The idea is “folk. Folk thought in the epic novel “War and Peace” What does the concept of people mean to Tolstoy?

- 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 popular thought. 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, organizing separate small partisan detachments and crushing 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 revealed in people best qualities, where the men, forgetting about their grievances, fought side by side with their masters, defending their Motherland. 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”

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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 national character 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 peasant class and the nobility. In order to illustrate his point, the writer turned to very harsh times for all of Russia - Patriotic War 1812.

The only confrontation is the fight the best people the noble class, united with people from the people, with military and bureaucratic circles, 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 peace and wartime 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, already in the first two volumes of the novel descriptions appear folk scenes. 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 action reveals spiritual qualities Russian person.

“War and Peace”: popular thought in the novel

As noted above, the fate of Tolstoy’s heroes from among the best nobles is always connected with folk life. 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. Unity 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 topic 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 gives it great value. 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. Good example This is due to the Bogucharov riot, when the peasants, having read the 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, brave 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.

Introduction

“The subject of history is the life of peoples and humanity,” this is how L.N. Tolstoy begins the second part of the epilogue of the epic novel “War and Peace.” He further asks the question: “What force moves nations?” Reflecting on these “theories,” Tolstoy comes to the conclusion that: “The life of peoples does not fit into the lives of a few people, because the connection between these several people and nations has not been found...” In other words, Tolstoy says that the role of the people in history is undeniable, and the eternal truth that history is made by the people was proven by him in his novel. “People's thought” in Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace” is indeed one of the main themes of the epic novel.

The people in the novel "War and Peace"

Many readers understand the word “people” not quite the way Tolstoy understands it. Lev Nikolaevich means by “people” not only soldiers, peasants, men, not only that “huge mass” driven by some force. For Tolstoy, the “people” included officers, generals, and the nobility. This is Kutuzov, and Bolkonsky, and the Rostovs, and Bezukhov - this is all of humanity, embraced by one thought, one deed, one purpose. All the main characters of Tolstoy's novel are directly connected with their people and are inseparable from them.

Heroes of the novel and “folk thought”

The fates of the beloved heroes of Tolstoy’s novel are connected with the life of the people. “People's thought” in “War and Peace” runs like a red thread through the life of Pierre Bezukhov. While in captivity, Pierre learned his truth of life. Platon Karataev, a peasant peasant, opened it to Bezukhov: “In captivity, in a booth, Pierre learned not with his mind, but with his whole being, with his life, that man was created for happiness, that happiness is in himself, in satisfying natural human needs, that all misfortune occurs not from lack, but from excess.” The French offered Pierre to transfer from a soldier's booth to an officer's, but he refused, remaining faithful to those with whom he suffered his fate. And for a long time afterwards he recalled this month of captivity with ecstasy, as “a complete peace of mind, about the perfect inner freedom that he experienced only at this time.”

Andrei Bolkonsky also felt his people at the Battle of Austerlitz. Grabbing the flagpole and rushing forward, he did not think that the soldiers would follow him. And they, seeing Bolkonsky with a banner and hearing: “Guys, go ahead!” rushed at the enemy behind their leader. The unity of officers and ordinary soldiers confirms that the people are not divided into ranks and titles, the people are united, and Andrei Bolkonsky understood this.

Natasha Rostova, leaving Moscow, dumps her family property on the ground and gives away her carts for the wounded. This decision comes to her immediately, without thinking, which suggests that the heroine does not separate herself from the people. Another episode that speaks of the true Russian spirit of Rostova, in which L. Tolstoy himself admires his beloved heroine: “Where, how, when did she suck into herself from the Russian air that she breathed - this countess, raised by a French governess - this spirit, where she got these techniques from... But these spirits and techniques were the same, inimitable, unstudied, Russian.”

And Captain Tushin, who sacrificed own life for the sake of victory, for the sake of Russia. Captain Timokhin, who rushed at the Frenchman with “one skewer.” Denisov, Nikolai Rostov, Petya Rostov and many other Russian people who stood with the people and knew true patriotism.

Tolstoy created a collective image of a people - a united, invincible people, when not only soldiers, troops, but also militias fight. Civilians help not with weapons, but with their own methods: men burn hay so as not to take it to Moscow, people leave the city only because they do not want to obey Napoleon. This is what “folk thought” is and how it is revealed in the novel. Tolstoy makes it clear that the Russian people are strong in a single thought - not to surrender to the enemy. A sense of patriotism is important for all Russian people.

Platon Karataev and Tikhon Shcherbaty

The novel also shows the partisan movement. A prominent representative here was Tikhon Shcherbaty, who fought the French with all his disobedience, dexterity, and cunning. His active work brings success to the Russians. Denisov is proud of his partisan detachment thanks to Tikhon.

Opposite to the image of Tikhon Shcherbaty is the image of Platon Karataev. Kind, wise, with his worldly philosophy, he calms Pierre and helps him survive captivity. Plato's speech is filled with Russian proverbs, which emphasizes his nationality.

Kutuzov and the people

The only commander-in-chief of the army who never separated himself and the people was Kutuzov. “He knew not with his mind or science, but with his whole Russian being, he knew and felt what every Russian soldier felt...” The disunity of the Russian army in the alliance with Austria, the deception of the Austrian army, when the allies abandoned the Russians in battles, were unbearable pain for Kutuzov. To Napoleon’s letter about peace, Kutuzov replied: “I would be damned if they looked at me as the first instigator of any deal: such is the will of our people” (italics by L.N. Tolstoy). Kutuzov did not write on his own behalf, he expressed the opinion of the entire people, all Russian people.

The image of Kutuzov is contrasted with the image of Napoleon, who was very far from his people. He was only interested in personal interest in the struggle for power. An empire of worldwide submission to Bonaparte - and an abyss in the interests of the people. As a result, the war of 1812 was lost, the French fled, and Napoleon was the first to leave Moscow. He abandoned his army, abandoned his people.

Conclusions

In his novel War and Peace, Tolstoy shows that people's power is invincible. And in every Russian person there is “simplicity, goodness and truth.” True patriotism does not measure everyone by rank, does not build a career, does not seek fame. At the beginning of the third volume, Tolstoy writes: “There are two sides of life in every person: personal life, which is the more free the more abstract its interests are, and spontaneous, swarm life, where a person inevitably fulfills the laws prescribed to him.” Laws of honor, conscience, general culture, general history.

This essay on the topic “People's Thought” in the novel “War and Peace” reveals only a small part of what the author wanted to tell us. The people live in the novel in every chapter, in every line.

Work test

Peak creative activity Leo Tolstoy dates back to the mid-19th century. Russia shuddered from the indignation of the peasant masses, so the idea of ​​popular consciousness in the process of social development became a key theme in literary works many writers of that time. “People's Thought” in the novel “War and Peace” reveals the heroic image of the Russian people against the backdrop of the events of the Patriotic War of 1812.

What did Tolstoy mean by the word people?

Writers of the nineteenth century showed the people either in the form of the peasantry oppressed by the tsar or the entire Russian nation, or in the form of the patriotic nobility or the social stratum of the merchants. Tolstoy lovingly says “people” every time he talks about moral people. The author deprives anyone who behaves immorally, is laziness, greed and cruelty of the right to be involved in this community of citizens.

People living within one state represent its basis and are the material of history, regardless of class and education. We have a genius great man? His role in the development of humanity is insignificant, Tolstoy claims, a genius is a product of his society, wrapped in a bright package of talent.

No one single-handedly can control millions of people, create the history of an entire state, or provoke the vector of events according to their plan, especially their consequences. In the novel “War and Peace,” the author assigned the role of the creator of history to the people, guided by rational life desires and instincts.

Popular thought in the image of Kutuzov

The Russian classic calls decisions made behind the scenes of power, at the legislative level, the upward trend in the development of society. This, in his opinion, is the centrifugal force of history. Events taking place among the common population are a process of downward development of history, a centripetal force in the development of social ties.

Therefore, the image of Kutuzov is endowed with high moral qualities. Events show that the general finds himself connected with the people by one chain of state problems. He is close to the problems experienced by ordinary people who are much lower than Kutuzov on the social ladder. The legendary commander feels anxiety, the bitterness of defeat and the joy of victory as naturally as his soldiers. They have one task, they move along the same path of events, defending their homeland.

In the novel Kutuzov is a prominent representative people, because his personal goals absolutely coincide with the goals of the Russian population. The author in every possible way focuses the reader's attention on the merits of the commander-in-chief of the Russian army. His authority in the eyes of soldiers and officers is indestructible. The spirit of the army he commands depends on his mood, health, and his physical presence on the battlefield.

Popular thought in the images of nobles

Can a count or prince be considered a people? Was it typical for representatives of the Russian nobility to meet the demands of historical necessity? Storyline the novel clearly reflects moral development positive characters, their merger with the masses during the Patriotic War of 1812.

Leo Tolstoy emphasizes that the will to victory, to get rid of the presence of an enemy army on the territory of one’s land is tested by the people’s thought. Pierre Bezukhov, in the same stream as the refugees, ends his search for the meaning of life, seeing it in the very idea of ​​worthy survival in the face of danger.

Natasha Rostova cannot remain indifferent and leave the wounded soldiers. The young countess rushes to find additional carts to take the wounded out of burning Moscow. Along the Smolensk road she tries to help soldiers suffering and dying from wounds.

Marya Bolkonskaya, the sister of Prince Andrei, almost paid with her life for her desire to escape from enemy-occupied territory. The girl does not pester Madame Burien to wait for the French at her estate, and enters into an open conflict with the men for the opportunity to be with her compatriots on Russian soil.

From the beginning of the story, Prince Bolkonsky reveres Napoleon as an advanced contemporary who brings new ideas of equality and brotherhood. On the battlefield of Austerlitz, his delusion dissipates when he sees the morbid admiration of Bonaparte, looking at the bodies of many killed soldiers of both armies.

Andrei Bolkonsky dies, remaining a little man, faithful to his oath, his people and the emperor.

Patriotism is a Russian principle

Leo Tolstoy refers to patriotism as a clear sign of nationality, uniting all social classes in moments of danger. Captain Tushin, heroically defending artillery positions, endowed as a simple person with “small and great.” A similarly ambiguous character is Tikhon Shcherbaty, merciless to his enemies, but a cruel person at heart in general.

Young Peter Rostov dies while taking part in the partisan movement, which became an important factor in the victory. Platon Karataev, having been captured, shows courageous calm, professing love of life in testing situations as the basic idea of ​​Christianity. Leo Tolstoy values ​​good nature and humble patience above all else in a Russian person.

History knows hundreds of examples of heroic deeds, sometimes the names of the heroes are not known. All that remains is memory and glory to the patriotic, unbending spirit of the Russian people, who in peaceful days remains a jealous guardian and bearer of spiritual values.

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 asserted the decisive role masses in history. In his opinion, the role 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 at will predict the direction of events.
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 associated with the masses ordinary people joint 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 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, who have 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 goodies to get closer to the people. Heroes are tested by the Patriotic War. Independence privacy 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 Russian beginning 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 the life of a swarm, when everyone does their part of the common cause, and a person is driven not by instinct, but by laws public life, as Tolstoy understands them. And such a swarm, or world, consists not of an impersonal mass, but of individuals who do not lose their individuality when 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 for 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 active people participants in folk, swarm 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 try to assume the right to speak on behalf of the people, have nothing in common with them.
In the work itself artistic storytelling at times it is 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 sought in his work 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 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 main idea novel - \"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 driving force 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, it was shameful and disgusting not to give them, for Petya Rostov, who takes part in hostilities partisan detachment and dying in battle with the enemy, for Denisov and Dolokhov. All these people, throwing away everything personal, become one and participate in the formation of the will to win. This will to win is especially clearly manifested in crowd scenes: in the scene of the surrender of Smolensk, let us remember the merchant Ferapontov, who, succumbing to some unknown, inner strength, orders all his goods to be distributed to the soldiers, and what cannot be taken out - to be set on fire, in the scene of preparation for the Battle of Borodino, the soldiers put on white shirts, as if preparing for the last battle, in the scene of the battle of the partisans with 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. Subject 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 living life the world is above all speculation and that happiness is in itself. 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