The path of moral quest of Prince Bolkonsky. The path of ideological and moral quest of Prince Andrei Bolkonsky. Spiritual quest of Andrei Bolkonsky

"War and Peace"

One of the main characters of the novel “War and Peace” are Pierre Bezukhoe and Andrei Bolkonsky. I At first glance, they are completely different from each other. Bolkonsky is the son of an aristocrat, raised on the high ideals of serving the Motherland, while Bezukhov, the illegitimate son of a count, did not know his father and was educated abroad. Bolkonsky is mortally bored in high society, while Pierre, having first entered Anna Pavlovna Scherer’s salon, expects “something especially smart” from those around him. Even outwardly, these heroes are completely opposite: Pierre is a “massive, fat young man”, distinguished from Anna Pavlovna’s guests by his “smart... and natural look”, Prince Andrei is of short stature, “very handsome... with definite and dry features”, with a “sad, bored look.”

However, the spiritual kinship of the heroes is even more important. Their desire and desire to find use for their strengths, the ability for moral search. Throughout the novel, Tolstoy's characters go through a difficult path of moral quest.

We meet Prince Andrei at the moment when he decides to go to war in order to break the “vicious circle” of social life. He dreams of glory, Napoleon is his idol. ".. . I love nothing but fame, human love,” he admits to himself. And this one; the moment of glory has arrived: with a banner in his hands, Prince Andrei carries the battalion with him into the attack. However, it was not this moment that brought him the highest happiness. He feels happy when he lies wounded on the Field of Austerlitz, sees an “immeasurably high sky” above him and understands that “... everything is empty, everything is a deception...” He realizes the pettiness of human aspirations for glory, and Napoleon already seems to him “small, insignificant.”

A little time will pass, and Bolkonsky will say to Pierre: “... I lived for others and... I ruined my life.” Pierre at that moment experiences elation. After receiving an inheritance, marrying Helen, disappointment in love for her, and a duel with Dolokhov, Bezukhov feels that “the main screw on which his whole life was held together has returned to his head.” He begins to think about the “eternal” questions of existence: “Why live, and what am I? What is life, what is death? What force controls everything? After meeting with the Freemason Bazdeev in Torzhok, Pierre tries to find answers to these questions 3 in the teachings of the Freemasons. He joins the Masonic lodge and is engaged in philanthropic activities on his estates.

with a thought to the eternal: “On earth... there is no truth; but in the world... there is a kingdom of truth, and we are now children of the earth, and forever children of the whole world.” This is how he now imagines the purpose of life:! “You have to live, you have to love, you have to believe...”

"without disturbing anyone."

However, this meeting was extremely important for the prince, and after some time he would decide that “life is not over at thirty-one years old”: “... it is necessary... that my life should not go on for me alone,... so that for everyone it would be reflected and that everyone... would live with me!” This will happen as a result of intense internal work after a meeting with Natasha Rostova in Otradnoye. So into the life of Prince Andrei! love enters. Pierre begins to realize how dear Natasha is to him, already at the moment when Bolkonsky tells him about his feelings for her. Now Prince Andrei is full of hope, infinitely happy. Pierre, by this time, had become disillusioned with Freemasonry; he was overcome by “previous gloomy thoughts about the futility of everything human.” He is not satisfied with the inaction, the situation, he recalls his unfulfilled youthful dreams. And only after Natasha’s breakup with Bolkonsky, experiencing “feelings of pity, tenderness and love” for her, Pierre regains the meaning of life. Returning from the Rostovs, he sees “a huge expanse of starry dark sky” and a bright comet, and it seems to him that “this star fully corresponded to what was in his blossoming to a new life, softened! and cheerful soul."

He lives the same life with the soldiers defending their native land. They call him "our prince." It is interesting that Pierre Bezukhov was also called “our master” at the Ravsky battery, but they “mentally accepted Pierre into their family.” Both Prince Andrei and Pierre strive to “be a soldier, just a soldier.” Both of them understand that “war is not a courtesy, but the most disgusting thing in life.” At the same time, they are characterized by deep patriotism... Prince Andrei, having shown an example of courage, is mortally wounded during the Battle of Borodino. After the capture of Moscow by the French, Pierre remains in the capital to kill Napoleon. Of course, he fails, and yet he commits courageous acts: he saves a girl, stands up for a woman.

After being wounded, on the eve of death, Prince Andrei is revealed to those truths that he has strived to comprehend all his life: “Compassion, love for brothers, for those who love us and for those who hate us...” Death for him is an awakening, an introduction to the truth, to eternity .

Pierre still had a long path of moral quest ahead of him. After the French shot the “arsonists,” “the world fell apart in his eyes.” And only a meeting with Platon Karataev leads him to the idea that happiness for a person is in himself, in his right to live and enjoy life. But still Pierre cannot fully accept Karataev’s philosophy. He "always was and will remain a dreamer." Therefore, in the epilogue, he returns to himself and again chooses a new path; it seems to him that he is called upon to “give a new direction to the entire Russian society and the whole world.” The only thing in which he finds constancy and harmony is family life.

“lived honestly,” as they strove to understand themselves and eternal truths. This is what Tolstoy values ​​most in his heroes.

There are two very similar concepts - morality and ethics. Morality is following certain rules that exist in society, and morality is the basis of morality. For many people, the understanding of the correctness of their actions and thoughts is based on kindness, spirituality, honesty, respect for themselves and others; these are the very concepts of morality on which the morality of society is based. Throughout the narrative, as life circumstances change, the moral quest of Andrei Bolkonsky in the novel “War and Peace” reflects his views on the world and events around him at a given, specific moment in time.

But under any circumstances, Andrei Bolkonsky retains his main core of life - he always remains an honest and decent person. For him, the main principles always remain, which are based on respect for people who are worthy, from his point of view.

Changing views on the life of Andrei Bolkonsky

At the beginning of the novel, Prince Andrei suffers from the life he lives; it seems to him that everything that surrounds him is deceitful and false through and through. He is eager to go to war, dreams of exploits, of his Toulon. About glory and love of people. But here everything feels sick and disgusting to him. “Drawing rooms, gossip, balls, vanity, insignificance - this is a vicious circle from which I cannot get out,” Bolkonsky says to Pierre, answering the question of why he is going to war.

The fact that his young wife is expecting a child not only does not stop him, on the contrary, the princess irritates him with her coquetry, her usual drawing room chatter. “Of all the faces that bored him, the face of his pretty wife seemed to bore him the most,” Tolstoy writes about Bolkonsky at the beginning of the novel.

The path of Andrei Bolkonsky’s spiritual quest begins with the thought that real life is in war, the main thing in this world is not the quiet comfort of family, but military exploits in the name of glory, for the sake of human love, for the sake of the Fatherland.

Once in the war, he happily serves as Kutuzov’s adjutant. “In the expression of his face, in his movements, in his gait, the former pretense, fatigue and laziness were almost not noticeable; he had the appearance of a man who does not have time to think about the impression he makes on others, and is busy doing something pleasant and interesting. His face expressed more satisfaction with himself and those around him; his smile and gaze were more cheerful and attractive.”

Bolkonsky, before the decisive battle, reflects on the future: “Yes, it’s very possible that they will kill you tomorrow,” he thought. And suddenly, at this thought of death, a whole series of memories, the most distant and most intimate, arose in his imagination; he remembered the last farewell to his father and wife; he remembered the first times of his love for her; remembered her pregnancy, and he felt sorry for both her and himself... “Yes, tomorrow, tomorrow!

He thought. - Tomorrow, perhaps, everything will be over for me, all these memories will no longer exist, all these memories will no longer have any meaning for me. Tomorrow, maybe - even probably tomorrow, I have a presentiment of it, for the first time I will finally have to show everything that I can do.”

He strives for fame, for glory: “... I want fame, I want to be known to people, I want to be loved by them, but it’s not my fault that I want this, that this is what I want, this is what I live for. Yes, for this alone! I'll never tell anyone this, but oh my God! What should I do if I love nothing but glory, human love? Death, wounds, loss of family, nothing scares me. And no matter how dear or dear many people are to me - my father, sister, wife - the most dear people to me - but, no matter how scary and unnatural it seems, I will give them all now for a moment of glory, triumph over people, for love people whom I don’t know and won’t know, for the love of these people.”

As if in mockery, in response to lofty reasoning about what at the moment seems to Andrei the most important thing in life, Tolstoy immediately inserts a stupid joke from the soldiers, who are not at all interested in the prince’s lofty thoughts:
“Titus, what about Titus?”
“Well,” answered the old man.
“Tit, go thresh,” said the joker.
“Ugh, to hell with you,” a voice rang out, covered by the laughter of the orderlies and servants.”

But even this does not knock Bolkonsky out of his heroic mood: “And yet I love and treasure only the triumph over all of them, I treasure this mysterious power and glory that floats above me in this fog!” - he thinks.

Bolkonsky dreams of exploits, and, unlike Nikolai Rostov, does not flee from the battlefield; on the contrary, the prince rouses the retreating troops to attack. And he gets seriously injured.

This is where the first turning point occurs in Bolkonsky’s consciousness, suddenly what seemed absolutely right becomes completely unnecessary and even superfluous in his life. Lying wounded under the sky of Austerlitz, Prince Andrei clearly realizes that the main thing is not to die heroically in the war, in order to earn the love of complete strangers who don’t even care about you at all! “How come I haven’t seen this high sky before? And how happy I am that I finally recognized him. Yes! everything is empty, everything is deception, except this endless sky. There is nothing, nothing, except him. But even that is not there, there is nothing but silence, calm. And thank God!.."

Even at that moment when Napoleon, his hero, approached him... at that moment Napoleon seemed to him such a small, insignificant person in comparison with what was now happening between his soul and this high, endless sky with clouds running across it. He didn’t care at all at that moment, no matter who stood above him, no matter what they said about him; he was glad... that these people would help him and return him to life, which seemed so beautiful to him, because he understood it so differently now.”

And now Napoleon, with his ambitious plans, seems to the prince to be an insignificant creature who does not understand the true meaning of life. “At that moment all the interests that occupied Napoleon seemed so insignificant to him, his hero himself seemed so petty to him, with this petty vanity and joy of victory, in comparison with that high, fair and kind sky that he saw and understood... Looking into the eyes To Napoleon, Prince Andrei thought about the insignificance of greatness, about the insignificance of life, the meaning of which no one could understand, and about the even greater insignificance of death, the meaning of which no one living could understand and explain.”

In delirium, without realizing it, Bolkonsky dreams about his family, about his father, sister, and even his wife and a small child who should soon be born - it was these “dreams ... that formed the main basis of his feverish ideas.” “A quiet life and calm family happiness in Bald Mountains...” suddenly became the main thing for him.

And when he returned to the family estate, having managed to catch his wife in the last minutes of her life, “... something came off in his soul that he was guilty of a fault that he could not correct or forget.” The birth of a son, the death of his wife, all the events that happened to Prince Andrei during the war changed his attitude towards life. Bolkonsky even decided to never serve in the army again; the main thing for him now is caring for his little son, who needs him. “Yes, this is the only thing left for me now,” the prince thinks.

The moral quest of Andrei Bolkonsky and Pierre Bezukhov

Everything that concerns the hectic social life that his father leads, what happens in the army, seems boring and uninteresting, all this only irritates Bolkonsky. Even the fact that while reading a letter from Bilibin, Prince Andrei suddenly awakens interest in what was written, even this interest angers him, because he does not want to take part in this alien, “over there” life.

Pierre's arrival, conversations and debates about what is better: to do good to people, as Bezukhov claims, or not to do evil, as Bolkonsky believes, these events seem to awaken the prince from sleep. This philosophical dispute reflects the moral quest of Andrei Bolkonsky and Pierre Bezukhov in a difficult period of life for both of them.

They are both, each in their own way, right. Each of them is looking for their place in life, and each wants to understand for himself how to live in accordance with the concepts of honor and dignity. This dispute becomes another turning point in the life of Prince Andrei. Unexpectedly for him, “the meeting with Pierre was... the era from which, although in appearance it was the same, but in the inner world his new life began.”

During this period of his life, Bolkonsky compares himself to an old gnarled oak tree that does not want to obey spring and bloom, “Spring, and love, and happiness!” - as if this oak tree was saying, “and how can you not get tired of the same stupid and senseless deception. Everything is the same, and everything is a deception!

Looking at this tree, Prince Andrei convinces himself “that he didn’t need to start anything, that he should live out his life without doing evil, without worrying and without wanting anything.”

But the whole point is that he has to convince himself of this, in the depths of his soul, not yet fully realizing, he is ready for new metamorphoses. To the point that it will turn his soul upside down and stir up in it the dormant expectation of joy and love.

Just at this moment he meets Natasha Rostova, falls in love with her and suddenly discovers that in fact he can be happy and can love, and even the old oak tree confirms his thoughts: “The old oak tree, completely transformed, spreading out like a tent of lush, dark greenery, thrilled, slightly swaying in the rays of the evening sun. No gnarled fingers, no sores, no old mistrust and grief - nothing was visible.”

Everything that was good in his life comes to his mind, and these thoughts lead him to the conclusion that in fact: “life is not over at 31.” Love, not yet fully realized, finally returns Bolkonsky to activity.

But in life everything always changes, and Prince Andrei’s relationship with Natasha will also change. Her fatal mistake will lead to a break with Bolkonsky and to the fact that he will again lose faith in life.

Not wanting to understand and forgive Natasha, the prince will go to war, and there, having come under fire and already mortally wounded, Bolkonsky will nevertheless come to the understanding that the main thing in life is love and forgiveness.

Conclusion

So what is morality in the understanding of Prince Bolkonsky in the novel “War and Peace”? This is honor and dignity, this is love for family, for women, for people.

But often, in order to realize and reach the final verdict, a person goes through serious trials. Through these trials, thoughtful people develop and grow spiritually and morally. In an essay on the topic “The Moral Quest of Andrei Bolkonsky,” I wanted to show that for Prince Andrei the concept of morality is the basis of life, the very core on which his inner world rests.

Work test

In Leo Tolstoy's epic novel War and Peace, there are over five hundred characters. Statesmen and unnoticed participants in the war, aristocrats and simple peasants, the best people of their time and its shame - money-grubbers and careerists - are shown on the pages of the novel. Describing the lives of many people in his novel, Tolstoy, however, did not perceive them as a faceless mass: all of his heroes in the novel are living people, so much so that, while reading the book, we hear their voices and penetrate into their inner world. The great writer managed to display the uniqueness and originality of each person, showed the reader the spiritual quest of the characters, their thoughts about the meaning of life, and endowed each character with a difficult fate.

From the very first pages of the novel, its main characters appear before the reader - Prince Andrei Bolkonsky and his friend Pierre Bezukhov. Both of them have not yet determined their role in life, have not found the thing to which they would like to devote all their strength. As events unfold, we see how different their life paths are.

Prince Andrei is disappointed in social life; his marriage to the little princess did not bring him happiness. His only desire, without which he sees no point in living, is fame. He envies Napoleon, dreaming of his “Toulon”, “Arcole Bridge”. For the sake of realizing his dream, he is ready to sacrifice the most precious: “...I love nothing but fame, human love. Death, wounds, loss of family, nothing scares me.” At the moment the prince was wounded on the Field of Austerlitz, all his ambitious plans collapsed, but this no longer mattered: alone, abandoned by everyone in the middle of the field, he suddenly saw the sky - its majestic calm and solemnity were perceived by Prince Andrei as a contrast to human vanity, the insignificance of their selfish thoughts. "Yes! everything is empty, everything is deception, except this endless sky.” And it is here that his idol, Napoleon, is dethroned, who now seemed to him “such a small, insignificant person in comparison with what was happening... between his soul and this high, endless sky...”.

After the Battle of Austerlitz, Prince Andrei decided never to serve in military service again. He returns home “with a changed, strangely softened, but alarming expression on his face.” The death of his wife falls heavily on his shoulders; he decides to focus all his thoughts on raising his son, convincing himself that “this is the only thing” he has left in life. Prince Andrei is going through a mental crisis; now he condemns his false aspirations for fame and looks at life differently. With particular expressiveness, Tolstoy shows the state of Prince Andrei and his thoughts, describing his trip to the Ryazan estates. The road went through the forest, where everything was already green, and only the oak stood like an old, angry and contemptuous monster between the smiling birches. Only he alone did not want... to see either spring or the sun.” This old oak tree evoked in Prince Andrei a whole swarm of sad and hopeless thoughts. Life is over. Let others fall for her deception. And he will quietly live out his last days, without doing harm to others and without being disturbed by anything. He is trying to reveal these thoughts to Pierre Bezukhov. However, Pierre takes the opposite point of view, proving to Andrey that only a life devoted to other people can bring complete satisfaction. “The meeting with Pierre was for Prince Andrei the era from which, although in appearance it was the same, but in the inner world his new life began.”

Prince Andrei's life is changed by his meeting with Natasha Rostova, thanks to which a feeling of joy and renewal descended on him, the understanding that at 31 years old life is not over yet. And, returning home, Prince Bolkonsky again drives past the old oak tree, but sees it with different eyes: “No clumsy fingers, no sores, no old grief and mistrust - nothing was visible.” At this time, the prince condemns his selfish life, his isolation from other people. “It is necessary... that my life should not be for me alone... that it should be reflected on everyone and that they all live with me together!” Thus, he first moves on to communicating with people in his own circle, and then turns to the national life of the people.

Natasha brought Prince Andrei back to life, with all its joys and excitement. Under the influence of a feeling he had never experienced before, his inner world was transformed. “I can’t help but love the world...”, Prince Andrei says to Pierre, confessing his happiness. Revealing their relationship, the writer shows us the best sides of the prince’s soul. But the stronger the feeling of love, the greater the pain of its loss. Having lost Natasha, Prince Bolkonsky is already afraid to remember the sky of Austerlitz, the thoughts revealed to him by “endless and bright horizons.” Now he is absorbed in purely earthly, practical interests. Another loss broke him again.

The moral quest of Prince Andrei goes through ups and downs, the light and dark sides of life. But this is the only way to comprehend its true meaning.

Option 1 (Plan)

I. The desire for the highest truth is the goal of the spiritual quest of the main characters of the novel. The complexity and inconsistency of the character of Prince Andrei predetermine the difficulty of the hero’s quest in life and the painfulness of his moral insight.

P. Spiritual quest of Andrei Bolkonsky:

1. Search for a true, worthy cause:

a) dissatisfaction with secular society;

6) disappointment in family life;

c) the dream of a feat, the desire for glory;

d) the desire to gain self-confidence in military service.

2. Participation in the War of 1805:

a) a sense of military duty, brought up by the father;

b) rejection of the laws of the world among military officers;

c) the desire to experience the fate of Napoleon on oneself;

d) meeting with a true hero (Tushin’s feat in the Battle of Shengraben returns Prince Andrei to reality);

e) the meaninglessness of Prince Andrei’s feat during the Battle of Austerlitz;

f) the sky of Austerlitz (renunciation of ambitious illusions, disappointment in one’s idol, understanding of life as something more than the desire for personal glory).

3. The death of his wife and the birth of his son will help Bolkonsky understand what he sacrificed for the sake of his own selfish aspirations.

4. Withdrawal into oneself, renunciation of active life.

5. A conversation with Pierre about goodness, justice and truth is a landmark moment in the life quest of Prince Andrei.

6. Meeting with Natasha in Otradnoye(the desire to be reborn), the embodiment of the thoughts of Andrei Bolkonsky in the image of an oak tree - a symbol of “fading” and “rebirth”.

7. The desire to make a difference in public service(awakened ambition), rapprochement and break with Speransky.

8. Love for Natasha, a sense of duty and responsibility to a loved one.

9. Destroying hopes for personal happiness(inability to understand and forgive a loved one, focus on oneself).

10. Participation in the War of 1812 is a decisive stage in Bolkonsky’s life:

a) return to the army, the desire to be useful to the Fatherland, merging with the fate of the people;

b) the death of his father and the loss of his home do not close Prince Andrei within himself;

c) the moral feat of Prince Andrei on the Borodin field - a feat of endurance and fortitude;

d) a mortal wound reveals to Bolkonsky the eternal truth - the need for love for people;

e) feeling of pity for Kuragin;

f) revival of love for Natasha;

g) death of Prince Andrei.

III. The fate of Andrei Bolkonsky is the path “from Napoleon to Kutuzov”, the path of a man who makes mistakes and is able to atone for his guilt, the path of a man striving for moral perfection.

Option 2 (Plan, quotes)

The path of moral quest of Prince Andrei Bolkonsky

I. Prince Andrei Bolkonsky in the light:

1) Dissatisfaction with life in the world (“... this life that I lead here, this life is not for me!”); book Andrei knows the price of light: lies, hypocrisy are its laws;

2) Bolkonsky is not satisfied with family life (“But if you want to know the truth... (to Prince Marya’s sister) do you want to know if I’m happy? No. Is she happy? No. Why is this? I don’t know...");

3) Friendship with Pierre Bezukhov (“You are dear to me, especially because you are the only living person among our whole world”);

4) Dreams of military glory, of your Toulon.

II. The War of 1805 in the fate of the prince. Andrey:

1) The changed mood and attitude of the book. Andrei (“...changed a lot during this time... he had the appearance of a man... busy with something pleasant and interesting”);

2) Battle of Shengraben. Book Andrei dreams of glory: “... it occurred to him that he was precisely destined to lead the Russian army out of this situation, that here he was, that Toulon, who would lead him out of the ranks of unknown officers and open up the first path to glory for him!” The first doubts are that military glory is exactly what should be served: true heroes remain in the shadows;

3) Battle of Austerlitz:

a) dreams of glory on the eve of battle: “I want fame, I want to be known to people, I want to be loved by them”;

b) the feat of Bolkonsky;

c) the sky of Austerlitz - the collapse of Bolkonsky’s former dreams: the former aspirations for glory, for human Love are vanity and therefore insignificant. A person should look for something else in life. But what?

III. A period of spiritual crisis. Life for yourself.

Life in Bogucharovo (Bolkonsky’s world narrowed after the death of his wife and the birth of his son. Standing by his son’s crib, he thinks: “This is the only thing left for me now”);

2) the arrival of Pierre Bezukhov and the conversation with him on the ferry is a turning point in Prince Andrei’s mood and attitude: “The meeting with Pierre was for Prince Andrei the era... with which his new life began.”

3) “New Life” book. Andrey after meeting with Pierre (successful attempts to alleviate the situation of his peasants).

IV. Meeting with Natasha Rostova and love to her - the final revival of the book. Andrey to life:

1) First meeting with Natasha in Otradnoye (two meetings with an oak tree - a reflection of Prince Andrei’s two moods).

2) Thirst for active work, in the Speransky commission: “No, at 31, life did not end...”.

3) Meeting with Natasha at the big court ball (1810) and the impression Natasha made on the prince. Andrei (he loved to meet everything that did not have a secular imprint).

4) Disappointment in Speransky and the service: under the influence of love for Natasha, Bolkonsky’s worldview changes;

5) The whole meaning, the whole life for the book. Andrey - in love with Natasha (“The whole world is divided for me into two halves: one is she and there is all happiness, hope, light; the other half is everything where she is not there, there is all despondency and emptiness”).

6) Postponement of the wedding (at the request of the old Prince Bolkonsky) and the departure of the prince. Andrey abroad. Book error. Andrey: I thought a lot about my love and little about how Natasha feels.

7) Final break with Natasha. (“I said that a fallen woman must be forgiven, but I didn’t say that I could forgive. I can’t...”).

8) Prince Andrei is looking for a personal meeting with Anatole, because “having not given a new reason for the duel, Prince Andrei considered the challenge on his part to be compromising Countess Rostov.” Even offended, even humiliated, Prince Andrei cannot humiliate a woman.

V. The War of 1812 in the fate of Prince Andrei Bolkonsky.

1) Bolkonsky’s trip in search of Anatoly Kuragin, to St. Petersburg and to the Turkish army. His transfer to the Western Army to Barclay de Tolly.

2) A trip to Bald Mountains to see my father, a quarrel with him and departure to war.

3) Prince Andrei’s decision to serve not under the person of the sovereign, but in the army (“Forever lost himself in the court world, not asking to remain with the person of the sovereign, but asking permission to remain in the army”).

4) Andrei Bolkonsky on the eve of the Battle of Borodino; a meeting with Pierre and a conversation with him about the war, about the appointment of Kutuzov as commander-in-chief. Bolkonsky’s blood connection with the common people, with the soldiers (“He was completely devoted to the affairs of his regiment, he was caring about his people and officers and affectionate with them. In the regiment they called him OUR PRINCE, they were proud of him, they loved him”).

5) At the dressing station. Meeting with Anatoly Kuragin: there is no former hatred, “enthusiastic pity and love for this man filled his happy heart.” What is this? Or, as he himself thinks, that patient love for people was revealed to him. which his sister taught him!

6) Wounded prince. Andrey in the Rostov convoy. The prince's state of mind, his reconciliation with Natasha. The last moral struggle between life and death. (“That enthusiastic love for people, which he understood after being wounded, was replaced by indifference to them: to love everyone... meant not to love anyone, it meant not to live this earthly life”).

Option 3 (Plan, quotes)

The path of moral quest of Prince Andrei Bolkonsky

To live honestly, you have to rush, get confused, fight, make mistakes, start and quit... And calmness is spiritual meanness.

L.N. Tolstoy

Tolstoy's favorite heroes go through the most difficult moral quest, trying to find the truth, the truth of life, to find the real meaning of life and happiness.

We first meet Andrei Bolkonsky in the Scherer salon. Much in his behavior and appearance expresses deep disappointment in secular society, boredom from visiting living rooms, fatigue from empty and deceitful conversations. This is evidenced by his tired, bored look, the grimacing that spoiled his handsome face, the manner of squinting when looking at people. He contemptuously calls those gathered in the salon “stupid society.” Andrei is unhappy to realize that his wife Lisa cannot do without this idle circle of people. “Drawing rooms, gossip, balls, vanity, insignificance - this is a vicious circle from which I cannot escape.”

Only with his friend Pierre is he simple, natural, filled with friendly sympathy and heartfelt affection. Only to Pierre can he admit with all frankness and seriousness: “This life that I lead here, this life is not for me.” He experiences an irresistible thirst for real life. His sharp, analytical mind is attracted to her; broad requests push him to great achievements. Their opportunity, according to Andrei, is opened up for him by the army and participation in military campaigns. Although he could easily stay in St. Petersburg and serve as an aide-de-camp here, he goes to where military operations are taking place. The battles of 1805 were a way out of the deadlock for Bolkonsky.

Army service becomes one of the important stages in the quest of Tolstoy's hero. Here he is sharply separated from the numerous seekers of a quick career and high awards who could be met at headquarters. He does not look for reasons for promotion and awards, unlike many staff officers.

Bolkonsky acutely feels his responsibility for the fate of Russia. The Ulm defeat of the Austrians and the appearance of the defeated General Mack gives rise to disturbing thoughts in his soul about what obstacles stand in the way of the Russian army.

Military service changes the prince. He has lost all pretense and fatigue, the grimace of boredom has disappeared from his face, and energy is felt in his gait and movements. According to Tolstoy, Andrei “had the appearance of a man who does not have time to think about the impression he makes on others and is busy with something pleasant and interesting. His face expressed great satisfaction with himself and those around him.” Prince Andrei insists that he be sent to where it is especially difficult - to Bagration’s detachment, of which only one tenth can return after the battle. Bolkonsky’s actions are highly appreciated by commander Kutuzov, who singled him out as one of his best officers.

Prince Andrei is unusually ambitious. Tolstoy's hero dreams of such a personal feat that would glorify him. He cherishes the thought of glory, similar to that which Napoleon received in the French city of Toulon, which would lead him out of the ranks of unknown officers. During the Battle of Shengraben, Bolkonsky boldly circles positions under enemy bullets. He alone dared to go to Tushin's battery and did not leave until the guns were removed. Here, in the Battle of Shengraben, Bolkonsky was lucky enough to witness the heroism and courage shown by the artillerymen of Captain Tushin. In addition, he himself discovered military endurance and courage here, and then one of all the officers stood up to defend the little captain. Shengraben, however, has not yet become Bolkonsky’s Toulon.

On the eve of the Battle of Austerlitz, Bolkonsky is completely in the grip of his dreams. He imagines how he “firmly and clearly speaks his opinion to Kutuzov, and Weyrother, and the emperors”, how everyone is amazed at “the fidelity of his ideas, but no one undertakes to fulfill it, and so he takes a regiment, a division... and alone wins” . Here, in the hero’s mind, a dispute between two internal voices begins.

Another inner voice objects to Prince Andrei, reminding him of death and suffering. But the first voice drowns out these unpleasant thoughts for him: “Death, wounds, loss of family, nothing scares me. And no matter how dear or dear many people are to me - my father, sister, wife - the people dearest to me - but, no matter how scary and unnatural it seems, I will give them all now for a moment of glory, triumph over people, for self-love of people I don’t know...”

In the Battle of Austerlitz, Prince Andrei’s ambitious dreams of his “Toulon” are shattered, barely having time to come true. Bolkonsky manages to prevent the panic that has engulfed the troops and raises the battalion to attack when, with the regimental banner in his hands, he rushes forward, calling on the soldiers to attack.

However, in this battle, Prince Andrei is seriously wounded, and life opens up to him in a completely different way. Bleeding on the Field of Austerlitz, Bolkonsky suddenly realizes how empty, petty and insignificant all his previous desires are. Dreams of glory, heroic deeds, the love of others, the genius of Napoleon - everything seems vain to him, far from the true meaning of life, “enclosed in the huge, endless sky” that he sees in front of him.

“How quiet, calm and solemn, not at all like how I ran,” thought Prince Andrei, “not like how we ran, shouted and fought; It’s not at all like how the Frenchman and the artilleryman pulled each other’s banners with embittered and frightened faces - not at all like how the clouds crawl across this high endless sky. How come I haven’t seen this high sky before? And how happy I am that I finally recognized him.” A kind of “revolution” occurs in the hero’s life, dramatically changing his fate.

Realizing the pettiness of his ambitious thoughts, Prince Andrei goes into private life. He decides to no longer serve either in the army or in civilian service, in his soul there is a “cooling towards life”, in his thoughts - skepticism and unbelief, in his feelings - indifference and indifference. The disappointment in his ambitious plans was deep and difficult, because it was aggravated by personal misfortune - the death of his wife, before whom Prince Andrei felt guilty.

He isolates himself from life, takes care of only his household and his son in Bogucharovo, convincing himself that this is all that is left for him. He now intends to live only for himself, “without disturbing anyone, to live until death.”

But despite his attempts to escape from the worries of life, he is disturbed by reports of victories over Bonaparte at Preussisch-Eylau, since they were won precisely when he was not serving in the army; he is worried about Bilibin’s letter describing the campaign.

Tolstoy reveals pessimistic moods through the portrait of the hero. His gaze was “extinguished and dead”, devoid of a “joyful and cheerful shine”, “concentration and murder” were noticeable in it.

The socio-political views of Prince Andrei at this time had a pronounced noble-class character. Talking with Pierre, he expresses views that are sharply opposed to all his subsequent activities. The prince is skeptical about the need for innovation. He says this about the peasants: “If they are beaten, flogged and sent to Siberia, then I think that it is no worse for them. In Siberia he leads his same bestial life, and the scars on his body will heal, and he is as happy as he was before.” Medical assistance, according to Prince Andrei, also does not need to be provided to the peasants, it only brings them harm. During this period, Andrei Bolkonsky is only concerned about the moral peace of the nobles, and not the well-being of the people, therefore, in his opinion, serfdom must be abolished for the sake of “preserving human dignity, peace of conscience, purity” of the nobles, and not for the sake of the “backs and foreheads” of the peasants, “ who, no matter how much you flog, no matter how much you hit, will all remain the same with their backs and foreheads.”

But Prince Andrei was not long in captivity of such views, which were so contrary to his honest and active nature.

His revival is shown by Tolstoy sequentially in a number of episodes (a meeting with Pierre, a description of Prince Andrei’s activities in the village, his perception of spring nature, a meeting with Natasha).

Bolkonsky proves to Pierre that he needs to live for himself, without thinking about the global problems of existence. Pierre convinces his friend of the need for “life for everyone.” But such a life brought Prince Andrei only bitterness and disappointment: desiring achievement, glory and the love of those around him, he lost faith in himself, in the effectiveness and significance of any activity. “I know only two real misfortunes in life: remorse and illness. And happiness is only the absence of these two evils,” Bolkonsky says to Pierre.

Pierre believes that his friend’s mental crisis is a temporary state, that Prince Andrei’s momentary beliefs are far from the truth, which exists in the world regardless of all human misconceptions. “...There is truth and there is virtue; and man's highest happiness consists in striving to achieve them. We must live, we must love, we must believe... that we are not living just now on this piece of land, but that we have lived and will live forever...” he convinces Bolkonsky.

Pierre's words inspire Prince Andrei, and “something that has long fallen asleep, something better and joyful” awakens in his soul.

In the next two years, which the prince lived in the village, he carried out significant anti-serfdom reforms on his estates. On one estate, he transferred three hundred peasants to free cultivators (this was the first experience in Russia), on others, he replaced corvee with quitrent. He organized medical care for the peasants and took care of their education. In Bogucharovo, the sexton taught literacy to peasant and courtyard children.

Prince Andrei's life in the village was filled with hard work. He closely followed all the external events of the world, read a lot, and was knowledgeable in the field of foreign and domestic politics much better than the people who came to the village from St. Petersburg. In addition, he “was at that time engaged in a critical analysis of the last two unfortunate campaigns and drawing up a project to change our military regulations and regulations” (Vol. II, Part III, Chapter I).

The hero’s return to life” is also helped by his trip to Otradnoye. Here he meets Natasha Rostova and accidentally overhears her night conversation with Sonya. Natasha, by her very existence, her sincere love for the world, calls Bolkonsky to life. It was after the night conversation he heard that an “unexpected confusion of young thoughts and hopes” awakens in his soul; the renewed, transformed oak, reminiscent of old age, now evokes in the soul of Prince Andrei “a causeless spring feeling of joy,” a thirst for activity and love.

After a trip to Otradnoye, Prince Andrei regains the desire to “live with everyone,” his lost energy is revived, and his interest in social activities awakens. He goes to St. Petersburg to take part in the reforms being carried out in Russia. His hero this time is Speransky. Having become a member of the commission for drawing up the military regulations, Prince Andrei experiences in St. Petersburg “a feeling similar to what he experienced on the eve of the battle, when he was tormented by restless curiosity and irresistibly drawn to higher spheres.” Speransky seems to him the ideal of a “completely reasonable and virtuous person”; he feels for him “the passionate feeling of admiration that he once felt for Bonaparte.”

However, while admiring Speransky’s extraordinary mentality, his energy and perseverance, Prince Andrei was at the same time unpleasantly struck by his cold, mirror-like gaze, which did not allow him to penetrate into his soul, and by the too great contempt for people that he noticed in this man.

At a home dinner with the Speranskys, Prince Andrei is completely disappointed in his idol. In a home environment, a person is most natural - to Bolkonsky, all gestures, poses, and speeches of Speransky seem artificial and feigned. The thin sound of Speransky's voice unpleasantly strikes Prince Andrei. And again the hero is visited by thoughts about the insignificance of what is happening, he remembers his troubles, searches, the formalism of the meetings, where “everything that concerned the essence of the matter was carefully and briefly discussed.” Having realized the futility of this work, the bureaucracy of officials, the isolation from reality, feeling that work cannot make him happier and better, and cannot be useful to society, Prince Andrei leaves public service.

In St. Petersburg, Bolkonsky meets Natasha Rostova again, and this chance meeting at the ball becomes fateful. “Prince Andrei, like all people who grew up in the world, loved to meet in the world that which did not have a common secular imprint on itself. And such was Natasha, with her surprise, joy, and timidity, and even mistakes in the French language.” In Natasha, he is unconsciously attracted to something that is not in himself - simplicity, fullness of life, acceptance of it, spontaneity of perception and enormous inner freedom. He feels in Natasha “the presence of a completely alien to him, special world, filled with some joys unknown to him...”

Bolkonsky himself was never internally free - he was constrained by social rules, moral norms, dogmas perceived by the soul, and his idealistic demands on people and life. Therefore, love for Natasha is the strongest of all feelings experienced by the hero. This is his greatest impulse to life. However, Bolkonsky’s happiness was not destined to happen: Natasha unexpectedly became interested in Anatoly Kuragin and broke off her relationship with Prince Andrei.

And Bolkonsky again goes to military service. Now this service for him is salvation from personal misfortune, a desire to forget himself in the circle of new people and things. “Everything that connected his memory with the past repelled him, and therefore he tried in relation to this former world only not to be unfair and to fulfill his duty.” “Your road is the road of honor,” Kutuzov will tell him. A sense of duty does not allow him to remain indifferent to great, grandiose events. For Bolkonsky, the French invasion of Russia is exactly the same misfortune as the death of his father, as well as the break with Natasha. Prince Andrei sees his duty as defending his homeland. A new stage in his life began, which led to a rapprochement with the people.

A leading man of the era, a patriot, he condemns people who, wanting benefits only for themselves, “caught crosses, rubles and ranks.” All this “drone population” was concentrated in the main apartment and least of all thought about saving the Fatherland, so Prince Andrei went to serve in the regiment: “Prince Andrei lost himself forever in the court world, not asking to remain with the sovereign, but asking to serve in the army” ( vol.III, part I, chapter XI).

Together with his regiment, he walked from the western borders to the village of Borodino. At this time, his spiritual quests do not stop, which take on an increasingly pronounced democratic and patriotic character. Before the Battle of Borodino, he talks with Pierre, who arrived on the battlefield. Bolkonsky no longer believes in military genius and in the rational will of an individual. His faith now lies in the “people's feeling”, that “hidden warmth of patriotism” that unites all Russian soldiers and gives them confidence in victory. “Tomorrow, no matter what, we will win the battle!” - he says to Pierre.

In the battle, Prince Andrei is seriously wounded, after which he is operated on. Here the hero again feels the proximity of death, and only now there is a turning point in his worldview. After suffering, he feels “a bliss that he has not experienced for a long time.” His heart is filled with a previously unfamiliar feeling of Christian love. He feels pity and compassion when he sees the wounded Anatole lying next to him. “Compassion, love for brothers, for those who love us, who hate us, love for enemies - yes, the love that God preached on earth...” - all this is suddenly revealed to Prince Andrei.

However, universal, compassionate love begins to fight in the dying Bolkonsky with love for Natasha, when they meet in Mytishchi, with the love that binds him to life. And first love wins - with her, Prince Andrei “refuses” life and dies. Thus, Tolstoy in the novel contrasts life and Christian, all-forgiving love.

The whole life of Andrei Bolkonsky was imbued with the desire for an unattainable ideal. Such an ideal for him turns out to be forgiveness and compassion. Having acquired a new worldview, he overcomes the spiritual limitations of individualism and intolerance. He dies, having achieved harmony, if not with life, then at least with himself.

The spiritual quest of Prince Andrei was characteristic of the advanced nobility of the era of preparation for the Decembrist uprising. Subsequently, such quests led to the organization of secret societies in Russia, the activities of which ended with the uprising in December 1825.

And although Prince Andrei died before the organization of the first secret societies of the Decembrists, there is reason to assume that he would have been in their ranks.

When in 1820 Pierre became one of the organizers of secret societies and spoke with enthusiasm about their activities, Nikolenka (son of Prince Andrei) asked him:

“Uncle Pierre... you... no... If dad were alive... Would he agree with you?..

“I think so,” Pierre answered him. (Epilogue, part I, chapter XIV).

Option 4

Spiritual quest of Andrei Bolkonsky

The epic “War and Peace” grew out of Tolstoy’s idea to write the novel “Decemberists”. Tolstoy began to write his work, left it, returned to it again, until the Great French Revolution, the theme of which sounds from the first pages of the novel, and the Patriotic War of 1812 became the focus of his attention. The idea of ​​writing a book about the Decembrist was absorbed by a broader idea - Tolstoy began to write about a world shaken by war. This is how the epic novel turned out, where the feat of the Russian people in the War of 1812 is shown on a historical scale. At the same time, “War and Peace” is also a “family chronicle”, showing a noble society represented by several generations. And finally, it describes the life of a young nobleman, his views and spiritual formation. Tolstoy endowed Andrei Bolkonsky with many of the traits that, according to the author, a Decembrist should have.

The novel shows the whole life of Prince Andrei. Probably every person at one time in his life thinks about the questions: “Who am I? Why do I live? What am I living for? Tolstoy's hero tries to answer these and many other questions on the pages of the novel. The author has sympathy for the young Prince Bolkonsky. This is confirmed by the fact that Tolstoy endowed Prince Andrei with many of his views and beliefs. Therefore, Bolkonsky is, as it were, a conductor of the ideas of the author himself.

We meet Andrei Bolkonsky in Anna Scherer's salon. Even then we see that this is an extraordinary person. Prince Andrei is handsome, he is impeccably and fashionably dressed. He speaks excellent French, which at that time was considered a sign of education and culture. He even pronounces the last name Kutuzov with emphasis on the last syllable, like a Frenchman. Prince Andrei is a secular man. In this sense, he is subject to all the influences of fashion, not only in clothing, but also in behavior and lifestyle. Tolstoy draws our attention to his slow, quiet, senile step and boredom in his gaze. On his face we read superiority and self-confidence. He considers those around him to be inferior to himself, and therefore inferior, hence the boredom. We soon realize that all this is superficial. Seeing Pierre in the salon, Prince Andrei is transformed. He is glad to see his old friend and does not hide it. The prince's smile becomes "unexpectedly kind and pleasant." Despite the fact that Pierre is younger than Andrey, they talk as equals, and the conversation brings pleasure to both. By the time we meet him, Andrei is already a fully formed personality, but he will still face many challenges in life. Prince Andrei will have to go through war, injury, love, slow dying, and all this time the prince will get to know himself, look for that “moment of truth” through which the truth of life will be revealed to him.

In the meantime, Andrei Bolkonsky is looking for fame. It is in pursuit of glory that he goes to the War of 1805. Andrey longs to become a hero. In his dreams, he sees how the army finds itself in a dangerous situation and he single-handedly saves it. The prince’s idol and the object of his worship is Napoleon. It must be said that many young people of that time were captivated by the personality of Napoleon. Andrey wants to be like him and tries to imitate him in everything. In such high spirits, young Bolkonsky goes to war. We see Prince Andrei at the Battle of Austerlitz. He runs ahead of the attacking soldiers with a banner in his hands, then falls, wounded. The first thing Andrei sees after the fall is the sky. A high, endless sky with clouds running across it. It calls, beckons, and fascinates with its grandeur so much that Prince Andrey is even surprised when he discovers it for the first time. “How come I haven’t seen this high sky before? And how happy I am that I finally recognized him,” thinks Andrey. But at this moment another truth is revealed to the prince. Everything that he strived for, for which he lived, now seems like a trifle, not worthy of attention. He is no longer interested in the political life to which he aspired, nor does he need a military career, to which he recently wanted to devote himself entirely. His recent idol Napoleon seems small and insignificant. Prince Andrei begins to rethink life. His thoughts return to his home in Bald Mountains, where his father, wife, sisters and unborn child remained. The war turned out to be completely different from what Andrei imagined it to be. Intoxicated with a thirst for glory, he idealized military life. In fact, he had to face death and blood. The fierce battles and the embittered faces of the people showed him the real face of the war. All his dreams of military exploits now seem like child's play to him. Prince Andrei returns home. But another blow awaits him at home - the death of his wife. At one time, Prince Andrei lost some interest in her, and now he reads pain and reproach in her eyes. After the death of his wife, the prince withdraws into himself, even his little son does not bring him joy. In order to somehow occupy himself, he introduces innovations in his village. Pierre sees the spiritual state of Prince Bolkonsky, his depression and disappointment. “He was struck by the change that had occurred in Prince Andrei. The words were affectionate, there was a smile on his lips and face... but his gaze was dull, dead..." Pierre tries to bring Andrei back to life. True, a lot of time has passed since their last meeting and the friends have become somewhat distant from each other. Nevertheless, the conversation in Bogucharovo made Bolkonsky think about Pierre’s words “... if there is a God and there is a future life, then there is truth, there is virtue; and the highest happiness of a person lies in striving to achieve them,” “one must live, one must love, one must believe.” Despite the fact that these statements seemed controversial to Prince Andrei at the time, he realizes that Pierre was right. From this moment Andrei's revival to life begins.

On the way to Otradnoye, Prince Bolkonsky sees a huge oak tree “with broken... branches and broken bark overgrown with old sores,” which “stood like an old, angry and contemptuous monster between the smiling birch trees.” The oak is a symbol of Andrei's state of mind. This tree seems to say that there is neither spring nor happiness on earth, only deception remains. And Prince Andrei agrees with the oak tree: “... yes, he is right, this oak tree is right a thousand times... let others, young people, succumb to this deception again, but we know life - our life is over!”

In Otradnoye the prince saw Natasha. This little girl was full of happiness, energy, and cheerfulness. “And she doesn’t care about my existence!” - thought Prince Andrei. But he is already challenging fate. He understands that you can’t bury yourself alive in the village, you just need to be able to live, enjoy life the way Natasha does. And the symbolic oak tree, “all transformed, spreading out like a tent of lush, dark greenery, was thrilled, slightly swaying in the rays of the evening sun.” Natasha changed Andrei’s life in an instant, made him wake up from hibernation and believe in love again. Andrey says: “Not only... what is in me, it is necessary for everyone to know it... so that my life does not go on for me alone... so that it is reflected on everyone and so that they all live with me.”

But for now Bolkonsky leaves Natasha and leaves for St. Petersburg. There he meets the leading people of his time, participates in drawing up transformative projects, in a word, plunges into the political life of the country. He spends more time in St. Petersburg than he initially expected, and upon returning, Andrei finds out that Natasha has cheated on him, having become infatuated with Anatoly Kuragin. Bolkonsky loves Natasha, but he is too proud and arrogant to forgive her for her betrayal. Therefore, they are forced to part, each having an unhealed wound in their souls.

Prince Andrei meets Pierre again. Now just before the Battle of Borodino. Pierre feels that Andrei is not destined to live, and Andrei seems to understand this too. In the Battle of Borodino, Bolkonsky is again wounded. Now he is reaching for the ground. He envies grass and flowers, and not proud, domineering clouds. He himself now has nothing left of the pride that forced him to part with Natasha. For the first time, Prince Andrei thinks not about himself, but about others. It is now that the truth that Pierre told him about is revealed to him. He forgives Natasha. Moreover, he forgives Anatole too. Already on the verge of death, Andrei realizes that “a new happiness has been revealed to him, inalienable from a person... happiness that is outside of material forces, outside of material influences on a person, the happiness of one soul, the happiness of love! Every person can understand it, but only God could recognize and prescribe it.” Andrey meets Na-Tasha again. The minutes spent with her turn out to be the happiest for Andrei. Natasha brings him back to life once again. But, alas, he had very little time to live. “Prince Andrei died. But at the same moment as he died, Prince Andrei remembered that he was sleeping, and at the same moment as he died, he, making an effort on himself, woke up. From that moment “began for Prince Andrei, along with awakening from sleep, awakening from life.”

Thus, the novel shows two concepts about the happiness of Prince Andrei. At first, Andrei believes that one must live for oneself, that each person should live in his own way. There are two misfortunes in life: remorse and illness. And a person is happy only when these misfortunes are absent. And only at the end of his life Andrey realized true happiness - to live for others.

Essay text:

If you carefully follow how the destinies of the main characters of L.N. Tolstoy’s novel War and Peace developed, then we can say with confidence: each of them experienced a significant evolution in their views on life. One example is the absolute change in the worldview of Prince Andrei Bolkonsky. We first meet him at a reception with Anna Pavlovna Sherer. There, all the conversations in one way or another revolve around the personality of Napoleon Bonaparte. Moreover, members of the circle talk about Napoleon as if he were a frequent visitor to Anna Pavlovna Scherer’s salon: I tell various funny stories about him and imagine him as a well-known, even close, person. Andrei Bolkonsky has a completely different perception of Napoleon’s personality; lyrical salon conversations irritate him immensely. For him, Napoleon is an exceptional person. Prince Andrei is afraid of his genius, which may be stronger than all the courage of the Russian troops, and at the same time he fears shame for his hero. With all his being, Bolkonsky rushes in pursuit of the ideal associated with the victorious career of Napoleon. As soon as Prince Andrei learns that the Russian army is in dire straits, he decides that it is he who is destined to save it and that here he is, that Toulon, who will lead him out of the ranks of unknown officers and open the first path to glory for him. However, fate decreed differently. She gave him the opportunity to see his idol, but at the same time showed him the insignificance of his search for earthly glory. Looking at the high Austerlitz sky, the wounded Prince Andrei says to himself: Yes, I knew nothing, nothing until now. And when Napoleon himself, Napoleon Bonaparte, his recent idol, approaches him, who, mistaking him for a murdered man, utters the pompous phrase: What a wonderful death! For Bolkonsky, this praise is like the buzzing of a fly. Napoleon seems small and insignificant to him in comparison with what was revealed to his consciousness in those minutes. Overcoming the Napoleonic ideal is one of the stages in the evolution of Andrei Bolkonsky's personality. However, when a person loses old ideals and does not gain new ones, an emptiness forms in his soul. So Prince Andrei, after Napoleon was overthrown from the pedestal and abandoned his previous dreams of glory, began a painful search for the meaning of life. He frightens Pierre Bezukhov with his gloomy thoughts caused precisely by the absence of this meaning. Prince Andrei no longer wants to serve in the army: After Austerlitz!.. No, I humbly thank you, I promised myself that I would not serve in the active Russian army. He does not approve of Pierre's ideas about the liberation of the peasants, believing that this will not benefit them. Having stopped living for fame, Prince Andrei tries to live for himself. But such a philosophy only fills his soul with confusion. Prince Andrey’s mood is acutely felt at the moment when, on the way to Otradnoye, he sees a huge old oak tree. This oak tree did not want to submit to the charm of spring and did not want to see either spring or the sun. Bolkonsky seems to be trying to attribute to the oak the thoughts that overcome him: Spring, love and happiness!.. And how can you not get tired of the same stupid, senseless deception! This moment seems to be the highest, critical point of Prince Andrei’s mental torment. But fate again surprises him with a small episode that radically changes his whole life. This is the first meeting with Natasha Rostova in Otradnoye. Not so much a meeting as just an overheard conversation between her and a friend, a light touch to her inner world. This contributed to the sudden rise in his soul... of an unexpected confusion of young thoughts and hopes, contradictory to his whole life. Returning home the next day, Prince Andrei again saw the oak tree that had made such a gloomy impression on him the day before. Bolkonsky did not immediately recognize him: The old oak tree, completely transformed, spread out like a tent of lush, dark greenery, was thrilled, slightly swaying in the rays of the evening sun. At that moment, Prince Andrei realized that life was not over, and he needed to make sure that it flowed not for him alone, but reflected on everyone. He had an urgent need to take an active part in life. This was followed by Prince Andrei’s fascination with the personality of Speransky. He met Speransky at the moment when the latter’s fame reached its apogee. It was a kind of double of Napoleon, not only in the strength of the impression it made, but even in appearance and character traits. However, the memory of Austerlitz did not allow Prince Andrey to create another idol for himself, despite all the admiration that Speransky aroused in him. Thus, Prince Andrei finally overcame the influence of Napoleon’s personality. When the War of 1812 began, Bolkonsky seemed to have forgotten that he no longer wanted to serve in the Russian army. He went to war this time not in search of glory, but with the sole desire to share the fate of his people. Not a shadow of his former arrogance remained in him, he changed his attitude towards the peasants, and they paid him with love and trust, calling him our prince. After the Battle of Borodino, the mortally wounded Prince Andrei is admitted to the hospital and there he suddenly recognizes one of the wounded as Anatoly Kuragin. In the plot of the novel, their meeting is no less important than Bolkonsky’s meeting with Napoleon on the Field of Austerlitz, since these are links in the same chain of spiritual renewal of the hero, who comprehends the meaning of life. In the camp hospital, I cut Anatolya’s crushed leg, and at this time Bolkonsky is tormented not so much by a physical wound as by a spiritual one. The contrast that arises from the comparison of the physical and the spiritual very accurately characterizes both Anatole and Prince Andrei. Anatole, in fact, is already dead as a person, but Bolkonsky retained his spirituality. He plunged into memories from the world of childhood, pure and loving. At that moment, the experiences of a child and a dying person were combined in his mind. And in such a connection, Bolkonsky felt an ideal state of mind. It was a moment. But at that moment, by exerting physical and spiritual strength, the hero brought together all the best qualities of his nature. He remembered Natasha at the ball in 1810, since it was at that time that, perhaps, for the first time he felt within himself with extraordinary clarity the power of natural life. And now his love for Natasha forced him to color everything around him with this living feeling and forgive Anatoly Kuragin. The dying Bolkonsky demonstrates the victory of the natural principle in him. Death for Prince Andrei in his new state is devoid of horror and tragedy, since the transition there is as natural as the arrival of a person from non-existence into the world. Following the scene in the hospital is a description of the results of the Borodino battle. The triumph of the spirit of Prince Bolkonsky and the triumph of the spirit of the Russian people resonate with each other. The people's thought is thus organically embodied in the image of Prince Andrei. It is no coincidence that Pierre compares Bolkonsky with Platon Karataev. Before his death, Prince Andrei came precisely to the Karataev worldview. The only difference is that for Prince Andrey this understanding of life and death was not given by nature, but became the result of hard work of thought. However, Tolstoy is closer to those heroes for whom this philosophy is natural, that is, it lives in them by itself and they don’t even think about it. This is, for example, Natasha, who lives by the principle: Live and live. The internal unity of Bolkonsky and Karataev is emphasized by the characteristic coincidence of the attitudes of those around them towards the death of both. Pierre took Karataev's death as a due, natural event, and Natasha and Princess Marya reacted to the death of Prince Andrei in the same way. An aristocrat, a nobleman, Prince Bolkonsky passed away in the same way as the peasant Platon Karataev. This was a huge moral victory for Prince Andrei, for he objectively, according to Tolstoy, came closer to the faith, the bearers of which were Platon Karataev and thousands, millions of Russian people. Pierre Bezukhov compares Bolkonsky and Karataev as two equally beloved people, who both lived and both died. This reasoning for Pierre is full of deep meaning. Bolkonsky and Karataev are children of the great Mother Nature. Their life and death are a logical link of nature, which gave them life and into the bosom of which they, like thousands of others like them, had to return. which is completely inaccessible to Nikolai, although he is older and more experienced: She almost quarreled with her brother over Dolokhov. She insisted that he was an evil man, that in the duel with Bezukhov Pierre was right, and Dolokhov was to blame, that he was unpleasant and unnatural. Natasha does not know how to explain or prove logically, because she understands people not with her mind, but with her heart. And her heart always tells her correctly. It is interesting that Natashg, unlike Sonya, does not at all strive to sacrifice herself, she does not even set herself the goal of helping people, making them happy. She simply lives and with her sensitivity and understanding, one way or another helps everyone around her. Natasha gives people the warmth of her soul, infecting people with that irrepressible thirst for life that overwhelms her. There are many examples of this. When Nikolai returned home after losing at cards, Natasha instantly noticed her brother's condition... but she herself was so happy that minute... that she... deliberately deceived herself and continued to sing.
And yet, without knowing it, Natasha sang for her brother and thereby helped him. Listening to her singing, Nikolai realized: All this, and misfortune, and money, and Dolokhov, and anger, and honor, all this is nonsense... but here it is real... Prince Andrei went to Count Rostov in Otradnoye, sad and preoccupied, thinking that love and happiness are a stupid, meaningless deception. The very thought of being reborn to a new life, love, activity was unpleasant to him. However, when he saw a strangely thin, black-eyed girl running away from his stroller with a cheerful laugh, he was hurt by the fact that this girl did not know and did not want to know about his existence. Natasha's night conversation with Sonya, accidentally overheard by Prince Andrei, had such an effect on him that an unexpected confusion of young thoughts and hopes, contradictory to his whole life, suddenly arose in his soul. Only Natasha could evoke such feelings in people, only she could make them dream of flying into the sky, as she herself dreamed. Princess Marya is different. Growing up in the village, raised by a stern and sometimes cruel father, she did not know the joys of life that Natasha fully enjoyed. For old Prince Bolkonsky there were only two virtues: activity and intelligence. He considered order to be the main condition for activity, and this order in his way of life was brought to the utmost degree of precision. Princess Marya did not have a mother to whom she could run at night to chat and kiss her darling, as Natasha did. There was a father whom she, of course, loved, but was so afraid that even red spots shimmered across her face. When you read about how she studies mathematics with her father, your heart is filled with such pity for this girl that you just want to protect her from her tyrant father. It becomes clear why the princess’s eyes were tormented, she saw nothing, heard nothing... and was only thinking about how she could quickly leave the office and understand the problem in her own open space. She corresponds with Julie Karagina, sincerely believing that this is her friend. It is not surprising that the smart, subtle Princess Marya believes in the friendship of the false and narrow-minded Julie. After all, she no longer has friends, and partly she invented a friend for herself. Their letters are similar only at first glance, but they are like day and night: Julie’s artificial and contrived suffering has nothing in common with the completely sincere, bright and pure thoughts of Princess Marya. Deprived of all joy, lonely, locked in a village with a stupid Frenchwoman and an oppressive, albeit loving father, Princess Marya tries to console poor, suffering Julie. She herself finds solace only in religion. Princess Marya's faith evokes respect, because for her it is, first of all, demanding of herself. She is ready to forgive everyone’s weaknesses, but not herself. Tolstoy loves the princess and, apparently, that is why he is merciless towards her. He puts her through many tests, as if in order to check whether she can withstand it and whether she will not lose her sincerity and spiritual purity. But Princess Marya, who seems so weak and defenseless, is in fact so strong in spirit that she can withstand all the hardships sent to her by fate.

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