The moral path of Pierre Bezukhov briefly. The quest of Pierre Bezukhov

The quest of Pierre Bezukhov (based on the novel by L.N. Tolstoy "War and Peace")

I. Introduction

1. It is impossible to retell Pierre's entire biography in an essay, so key points in his development are selected.

2. The main directions of Pierre's searches: the desire to be internally satisfied with himself, the desire to connect with people and serve them, liberation from false feelings and concepts (see the plan on the topic “True and False in L.N. Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace ").

II. main part

1. At the beginning of the novel, Pierre is a young, undecided man, in essence, not knowing real life. However, already here Tolstoy notes his sympathy for the ideas of the French Revolution and his subconscious rejection of secular society.

2. The period from Helen's declaration of love to the duel with Dolokhov. Pierre is completely captured by false feelings and concepts: sensual attraction to Helen, jealousy, secular rules, etc.

3. The duel with Dolokhov shocked Pierre. The realization that he could kill a person (and almost killed) because of vain and false feelings leads him to reconsider everything that he has lived so far, and Pierre realizes this life as a monstrous delusion In what happened, Pierre does not blame anyone but himself - this is a very important feature for the Tolstoy. During this period, Pierre completely loses the meaning of life.

4. Meeting with Bazdeev and passion for Freemasonry. In Freemasonry, Pierre is attracted by two main goals: to strive for moral self-improvement and to do good to people. This is what he is always looking for.

5. Pierre's desire to follow the principles of Freemasonry, attempts to improve the life of peasants, etc. Pierre begins to doubt Freemasonry, seeing that many are attracted to the lodge by self-interest, and not by love for people, and in himself.

6. Pierre on the Borodino field. His real familiarization with the people and the emergence of a sense of true patriotism. Further actions Pierre (the intention to kill Napoleon is a consequence of false heroic aspirations and vanity, but instead saving a girl from a burning house, etc.).

7. Pierre captured. Deep shock from the execution of prisoners. The second time, Pierre feels that “everything has fallen into a heap of meaningless rubbish,” and the meaning of life has been completely lost.

8. Pierre and Platon Karataev. Karataev seems to Pierre "the personification of the spirit of simplicity and truth", the embodiment of everything "Russian, kind, round." Pierre joins the instinctive people's truth, the essence of which is unity with people and the rejection of any individualism.

9. Through hardship and physical suffering in captivity, Pierre comes to an understanding of true freedom, the joy of life is revealed to him, he comprehends its meaning. He discards everything superfluous, unnecessary, which he previously considered important, and from this he becomes truly happy for the first time.

10. Pierre in the epilogue. Tolstoy portrays him slightly changed. The influence of Platon Karataev and the meaning of life that was revealed to him in captivity remain with him, but he is looking for his own path in life. In the epilogue, Pierre is a member secret society, probably, future Decembrist who wants to not only passively accept life, but also actively fight evil and injustice. He is on the next step of the endless ladder of moral development and ideological quest.

Pierre Bezukhov is considered the main character of the novel War and Peace. With your dissatisfaction surrounding reality, disappointment in the world, the search for the meaning of life, he reminds us of the "hero of his time" traditional for Russian literature. However, Tolstoy's novel already goes beyond literary tradition. Tolstoy's hero overcomes the "tragedy extra person”, finds the meaning of life and personal happiness.

We get acquainted with Pierre already from the first pages of the novel and immediately note his dissimilarity to those around him. The appearance of Count Bezukhov, his behavior, manners - all this "does not fit" into the author's image of the secular "public". Pierre is a big, fat, awkward young man who has something of a child in him. This childishness is already noticeable in the very portrait of the hero. So Pierre's smile differed from the smiles of other people, "merging with an unsmile." “On the contrary, when a smile came, his serious and even somewhat gloomy face suddenly disappeared and another appeared - childish, kind, even stupid, and as if asking for forgiveness.”

Pierre is awkward and distracted, he does not have secular manners, "does not know how to enter the salon" and even less knows how to "get out of it." Openness, emotionality, timidity and naturalness distinguish him from the indifferently self-confident salon aristocrats. “You are one living person among our entire world,” Prince Andrei tells him.

Pierre is shy, childishly trusting and unsophisticated, subject to other people's influences. Hence his revelry, "hussars" in the company of Dolokhov and Anatol Kuragin, his marriage to Helen. As N. K. Gudziy notes, due to the lack of internal composure and strong will, due to the disorderliness of his hobbies, the character of Pierre is to a certain extent opposed to the character of Andrei Bolkonsky. Rationalism and constant introspection are not characteristic of Pierre; sensuality is present in his nature.

However, Pierre's lifestyle here is determined not only by his personal qualities. Violent revels in the company of "golden youth" is also his unconscious protest "against the low boredom of the surrounding reality, the waste of forces that have nothing ... to apply";

Next stage moral quest Pierre is a passion for Freemasonry. In this teaching, the hero is attracted by a certain freedom, Freemasonry in his eyes is “the teaching of Christianity, freed from state and religious shackles”, a brotherhood of people capable of supporting each other “on the path of virtue”. It seems to Pierre that this is an opportunity to "achieve perfection", to correct human and social vices. The ideas of the "brotherhood of free masons" seem to the hero as a revelation that descended on him.

However, Tolstoy emphasizes the fallacy of Pierre's views. None of the provisions of Masonic teaching is realized in the life of the hero. Trying to correct the imperfection of social relations, Bezukhov tries to change the position of his peasants. He builds hospitals, schools, shelters in his villages, tries to alleviate the situation of the serfs. And it seems to him that he achieves tangible results: grateful peasants solemnly greet him with bread and salt. However, all this "people's prosperity" is illusory - it is nothing more than a performance staged by the chief administrator on the occasion of the master's arrival. Pierre's chief manager considers all the master's undertakings an eccentricity, an absurd whim. And he acts in his own way, preserving the former order on Bezukhov's estates.

Just as fruitless is the idea of personal self-improvement. Despite the fact that Pierre sincerely strives to eradicate personal vices, his life goes on as before, “with the same hobbies and licentiousness”, he cannot resist the “amusements of single societies”, although he considers them “immoral and humiliating”.

The inconsistency of the Masonic teaching is also exposed by Tolstoy in the depiction of the behavior of the "brothers" who visit the lodge. Pierre notes that most members of the lodge in life are “weak and insignificant people”, many become Freemasons “because of the possibility of rapprochement with rich, noble, influential persons”, others are only interested in the external, ritual side of the doctrine.

Returning from abroad, Pierre offers the "brothers" his program of socially useful activities. However, the Freemasons do not accept Pierre's proposals. And he is finally disappointed in the "brotherhood of freemasons."

Having broken with the Freemasons, the hero experiences a deep internal crisis, a mental catastrophe. He loses faith in the very possibility of socially useful activity. Outwardly, Pierre returns to his former activities: benefit performances, bad pictures, statues, charitable societies, gypsies, revels - nothing is refused. He is no longer visited, as before, by moments of despair, spleen, disgust for life, but "the same illness, which was previously expressed by sharp attacks", is now "driven inside" and does not leave him for a moment. That period of Bezukhov's life begins, when he gradually begins to turn into the usual "retired good-natured chamberlain living his life in Moscow, of which there were hundreds."

Here, in the novel, the motif of the disappointed hero, the "superfluous person", the motif of Oblomov arises. However, in Tolstoy this motive takes on a completely different sound than in Pushkin or Goncharov. Tolstoy's man lives in a great, unprecedented era for Russia, which "transforms disappointed heroes", revealing all the best and genuine in their souls, awakening rich inner potential to life. The heroic era is "generous, generous, broad", it "involves, purifies, elevates everyone who ... is able to respond to its greatness ...".

Indeed, the year 1812 changes a lot in the life of the hero. This is a period of restoration of spiritual integrity, Pierre's familiarization with the "general", the affirmation in his soul of his "sense of the expediency of being." Big role Pierre's visit to the Rayevsky battery during the Battle of Borodino and his stay in French captivity played here.

Being on the Borodino field, among the endless roar of cannons, the smoke of shells, the screech of bullets, the hero experiences a feeling of horror, mortal fear. The soldiers seem to him strong and courageous, they have no fear, no fear for their lives. The very patriotism of these people, seemingly unconscious, comes from the very essence of nature, their behavior is simple and natural. And Pierre wants to become "just a soldier", to free himself from the "burden of the external person", from everything artificial, superficial. Faced with the people's milieu for the first time, he keenly feels the falsity and insignificance of the secular world, feels the fallacy of his former views and attitudes.

Returning to Moscow, Pierre is imbued with the idea of killing Napoleon. However, his intention was not given to come true - instead of the grandiose "picture murder of the French emperor", he commits a simple, human feat saving a child from a fire and protecting a beautiful Armenian woman from French soldiers. In this very opposition of ideas and reality, Tolstoy's favorite thought about the "external forms" of genuine heroism is guessed.

It is characteristic that it is for this feat that Bezukhov is captured by the French, although he is officially accused of arson. Depicting events in this aspect, Tolstoy expresses his attitude towards them. “The Napoleonic army is committing the inhuman deed of an unjust war; therefore, it deprives a person of freedom only because a person performs a human deed, ”writes V. Ermilov.

And for Pierre come hard days captivity, when he is forced to endure the ridicule of others, the interrogation of French officers, the cruelty of a military court. He feels like "an insignificant chip that has fallen into the wheels of an unknown car." This order instituted by the French kills, destroys, deprives him of his life, "with all his memories, aspirations, hopes, thoughts."

Meeting with Platon Karataev helps Pierre survive, gain A New Look to the world and to yourself. The main thing for Karataev is good looks, acceptance of life as it is. Just in case, he has a saying, in his movements Pierre seems to have something “soothing and round”. S. G. Bocharov notes that there is a certain duality in the idea of a circle: on the one hand, it is “an aesthetic figure, with which the idea of achieved perfection is associated from the beginning”, on the other hand, the idea of “a circle contradicts Faust’s endless aspiration into the distance, the search for a goal, contradicts the path as the line along which Tolstoy's heroes move.

However, Pierre comes to moral satisfaction precisely through "Karataev's roundness." "He sought it in philanthropy, in freemasonry, in the dispersion secular life, in wine, in the heroic feat of self-sacrifice ”- but all these searches deceived him. Pierre had to go through the horror of death, through deprivation, through what he understood in Karataev, in order to come to terms with himself. Having learned to appreciate simple everyday things: good food, cleanliness, Fresh air, freedom, the beauty of nature - Pierre experiences a hitherto unknown sense of joy and strength of life, a sense of readiness for everything, moral composure, inner freedom.

These feelings are generated in the hero by the adoption of "Karataev's philosophy". It seems that this was necessary for Pierre at this period, the instinct of self-preservation spoke in him, and not so much physical as the instinct of spiritual self-preservation. Sometimes life itself suggests a “way out”, and a grateful subconscious mind accepts it, helping a person survive in an impossible situation for him.

The French captivity became such an “impossible situation” for Pierre. In his soul, it was as if they pulled out "the spring on which everything was held." “In him ... faith was destroyed both in the improvement of the world, and in the human, and in his soul, and in God ... Before, when such doubts were found on Pierre, these doubts had their own source of guilt. And in the very depths of his soul, Pierre then felt that from that despair and those doubts there was salvation in himself. But now he felt that it was not his fault that the world collapsed in his eyes ... He felt that it was not in his power to return to faith in life. These feelings for Bezukhov are tantamount to suicide. That is why he is imbued with the philosophy of Platon Karataev.

However, then the hero moves away from her. And the reason for this is in a certain duality, even inconsistency of this philosophy. Unity with others, the feeling of being a particle of being, the world, a sense of catholicity are the positive features of "Karataevism". The reverse side of it is a certain detachment, indifference to man and the world. Platon Karataev treats everyone around him equally evenly and affectionately, while not having any attachments, love, friendship. “He loved his mongrel, loved his comrades, the French, loved Pierre, who was his neighbor; but Pierre felt that Karataev, despite all his affectionate tenderness for him, ... would not be upset for a minute by separation from him.

As S. G. Bocharov notes, Pierre's inner freedom is freedom not only from circumstances, but also from normal human feelings, freedom from thoughts, habitual introspection, from the search for purpose and meaning in life. However, this kind of freedom is the opposite of Pierre's very nature, his mental disposition. Therefore, the hero parted with this feeling already when his former love for Natasha comes to life.

At the end of the novel, Pierre finds personal happiness in his marriage to Natasha Rostova. However, being happy in the family, he is still active and active. We see him as "one of the main founders" of the Decembrist societies. And the path of searching begins again: “It seemed to him at that moment that he was called to give a new direction to the entire Russian society and the whole world.”

Pierre Bezukhov is one of Tolstoy's favorite heroes, he is close to the writer with his sincerity, restless, searching soul, a critical attitude to everyday life, the desire for moral ideal. His path is the eternal comprehension of truth and its affirmation in the world.

Option 1 (Plan)

I. Origin. Childhood and youth.

II. Portrait. Its significance for understanding the character of the hero.

III. Pierre's quest, his delusions and disappointments. peculiarity of his nature.

1. Freethinking, independence of Pierre's judgments; the contradiction of his views with the views of representatives of the world:

a) Pierre's spiritual wealth, his emotionality (good nature, cordiality, naturalness, sincerity, simplicity, generosity),

b) distraction, a tendency to "dreamy philosophizing."

2. Life mistakes of Pierre in his youth (sprees, marriage to Helen):

a) lack of will

b) dissatisfaction with oneself, striving for moral balance. Inner monologue as a means realistic image hero's feelings.

3. Fascination with Freemasonry, attempts to reorganize the activities of the Masonic order. Antiserfdom transformations in the estates:

a) striving for useful activities for the people;

b) impractical.

4. Disappointment, moral crisis. Reviews actors as a characterization tool.

5. Pierre's activities during Napoleon's invasion of Russia. Rapprochement with common people; willpower, calmness, self-confidence.

6. The organization of a secret society is the result of Pierre's activities as a representative of the advanced nobility.

Option 2 ( Thesis plan with quotes)

The path of moral quest of Pierre Bezukhov

I. Monsieur Pierre is the illegitimate son of Count Bezukhov.

1) Pierre in the salon of Anna Pavlovna Scherer (naive, timid, natural; he does not “fit” into a secular salon and causes the hostess “anxiety and fear, similar to that which is expressed at the sight of something too huge and unusual for a place”, but Pierre is interested here!).

2) Friendship with Prince Bolkonsky.

3) In the company of Dolokhov and Kuragin (a tribute to the passion for sensual pleasures, a struggle with oneself, dissatisfaction with oneself).

4) Deportation to St. Petersburg "for riot".

II. The rich man and Count Pierre Bezukhov.

1) The changed attitude towards Pierre of relatives and acquaintances. Princess Mary was right when she was worried about Pierre: “So young to be burdened with such a huge fortune - how many temptations he will have to go through!”).

2) Marriage to Helen Kuragina - the first temptation that Pierre could not stand; he betrayed himself and will pay bitterly for it.

3) Bezukhov's quarrel with Dolokhov. Duel. Break with his wife, departure to Petersburg. (Pierre blames not others, but himself for his misfortunes, painfully looking for his own guilt: “But what am I to blame for?). Severe spiritual crisis: “... that main screw, on which his whole life rested, curled up in his head”

III. In the lodge of Masons.

1) Meeting at the station in Torzhok with freemason Osip Alekseevich Bazdeev. He revealed to Pierre the idea of inner purification and self-improvement: "Cleanse yourself, and as you cleanse, you will learn wisdom." Pierre felt like a new person. “There was no trace of the old doubts in his soul. He firmly believed in the possibility of a brotherhood of people united for the purpose of supporting each other on the path of virtue.”

2) The first doubts in the Masons during the rite of initiation into the Masons (he acutely feels unnaturalness).

3) An active member of the lodge of Masons (strive to embark on the path of renewal and an active virtuous life ..., to resist evil).

4) Pierre’s attempts to improve the life of his serfs in Kiev estates, but “Pierre did not know that where they brought him bread and salt and built a chapel of Peter and Paul ... the chapel was already being built by the rich peasants of the village, and that nine-tenths of this village were in the greatest ruin…” (naively believes that “so much good can be done” with so little effort).

5) Disappointment in Russian Freemasonry, a trip abroad in order to get acquainted with the activities of the Freemasons there (the reasons for Pierre's disappointment: he sees in the Masonic lodge the same lies and the same hypocrisy as in the world; self-interest and personal gain rule here too, “the desire to do good” remains only in words.

6) Pierre's unsuccessful attempt to give new character the work of the Russian lodge after returning from abroad; Pierre's exit from the lodge of Masons.

IV. Clever eccentric, retired chamberlain Pierre in the brilliant secular salon of his wife Helen Kuragina.

1) Reconciliation with his wife; search for oblivion and tranquility.

2) Love for Natasha Rostova, which is stronger than pride and pride. Departure to Moscow.

3) The final break with all the Kuragins.

V. War of 1812 in the fate of Pierre Bezukhov.

1) The noble patriotism of Muscovites and the mood of Pierre, who was dissolved in mass patriotism. Pierre felt the strength in himself that could benefit Russia.

2) Departure of Pierre to the troops near Borodino. On the Raevsky battery, Pierre understood the whole meaning and significance of the Battle of Borodino; admiring courage ordinary soldiers, felt the “hidden warmth of patriotism”, realized that war is madness, an unnatural state for a person.

3) At the inn in Mozhaisk. Thought of possibility human relations between him and the soldiers. “To be a soldier, just a soldier! Login to this common life whole being, to be imbued with what makes them so.

4) Pierre in Moscow after the Battle of Borodino. He returns to the decision to kill Napoleon, “in order to either perish or end the misfortunes of all Europe.”

5) In Bazdeev's house. A burst of frankness in a conversation with the French officer Rambal.

6) On the streets of burning Moscow. Rescue of the girl; protection of an Armenian woman, from whom the necklace is torn off. Here Pierre "felt freed from the thoughts that weighed on him." Pierre's detention.

7) Pierre in captivity:

a) interrogation by Marshal Davout (Pierre realized that “a person is a chip that has fallen into the wheel of an unknown to him, but correctly operating machine”

b) the execution of five prisoners in front of Pierre (the shock led to a severe crisis: he felt that his faith in the improvement of the world had collapsed;

c) 4 weeks in a barracks for prisoners of war: Pierre has never been so unfree;

G) meeting with Platon Karataev; Pierre is attracted to him by kindness, the ability to endure life difficulties, naturalness, truthfulness, simplicity, but Plato resigned himself to the surrounding evil - and evil killed him;

e) the discovery that Pierre made from captivity: a person can become stronger than the surrounding cruelty, he can be internally free, no matter how humiliated and insulted by external circumstances (“Caught me, locked me up. They hold me captive. Who? Me? Me - my immortal soul!”);

f) the release of Pierre from captivity by the partisans.

VI. New spiritual life of Pierre after captivity.

1) “He became some kind of clean, smooth, fresh; just from the bath; - morally from the bath” (Natasha about Pierre); but after a moral upsurge, Pierre experienced and felt spiritual emptiness, felt that he could not understand the joys and sorrows of other people.

2) Inner work, perfect in captivity, brought a new feeling: “a smile of the joy of life,” which Pierre now appreciated; “his eyes shone with concern for people…”, he “experienced a feeling of joy, freedom, life”.

3) Love and marriage to Natasha Rostova. For Pierre, “the whole world, the whole meaning of life was love”

4) Member of a secret society. “…take hand in hand, those who love goodness…”.

Option 3

The path of moral quest of Pierre Bezukhov

The illegitimate son of the famous Catherine's grandee, Pierre Bezukhov from the first pages of the novel attracts the attention of readers. He spent his childhood and youth (from 9 to 20 years old) abroad. Then he returned to Russia and lived in St. Petersburg, choosing a career. He revolves in a circle of secular people, but stands out sharply among them.

He was “a fat young man with a cropped head, glasses, light trousers in the fashion of the time, with a high frill and a brown tailcoat” (vol. I, part I, ch. II). Pierre was “clumsy”, taller than usual, broad, with huge red hands” (vol. I, part I, ch. V).

It conquers the expression of "good nature, simplicity and modesty", sincerity and lack of posture. His good-natured Broad smile as if saying: “See what a kind and glorious fellow I am. It has something of a child in it. This childishness is already noticeable in the very portrait of the hero. So Pierre's smile differed from the smiles of other people, "merging with an unsmile." “On the contrary, when a smile came, his serious and even somewhat gloomy face suddenly disappeared and another appeared - childish, kind, even stupid, and as if asking for forgiveness.”

Scherer Pierre was distinguished from everyone in the living room by his "intelligent and at the same time timid, observant and natural" look. He does not know how to get in and out of the salon, he allows a number of impoliteness from the point of view of secular etiquette: he does not listen to his aunt, delays the hostess when she needs to go to another guest, keeps someone else's hat in his ruach due to his absent-mindedness. But this is not the most important thing.

He does not share the views of the guests of the Scherer salon. Pierre is characterized by free-thinking and independence of judgment. His views are sharply opposed to those of representatives of the world. A man of incorruptible honesty, he boldly expresses admiration French Revolution and he does not want to serve in the Horse Guards because he does not want to fight against France “If it were a war for freedom, I would understand, I would be the first to enter military service” (vol. I, part I, ch. V) he says.

Weak-willed, distracted, impractical, prone to "dreamy philosophizing", he cannot do right choice and often easily succumbs to the temptations of high society life, making serious life mistakes. He revels with golden youth, despite his promise to Prince Andrei not to visit Anatole Kuragin anymore and not to take part in his revels.

Trusting and simple-hearted, Pierre does not know life and does not know how to use his powers. He becomes a victim of cunning, greedy and flattering people. His kindness and ignorance of life are used by both Prince Vasily, and the manager, and many secular people, whose flattery he takes for a sincere expression of love and admiration.

Pierre marries Helen Kuragina. This marriage caused a deep moral crisis. Pierre is more and more aware that he does not have a real family, that his wife is an immoral woman. Dissatisfaction grows in him, but not with others, but with himself. This is exactly what happens with real moral people. For their disorder, they consider it possible to execute only themselves. The explosion occurs at a dinner in honor of Bagration. Pierre challenges Dolokhov, who insulted him, to a duel. But during the duel, seeing the enemy wounded by him lying on the snow, Pierre grabbed his head and, turning back, went into the forest, walking entirely in the snow and aloud saying incomprehensible words: “Stupid ... stupid! Death… lie…” he kept repeating, grimacing. Stupid and false - this again applies only to himself. In a secular circle, Pierre feels unhappy and lonely. Shutting himself in, he talks a lot about abstract philosophical themes about good and evil, about the essence and purpose of life, but does not find an answer to the questions that tormented him.

These painful thoughts of Pierre, the secret movements of the soul and thoughts that the hero cannot express aloud, Tolstoy reveals by means of internal monologue: "What's wrong? What well? What to love, what to hate? What is life for and what am I? What is life, what is death? What power governs everything? (vol. II, part II, ch. I).

Trying to find a way out of these contradictions, Pierre was influenced by Freemasonry. At the moment of spiritual discord that Pierre was experiencing, the freemason Bazdeev appears to him just the person he needs. Pierre is offered the path of moral improvement, and he accepts this path, because what he needs most now is to improve his life and himself. Pierre is attracted not by the mystical, but by the moral side of Freemasonry, the opportunity to "correct the human race" and "with all his might to resist the evil that reigns in the world." In "the pleasure of doing good" he sought satisfaction.

The writer reveals these moods in episodes of anti-serfdom transformations in the countryside. Tolstoy shows abstract humanism, ignorance of life and isolation of Peter from the people. Pierre failed to make life easier for the peasants.

The generous and disinterested Pierre took up charitable activities and conceived a broad plan of antiserfdom transformations in the estates. He decided to free the peasants in the southern estates from serfdom, to free women with children from work, to organize medical care peasants, abolish corporal punishment and establish hospitals, shelters and schools in every village.

But his good intentions did not materialize. Pierre's chief manager considers all the master's undertakings an eccentricity, an absurd whim. And he acts in his own way, preserving the former order on Bezukhov's estates. And he puts on a performance of an enthusiastic reception from the peasants for Pru. driving through the estates, Pierre saw the buildings of schools, hospitals and shelters everywhere. He was greeted by women babies in his arms, thanking him for getting rid of hard work, and the children whom the priests taught to read and write, offered him bread and salt. But he did not know that the buildings were empty, and the peasants continued to give money and work everything that they had given before, and as a result, their fate became even harder: the “women-children” did back-breaking work, children were redeemed from the priests for money, because it was necessary to work, the peasants were in the greatest ruin, the construction of buildings only increased the corvee, reduced only on paper.

Having broken with the Freemasons, the hero experiences a deep internal crisis, a mental catastrophe. He loses faith in the very possibility of socially useful activity. Outwardly, Pierre returns to his former activities: benefit performances, bad pictures, statues, charitable societies, gypsies, revels - nothing is refused. That period of Bezukhov's life begins, when he gradually begins to turn into the usual "retired good-natured chamberlain living his life in Moscow, of which there were hundreds." Despising and hating his life, he lives in Moscow as “a rich husband of an unfaithful wife, a retired chamberlain who loves to eat, drink and scold the government a little ...” (vol. II, part V, ch. I).

Pierre's love for Natasha and the terrible events of the military war of 1812 lead him out of this impasse in life. This is a period of restoration of spiritual integrity, Pierre's familiarization with the "general", the affirmation in his soul of his "sense of the expediency of being." An important role here was played by Pierre's visit to the Rayevsky battery during the Battle of Borodino and his stay in French captivity.

Returning to Moscow, Pierre is imbued with the idea of killing Napoleon. However, his intention was not given to come true - instead of the grandiose "picture murder of the French emperor", he performs a simple, human feat, rescuing a child from a fire and protecting a beautiful Armenian woman from French soldiers. In this very opposition of ideas and reality, Tolstoy's favorite thought about the "external forms" of genuine heroism is guessed.

And for Pierre, the difficult days of captivity come, when he is forced to endure the ridicule of those around him, the interrogations of French officers, the cruelty of a military court. He feels like "an insignificant chip that has fallen into the wheels of an unknown car." This order instituted by the French kills, destroys, deprives him of his life, "with all his memories, aspirations, hopes, thoughts." after the execution of five prisoners, and Pierre was sixth in a row, it was as if in his soul they pulled out "the spring on which everything was held." “In him ... faith was destroyed in the improvement of the world, and in the human, and in his soul, and in God ... Before, when such doubts were found on Pierre, these doubts had their own source of guilt. And in the very depths of his soul, Pierre then felt that from that despair and those doubts there was salvation in himself. But now he felt that it was not his fault that the world collapsed in his eyes ... He felt that it was not in his power to return to faith in life. These feelings for Bezukhov are tantamount to suicide.

Meeting with Platon Karataev helps Pierre survive, gain a new view of the world and himself. The main thing for Karataev is good looks, acceptance of life as it is. Just in case, he has a saying, in his movements Pierre seems to have something “soothing and round”. Platon Karataev treats everyone around him equally evenly and affectionately, while not having any attachments, love, friendship. “He loved his mongrel, loved his comrades, the French, loved Pierre, who was his neighbor; but Pierre felt that Karataev, despite all his affectionate tenderness for him, ... would not be upset for a minute by parting with him.

In captivity, Pierre learned to find joy and happiness in life, despite the vicissitudes of life. “He sought this in philanthropy, in Freemasonry, in the dispersion of secular life, in wine, in the heroic feat of self-sacrifice” - but all these searches deceived him. Pierre had to go through the horror of death, through deprivation, through what he understood in Karataev, in order to come to terms with oneself. Having learned to appreciate simple everyday things: good food, cleanliness, fresh air, freedom, the beauty of nature, Pierre experiences a hitherto unknown sense of joy and strength of life. In Karataev, Pierre admired the independence of his moral state from the external conditions of life, the ability to maintain a joyful perception of life, love for the world, peace of mind, despite any blows of fate. The discovery that Pierre made from captivity: a person can become stronger than the surrounding cruelty, he can be internally free, no matter how humiliated and insulted by external circumstances (“Caught me, locked me up. immortal soul!");

According to Tolstoy, Karataev’s influence on Pierre was so great that Karataev “remained forever in Pierre’s soul the most precious and powerful memory”, “the personification of the spirit of simplicity and truth” (vol. IV, part I, ch. XIII).

Released from captivity, he kept in his moral character those features that he acquired under the influence of proximity to the people and the deprivation of life. He became more attentive to people, tolerant of the thoughts and feelings of other people. “He became some kind of clean, smooth, fresh; just from the bath; - morally from the bath” (Natasha about Pierre).

However, having experienced the influence of Karataev's philosophy, Pierre, having returned from captivity, did not become a Karataev, knowing the truth of Karataev, Pierre in the epilogue of the novel is already going his own way. A happy family life (married to Natasha Rostova) does not take Pierre away from public interests. He becomes a member of a secret society. His dispute with Nikolai Rostov proves that Bezukhov faces the problem of the moral renewal of society. Pierre speaks with indignation about the reaction that has come in Russia, about Arakcheevism, theft. At the same time, he understands the strength of the people and believes in them. With all this, the hero strongly opposes violence. "Active virtue", according to Pierre, can lead the country out of the crisis. “It seemed to him at that moment that he was called to give a new direction to the whole of Russian society and the whole world.” Consolidation needed honest people. And the search begins again:

Intense intellectual search, the ability to selfless deeds, high spiritual impulses, nobility and devotion in love (relationship with Natasha), true patriotism, the desire to make society more just and humane, truthfulness and naturalness, the desire for self-improvement make Pierre one of the best people his time. “In order to live honestly, one must tear, get confused, fight, make mistakes, start and quit, and start again and quit again, and always struggle and lose. And calmness is spiritual meanness ”- these are the words of L.N. Tolstoy is explained both by the worldview, and fate, and life principles his favorite characters.

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 - illegitimate son wealthy St. Petersburg nobleman, one of the main contenders for a millionth 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 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. Patriotic War 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. Heroic impulse 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 to 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, is well versed in people and now knows what he needs to 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 social activities, meets with 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 job- the components of a happy and meaningful life of Pierre Bezukhov. In an essay on the topic "The path of quest of Pierre Bezukhov" given detailed analysis moral and spiritual quest for an honest and noble man, which through trial and error finds its meaning of existence. The hero finally achieved "calmness, agreement with himself."

Artwork test

In the novel "War and Peace" we see a description of the life and work of a large number people, but only a few of them go through the path of their moral growth, spiritual evolution. These heroes include Tolstoy's favorite character, Pierre Bezukhov, whose life path was complex and difficult, full of disappointments, losses, but at the same time discoveries, gains true values human.

Growing up abroad, the illegitimate son of a prominent Catherine's nobleman, he brought to Russia the freedom-loving ideas of the French enlighteners that he had assimilated, which have nothing in common with Russian reality. That is why, in relation to him, secular society shows distrust and alertness, which only intensify with every misconduct of the naive, direct Pierre. Every person has their own mistakes and misconceptions in life. The young Count Bezukhov, not seeing a goal in life, indulges in revelry and atrocities in the circles of Kuragin and Dolokhov, follows carnal desires and does not resist the marriage to the beautiful Helen, cleverly arranged by Prince Vasily. This marriage of convenience was the cause of Pierre's deepest disappointments, increasing his dismay. The count is aware of the meaninglessness of his existence, devoid of ideals, faith, hope. And a painful search begins for what could become the meaning of life, give new strength. "What's wrong? What well? What should you love, what should you hate? Why live, and what am I? , Pierre asks himself and does not find answers to these questions. In this state of mental confusion, he joined one of the Masonic lodges. In the religious and mystical revelations of the Freemasons, Bezukhov was interested in their commandment about the need to "with all their might to resist the evil that reigns in the world." Being a person who is fond of, Pierre is actively involved in a new activity for him. He creates a project for the transformation of the order of Freemasons, where he calls for activities for the good of man, makes proposals for practical help to his neighbor. Having met with protest from the members of the Masonic lodge, Bezukhov understands that the true views of the Masons on life diverge from those that they express in sermons. And here, as in the secular society from which he fled, the same goals of profit, careerism and personal gain are pursued in everything.

Like almost any person of his time, Pierre Bezukhov was interested in the image of Napoleon - a strong man, an invincible commander, going ahead. But the Patriotic War of 1812 becomes the stage of rethinking the count's views and beliefs. He sees that his idol is a selfish despot who sheds the blood of millions of people in order to assert his world domination.

Of decisive importance in shaping Pierre's views was his rapprochement with the people, with Russian soldiers. He admires their courage, reckless courage, true patriotism living in their souls. Being impressed by the heroism of the Russian people he saw, Bezukhov decides to participate in the Battle of Borodino.

The description of the landscape of the Borodino field before the start of the battle is very revealing - “the strengthening freshness of the morning frost”, “magic-crystal brilliance”, and even unsightly paintings in this atmosphere seemed “something soothingly beautiful”. As usual, Tolstoy reveals the mood of the hero through his perception of the beauty and majesty of nature. It is the picture of the landscape that helps Pierre to realize the greatness and significance of what is happening.

The turning point in the fate of Pierre Bezukhov is his meeting with Platon Karataev, who seemed to Pierre to be the personification of the spirit of simplicity and truth, which for Bezukhov, at that moment especially desiring wholeness and harmony in his life, was a revelation. “I lived for myself and ruined my life. And only now, when I live ... for others, only now I understand the happiness of my life. According to Natasha Rostova, who saw Pierre after a long separation, “he became somehow clean, ..., fresh; as if from a bath ... morally from a bath.

Pierre did not become an adherent of Karataev's non-resistance philosophy, but communication with him served as an impetus for the further moral development of the hero. He finds his own path of moral renewal both for himself and for society, which is mired in vice and evil. Exit from spiritual crisis a person, a country, according to Pierre, will be helped by the united efforts of honest people: “If vicious people are interconnected and constitute a force, then honest people need only do the same.”

Even a happy family life with Natasha Rostova does not stop Pierre's activities for the benefit of society. He believes in the revival of Russia, believes in the strength of the people. And he sees the meaning of life only in selfless service to the motherland, to his people.

This is about him and about people like him, Tolstoy said: “In order to live honestly, one must tear, get confused, fight, make mistakes, start and quit, and start again and quit again, and always fight and lose. And peace is spiritual meanness.