Pierre Bezukhov: characteristics of the character. The path of life, the path of searching for Pierre Bezukhov

Pierre Bezukhov and officer Dolokhov (L.N. Tolstoy "War and Peace")

Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy in the novel "War and Peace" consistently pursues the idea of ​​the predestination of a person's fate. You can call him a fatalist. Brightly, truthfully and logically, this is proved in the scene of the duel between Dolokhov and Pierre. A purely civilian man - Pierre wounded Dolokhov in a duel - a bully, a rake, a fearless warrior. But Pierre could not handle weapons at all. Just before the duel, Nesvitsky's second explained to Bezukhov "where to press."

“At the word three, Pierre went forward with a quick step ... he held the pistol, stretching his right hand forward, apparently afraid that he would kill himself from this pistol. He diligently put his left hand back ... Having walked six steps and lost his way into the snow, Pierre looked at his feet, again quickly looked at Dolokhov and, pulling his finger, as he was taught, fired ... ”There was no return shot. “... Dolokhov's hurried steps were heard ... With one hand he held on to his left side ...” Having fired, Dolokhov missed. Here, according to Tolstoy, the highest justice was done. Dolokhov, whom Pierre received in his house in a friendly way, helped with money in memory of an old friendship, disgraced Bezukhov by seducing his wife.

But Pierre is completely unprepared for the role of "judge" and "executioner" at the same time, he repents of what happened, thanks God that he did not kill Dolokhov. Pierre's humanism disarms, already before the duel he was ready to repent of everything, but not out of fear, but because he was sure of Helen's guilt. He tries to justify Dolokhov: “Maybe I would have done the same in his place,” thought Pierre. “Even, probably, I would have done the same thing. Why this duel, this murder? The insignificance and baseness of Helen is obvious that Pierre is ashamed of his act. This woman is not worth taking a sin on the soul - to kill a man for her.

Pierre is afraid that he almost ruined his own soul, as before - his life, having connected it with Helen. After the duel, while taking the wounded Dolokhov home, Nikolai Rostov learned that “Dolokhov, this brawler, breter, Dolokhov, lived in Moscow with an old mother and a hunchbacked sister and was the most gentle son and brother ...”. Here one of the author's statements is proved, that not everything is so obvious, understandable and unambiguous, as it seems at first glance. Life is much more complex and diverse than we think about it, know or assume. The great philosopher Leo Tolstoy teaches to be humane, fair, tolerant of the shortcomings and vices of people, for "who is without sin." In the scene of Dolokhov's duel with Pierre Bezukhov, Tolstoy gives a lesson: it is not for us to judge what is fair and what is unfair, not everything obvious can be unambiguously and easily solved.

In the salon of Anna Pavlovna Scherer, a fat young man with glasses appears. This is Pierre Bezukhov. In the face of the hostess - anxiety and fear. What exactly scared her? The look of the young man - intelligent, timid, observant and - most importantly - natural, which, above all, distinguished him from everyone in the living room. A natural man among everything artificial, among dolls. And if you remember the massiveness of Pierre, will he not remind you of Gulliver among the Lilliputians? In any case, Andrei Bolkonsky had every reason to say to Pierre: "... you are one living person among our whole world."

Pierre is alive. This is his strength, but also his weakness: alive means vulnerable.

Not only for Prince Andrei, but also for Pierre, at first, the “Napoleonic complex” turns out to be characteristic. Pierre even saw the "greatness of the soul" of Napoleon in the fact that "for the common good, he could not stop before the life of one person." (Do you find in these arguments a certain similarity with the theories of Raskolnikov?)

In his quest, Pierre takes a different path than Prince Andrei. He refers not to the rational, but to the moral principle in man. This is a new type of hero in Russian literature, combining high intellectual culture, interest in philosophical problems with the integrity of nature, sincere democracy, natural kindness.

Pierre goes through sprees, freemasonry, philanthropy (charity, helping the needy), a passion for Napoleon, whom at first he considered "the greatest man in the world." Only the Patriotic War introduces him to the people's truth. Pierre finds peace of mind only by comprehending the people's view of life and renouncing the individualistic dualistic consciousness. In captivity, with direct, close communication with ordinary people, with Platon Karataev, a feeling of inner freedom comes to Pierre.

The image of Platon Karataev caused and causes conflicting opinions. It is widely believed that in this image the writer embodies the real, but weak side of the moral, psychological appearance of the Russian patriarchal peasant, his inherent humility, humility, non-resistance to evil by violence, etc. There is another point of view, according to which Karataev is the embodiment of the best folk traits - kindness, hard work, humanity. There is no doubt that Platon Karataev was very close to Tolstoy himself. Plato, the novel says, "remained forever in Pierre's soul the strongest and dearest memory and personification of everything Russian, kind and round."

For Tolstoy round represented the ideal of perfection, inner harmony, but at the same time it contains the idea of ​​isolation and limitation. Pierre, on the other hand, built his life more widely and more consciously than Karataev could have.

In this case, not only Tolstoy's heroes, but the author himself faced a most difficult problem. "People's thought", in the interpretation of Tolstoy, demanded the rejection not only of the individualistic, but also of the essence, and in general of the individual principle. The principle of “swarm” life was proclaimed, in which people, like bees, had to do one thing together, without standing out from the crowd. Pierre, accepting this principle, tries to be the same, "like everyone else." And Prince Andrei is trying to join the natural, folk elements (to find in himself what is "in every soldier"). It is significant that for them this movement is not downward (“towards the crowd”), but up, to the comprehension of the high people's truth, to the people, whose moral standards become a model for them. But they are not able to give up intellectual life, to continue the search for truth, because otherwise they would lose their human individuality.

In the works of a number of literary critics, it has already been noted that the truth for the author of "War and Peace" lies in the conjugation of universal values, embodied in the images of the main characters of the novel, with the leading principles of folk life.

It is felt that the writer does not approve of Pierre's new direction of activity. It so happened that the hero of the novel returns to the seemingly already overcome aspirations for the sole reorganization of society. Tolstoy writes: “It was a continuation of his self-satisfied reasoning about his success in Petersburg. It seemed to him at that moment that he was called upon to give a new direction to the whole of Russian society and to the whole world. material from the site

The writer is convinced that this cannot be done. Why does he bring Pierre back to those “self-satisfied” thoughts that should have remained in the past? Yes, because one of Tolstoy's favorite heroes is always on the road, he does not stop in his search and tirelessly seeks the truth - he fights, makes mistakes, starts and quits, starts again and quits again, and always fights ... Very I would like to recall once again the words of Tolstoy: "And calmness is spiritual meanness."

Pierre is enthusiastically listening to the son of Andrei Bolkonsky - fifteen-year-old Nikolenka. The dream of glory, of fame, which once possessed his father, manifests itself in him with unchildish strength. The thought of the heroes of ancient times inspires him: “I will do better. Everyone will know, everyone will love me, everyone will admire me. Truly, everything repeats itself in this life...

Pierre Bezukhov will undoubtedly face difficult life trials. A long, difficult path of research, "trial and error" opens up before Nikolenka Bolkonsky. The epilogue of the epic novel does not so much sum up the story as outlines new perspectives, which is quite natural for the genre in which War and Peace is written.

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Favorite hero

Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy describes in detail the path of Pierre Bezukhov's searches in the novel "War and Peace". Pierre Bezukhov is one of the main characters of the work. He belongs to the favorite characters of the author and is therefore described in more detail. The reader is given the opportunity to trace how a wise man is formed from a young naive youth. life experience Man. We are witnessing the mistakes and delusions of the hero, his painful search for the meaning of life, the gradual change in his worldview. Tolstoy does not idealize Pierre. He honestly displays his positive traits and weaknesses of character. Thanks to this, the young man seems closer and more understandable. He seems to come alive on the pages of the work.

Pierre's spiritual quest in the novel is devoted to many pages. Pierre Bezukhov is the illegitimate son of a wealthy Petersburg nobleman, one of the main contenders for a million-dollar inheritance. Having recently arrived from abroad, where he received his education, Pierre cannot decide on the choice of a further life path. An unexpected inheritance and a high county title greatly complicates the position of the young man and gives him a lot of trouble.

strange appearance

The remarkable appearance of the hero causes a smile and bewilderment. Before us is “a massive, fat young man with a cropped head, glasses, light trousers in the fashion of the time ...”. He does not know how to communicate with ladies, behave correctly in a secular society, be polite and tactful. His awkward appearance and lack of good manners are compensated by a kind smile and a naive guilty look: "smart and at the same time timid, observant and natural." Behind the massive figure, a pure, honest and noble soul breaks down.

Pierre's delusions

Fun secular youth

Arriving in the capital main character falls into the company of frivolous golden youth, who thoughtlessly indulge in empty entertainment and amusements. Noisy revels, hooligan antics, drunkenness, debauchery occupy all of Pierre's free time, but do not bring satisfaction. Only in communication with his only friend Andrei Bolkonsky does he become sincere and open his soul. The older friend is trying to save the gullible young man from fatal mistakes, but Pierre stubbornly follows his own path.

fatal love

One of the main misconceptions in the life of the hero is the passion for the empty and depraved beauty Helen. The gullible Pierre is easy prey for the members of the greedy family of Prince Kuragin. He is unarmed against the seductive tricks of a secular beauty and the pressure of an unceremonious prince. Tormented by doubts, Pierre is forced to make an offer and become the spouse of the first beauty of St. Petersburg. Pretty soon, he realizes that for his wife and her father, he is only a money bag. Disappointed in love, Pierre breaks off relations with his wife.

Fascination with Freemasonry

The ideological search of Pierre Bezukhov continues in the spiritual sphere. He is fond of the ideas of the Masonic brotherhood. The desire to do good, to work for the good of society, to improve themselves makes the hero go the wrong way. He is trying to alleviate the fate of his serfs, begins to build free schools and hospitals. But disappointment awaits him again. Money is stolen, brothers Masons pursue their own selfish goals. Pierre finds himself at an impasse in life. No family, no love, no worthwhile occupation, no purpose in life.

Heroic impulse

The state of gloomy apathy is replaced by a noble patriotic impulse. The Patriotic War of 1812 pushed into the background all the personal problems of the hero. His honest and noble nature is concerned about the fate of the Fatherland. Unable to join the ranks of the defenders of his country, he invests in the formation and uniforms of the regiment. During the battle of Borodino, he is in the thick of things, trying to provide all possible assistance to the military. Hatred for the invaders pushes Pierre to crime. He decides to kill the main culprit of what is happening, Emperor Napoleon. The heroic impulse of the young man ended with a sudden arrest and long months of captivity.

Life experience

One of the most milestones Pierre Bezukhov's life becomes the time spent in captivity. Deprived of the usual comfort, a well-fed life, freedom of movement, Pierre does not feel unhappy. He enjoys the satisfaction of natural human needs, "finds that calmness and self-satisfaction, which he vainly sought before." Once in the power of the enemy, he does not solve the complex philosophical issues of being, does not think about his wife's betrayal, does not understand the intrigues of others. Pierre lives a simple and understandable life, which Platon Karataev taught him. The worldview of this man turned out to be close and understandable to our hero. Communication with Platon Karataev made Pierre wiser and more experienced, suggested the right path in later life. He learned “not with his mind, but with his whole being, with his life, that man was created for happiness, that happiness is in himself.”

Real life

Freed from captivity, Pierre Bezukhov feels like a different person. He is not tormented by doubts, he is well versed in people and now knows what he needs for a happy life. An insecure confused person becomes strong and wise. Pierre is rebuilding the house and proposes to Natasha Rostova. He clearly understands that it was her that he truly loved all his life and it is with her that he will be happy and calm.

happy outcome

At the end of the novel, we see the beloved hero of Leo Tolstoy as an exemplary family man, a passionate person who has found himself. He is engaged in social activities, meets interesting people. His mind, decency, honesty and kindness are now in demand and useful to society. Beloved and devoted wife, healthy children, close friends, interesting work are the components of a happy and meaningful life for Pierre Bezukhov. The essay on the topic “The Way of Searching by Pierre Bezukhov” gives a detailed analysis of the moral and spiritual searches of an honest and noble person who, through trial and error, finds his meaning of existence. The hero finally achieved "calmness, agreement with himself."

Artwork test

Creating the image of Pierre Bezukhov, L. N. Tolstoy started from specific life observations. People like Pierre were often encountered in the Russian life of that time. This is Alexander Muravyov, and Wilhelm Küchelbecker, to whom Pierre is close with his eccentricity and absent-mindedness and directness. Contemporaries believed that Tolstoy endowed Pierre with the features of his own personality. One of the features of the depiction of Pierre in the novel is his opposition to the environment of the nobility. It is no coincidence that he is the illegitimate son of Count Bezukhov; it is no coincidence that his bulky, clumsy figure stands out sharply against the general background. When Pierre finds himself in the salon of Anna Pavlovna Scherer, he causes her anxiety by the inconsistency of his manners with the etiquette of the living room. He is significantly different from all visitors to the salon and with his smart, natural look. By contrast, the author presents Pierre's judgments and Hippolyte's vulgar chatter. Contrasting his hero with the environment, Tolstoy reveals his high spiritual qualities: sincerity, spontaneity, high conviction and noticeable gentleness. The evening at Anna Pavlovna's ends with Pierre, to the displeasure of the audience, defending the ideas of the French Revolution, admiring Napoleon as the head of revolutionary France, defends the ideas of the republic and freedom, showing the independence of their views.

Leo Tolstoy draws the appearance of his hero: this is "a massive, fat young man, with a cropped head, glasses, light trousers, a high frill and a brown tailcoat." Special attention the writer draws on Pierre's smile, which makes his face childish, kind, stupid and as if asking for forgiveness. She seems to say: "Opinions are opinions, and you see what a kind and nice fellow I am."

Pierre is sharply opposed to those around him in the episode of the death of the old man Bezukhov. Here he is very different from the careerist Boris Drubetskoy, who, at the instigation of his mother, is playing a game, trying to get his share in the inheritance. Pierre, on the other hand, is embarrassed and ashamed of Boris.

And now he is the heir to an immensely rich father. Having received the title of count, Pierre immediately finds himself in the center of attention of secular society, where he was pleased, caressed and, as it seemed to him, loved. And he plunges into the stream of new life, obeying the atmosphere of great light. So he finds himself in the company of "golden youth" - Anatole Kuragin and Dolokhov. Under the influence of Anatole, he spends his days in revelry, unable to break out of this cycle. Pierre wastes his vitality, showing his characteristic lack of will. Prince Andrei tries to convince him that this dissolute life does not suit him very much. But it is not so easy to pull him out of this "whirlpool". However, I note that Pierre is immersed in him more in body than in soul.

Pierre's marriage to Helen Kuragina dates back to this time. He perfectly understands her insignificance, outright stupidity. "There is something nasty in that feeling," he thought, "that she aroused in me, something forbidden." However, Pierre's feelings are influenced by her beauty and unconditional feminine charm, although Tolstoy's hero does not experience true, deep love. Time will pass, and the "twisted" Pierre will hate Helen and feel her depravity with all his heart.

In this regard, an important moment was the duel with Dolokhov, which took place after Pierre received an anonymous letter at a dinner in honor of Bagration that his wife was cheating on him with his former friend. Pierre does not want to believe this because of the purity and nobility of his nature, but at the same time he believes the letter, because he knows Helen and her lover well. Dolokhov's brazen trick at the table unbalances Pierre and leads to a duel. It is quite obvious to him that now he hates Helen and is ready to break with her forever, and at the same time break with the world in which she lived.

The attitude of Dolokhov and Pierre to the duel is different. The first goes to the duel with the firm intention of killing, and the second suffers from the fact that he needs to shoot a person. In addition, Pierre never held a pistol in his hands and, in order to quickly end this heinous deed, somehow pulls the trigger, and when he injures the enemy, barely holding back his sobs, rushes to him. "Stupid!.. Death... Lies..." he repeated, walking through the snow into the forest. So a separate episode, a quarrel with Dolokhov, becomes a frontier for Pierre, opening up a world of lies in front of him, in which he was destined to be for some time.

A new stage of Pierre's spiritual quest begins when, in a state of deep moral crisis, he meets the freemason Bazdeev on his way from Moscow. Striving for the high meaning of life, believing in the possibility of achieving brotherly love, Pierre enters the religious and philosophical society of Masons. Here he seeks spiritual and moral renewal, hopes for a rebirth to a new life, longs for personal improvement. He also wants to correct the imperfection of life, and this matter seems to him not at all difficult. “How easy, how little effort is needed to do so much Good,” thought Pierre, “and how little we care about it!”

And so, under the influence of Masonic ideas, Pierre decides to free the peasants belonging to him from serfdom. He follows the same path that Onegin walked, although he also takes new steps in this direction. But unlike Pushkin's hero, he has huge estates in the Kiev province, which is why he has to act through the chief manager.

Possessing childish purity and gullibility, Pierre does not assume that he will have to face the meanness, deceit and devilish resourcefulness of businessmen. He takes the construction of schools, hospitals, shelters for a radical improvement in the life of the peasants, while all this was ostentatious and burdensome for them. Pierre's undertakings not only did not alleviate the plight of the peasants, but also worsened their situation, because the predation of the rich from the trading village and the robbery of the peasants, hidden from Pierre, were connected here.

Neither the transformations in the countryside nor Freemasonry justified the hopes that Pierre had placed on them. He is disappointed in the goals of the Masonic organization, which now seems to him deceitful, vicious and hypocritical, where everyone is primarily concerned with a career. In addition, the ritual procedures characteristic of Masons now seem to him an absurd and ridiculous performance. "Where am I?" he thinks, "what am I doing? Are they laughing at me? Won't I be ashamed to remember this?" Feeling the futility of Masonic ideas, which did not change his own life at all, Pierre "suddenly felt the impossibility of continuing his former life."

Tolstoy's hero goes through a new moral test. They became a real, great love for Natasha Rostova. At first, Pierre did not think about his new feeling, but it grew and became more and more powerful; a special sensitivity arose, intense attention to everything that concerned Natasha. And he leaves for a while from public interests to the world of personal, intimate experiences that Natasha opened for him.

Pierre is convinced that Natasha loves Andrei Bolkonsky. She is animated only because Prince Andrei enters, that he hears his voice. "Something very important is going on between them," Pierre thinks. The difficult feeling does not leave him. He carefully and tenderly loves Natasha, but at the same time he is faithfully and devotedly friends with Andrei. Pierre sincerely wishes them happiness, and at the same time their love becomes a great grief for him.

The aggravation of spiritual loneliness chains Pierre to the most important issues of our time. He sees before him "a tangled, terrible knot of life." On the one hand, he reflects, people erected forty and forty churches in Moscow, confessing the Christian law of love and forgiveness, and on the other hand, yesterday they whipped a soldier and the priest let him kiss the cross before execution. Thus grows a crisis in Pierre's soul.

Natasha, refusing Prince Andrei, showed friendly spiritual sympathy for Pierre. And a huge, disinterested happiness swept over him. Natasha, overwhelmed with grief and remorse, evokes such a flash of ardent love in Pierre’s soul that, unexpectedly for himself, he makes a kind of confession to her: “If I were not me, but the most beautiful, smartest and best person in the world ... I would this minute on my knees ask for your hand and your love. "In this new enthusiastic state, Pierre forgets about the social and other issues that bothered him so much. Personal happiness and boundless feeling overwhelms him, gradually the incompleteness of life, deeply and broadly understood by him.

The events of the war of 1812 produce a sharp change in Pierre's worldview. They gave him the opportunity to get out of the state of egoistic isolation. He begins to be seized by an incomprehensible anxiety for him, and although he does not know how to understand the events that are taking place, he inevitably joins the stream of reality and thinks about his participation in the fate of the Fatherland. And it's not just thinking. He prepares the militia, and then goes to Mozhaisk, on the field of the Battle of Borodino, where a new, unfamiliar world of ordinary people opens before him.

Borodino becomes a new stage in the development of Pierre. Seeing the militia men for the first time, dressed in white shirts, Pierre caught the spirit of spontaneous patriotism emanating from them, expressed in a clear determination to staunchly defend their native land. Pierre realized that this is the force that drives events - the people. With all his heart he understood the secret meaning of the soldier's words: "They want to pile on all the people, one word - Moscow."

Pierre now not only observes what is happening, but reflects, analyzes. Here he managed to feel that "hidden warmth of patriotism" that made the Russian people invincible. True, in battle, on the Raevsky battery, Pierre experiences a moment of panic fear, but it was precisely this horror "that allowed him to especially deeply understand the power of national courage. After all, these gunners all the time, to the very end, were firm and calm, and now I want to Pierre to be a soldier, just a soldier, in order to "enter this common life" with his whole being.

Under the influence of people from the people, Pierre decides to participate in the defense of Moscow, for which it is necessary to stay in the city. Wanting to accomplish a feat, he intends to kill Napoleon in order to save the peoples of Europe from the one who brought them so much suffering and evil. Naturally, he dramatically changes his attitude towards the personality of Napoleon, the former sympathy is replaced by hatred for the despot. However, many obstacles, as well as a meeting with the French captain Rumbel, change his plans, and he abandons the plan to assassinate the French emperor.

A new stage in Pierre's quest was his stay in French captivity, where he ends up after a fight with French soldiers. This new period of the hero's life becomes a further step towards rapprochement with the people. Here, in captivity, Pierre had a chance to see the true bearers of evil, the creators of the new "order", to feel the inhumanity of the morals of Napoleonic France, relations built on domination and submission. He saw the massacres and tried to get to the bottom of their causes.

He experiences an unusual shock when he is present at the execution of people accused of arson. “In his soul,” writes Tolstoy, “it is as if the spring on which everything was held up has suddenly been pulled out.” And only a meeting with Platon Karataev in captivity allowed Pierre to find peace of mind. Pierre became close to Karataev, fell under his influence and began to look at life as a spontaneous and natural process. Faith in goodness and truth arises again, inner independence and freedom was born. Under the influence of Karataev, Pierre's spiritual revival takes place. Like this simple peasant, Pierre begins to love life in all its manifestations, despite all the vicissitudes of fate.

Close rapprochement with the people after his release from captivity leads Pierre to Decembristism. Tolstoy talks about this in the epilogue of his novel. Over the past seven years, the old mood of passivity, contemplation has been replaced by a thirst for action and active participation in public life. Now, in 1820, Pierre's wrath and indignation are causing social orders and political oppression in his native Russia. He says to Nikolai Rostov: "There is theft in the courts, in the army there is only one stick, shagistika, settlements - they torment the people, they stifle enlightenment. What is young, honestly, is ruined!"

Pierre is convinced that the duty of all honest people is to to counteract this. It is no coincidence that Pierre becomes a member of a secret organization and even one of the main organizers of the secret political society. The association of "honest people," he believes, should play a significant role in eliminating social evil.

Personal happiness now enters Pierre's life. Now he is married to Natasha, experiences a deep love for her and his children. Happiness with an even and calm light illuminates his whole life. The main conviction that Pierre took out of his long life searches and which is close to Tolstoy himself is: "As long as there is life, there is happiness."

Secondary school No. 141

Topic: The theme of honor in the works of Russian writers
XIX century.

Class: 10 "B"

Head: Shulman Nina Nikolaevna

Moscow 2003

Issues of honor and morality are always a fundamental problem in the relationship of people in society. One of the important places is given to this topic in Russian literature of the 19th century. Russian writers of this significant period in the development of national history created works that not only fully reflected life, but also had a great moral and educational value, revealing the best that is in the people, on which this people should rely.

Honor is that high spiritual force that keeps a person from meanness, betrayal, lies and cowardice. This is the core that strengthens in the choice of an act, when conscience is the judge. Life often tests people, putting them before a choice - to act honorably and take a blow, or to be cowardly and go against their conscience in order to gain benefits and get away from trouble or even death. A person always has a choice, and how he will act depends on his moral principles. The path of honor is difficult, but the retreat from it, the loss of honor, is even more painful. Disgrace is always punished. So, apparently, higher powers dispose of.

Moral decay, the fall of moral principles leads to the collapse of both the individual and the whole nation. Therefore, the importance of the great Russian classical literature, which is the moral foundation and helper for many generations of people. Bright images created by writers with love and vitality seem to acquire materiality. They live among us and are an example of morality and honor.

The concept of honor is brought up in a person from childhood. So in the story
Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin "The Captain's Daughter" we see how this happens and what results it leads to.

The protagonist of the story, Pyotr Andreevich Grinev, was brought up from childhood in an atmosphere of high worldly morality. His father had a negative view of the easy but dishonest ways to make a career at court. He did not want to send his young son to serve in St. Petersburg, in the guards
Petrush: “What will he learn by serving in St. Petersburg? To wind and hang out? - Andrey Petrovich says to his wife. - “No, let him serve in the army, yes, pull the strap, sniff gunpowder, yes
There will be a soldier, not a shamaton.” In parting words to his son, the father especially emphasizes the need to observe honor: “Serve faithfully to whom you swear allegiance, obey your superiors; do not chase after their affection; do not ask for service; do not dissuade from the service and remember the proverb: take care of the dress again, and honor from youth.
This parting word from his father remains with Grinev for life and helps him not to stray from the right path. Petrusha Grinev did not receive a good education, since his teacher was only the serf Savelich, who, however, considered it his duty to faithfully serve the master. His devotion to his master is far from slavish dependence. Savelich not only taught Petrush to read and write, but also gave him important life advice, which was dictated by his sincere love for the boy.

So in his family, Pyotr Grinev was brought up as a nobleman, true to his word and not considering it possible to change the oath for his own good.

Breaking away from home and parents, Pyotr Grinev gets involved in a card game and loses. Although Savelich persuaded him to evade the calculation, Grinev acted honorably and returned the gambling debt.

Grinev is kind and responsive. Despite Savelich's dissatisfaction, he did not regret giving his hare sheepskin coat to a tramp who showed him the way into the blizzard. Grinev could not help thanking the person who had rendered him a service. This act saved his life in the future. Good reciprocates good.

Moral trials awaited Grinev in his new military life. IN
Belogorod fortress, he became friends with the daughter of the commandant Masha Mironova.
Because of Masha, Pyotr Grinev quarreled with his comrade Shvabrin, who laughed at Grinev's tender feelings poured out in his poems.
Grinev entrusted Shvabrin with his poems, and the vile Shvabrin, guessing that they were addressed to Masha, began to speak obscenities about her. Later it turned out that he himself wooed Masha and, having received a refusal, wanted to discredit her name. Grinev challenged the offender to a duel, as he considered it his duty to protect the honor of the girl. Shvabrin's shamelessness was intolerable to him.

Shvabrin is mercenary and cowardly. His image, as it were, sets off the nobility
Grinev, for whom there is no other way but to act honorably, without thinking about his own benefit. Shvabrin is his complete opposite.

Even during the duel, having felt Grinev's strength, he took advantage of the fact that Grinev turned away, distracted by Savelich, who was hurrying to help, and struck him with a treacherous blow with a sword.

Then Grinev finds out that Shvabrin wrote a denunciation of him to his father.
Thus, the dishonorable behavior of Shvabrin arouses antipathy in the reader and thereby enhances the charm and attractiveness of Peter's character.
Andreevich Grinev.

The characters of Shvabrin and Grinev were especially evident during the Pugachev rebellion, when the issue of their life and death was being decided. At the same time, the behavior of the family of the commandant of the fortress is also remarkable. The concepts of honor and duty, loyalty to the oath were sacred to Masha's parents. They preferred death, but did not surrender to the rebels. Ivan Kuzmich Mironov was incapable of betrayal for the sake of his own well-being. His wife Vasilisa Egorovna was ready to share the fate of her husband so as not to surrender to the enemy.

Shvabrin is appreciative and indifferent to the suffering of these people. He treated ordinary people with contempt and thought only of how to save his own life at any cost. Feelings of duty and honor were not developed in him.
He broke the oath and went over to the side of the rebels, but not because he sympathized with them and shared their views, but only to save his life. And he also had a plan, having dealt with Grinev, to force Masha to marry him.

As for Grinev, it is quite clear that he preferred death. He could not change his oath and become an ally of Pugachev, the killer of Masha's parents.

Grinev would have been hanged if not for the desperate behavior of Savelich, who asked for his pardon and was ready to die instead of his master.
Savelich saved Grinev, showing devotion and fulfillment of his duty to protect Petrusha entrusted to him.

Pugachev appreciated Grinev as a man of honor. He himself set himself the noble goal of giving freedom and happiness to the serfs, and therefore he liked the nobility of the young officer. Grinev's morality influenced Pugachev. He released Masha and offered to be planted by their father at their wedding. Having received Grinev's polite refusal, Pugachev managed to understand him, since he also had mercy and honor.

Pugachev also understands that Shvabrin is dishonest and treats him with disdain.

Being arrested on a denunciation for his connection with the rebellious ataman, Grinev, for reasons of honor, does not name his beloved. But justice prevailed and the story had a happy ending.

So Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin showed an understanding of honor and duty from the standpoint of completely different people standing at different levels of society.
Moral qualities are brought up in a person, regardless of his education and social status.

An interesting remark by V. Belinsky, who said about Pushkin, that "by reading his works, one can educate a person in oneself in an excellent way."

Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin himself was a "slave of honor", as another brilliant poet wrote about him in his poem "The Death of a Poet"
M.Yu.Lermontov. He fell victim to dishonest and vicious envious people. Defending the honor of his wife and his own honor, Pushkin challenged Dantes to a duel, who, with dubious behavior, could discredit the good name of the Pushkin couple. Alexander
Sergeevich could not live “slandered by rumors” and put an end to dishonor at the cost of his own life.

The poet's soul could not bear

The shame of petty insults,

He rebelled against the opinions of the world

Alone, as before ... and killed!

But the "wonderful genius" of Pushkin illuminates with his radiant light the lives of many and many generations of descendants, and the "empty heart" of Dantes did not find happiness on earth and good memory after death. And as Lermontov said, “The executioners of Freedom, Genius and Glory” will not be able to wash away the righteous blood with their “black blood of the Poet!”

Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov also fought a duel, defending his honor. He was killed by Martynov. Still quite a young poet of genius, who created immortal works, caused irritation and anger of idle worthless envious people and, like Pushkin, accepted death for his honor.

The history of the Russian duel of the 19th century is the history of human tragedies, high impulses and passions. The concept of honor in the noble society of that time is connected with the dueling tradition. The willingness to pay with life for the inviolability of one's personal dignity implied a keen awareness of this dignity, a highly developed sense of honor. In addition, the underlying consciousness prompted duels, that the highest justice must be done and the right must win.

Often duels arose for the slightest provocation. So in Pushkin's poem "Eugene
Onegin ”Lensky challenged his friend Onegin to a duel because of unreasonable jealousy. Having "an ardent and rather strange spirit," "he was ignorant at heart." In love with the stupid and windy Olga, Lensky did not see her shortcomings. Onegin, not being a romantic, like Lensky, wanted to play a trick on him out of boredom. No bloodshed was inflicted. It was clear to everyone that it was a misunderstanding. However, Lensky did not want to give in.

Onegin reacted with annoyance and even contempt for the duel, in which he was involved against his own will. He was sincerely upset by the bloody outcome of the duel. Lensky died “in the bloom of joyful hopes”, offended by a friend, paying with his life for the insult: “A poet, a pensive dreamer, was killed by a friendly hand!”

Breters were not uncommon among the duelists. Breter is a man who flaunted his readiness and ability to fight anywhere and with anyone. The risk of the breter was ostentatious, and the killing of the enemy was part of his calculations. It was a mixture of posturing and cruelty.

Negative options for a duel are also depicted by Pushkin in the story
"Shot". The hero of the story, Silvio, is looking for a pretext for a fight in order to assert his superiority in the hussar regiment; Bretersky habits are felt in it.

Talking about himself to Ivan Petrovich Belkin, he says: “I was the first brawler in the army ... Duels in our regiment happened every minute: I was either a witness or a protagonist for everyone.”

His opponent is a rich count, "the favorite of happiness", which caused irritation
Silvio with his superiority and luck. The count showed contempt for death: he ate cherries at gunpoint. Both opponents acted for the sake of their pride. Silvio's goal is not murder, but the desire to prove to himself and others that he is stronger and can rule over people. He was possessed by morbid pride and selfishness.

The murder did not happen, but Silvio left behind his shot. He devoted several years of his life to achieve triumph over the enemy and to avenge wounded pride. Limiting himself in everything, he practiced shooting every day and waited for the moment convenient to carry out his revenge.

Arriving at last to the count to fire back, Silvio did not kill him, but contented himself with making him tremble and witnessed his fright.

Pushkin describes the morals of young officers, "who usually see in courage the height of human virtues and an apology for all sorts of vices."

In M.Yu. Lermontov’s story “A Hero of Our Time”, Pechorin kills Grushnitsky in a duel. Standing up for the honor of the lady, lowly slandered by Grushnitsky because of her inattention to him, Pechorin challenges the offender to a duel.
The cowardly Grushnitsky secretly agrees with his seconds to load only his pistol, leaving Pechorin a blank shot. Grushnitsky's immorality and cowardice are expressed in his dishonorable behavior towards the girl and towards his comrade, whom he envies.

Upon learning of the conspiracy, Pechorin offers Grushnitsky cruel conditions for a duel, or publicly renounce his slander and ask for his apology. Grushnitsky, in a fit of impotent hatred for the enemy, chooses to shoot without a chance for life and falls into the abyss, hit by a bullet
Pechorin.

Noteworthy is the duel between Pierre Bezukhov and Dolokhov, described
LN Tolstoy in the epic novel "War and Peace".

Pierre Bezukhov is a purely civilian person, prone to philosophical reflection, far from worldly fuss and strife. He didn't know how to handle weapons at all. But he wounds Dolokhov, a fearless warrior, in a duel.
Here Tolstoy, as it were, confirms the idea that justice is done and vice must be punished. At first, Pierre sincerely trusted Dolokhov, because, being an honest man, he could not assume dishonor in others.
He brought him into his house, helped him with money in memory of an old friendship, and Dolokhov disgraced Bezukhov by seducing his wife. Pierre Bezukhov stood up for his honor, but, realizing that the stupid and cruel Helen does not deserve to be killed because of her, he repents of what happened. He thanks
God for not killing a man. He is ready to repent before the duel, but not out of fear, but because he is sure of Helen's guilt.

In Lermontov's drama "Masquerade", Arbenin, defending his honor, kills his beloved wife, believing in a skillfully woven intrigue.
Arbenin here acts as an egoist and a villain who ruined an innocent soul for the sake of his ambitions. Painful pride and a false idea of ​​honor made him a toy in the hands of crafty ill-wishers and pushed him to villainy.
Having poisoned his wife and found out that she is innocent before him, Arbenin repents terribly, but his life has already been broken.

So, the literary heroes of that era called offenders to the barrier and sometimes went to desperate acts, defending their honor, the price of which was life itself.

In the grandiose in its scale work "War and Peace"
LN Tolstoy pays the main attention to the problem of moral purity of the soul.

A sense of honor and duty, sincere generosity and purity are the guarantee of peace and happiness of people on earth. Showing what troubles the war brings to the world, Tolstoy concludes that only self-improvement, the desire of each person individually to become better, will save peoples from destruction and death more kindly.

Tolstoy's favorite heroes Andrei Bolkonsky and his relatives, Pierre Bezukhov, the Rostov family are sincere and noble people who understand their duty to their parents and the Fatherland, who live by honor and conscience.

Andrei Bolkonsky is a strong-willed and principled person. At the beginning of the novel, he dreams of military glory, waiting for a happy moment when "he will finally have to show everything that he can do", prove himself in battle.
“For this alone I live,” thought Prince Andrei.

Brought up by his father as General-in-Chief of Catherine's reign, who occupied a prominent position precisely because of his talents, and not because of his desire for a career, Prince Andrei learned the concepts of honor and duty to people and the fatherland. Nikolai Andreevich Bolkonsky honestly served his fatherland and never served, as evidenced by his resignation and even exile under
Paul.

The Bolkonskys are an old aristocratic family. They are rightfully proud of their services to the Fatherland. The high concept of honor, pride, independence, nobility and sharpness of mind, the old prince passed on to his son. Both despise upstarts and careerists like
Kuragin, for whom there is no concept of honor.

Prince Andrei dreams of a feat. He performs a feat in the battle of
Austerlitz, picking up the fallen banner and thereby inspiring the fleeing army

The image of Prince Andrei is given by Tolstoy in development. As a result of spiritual quest, he changes his idea of ​​the meaning of life. At the end of the book, having been mortally wounded in the battle of Borodino, the "divine love" for people became available to him - the love that should save the world from evil.

Prince Andrei never betrayed his duty and conscience. After breaking up with
Natasha Rostova, despite the mental pain inflicted on him, he does not challenge Kuragin to a duel, being above this. In this case, his nobility and sense of honor do not allow him to take offense at his own expense.
He leaves Natasha's betrayal on her conscience, because of which she suffers greatly.
Ultimately, Andrei Bolkonsky forgives Natasha her passion, understanding her inexperience and also realizing that he loves only her.

Andrei Bolkonsky is connected by friendship with Pierre Bezukhov. These two people distinguished each other among secular empty hypocrites, feeling the unity of views and guessing in each other a man of honor.

Pierre Bezukhov, like Prince Andrei, being in constant search for the meaning of life, never betrayed his honor and always acted like a decent person. He is infinitely kind and able to feel someone else's pain. Pierre's intense inner spiritual activity, his desire for self-improvement led him to an understanding of the infinity and beauty of being. He found his soul, which cannot be killed.

Pierre's observations of the behavior of ordinary people, their wisdom and naturalness taught him a lot. The moral purity of the people, the ability to sacrifice, spiritual nobility were a discovery for
Pierre Bezukhov and he gladly felt himself a part of this people, part of their spiritual strength.

On the example of the war of 1812, L.N. Tolstoy shows how the people heroically create history. The war of 1812 appears in the image of Tolstoy as a people's war. In a period of severe trials for the Fatherland, the defense of the Motherland becomes a “people's business”. The novel contains many images of ordinary men and soldiers. All of them are ready to die for their Motherland and are sure of victory. "They want to attack with all the people." The whole world is ready to defend the honor of their Fatherland and are unanimous in their decision not to give up their capital to the enemy. So that the "devils" did not get anything, it was decided to set fire to Moscow.

Tolstoy shows honor and dishonor, drawing images of two generals,
Kutuzov and Napoleon - the defender of the Fatherland and the invader.

An invading enemy cannot be honest. The essence of his act is the seizure of someone else's, which does not belong to him, as well as murder. Napoleon is depicted in the novel as selfish and narcissistic, arrogant and arrogant. He wanted to enslave the Russian people and claimed world domination.

The figure of Kutuzov is opposite to Napoleon. He is depicted as the leader of a just people's war, connected with the people by close spiritual ties. This was his strength as a commander. Deep patriotic feelings
Kutuzov, his love for the Russian people and hatred for the enemy, his closeness to the soldier distinguished him as a man of honor and high morality.

Tolstoy sees in the people a source of spirituality and morality, necessary for the whole society. According to Tolstoy, those nobles who stand closer to the people are moral and honest. They have a stronger patriotic feeling. Conversely, those nobles who distance themselves from their people and abhor them are callous and soulless.

In love for the Motherland, Prince Andrei Bolkonsky and the soldiers of his regiment are equal. In the regiment they called him "our prince", they were proud of him and loved him. Platon Karataev, a man from the people, became the spiritual teacher of Pierre Bezukhov. The soldiers called Pierre "our master."

Tolstoy opposes the false patriotism of the secular nobility to popular patriotism. The main goal of these people is to catch "crosses, rubles, ranks." The upper world was characterized by traits of duplicity and hypocrisy. Life in carefree luxury dulled the sense of honor and duty.

In the Patriotic War of 1812, a huge moral force was concluded, which cleansed and reborn Tolstoy's heroes. Their destinies followed the same path as the fate of the people. They came to the understanding that by defending the honor of their Fatherland, they preserve their honor.

List of used literature.

1. A. S. Pushkin:

"Captain's daughter"

"Eugene Onegin"

"Shot"

2. M. Yu. Lermontov

"Death of poet"

"Hero of our time"

"Masquerade"

3. L. N. Tolstoy.