part of a cycle of stories united by the theme of monasticism and religiosity. The structure of the work is as follows: the story consists of 20 chapters. Compositionally, they are divided into exposition and development of action. Traditionally, the first chapter is an exposition. According to the canons of literary criticism, it should be followed by a plot, but in Leskov’s story this does not happen - this is due to the structure of the story itself - subsequent chapters are fragments from the life of the main character, which in their essence are completely independent and, moreover, are placed in violation of the chronological framework . In essence, these fragments in the structure of the composition are the development of the action.

It is also impossible to single out a culmination from these elements - each memory is special, and is associated with a certain turning point in the hero’s life - it is unrealistic to determine which event was more significant. Some researchers are inclined to believe that the climax can be attributed to a fragment of the text telling about Flyagin’s meeting with Grusha - it is at this moment in his life that Flyagin experiences the most severe devastation - he drinks a lot and binge-drinks, and is actually depressed. The story also lacks a denouement - the hero's journey across Lake Ladoga is another fragment that will most likely lead to new changes in the character's life. All chapters are designed in the form of small, logically designed stories, each of which actually has a meaningful ending.

Features of character images

Leskov's story is marked by a number of features in the depiction of the acting characters.
First of all, this concerns the main character. Ivan Flyagin does not look like a typical monk - his appearance resembles a hero. Ivan is a tall, broad-shouldered, physically developed man, it seems that he stepped out of the pages of epic stories. Ivan has wisdom and the ability to make logical conclusions, but at the same time he tends to act extremely stupidly and recklessly, which often turns fatal for other characters, and also brings irreparable, negative consequences into his life.

The image of Grusha is also not without contradictions and its own characteristics - both a typical gypsy - passionate and impulsive - and an angel coexist in her. Pear realizes that because of her emotionality, she will not be able to come to terms with unrequited love and will become the cause of tragedy in the life of her lover or his future wife. Classically, she should have followed her emotions, but here her other side of her personality is revealed - Grusha is a virtuous person - she prefers to die herself rather than bring misfortune.

The life of any serf is not without interference from representatives of the aristocracy. Leskov's story was no exception. The author actively introduces some features into the description of characters of this type. Leskov deliberately creates a negative image of representatives of high society - in the story, all landowners are presented as selfish tyrants who mistreat their serfs.

Ivan Flyagin served in the army for 15 years, but the story says very little about this period.

The only image of a military man that can be seen in the story is the colonel. In general, the image of this man is typical of a military man: “he was brave and loved to pretend to be Suvorov,” however, he coexists with another personality that resembles the image of his father. The colonel listens carefully to Flyagin’s life story, but not only does not take everything said into account, but also convinces Ivan that it all happened only in his fantasies. On the one hand, this seems like an unreasonable action on the part of the colonel, but at the same time it saves Flyagin from punishment instead of an officer rank.

The next category of images relates to foreigners - in the story, in addition to Russian people, three nationalities are also depicted - Gypsies, Tatars and Poles. All representatives of these nationalities are endowed with exaggerated negative qualities - the life of foreigners is presented as immoral, illogical and therefore artificial, devoid of the colors of real, sincere feelings and emotions. Foreigners (with the exception of Grusha) do not have positive character traits - they are always hypocrites and dishonest people.

The story also contains representatives of monasticism. The image of these people contains canonicity. They are strict and stern people, but at the same time sincere and humane. Ivan's atypicality causes them bewilderment and concern, but at the same time they empathize with him and express concern for his fate.

Story idea

The idea of ​​the story lies in the deep connection of man with his homeland and religion. With the help of these attributes, Leskov tries to reveal the characteristics of the Russian soul and its mental qualities of character. The life of a simple Russian person is closely connected with disappointments and injustice, however, no matter how often and to what extent these troubles occur in a person’s life, the Russian person never loses hope for a miracle - according to Leskov, it is in this optimistic ability that the mystery of the Russian lies. souls.

The author leads readers to the conclusion that without a homeland and religion, a person cannot fully exist. No matter how many sins there are in a person’s life, sincere repentance allows you to start your life with a clean slate.

Theme of the story

Leskov's story is filled with a wide system of themes. The questions raised in the work have a diverse expression and are able to comprehensively outline the features and complexities of the life of an ordinary person.

Religion and its influence on human life

Of course, the influence of religion in Flyagin’s time on human life was much stronger - at the present time, other social institutions have taken on some of the responsibilities of the social sphere. At that time, the church was the bearer of morality, taught the interaction of people in society, and developed positive character traits in people. Religion at that time also helped people find answers to their questions in the field of science. Some of the information perceived by society at that time could well be perceived as the action of an otherworldly mystical force, which added even more significance to the church in the eyes of people.

Thus, religion helped a person find the right path on his life's path, outline the ideal of a real person and stimulate people's interest in achieving this ideal.

Love and its truth

It seems that Leskov’s story was created in order to trace the importance and essentiality of love (in every sense of the word). This is love for the homeland, and love for life, and love for God, and love for representatives of the opposite sex. The diversity of Ivan Flyagin's life allowed him to experience love in all its manifestations. Of particular interest to the reader are Flyagin’s relationships with representatives of the opposite sex.

While Flyagin’s feelings towards his Tatar wives are natural - since they arose as a “necessity”, his feelings for the gypsy Grusha are regrettable - like any other manifestation of unrequited love.

Ivan is captivated by the girl, but the hope of finding happiness for Flyagin and Grusha is fading just as quickly as Grusha’s love for the prince is inflamed.

Fatherly feelings

During his stay with the Tatars, Ivan is “given” wives - these are women with whom Ivan did not experience feelings of kinship. In the “family” children are born with these women, but the man does not feel a kinship with them and, as a result, he does not develop parental feelings towards them. Ivan explains this by the fact that his children were not of the Christian faith. At that time, the influence of religion on a person was more significant than today, so this could cause alienation. Similar motives appear repeatedly in the literature. So, for example, in the poem by the Ukrainian literary figure T.G. Shevchenko “Haydamaky” the main character does not prevent the death of his children because they were of a “different” faith, while the man does not experience remorse or regret. Based on such motives, Ivan Flyagin’s attitude towards his children looks quite humane.

Understanding the Motherland and its significance for humans

Fate decreed that Ivan Flyagin had the opportunity to learn about the peculiarities of life of different peoples. First of all, of course, these were the peculiarities of the life of the Russian people - from childhood, Ivan knew about the complexities of relationships between the social elements of the Russian people, mental characteristics that also cause certain difficulties. However, not only this is an integral part of the Russian person - the peculiarities of nature and the relationship of man with it, folklore’s focus on the perception of the beauty of life, became the reason for Flyagin’s special attachment to his people.

Faced with a community of gypsies, Flyagin clearly understands that “such a life is not for him” - the traditions of these people and their moral principles are too different from those that Flyagin is used to being guided by.

Life among the Tatars also did not attract Ivan - undoubtedly, the life of these people was not absolutely immoral or unattractive, but Flyagin did not manage to feel “at home” - the image of his native land was constantly in his thoughts. Perhaps this is due to the fact that his stay with other nationalities was forced - Ivan ended up in this society not because he experienced a spiritual kinship, but because the circumstances turned out that way.

Issues

Deviating from the traditions of the genre, Leskov places increased emphasis on the problems of his work. Like the theme, the problems of the story also have a developed structure. The key concepts still remain patriotism and the place of man in society, but these concepts are acquiring new symbolic elements.

Social inequality

No matter how sad it may sound, the problem of social inequality has always been relevant and has been repeatedly understood by artists. Aristocratic origin has always been highly valued in society and in fact opened any doors, bypassing intellectual and moral criteria. At the same time, an intellectually developed person with high morality, but of simple origin (peasant) always remained on the sidelines of fate.

The unspoken law of “social equality” often became the cause of the unhappy lives of not only serfs, but also aristocrats, who could be happy in a marriage with a person of simple origin, but were unable to step over the demands of society.

In most cases, representatives of aristocratic origin did not consider peasants to be people - they could sell them, force them to do backbreaking work that led to injury, beat them, and generally worry more about their animals than about the serfs.

Nostalgia for the Motherland

In a modern multicultural society, the problem of nostalgia for the Motherland is not so relevant - modern means of scientific and technological progress make it possible to minimize this feeling. However, in the world contemporary to Leskov, awareness of oneself as a unit of a nationality and a bearer of its mental qualities occurs more thoroughly - a close and dear image of the Native Land, national symbols and traditions is deposited in a person’s mind. The denial of these attributes makes a person unhappy.

Patriotism

The problem of patriotism is closely related to the problem of nostalgia for the Motherland. In the story, Leskov reflects on whether it is important to recognize oneself as a representative of a certain nationality and how important this is. The author raises the question of why people are ready to perform feats in the name of their Motherland and why they do not stop loving their Fatherland, despite the existing problems in the system of their state.

This problem is revealed not only with the help of the image of Ivan Flyagin, but also with the help of representatives of other nationalities who, while coming into contact with other cultures, remain faithful to their people.

Missionary

In fact, every religion faces the problem of missionary work, especially at the stage of its formation - adherents of the faith often went to preach the foundations of their religious vision among other believers. Despite the peaceful method of enlightenment and conversion to their religion, many nationalities were hostile towards such people - using the example of Christian missionaries and their attitude towards the Tatars, Leskov summarizes: some peoples can only be converted to their faith by force, acting through fear and cruelty.

Comparison of secular and monastic life

The destiny of Ivan Flyagin’s life created a favorable environment for comparing secular and monastic life. While the life of the laity goes on as usual, in fact guided only by civil and moral laws. The life of a monk is full of hardships. Ivan’s fate developed in such a way that he was able to experience both secular and monastic life. However, neither the first nor the second allowed him to find peace. Ivan always experiences some kind of internal dissatisfaction, his life has always been full of suffering, and he has become so accustomed to this state of affairs that he no longer recognizes himself outside of these feelings. Suffering has become a necessary condition for his life; the calm and everydayness of monastic life drives him crazy and “populates his consciousness with demons.”

Predestination of human destiny

The problem of predetermination of human destiny in the story is considered in a broad and narrow manner. A narrow expression is represented by the life situation of Ivan Flyagin - his mother, even before birth, promised the child to God, but Ivan’s lack of education prevented the implementation of this postulate.

In a broad sense, the predestination of life is shown in the tragic position of serfs in society - peasants at that time could become free people by receiving the appropriate document, but even such a seemingly positive event did not bring them happiness - without education and the ability to behave in society at the level For the aristocracy, such a will was just Filka’s letter, since the former serfs had no opportunity to settle down in the world of “free people.”

Education problem

Among the peasants, the problem of education was one of the most significant. The point here was not only the acquisition of general knowledge and basic knowledge of grammar and arithmetic. In fact, all the serfs did not understand the basics of ethics, did not know how to logically structure their speech within the framework of rhetoric, and therefore were absolute ignoramuses in every sense, which significantly aggravated their situation.

Justice

Life is often devoid of fairness. Bias in most cases becomes an integral part of the common man. From time to time a person interacts with injustice and gains his own life experience. In addition, Leskov raises the question of the existence of justice in general - no matter how difficult Flyagin’s life was and no matter how many dishonest people he met, Ivan still subconsciously believes that there is justice in the world.

The relationship between “The Enchanted Wanderer” and “The Parable of the Prodigal Son”

Leskov's story is essentially an allusion to the parable of the prodigal son. Ivan was originally promised to God - and the house of God was supposed to become his home, but Flyagin moves away from this destiny, this is accompanied by a series of events that defy logic and common sense, Ivan goes further and further into the labyrinths of worldly life. However, the same confluence of circumstances brings Ivan back to his home - after receiving the officer rank, Flyagin’s life became significantly more difficult - they did not want to hire him for simple work, and he could not do the work that his rank required due to his lack of education. Disillusioned with the acting craft, Flyagin ends up in a monastery.

Thus, Leskov’s story “The Enchanted Wanderer” in many points departs from the classic story - the variety of problems and themes allows us to consider life in all its complexities and surprises. The author avoids typicality in the work - all elements of the story are endowed with individual, atypical qualities. However, it should be noted that Leskov artificially, with the help of grotesque and hyperbole, containing a negative message, depicts the images of foreigners and aristocrats. In this way, a beneficial accentuation of the idea of ​​the work is achieved.

Leskov's works make an indelible impression on a person. From school, everyone is familiar with several of his works. One of these is the story “The Enchanted Wanderer,” which is recognized as one of his most famous works.

Leskov created the story from 1872 to 1873. The idea came to the author during a trip to Karelia. Along local waters he went to the island of Valaam to visit the monks. It was there that the work was created and a year later it was ready for printing with the title “Black Earth Telmak”. Then Leskov was rejected, explaining that the plot was extremely uninteresting and unfinished. Then Leskov turned to another magazine, where they agreed to publish him.

The title “Enchanted Wanderer” carries the idea of ​​the protagonist’s journey in search of his own soul and development. He wanders both around Lake Ladoga and through his inner world. The wanderer strives to know his purpose, and most importantly, his place on earth and life. The second word in the title speaks about all this, and the first indicates the ability of the hero’s heart to enchant his country, nature, the ability to love and appreciate the environment. Often in the story the author uses the phrase “witchcraft” - this means that the hero does not seem to perform various actions himself, but under the influence of something higher.

The work has 20 chapters, but they do not represent a single composition. They seem to be located chaotically, as the author’s inspiration went. We can say that this is a series of random events. Flyagin talks a lot about his life, and it is just as chaotic and chaotic. It is no coincidence that the story contains a whole cycle of legends, because the story contains the biography of one of the saints, whose life was filled with divine signs. This can be seen in the story about the wanderer’s childhood, where God from above shows him the path of fate, and in adulthood his life is filled with allegory and high meaning. The culmination of the entire work is the temptation of the protagonist by demons, which he copes with through faith in God.

Thus, we see how much is contained in Leskov’s story. It was not immediately possible to notice the value of the work, but it was published anyway and was able to guide many readers on the true path. After all, this is very important in the modern world.

Option 2

The author of the work “The Enchanted Wanderer” is N.S. Leskov. It was during a trip to Lake Ladoga that the idea of ​​creating a story appeared. Leskov wrote the story in one go. It took less than a year to complete this creation.

The main character of the story is a native of the common people - Ivan Flyagin. He was born into a family of courtyard servants. One day, for fun, he beat a monk to death. After this, the deceased begins to haunt Vanya, appearing in his dreams and predicting service to God in the distant future.

Soon Ivan leaves his owner’s house, taking with him a rope and a horse. Realizing his worthless existence, he decides to hang himself. But he fails to carry out his plan. A gypsy saves him by cutting the rope.

After long wanderings through unfamiliar lands, the hero ends up with the Tatars. Without thinking twice, he becomes a participant in a local custom, the meaning of which was as follows - two people sat opposite each other and began to beat their opponent with whips. The one who lasted longer took the horse as a win. Ivan enthusiastically fights with his opponent, wanting to get a wonderful horse. But he overdid it, and inadvertently beat his opponent to death. For this rash act, the Tatars mutilate his legs. From then on, he begins to serve them.

By chance, visitors come to the Tatar settlement. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Ivan manages to escape. Wandering for a long time, he reaches Astrakhan. But from there he is sent back to his former owner. Here he begins to look after his horses. In the area, rumors are spreading about Ivan as a wizard, since he could unmistakably, at first glance, identify a good horse. Soon, the local prince finds out about this. He wants to take advantage of his knowledge and takes Ivan to the position of coneser.

A significant moment in the life of the main character is his acquaintance with the beautiful gypsy Grushenka in a tavern. Despite the fact that she was the prince’s mistress, the young people fall in love with each other. The prince prepared a terrible fate for the girl. Soon he was supposed to get married, and Pear, as already unwanted, planned to send him to the bee forest to certain death. The gypsy runs away from the prince's court and comes to Ivan with a terrible request - she asks him to drown her, since she has no other choice. With much thought, he commits this terrible act. Now, left completely alone, Vanya decides to go to war, where, in his opinion, he will end his life, dying at the hands of the enemy.

On the battlefield, Ivan never manages to find death. Returning from the war, he first tries himself as a worker at the address desk, and then as an artist, but even here he does not find himself. Despairing of everything, he goes to the monastery. It is in this place that the main character finds peace, realizing that he made the only right decision in his entire long life.

In "The Enchanted Wanderer" Leskov showed all the difficulties in life that ordinary people face, placing special emphasis on the negative aspects of life.

Analysis 3

The story “The Enchanted Wanderer,” published in 1873, presents the image of a man of amazing destiny. On a ship sailing to Valaam, a black pilgrim, calling himself by the worldly name of Ivan Severyanovich Flyagin, tells his fellow travelers about the wanderings that he had to endure. In appearance, he resembled Russian epic heroes. His amazing, poetic folk language and manner of narration are an old Russian tale, the sequence and presentation of the events of his life are similar to the canonical ancient Russian genre of hagiography. Ivan captivates fellow travelers with the sincerity of his stories about his wanderings.

Many critics, Leskov's contemporaries, perceived this work with hostility, reproaching the author for the fact that his story had neither a logical plot, nor truthfulness in the national character he described, nor the basis of the hero's love for the Russian land. The entire story of the main character about his wanderings was assessed either as “revelation from a fool” or from “clever speech”, and the main character himself was presented as a parody of a person with a Russian character. However, the image of the main character, despite the apparent outward simplicity, is multifaceted and complex. Leskov, recognizing the mysterious depth of the Russian soul, looks for moral impulses in the actions of a sinful person, a frantic truth-seeker, who was often mistaken, but suffering, without losing faith, comes to the path of repentance. Leskov showed that Christian humility is not entirely inherent in Russian people; it is common for him to sin for the sake of justice.

The main character was bequeathed to God by his parents from childhood, because he had a long-awaited and begged-for child. And according to the prediction, he was destined to go to a monastery. Many trials befell Ivan: serfdom, escape, wandering without documents and money, ten years of captivity among Gentiles, fifteen years of recruiting service in the Caucasus, where he was awarded the St. George Cross and an officer rank for his courage. He unwittingly caused the death of three people: a monk who fell under the wheels of a cart, a Tatar who fought for a horse, and a gypsy woman mad with jealousy. He had the opportunity to be a coneser, a nanny, a doctor, a soldier, a clerk in an office, and an actor in a booth. The hero himself considers himself a terrible sinner, but after going through temptations and trials, he finds peace in service and faith. He finds his last refuge in a monastery, but even there he finds the quiet life boring. His soul is in search, it longs to find the purpose of life. He is a tramp, fascinated by life, with a soul as pure as a baby’s, but a strong and independent character.

At the end of the story, the hero's journey is not completed. He is looking for an opportunity to serve with faith for the Fatherland in order to find a final refuge for his restless soul.

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Many are familiar with Nikolai Leskov’s work “The Enchanted Wanderer”. Indeed, this story is one of the most famous in Leskov’s work. Let us now make a brief analysis of the story “The Enchanted Wanderer”, look at the history of the work, discuss the main characters and draw conclusions.

So, Leskov wrote the story “The Enchanted Wanderer” in the period from 1872 to 1973. The fact is that the idea appeared during the author’s journey through the waters of Karelia, when he went in 1872 to the island of Valaam, a famous refuge for monks. At the end of that year, the story was almost finished and was even being prepared for publication under the title “Black Earth Telemachus.” But the publishing house refused to publish the work, considering it raw and unfinished. Leskov did not back down, turning for help to the editors of the New World magazine, where the story was accepted and published. Before we directly analyze the story “The Enchanted Wanderer,” we will briefly consider the essence of the plot.

Analysis of "The Enchanted Wanderer", the main character

The events of the story take place on Lake Ladoga, where travelers met, whose goal was Valaam. Let's get acquainted with one of them - horseman Ivan Severyanich, who is dressed in a cassock; he told the others that since his youth he has had a wonderful gift, thanks to which he can tame any horse. The interlocutors are interested in listening to the life story of Ivan Severyanych.

The hero of "The Enchanted Wanderer" Ivan Severyanych Flyagin begins the story by saying that his homeland is the Oryol province, he comes from the family of Count K. As a child, he fell terribly in love with horses. Once, for fun, he beat one monk so much that he died, which shows the protagonist’s attitude towards human life, which is important in “The Enchanted Wanderer,” which we are now analyzing. Next, the main character talks about other events in his life - amazing and strange.

It is very interesting to note in general the consistent organization of the story. Why can you define it as a tale? Because Leskov constructed the narrative as oral speech, which imitates an improvisational story. At the same time, not only the manner of the main character-narrator Ivan Flyagin is reproduced, but also the peculiarity of the speech of other characters is reflected.

In total, “The Enchanted Wanderer” has 20 chapters, the first chapter is a kind of exposition or prologue, and other chapters directly tell the story of the life of the main character, and each of them is a complete story. If we talk about the logic of the tale, it is clear that the key role here is played not by the chronological sequence of events, but by the memories and associations of the narrator. The story resembles the canon of life, as some literary scholars say: that is, first we learn about the hero’s childhood years, then his life is consistently described, and we can also see how he struggles with temptations and temptations.

conclusions

The main character in the analysis of "The Enchanted Wanderer" typically represents the people, and his strength, as well as abilities, reflect the qualities inherent in the Russian person. You can see how the hero develops spiritually - initially he is just a dashing, careless and hot guy, but at the end of the story he is an experienced monk who has matured for years. However, his self-improvement became possible only thanks to the trials that were his lot, because without these difficulties and troubles he would not have learned to sacrifice himself and try to atone for his own sins.

In general, thanks to this, albeit brief, analysis of the story “The Enchanted Wanderer,” it becomes clear what the development of Russian society was like. And Leskov managed to show this in the fate of just one of his main characters.

Note for yourself that the Russian person, according to Leskov, is capable of sacrifice, and not only the strength of a hero is inherent in him, but also the spirit of generosity. In this article we have made a brief analysis of The Enchanted Wanderer, we hope you find it useful.

Analysis of the story by N.S. Leskova "The Enchanted Wanderer"

The hero of N. S. Leskov’s story “The Enchanted Wanderer” (1873) is a serf peasant who grew up in the count’s stable. At the beginning of his life, he is a generously gifted “wild”, a kind of “natural person”, exhausted under the burden of irrepressible vital energy, which sometimes pushes him to the most reckless actions. The enormous natural force, which “flows so quickly” through his veins, makes young Ivan Severyanych related to the legendary heroes of Russian epics Ilya Muromets and Vasily Buslaev. The author notes the similarity with the first of them on the very first pages of the story. Thus, it is immediately made clear that this is a “soil” character that has deep roots in Russian life and Russian history. For a long time, Ivan Severyanich’s heroic strength seemed to be dormant within him. Being in the power of infantile spontaneity, for the time being he lives outside the categories of good and evil, showing in his risky actions extreme carelessness, reckless impudence, fraught with the most dramatic consequences. In the excitement of driving fast, without meaning to, he kills an old monk who accidentally met him, who fell asleep on a cart of hay. At the same time, young Ivan is not particularly burdened by the misfortune that has occurred, but the murdered monk appears to him every now and then in his dreams and pesters him with his questions, predicting for the hero the trials that he still has to endure.

However, the innate artistry characteristic of the “enchanted hero” eventually takes him to a new, higher level of existence. The sense of beauty that is organically characteristic of Ivan Severyanych, developing, gradually ceases to be only an internal experience - it is enriched by a feeling of ardent affection for those who arouse his admiration. The development of these feelings is presented in one of the central episodes of the story, depicting the meeting of Ivan Severyanych with the gypsy Grusha. Leskovsky's hero, who has long been captivated by the beauty of the horse, suddenly discovers a new beauty - the beauty of a woman, talent, the human soul. The experienced charm of Grusha makes it possible for Ivan’s soul to fully open up. He was able to understand another person, feel someone else's suffering, and show brotherly selfless love and devotion.

The death of Grusha, who could not bear the betrayal of her prince-lover, was experienced so strongly by Ivan that, in essence, it again made him a “different person”, and “crossed out” the former one. He rises to a new moral height: self-will and randomness of actions are replaced by the purposefulness of all actions, now subordinated to a high moral impulse. Ivan Severyanych thinks only about how he can “suffer” and thereby atone for his sin. Obeying this attraction, he goes to the Caucasus instead of a young recruit. For his military feat, he is nominated for a reward and promoted to officer, but Ivan is dissatisfied with himself. On the contrary, the voice of conscience awakens in him more and more, which pushes him to carry out a harsh judgment on his past life and recognize himself as a “great sinner.”

At the end of his life, Ivan Severyanych was obsessed with the idea of ​​heroic self-sacrifice in the name of the fatherland. He is preparing to go to war. Calmly and simply, he tells his random fellow travelers that he “really wants to die for the people.”

The image of the “enchanted hero” created by the writer contains a broad generalization that allows us to comprehend the present and future of the people. According to the author, the people are an infant hero, just entering the stage of historical action, but having the inexhaustible supply of strength necessary for this.

For Leskov, the concept of “artistry” is associated not only with a person’s natural talent, but also with the awakening of his soul, with strength of character. A true artist, in the writer’s view, is a person who has overcome the “beast” within himself, the primitive egoism of his “I”.

The work of Leskov, who in his own way managed to deeply understand the contradictions of contemporary Russian life, penetrate into the peculiarities of the national character, and vividly capture the features of the spiritual beauty of the people, opened up new perspectives for Russian literature.