Popular thought in the work War and Peace. Popular thought in the epic novel “War and Peace”

The novel by L.N. Tolstoy was created in the 1860s. This time became in Russia a period of the highest activity of the peasant masses and the rise of the social movement.
The central theme of the literature of the 60s of the 19th century was the theme of the people. To consider it, as well as to highlight many major problems of our time, the writer turned to the historical past: the events of 1805-1807 and the War of 1812.
Researchers of Tolstoy’s work disagree on what he meant by the word “people”: peasants, the nation as a whole, merchants, philistines, and patriotic patriarchal nobility. Of course, all these layers are included in Tolstoy’s understanding of the word “people,” but only when they are bearers of morality. Everything that is immoral is excluded by Tolstoy from the concept of “people”.
With his work, the writer affirmed the decisive role of the masses in history. In his opinion, the role of an outstanding personality in the development of society is insignificant. No matter how brilliant a person is, he cannot at will direct the movement of history, dictate his will to it, or control the actions of a huge mass of people living a spontaneous, swarm life. History is made by people, the masses, the people, and not by a person who has risen above the people and taken upon himself the right to predict the direction of events at his own request.
Tolstoy divides life into upward and downward, centrifugal and centripetal. Kutuzov, to whom the natural course of world events within its national-historical boundaries is open, is the embodiment of the centripetal, ascending forces of history. The writer emphasizes the moral height of Kutuzov, since this hero is connected with the mass of ordinary people through common goals and actions, love for the homeland. He receives his strength from the people, he experiences the same feelings as the people.
The writer also focuses on the merits of Kutuzov as a commander, whose activities were invariably directed towards one goal that was of national significance: “It is difficult to imagine a goal more worthy and more consistent with the will of the entire people.” Tolstoy emphasizes the purposefulness of all Kutuzov’s actions, the concentration of all forces on the task that confronted the entire Russian people in the course of history. An exponent of popular patriotic feeling, Kutuzov also becomes the guiding force of popular resistance, raising the spirit of the troops he commands.
Tolstoy portrays Kutuzov as a folk hero who achieved independence and freedom only in alliance with the people and the nation as a whole. In the novel, the personality of the great commander is contrasted with the personality of the great conqueror Napoleon. The writer exposes the ideal of unlimited freedom, which leads to the cult of a strong and proud personality.
So, the author sees the significance of a great personality in the feeling of history taking place as the will of providence. Great people like Kutuzov, possessing a moral sense, their experience, intelligence and consciousness, guess the requirements of historical necessity.
“People's thought” is also expressed in the images of many representatives of the noble class. The path of ideological and moral growth leads positive heroes to rapprochement with the people. Heroes are tested by the Patriotic War. The independence of private life from the political game of the elite emphasizes the indissoluble connection of the heroes with the life of the people. The viability of each character is tested by “popular thought.”
She helps Pierre Bezukhov discover and demonstrate his best qualities; The soldiers call Andrei Bolkonsky “our prince”; Natasha Rostova takes out carts for the wounded; Marya Bolkonskaya rejects Mademoiselle Burien's offer to remain in Napoleon's power.
Closeness to the people is most clearly manifested in the image of Natasha, in whom the Russian national character was originally embedded. In the scene after the hunt, Natasha listens with pleasure to the playing and singing of her uncle, who “sang as the people sing,” and then she dances “The Lady.” And everyone around her is amazed at her ability to understand everything that was in every Russian person: “Where, how, when did this countess, raised by a French emigrant, suck into herself this spirit from this Russian air that she breathed?”
If Natasha is completely characterized by Russian character traits, then in Prince Andrei the Russian beginning is interrupted by the Napoleonic idea; however, it is precisely the peculiarities of the Russian character that help him understand all the deceit and hypocrisy of Napoleon, his idol.
Pierre finds himself in the peasant world, and the life of the villagers gives him serious thoughts.
The hero realizes his equality with the people, even recognizes the superiority of these people. The more he understands the essence and strength of the people, the more he admires them. The strength of the people lies in its simplicity and naturalness.
According to Tolstoy, patriotism is a property of the soul of any Russian person, and in this respect the difference between Andrei Bolkonsky and any soldier of his regiment is insignificant. War forces everyone to act and do things that are impossible not to do. People do not act according to orders, but obeying an inner feeling, a sense of the significance of the moment. Tolstoy writes that they united in their aspirations and actions when they sensed the danger looming over the entire society.
The novel shows the greatness and simplicity of swarm life, when everyone does their part of the common cause, and a person is driven not by instinct, but by the laws of social life, as Tolstoy understands them. And such a swarm, or world, consists not of an impersonal mass, but of individual individuals who do not lose their individuality in merging with the swarm. This includes the merchant Ferapontov, who burns his house so that it does not fall to the enemy, and Moscow residents who leave the capital simply because of the consideration that it is impossible to live in it under Bonaparte, even if there is no danger. Participants in the swarm life are the men Karp and Vlas, who do not give the hay to the French, and that Moscow lady who left Moscow with her araps and pugs back in June out of the consideration that “she is not Bonaparte’s servant.” All these people are active participants in the people’s, swarm’s life.
Thus, the people for Tolstoy are a complex phenomenon. The writer did not consider the common people an easily controlled mass, since he understood them much more deeply. In a work where “folk thought” is in the foreground, a variety of manifestations of folk character are depicted.
Close to the people is Captain Tushin, whose image combines “small and great,” “modest and heroic.”
The theme of the people's war sounds in the image of Tikhon Shcherbaty. This hero is certainly useful in guerrilla warfare; cruel and merciless towards enemies, this character is natural, but Tolstoy has little sympathy. The image of this character is ambiguous, just as the image of Platon Karataev is ambiguous.
When meeting and getting to know Platon Karataev, Pierre is struck by the warmth, good nature, comfort, and calmness emanating from this man. It is perceived almost symbolically, as something round, warm and smelling of bread. Karataev is characterized by amazing adaptability to circumstances, the ability to “get used to” in any circumstances.
The behavior of Platon Karataev unconsciously expresses the true wisdom of the folk, peasant philosophy of life, over the comprehension of which the main characters of the epic are tormented. This hero presents his reasoning in parable form. This, for example, is the legend about an innocently convicted merchant suffering “for his own and for other people’s sins,” the meaning of which is that one must humble himself and love life, even when one suffers.
And yet, unlike Tikhon Shcherbaty, Karataev is hardly capable of decisive action; his good looks lead to passivity. He is contrasted in the novel with Bogucharov’s men, who rebelled and spoke out for their interests.
Along with true nationality, Tolstoy also shows pseudo-nationality, a counterfeit of it. This is reflected in the images of Rostopchin and Speransky - specific historical figures who, although they are trying to assume the right to speak on behalf of the people, have nothing in common with them.
In the work, the artistic narrative itself is at times interrupted by historical and philosophical digressions, similar in style to journalism. The pathos of Tolstoy's philosophical digressions is directed against liberal-bourgeois military historians and writers. According to the writer, “the world denies war.” Thus, the device of antithesis is used to describe the dam that Russian soldiers see during the retreat after Austerlitz - ruined and ugly. In times of peace, it was surrounded by greenery, neat and well-built.
Thus, in Tolstoy’s work the question of man’s moral responsibility to history is especially acute.
So, in Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace” people come closest to spiritual unity, since it is the people, according to the writer, who are the bearers of spiritual values. The heroes who embody “popular thought” are in a constant search for truth, and therefore, in development. In spiritual unity the writer sees the path to overcoming the contradictions of contemporary life. The War of 1812 was a real historical event where the idea of ​​spiritual unity came true.

The novel "War and Peace" was conceived as a novel about a Decembrist returning after an amnesty in 1856. But the more Tolstoy worked with archival materials, the more he realized that without telling about the uprising itself, and, more deeply, about the War of 1812, it was impossible to write this novel. Thus, the concept of the novel gradually transformed, and Tolstoy created a grandiose epic. At the center of the novel is L.N. Tolstoy’s “War and Peace” contains an image of the Patriotic War of 1812, which stirred up the entire Russian people, showed the whole world its power and strength, and brought forward ordinary Russian heroes and the great commander - Kutuzov. At the same time, great historical upheavals revealed the true essence of each individual person and showed his attitude towards the Fatherland. Tolstoy depicts war like a realist writer: in hard work, blood, suffering, death. Also, L. N. Tolstoy in his work sought to reveal the national significance of the war, which united the entire society, all Russian people in a common impulse, to show that the fate of the campaign was decided not in headquarters and headquarters, but in the hearts of ordinary people: Platon Karataev and Tikhon Shcherbaty, Petya Rostov and Denisov... Can you list them all? In other words, the battle painter paints a large-scale image of the Russian people who raised the “club” of the liberation war against the invaders. Later, speaking about the novel, Tolstoy wrote that the main idea of ​​the novel is “folk thought.” It lies not only in the depiction of the people themselves, their way of life, their life, but in the fact that every positive hero of the novel ultimately connects his fate with the fate of the people. Here it makes sense to recall the historical concept of the writer. On the pages of the novel and especially in the second part of the epilogue, Tolstoy says that until now all history has been written as the history of individuals, as a rule, tyrants, monarchs, and no one has yet thought about what is the driving force of history. According to Tolstoy, this is the so-called “swarm principle”, the spirit and will of not one person, but the people as a whole. And how strong is the spirit and will of the people, so probable are certain historical events. So Tolstoy explains the victory in the Patriotic War by the fact that two wills collided: the will of the French soldiers and the will of the entire Russian people. This war was fair for the Russians, they fought for their Motherland, so their spirit and will to win turned out to be stronger than the French spirit and will. Therefore, Russia’s victory over France was predetermined. The War of 1812 became a milestone, a test for all the good characters in the novel: for Prince Andrei, who feels an extraordinary upsurge before the Battle of Borodino, faith in victory for Pierre Bezukhov, all of whose thoughts are aimed at helping the exile invaders, he even develops a plan to kill Napoleon, for Natasha, who gave the carts to the wounded, because it was impossible not to give them back, it was shameful and disgusting not to give them, for Petya Rostov, who takes part in the hostilities of a partisan detachment and dies in a battle with the enemy, for Denisova and Dolokhova. All these people, throwing away everything personal, become one and participate in the formation of the will to win. This will to victory is especially clearly manifested in mass scenes: in the scene of the surrender of Smolensk, let us remember the merchant Ferapontov, who, succumbing to some unknown, inner force, orders all his goods to be distributed to the soldiers, and what cannot be endured is to be set on fire, in the scene of preparation for Borodinsky battle, the soldiers put on white shirts, as if preparing for the last battle, in the scene of the battle between the partisans and the French. In general, the theme of guerrilla warfare occupies a special place in the novel. Tolstoy
emphasizes that the war of 1812 was a people's war, because the people themselves rose up to fight the invaders.
The detachments of elders Vasilisa Kozhina and Denis Davydov were already operating, and the heroes of the novel, Vasily Denisov and Dolokhov, were also creating their own detachments. The theme of people's war finds its vivid expression in the image of Tikhon Shcherbaty. The image of this hero is ambiguous; in Denisov’s detachment he performs the most “dirty” and dangerous work. He is merciless towards his enemies, but it was largely thanks to such people that Russia won the war with Napoleon. The image of Platon Karataev, who, under conditions of captivity, again turned to his roots, is also ambiguous. Watching him, Pierre Bezukhov understands that the living life of the world is above all speculation and that happiness lies in himself. However, unlike Tikhon Shcherbaty, Karataev is hardly capable of decisive action; his good looks lead to passivity.
Showing the heroism of the Russian people, Tolstoy in many chapters of the novel talks about the plight of peasants oppressed by serfdom. The leading people of their time, Prince Bolkonsky and Count Bezukhov, are trying to ease the lot of the peasants. In conclusion, we can say that L.N. Tolstoy in his work tries
to prove to the reader the idea that the people have played and will play a decisive role in the life of the state. And that it was the Russian people who were able to defeat Napoleon’s army, which was considered invincible

According to Tolstoy himself, he loved “folk thought” in the novel most of all. Reflections on this topic became the most important thing for the writer that he wanted to convey to the reader. What did he mean?

“People's thought” in the novel is not in the depiction of the Russian people as a community and not in the abundance of crowd scenes, as it may seem to an inexperienced reader. It is in the point of view of the writer, the system of moral assessments that he gives to both historical events and his heroes. Don't confuse this!

1. Mass scenes in the novel are associated with the depiction of battle scenes of 1805, scenes of the Battle of Borodino, the defense and abandonment of Smolensk, and partisan warfare.

In the depiction of the war of 1805, special attention is paid to two battles: Austerlitz and Schöngraben. Tolstoy's goal is to show why the army wins or loses. Shengraben is a “forced” battle, 4 thousand soldiers must cover the retreat of the forty thousand strong Russian army. The battle is observed by Kutuzov’s envoy, Prince Andrei Bolkonsky. He sees how the soldiers show heroism, but not the way this quality was imagined by the prince: Captain Timokhin and his squad with skillful actions force the French to retreat, Captain Tushin, an inconspicuous modest man, “does his job”, cheerfully and quickly, his battery smashes the main positions of the French, sets fire to the village and forces them to retreat, and they do not even suspect that they are “ordinary heroes.”

On the contrary, the Battle of Azsterlitz is a “battle of three emperors”, with unclear goals and an unclear plan. It is no coincidence that at the military council, Kutuzov dozed off like an old man to the measured muttering of the Austrian general. Kutuzov wants to save soldiers who do not understand what they are fighting for; it is not for nothing that the landscape of the beginning of the battle is symbolic: the fog covering the battlefield. The author comes to the conclusion: it is not the generals who win the battle, the soldiers win the battle, or rather, the spirit of the army, the understanding of what they are doing.

The same thing happens at Borodino: Kutuzov almost does not participate in the leadership of the battle, unlike Napoleon, who believes that the outcome depends on the will of the emperor. No, the outcome depends on the soldiers getting ready for the last battle, as if for a holiday, putting on clean shirts. According to Kutuzov, the Battle of Borodino was neither won nor lost in terms of consequences, but the Russians won, suppressing the French with fortitude and unprecedented unity of all against a single enemy.

This is how “popular thought” manifested itself in crowd scenes.

1. The partisan war that spontaneously unfolded during the invasion also testifies to the unity of the Russian people. In various places under the French, landowners and peasants took up pitchforks and axes to drive the enemy out of their native land. The “club of the people’s war” rose and “nailed ... the Frenchman until the invasion itself perished.” Drawing pictures of guerrilla warfare, Tolstoy depicts some peasant heroes. One of them is Tikhon Shcherbaty, like a wolf attacking the enemy, “the most useful person in the squad,” cruel and merciless. According to Tolstoy, this is a folk type that manifests itself in difficult times for the Motherland. The second folk type is Platon Karataev, from whom Pierre learned to live simply and harmoniously, to accept everything that happens on a person’s path, he realized “that ballet shoes squeeze just like peasant bast shoes,” and therefore a person needs little to be happy. So moral values ​​for Tolstoy become the measure of everything else: peace, war, people, actions.
2. While in captivity, Pierre has a dream. In a dream, the globe appears to him as a ball of drops that tremble, shimmer, separate somewhere, merge somewhere. And every drop reflects God. This metaphor is Tolstoy’s own idea of ​​the people’s life: a person lives his “swarm life”, is busy with his problems and thoughts, but he must “conjugate” (the writer’s word) his life with the lives of others. And if the desires and needs of many people coincide at one point, history makes its movement there. This is another aspect of “folk thought in the novel.”
3. And Tolstoy “measures” his heroes with this yardstick. If they are far from common interests, common aspirations, if they do not understand what is common, they put their own interests above others or try to interfere in the natural course of life, then they sink lower and lower and fall into a spiritual crisis. This happens with Prince Andrey, when he raises soldiers in a senseless attack at Austerlitz, and with Pierre, trying to kill Napoleon. Some of the heroes never realize their own life at all, or rather, existence - such is Helen, Rostopchin with his “posters”, Napoleon. Pierre, trying to somehow help Russia, equips a regiment with his own money, Natasha gives carts to the wounded, without thinking about the well-being of the family, and Berg is trying to “buy a shelf that Verochka likes so much.” Which of them lives according to popular laws?

So, “People's Thought,” according to Tolstoy, is the thought of the need to connect one’s life with common interests, life according to the moral laws that have existed in the world for centuries, life together.

Question 25. Popular thought in L.N. Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace.” The problem of the role of the people and the individual in history.

L. N. Tolstoy

1. Genre originality of L. N. Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace”.

2. The image of the people in the novel is Tolstoy’s ideal of “simplicity, goodness and truth.”

3. Two Russias.

4. “The Club of the People’s War.”

5. “People's Thought.”

6. Kutuzov is an exponent of the patriotic spirit of the people.

7. The people are the savior of Russia.

1. L. N. Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace” in terms of genre is an epic novel, since it reflects historical events that cover a large period of time, from 1805 to 1821; in the novel there are over 200 people, there are real historical figures (Kutuzov, Napoleon, Alexander I, Speransky, Rostopchin, Bagration, etc.), all social strata of Russia of that time are shown: high society, noble aristocracy, provincial nobility, army, peasantry, merchants.

2. In the epic novel, the various elements of which are united by “folk thought,” the image of the people occupies a special place. This image embodies Tolstoy’s ideal of “simplicity, goodness and truth.” An individual person is valuable only when he is an integral part of a great whole, his people. “War and Peace” is “a picture of morals built on a historical event,” wrote L. N. Tolstoy. The theme of the feat of the Russian people in the War of 1812 became the main one in the novel. During this war, the unification of the nation took place: regardless of class, gender and age, everyone was embraced by a single patriotic feeling, which Tolstoy called “the hidden warmth of patriotism,” which manifested itself not in loud words, but in actions, often unconscious, spontaneous, but bringing victory closer . This unity based on moral feeling is deeply hidden in the soul of every person and manifests itself in difficult times for the homeland.

3. In the fire of the people’s war, people are being tested, and we clearly see two Russias: people’s Russia, united by common feelings and aspirations, the Russia of Kutuzov, Prince Andrei, Timokhin - and the Russia of “military and court drones”, at war with each other, absorbed in their careers and indifferent to the fate of the homeland. These people have lost touch with the people; they only pretend to have patriotic feelings. Their false patriotism is manifested in pompous phrases about love for the motherland and insignificant deeds. People's Russia is represented by those heroes who, in one way or another, linked their fate with the fate of the nation. Tolstoy speaks about the destinies of the people and the destinies of individual people, about popular feelings as a measure of human morality. All of Tolstoy’s favorite heroes are a part of the sea of ​​people that makes up the people, and each of them is spiritually close to the people in their own way. But this unity does not arise immediately. Pierre and Prince Andrei walk along difficult roads in search of the popular ideal of “simplicity, good and evil.” And only on the Borodino field does each of them understand that the truth is where “they” are, that is, ordinary soldiers. The Rostov family, with its strong moral foundations of life, with a simple and kind perception of the world and people, experienced the same patriotic feelings as the whole people. They leave all their property in Moscow and give all the carts to the wounded.

4. Russian people deeply, with all their hearts understand the meaning of what is happening. The people's consciousness as a military force comes into action when the enemy approaches Smolensk. The “club of the people’s war” begins to rise. Circles were created, partisan detachments of Denisov, Dolokhov, spontaneous partisan detachments led by elder Vasilisa or some nameless sexton, who destroyed Napoleon’s great army with axes and pitchforks. The merchant Ferapontov in Smolensk called on the soldiers to rob his own shop so that the enemy would not get anything. Preparing for the Battle of Borodino, the soldiers look at it as a national cause. “They want to attack all the people,” the soldier explains to Pierre. The militia put on clean shirts, the soldiers do not drink vodka - “not such a day.” It was a sacred moment for them.

5. “People's Thought” is embodied by Tolstoy in a variety of individualized images. Timokhin and his company so unexpectedly attacked the enemy, “with such insane and drunken determination, with one skewer, he ran at the enemy that the French, without having time to come to their senses, threw down their weapons and ran.”

Those human, moral and military qualities that Tolstoy always considered the inalienable dignity of the Russian soldier and the entire Russian people - heroism, willpower, simplicity and modesty - are embodied in the image of Captain Tushin, who is a living expression of the national spirit, “people's thought.” Beneath the unattractive appearance of this hero lies inner beauty and moral greatness. - Tikhon Shcherbaty is a man of war, the most useful fighter in Denisov’s detachment. The spirit of rebellion and the feeling of love for his land, all that rebellious, courageous that the writer discovered in the serf peasant, he gathered together and embodied in the image of Tikhon. Platon Karataev brings peace to the souls of the people around him. He is completely devoid of selfishness: he does not complain about anything, does not blame anyone, is meek, and kind to every person.

The high patriotic spirit and strength of the Russian army brought it a moral victory, and a turning point in the war came.

6. M. I. Kutuzov proved himself to be an exponent of the patriotic spirit and a true commander of the people's war. His wisdom lies in the fact that he understood the law that it is impossible for one person to control the course of history. His main concern is not to interfere with events developing naturally, armed with patience, submit to necessity. “Patience and time” - this is Kutuzov’s motto. He senses the mood of the masses and the course of historical events. Prince Andrei, before the Battle of Borodino, says about him: “He will have nothing of his own. He won’t come up with anything, won’t do anything, but he will listen to everything, remember everything, put everything in its place, won’t interfere with anything useful and won’t allow anything harmful. He understands that there is something more significant than will... And the main thing why you believe him is that he is Russian...”

7. By telling the truth about the war and showing a person in this war, Tolstoy discovered the heroism of war, showing it as a test of all the spiritual strength of a person. In his novel, the bearers of true heroism were ordinary people, such as Captain Tushin or Timokhin, the “sinner” Natasha, who obtained supplies for the wounded, General Dokhturov and Kutuzov, who never spoke about his exploits - precisely those people who, forgetting about themselves, , saved Russia in times of difficult trials.

- a novel that gradually transformed from a once-conceived work about the Decembrist into a brilliant epic about the courageous feat of the nation, about the victory of the Russian spirit in the battle with Napoleonic army. As a result, a masterpiece was born, where, as he himself wrote, the main idea was the idea of ​​the people. Today, in an essay on the topic: “People's Thought,” we will try to prove this.

The author believed that the work would be good if the author loved the main idea. Tolstoy was interested in popular thought in his work War and Peace, where he depicted not just the people and their way of life, but showed the fate of the nation. At the same time, the people for Tolstoy are not only peasants, soldiers and peasants, they are also nobles, officers, and generals. In a word, the people are all people taken together, all of humanity, driven by a common goal, one cause, one purpose.

In his work, the writer remembers that history is most often written as the history of individual individuals, but few people think about the driving force in history, which is the people, the nation, the spirit and will of the people that unite together.

In the novel War and Peace, popular thought

For each hero, the war with the French became a test, where Bolkonsky, Pierre Bezukhov, Natasha, Petya Rostov, Dolokhov, Kutuzov, Tushin, and Timokhin all played their role in the best possible way. And most importantly, ordinary people showed themselves, who organized separate small partisan detachments and crushed the enemy. People who burned everything so that nothing would fall to the enemy. People who gave their last to Russian soldiers to support them.

The offensive of Napoleonic army brought out the best qualities in people, where men, forgetting about their grievances, fought side by side with their masters, defending their homeland. It was the people's thought in the novel War and Peace that became the soul of the work, uniting the peasantry with the best part of the nobility with one cause - the fight for the freedom of the Motherland.

Patriotic people, among whom were poor peasants, nobles, and merchants - this is the people. Their will clashed with the French will. She faced and showed real strength, because people fought for their land, which could not be given to the enemy. The people and the formed partisan detachments became the cudgel of the people's war, which did not give Napoleon and his army a single chance of victory. Tolstoy wrote about this in his brilliant novel War and Peace, where the main idea was the folk one.

Composition. “People's Thought” in Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace”

What rating will you give?

Essay on the topic: The image of Napoleon in Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace” True and false in the novel by L.N. Tolstoy "War and Peace" Patriotic theme in L. N. Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace”

Tolstoy managed to reflect all aspects of life in Russia in the 19th century in his epic War and Peace. Popular thought in the novel is illuminated especially brightly. The image of a people in general is one of the main and meaning-forming ones. Moreover, it is the national character that is the subject of depiction in the novel. But it can only be understood from a description of the everyday life of the people, their view of humanity and the world, moral assessments, misconceptions and prejudices.

Image of the people

Tolstoy included in the concept of “people” not only soldiers and men, but also the noble class, which had a similar view of spiritual values ​​and the world. It was this idea that the author based the epic “War and Peace”. Folk thought in the novel is therefore embodied through all people united by language, history, culture and territory.

From this point of view, Tolstoy is an innovator, since before him in Russian literature there was always a clear boundary between the peasant class and the nobility. In order to illustrate his idea, the writer turned to very harsh times for all of Russia - the Patriotic War of 1812.

The only confrontation is the struggle of the best people of the noble class, united with people from the people, with military and bureaucratic circles, who are unable to perform feats or make sacrifices for the defense of the Fatherland.

Depicting the life of ordinary soldiers

Pictures of people's lives in times of peace and war are widely represented in Tolstoy's epic "War and Peace". The popular thought in the novel, however, manifested itself most clearly during the Patriotic War, when all residents of Russia were required to demonstrate perseverance, generosity and patriotism.

Despite this, descriptions of folk scenes appear already in the first two volumes of the novel. This is an image of Russian soldiers when they participated in foreign campaigns, fulfilling their duty to the allies. For ordinary soldiers who came from the people, such campaigns are incomprehensible - why defend not your own land?

Tolstoy paints terrible pictures. The army is starving because the allies it supports are not supplying provisions. Unable to watch the soldiers suffer, officer Denisov decides to recapture food from another regiment, which has a detrimental effect on his career. This act reveals the spiritual qualities of a Russian person.

“War and Peace”: popular thought in the novel

As noted above, the fates of Tolstoy's heroes from among the best nobles are always connected with the life of the people. Therefore, “folk thought” runs through the entire work like a red thread. Thus, Pierre Bezukhov, having been captured, learns the truth of life, which is revealed to him by an ordinary peasant man. And it lies in the fact that a person is unhappy only when there is a surplus in his life. You need little to be happy.

On the Field of Austerlitz, Andrei Bolkonsky feels his connection with the people. He grabs the flagpole, not hoping that they will follow him. But the soldiers, seeing the standard bearer, rush into battle. The unity of ordinary soldiers and officers gives the army unprecedented strength.

The house in the novel "War and Peace" is of great importance. But we are not talking about decoration and furniture. The image of the house embodies family values. Moreover, all of Russia is home, all the people are one big family. That is why Natasha Rostova throws her property off the carts and gives them to the wounded.

It is in this unity that Tolstoy sees the true strength of the people. The force that was able to win the War of 1812.

Images of people from the people

Even on the first pages of the novel, the writer creates images of individual soldiers. This is Denisov’s orderly Lavrushka with his roguish disposition, and the merry fellow Sidorov, hilariously imitating the French, and Lazarev, who received an order from Napoleon himself.

However, the house in the novel “War and Peace” occupies a key place, so most of the heroes from among the common people can be found in descriptions of peacetime. Here another serious problem of the 19th century arises - the hardships of serfdom. Tolstoy depicts how the old Prince Bolkonsky, having decided to punish the bartender Philip, who forgot the owner’s order, gave him up as a soldier. And Pierre’s attempt to make life easier for his serfs ended in nothing, since the manager deceived the count.

People's labor

The epic “War and Peace” raises many problems characteristic of Tolstoy’s work. The theme of labor, as one of the main ones for the writer, was no exception. Labor is inextricably linked with people's life. Moreover, Tolstoy uses it to characterize characters, as he attaches great importance to it. Idleness in the writer’s understanding speaks of a morally weak, insignificant and unworthy person.

But work is not just a duty, it is a pleasure. Thus, the arriving Danila, participating in the hunt, devotes himself to this task to the end, he shows himself to be a real expert and, in a fit of excitement, even shouts at Count Rostov.

The old valet Tikhon has become so familiar with his position that he understands his master without words. And the servant Anisya is praised by Tolstoy for her homeliness, playfulness and good nature. For her, the owners’ house is not a foreign and hostile place, but a native and close one. A woman treats her work with love.

Russian people and war

However, the quiet life ended and the war began. All the images in the novel “War and Peace” are also transformed. All heroes, both low and high class, are united by a single feeling of “inner warmth of patriotism.” This feeling becomes a national trait of the Russian people. It made him capable of self-sacrifice. The same self-sacrifice that decided the outcome of the war and so amazed the French soldiers.

Another difference between Russian troops and the French is that they do not play war. For the Russian people, this is a great tragedy in which nothing good can come. Unknown to Russian soldiers is the pleasure of battle or the joy of the upcoming war. But at the same time, everyone is ready to give their life. There is no cowardice here, the soldiers are ready to die, because their duty is to defend their homeland. Only the one who “feels less sorry for himself” can win - this is how Andrei Bolkonsky expressed the popular thought.

Peasant sentiments in the epic

The theme of the people sounds piercingly and vividly in the novel “War and Peace”. At the same time, Tolstoy does not try to idealize the people. The writer depicts scenes indicating the spontaneity and inconsistency of peasant sentiments. A good example of this is the Bogucharov riot, when the peasants, having read French leaflets, refused to let Princess Marya leave the estate. Men are capable of the same self-interest as nobles like Berg, who are eager to receive ranks thanks to the war. The French promised money, and now they have obeyed them. However, when Nikolai Rostov ordered to stop the outrages and bind the instigators, the peasants obediently carried out his orders.

On the other hand, when the French began to advance, the people left their homes, destroying their acquired property so that it would not go to the enemies.

People power

Nevertheless, the epic “War and Peace” revealed the best folk qualities. The essence of the work is precisely to depict the true strength of the Russian people.

In the fight against the French, the Russians, despite everything, were able to maintain high moral qualities. Tolstoy saw the greatness of a nation not in the fact that it can conquer neighboring peoples with the help of weapons, but in the fact that even in the most cruel times it can preserve justice, humanity and a merciful attitude towards the enemy. An example of this is the episode of the rescue of the French captain Rambal.

and Platon Karataev

If you analyze the novel “War and Peace” chapter by chapter, these two heroes will definitely attract your attention. Tolstoy, including them in the narrative, wanted to show the interconnected and at the same time opposite sides of the national Russian character. Let's compare these characters:

Platon Karataev is a complacent and dreamy soldier who is accustomed to resignedly obeying fate.

Tikhon Shcherbaty is an intelligent, decisive, courageous and active peasant who will never resign himself to fate and will actively resist it. He himself became a soldier and became famous for killing the most Frenchmen.

These characters embodied two sides: humility, long-suffering on the one hand and an uncontrollable desire to fight on the other.

It is believed that Shcherbatov’s principle was most clearly manifested in the novel, however, Karataev’s wisdom and patience did not stand aside.

conclusions

Thus, the people are the main active force in War and Peace. According to Tolstoy's philosophy, one person cannot change history; only the strength and desire of the people are capable of this. Therefore, Napoleon, who decided to reshape the world, lost to the power of an entire nation.