The personality of Ivan Vasilyevich after the ball. After the ball, the characterization of the image of Ivan Vasilyevich

/ / / The image of Ivan Vasilyevich in Tolstoy's story "After the Ball"

Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy is one of the brightest writers in Russian and world literature. Millions of people are fond of his works, because many of them are relevant today. One of outstanding works Tolstoy is the story "After the Ball". He captivates the reader with his lightness and realism. And this happens because the author wrote it from a real life situation that happened to his brother.

The main character of Tolstoy's story "" is Ivan Vasilyevich. This is no longer a young man who enjoyed authority in society. We meet him for the first time in one of the living rooms, where an argument flared up between those present on philosophical theme about what influences a person's choice. Some said that the choice is influenced by the environment, others objected to this. Ivan Vasilyevich judged this dispute and said that the choice of a person is influenced by chance. In support of his words, he told one story that happened to him in his youth.

So, it was in the middle of the 19th century, when Ivan Vasilievich was young boy. At that time he was a student at one of the provincial universities. And like all students, lived full life: had fun, fooled around, somehow studied. I would like to note right away that Ivan Vasilievich was attractive in appearance, therefore he was a success with young ladies.

While main character was in love with the colonel's daughter Varenka. The girl was just lovely. Her stately figure was crowned with a sweet smile. At the ball, which was organized by Varenka's father, Ivan Vasilyevich did not leave his beloved for a minute. Other girls were completely uninteresting to him. Young people danced all evening long. The protagonist considered himself truly happy man. He was ready to hug and kiss the whole world. Ivan Vasilyevich thought that all people are so kind and sweet, that there is no place for evil and cruelty in the world.

In such an elevated mood, the main character returned to his home. Those emotions that he experienced did not allow him to fall asleep. Ivan Vasilyevich went for a walk. He was intoxicated with his happiness and therefore walked wherever his eyes looked. The melody of the mazurka sounded in Ivan Vasilyevich's head, it seemed to him that even the horses passing by were smiling at him.

The elated mood of the protagonist was interrupted by the sounds of disturbing music. Ivan Vasilievich did not notice how he came to Varenka's house. There he saw how a Tatar tied to guns was led through the formation of soldiers and each of them beat the unfortunate with a stick on the back. The Tatar shouted and begged for mercy, but no one heard him. The most terrible thing was that this "execution" was commanded by Varenka's father, that sweet and good-natured man who had been dancing at the ball a few hours earlier. Now he was a cruel and evil tyrant who oversaw the execution of punishment.

The event he saw made an indelible impression on Ivan Vasilyevich. He ran away in horror. For a long time he heard the cries of the unfortunate Tatar, who begged for mercy.

This incident changed Ivan Vasilievich's plans for life. He refused military service. Now the main character saw a completely different world, a world that is filled with cruelty and anger, where every man is for himself. Ivan Vasilyevich seemed to have seen the light. Perhaps that incident made him grow up and look at the world through the eyes of an adult. As for feelings for Varenka, they soon cooled down and "vanished".

Deep meaning of a little story

Getting acquainted with the events of just one day, you can give detailed description Ivan Vasilyevich from the story "After the Ball" by Tolstoy. A talented writer managed to draw with a few strokes inner world person, understand his condition. As part of small work not only personal, but also social problems are solved. Do we need things for a long time past days? L. N. Tolstoy convinces us that knowledge of history helps to live correctly, not to make mistakes, to adequately assess reality. Past and present are closely linked.

The story of L. N. Tolstoy "After the Ball" takes us back to the distant past, but remains in demand in our modern XI century. They rise in it eternal problems beings that are relevant to any person. Question moral choice- one of the main ones in this small in volume, but rather deep in content work.

Getting to know the main character

Everyone at least once has to make decisions that affect further fate. Main character L. N. Tolstoy's story "After the Ball" also faces a choice.

Handsome, young, rich

Man telling cautionary tale – central character works. A man recalls a story that dramatically changed his life. The description of Ivan Vasilyevich from the story "After the Ball" is put into the mouth of the hero himself. Many years ago he was a young man, studying, having fun, falling in love. Possessing an attractive appearance, a large fortune and a good disposition, Ivan Vasilievich had many friends and was successful with women. The young man could afford to have fun and not think about the future. His "pleasure was evenings and balls." He was the same as his peers, he burned through life like everyone else. “We were just young, and lived as is typical of youth: we studied and had fun,” the narrator explains.

kind fellow

In the story “After the Ball”, the author does not give characteristics to Ivan Vasilyevich. But from the text it becomes clear that this was an ordinary young man. Kind by nature, he sincerely saw only the good in people. The provincial leader and his wife - dear married couple, the colonel is a loving and caring father, Varenka is an angel who descended from heaven, with "affectionate, always cheerful smile at the mouth." We understand that a young man in love is naive and disinterested. He lives happily in the present and dreams of the future.

Life split in half

Happiness at the ball

The cruel reality of one morning dispelled dreams and confronted Ivan Vasilyevich difficult task. The method of antithesis used by the author helps to understand the state of the protagonist. His life seemed to be split in two. The description of the ball is saturated with a feeling of happiness and love. Throughout the evening, the young man does not leave his beloved girl. White dress brides, waltz sounds, kind smiles - these details help to create unique picture holiday.

Horror after the ball

The terrible picture of the execution of a runaway soldier made the young man take a different look at modern reality. Unpleasant, sharp sounds, black uniforms, red back symbolize pain, misfortune and horror. Reality destroyed dreams and dreams. Ivan Vasilievich.

Difficult choice

"The whole life changed from one night or morning." The hero must decide: how to live on. He could pretend that nothing had happened and continue to communicate with the family of the colonel who led the terrible torture of the unfortunate Tatar. Propose to your girlfriend, get married, have children and live like everyone around. After all, cruel corporal punishment, the duplicity of the colonel, the indifference of passers-by are the norm for most of his contemporaries. However, the young man chooses a different path. And this choice is a protest of the immorality and cruelty of the laws that prevailed during the reign of Nicholas I. The main character is not able to communicate with Varenka, since she resembles her father, and he does not know how to pretend and lie. He "became somehow awkward and unpleasant." Changes plans for the future, refuses a career. “I couldn’t enter the military service, as I wanted to before, and not only didn’t serve in the military, but I didn’t serve anywhere and, as you see, I didn’t fit anywhere.” Having lost a lot, he retains the main thing: honor and dignity. This morning has changed later life Ivan Vasilyevich, forced to look differently at the people around him. But nothing could make him betray himself. In the story "After the Ball" Ivan Vasilievich is depicted as a man who is not afraid of public opinion, acts according to his conscience.

Artwork lessons

It is not easy to choose the right path in your life. “In order to live honestly, one must tear, get confused, fight, make mistakes, start and quit again, because peace is mental meanness", he said himself. great writer L. N. Tolstoy. It is important to make such decisions so that later you will not be ashamed of your actions. The protagonist of the story "After the Ball" is an example to follow. His actions teach honesty and nobility.

Artwork test

AFTER THE BALL

(Story, 1911)

Ivan Vasilievich - protagonist, narrator His narration takes the listeners into the atmosphere of the Russian provincial town 1840s At that time, I. V. studied at the university, did not participate in any circles, but simply lived, “as is typical of youth.”

Once he happened to be "on the last day of Shrovetide at the ball of the provincial leader." There was also his beloved - Varenka B. Especially I.V. dwells on the "incorporeality" of his passion for the young beautiful woman, trying to create in the audience the impression of almost "angelic" of his internal state: "... I was happy, blissful, I was kind, I was not me, but some kind of unearthly creature that knows no evil and is capable of good alone." Tenderness for herself, Varenka is gradually transferred by I. V. to all those present: to the good-natured hospitable leader and his wife, a lady with plump white bare shoulders (I. V. emphasizes her resemblance to the ceremonial portraits of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna), to Varenka’s father, Colonel V ., and even to the engineer Anisimov, who beat off his first mazurka with Varenka. “I embraced the whole world at that time with my love.” This truly divine, brotherly love, which was revealed to I.V. on the last day of Shrove Tuesday, on the eve of Great Lent, is strangely sanctioned in the depiction of Tolstoy by pagan, in general, blasphemous laws of ballroom secular entertainment.

Further events take place with I. V. the very next morning, on the first day of Lent. By chance, he becomes a witness to a barbaric execution - a rite of punishment with gauntlets for a fugitive Tatar. Execution scene - false mirror ball ritual. The perception of I. V. involuntarily fixes these distorted correspondences. The melody of the mazurka is superimposed on the shrill accompaniment of the drum and flute, the rhythm of the dance steps is superimposed on the chased wave of soldiers’ hands and the biting whistle of stick blows, Varenka’s dance with her father is superimposed on the hellish “dance” of the Tatar tortured under torture and walking with him in a pair of “firm, trembling gait Colonel B. Instead of the "disembodied" Varenka - "motley, wet, red" "human body": "Brothers, have mercy." These are “brothers”, this clear analogy with Golgotha unequivocally echoes the motif of brotherly, universal love experienced by I.V. during the ball. In his imagination, seemingly dissimilar worlds are monstrously intertwined: spiritual and carnal, Christian and pagan, divine and demonic. The Maslenitsa ball, the pagan-Pharisaic official culture give rise to the idea of universal love, and the “modern Golgotha” seen at the beginning of Lent, on the contrary, does not show the face of Christ suffering for humanity, but an ugly bloody mess of tortured human flesh. Satan serves God, God serves Satan, and all this is united by a common symbol of a ritualized dance. All this for Tolstoy is “false culture”, “werewolf culture”, which denies itself.

Unlike the author, I.V. is not able to accept the truth revealed to him. “Obviously, he knows something that I don’t know,” I. V. thought about the colonel, watching how he easily and habitually passes from the ball to the execution, from the “spirit” to the “flesh”, without changing, in essence, their behavior. I. V. was never “initiated” into the secrets of secular “properties” that justify such “werewolfism”. He remained "on the other side" of the good and evil committed by the bearers of the official morality. Not having delved into the postulates of “decent” behavior contemporary to him, I.V. at the same time did not believe his natural moral feeling, not yet spoiled by society. Refusal from military service and marriage to Varenka is not so much a protest as I.V.'s spiritual capitulation to the chaos of his contemporary culture.

AFTER THE BALL

(Story, 1911)

Ivan Vasilievich - protagonist, narrator His narration takes listeners into the atmosphere of a Russian provincial town in the 1840s. At that time, I. V. studied at the university, did not participate in any circles, but simply lived, “as is typical of youth.”

Once he happened to be "on the last day of Shrovetide at the ball of the provincial leader." There was also his beloved - Varenka B. I. V. especially dwells on the "incorporeality" of his passion for a young beautiful woman, trying to give the audience the impression of almost "angelic" of his inner state: "... I was happy , blessed, I was kind, I was not me, but some kind of unearthly creature, knowing no evil and capable of good alone. Tenderness for herself, Varenka is gradually transferred by I. V. to all those present: to the good-natured hospitable leader and his wife, a lady with plump white bare shoulders (I. V. emphasizes her resemblance to the ceremonial portraits of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna), to Varenka’s father, Colonel V ., and even to the engineer Anisimov, who beat off his first mazurka with Varenka. “I embraced the whole world at that time with my love.” This truly divine, brotherly love, which was revealed to I.V. on the last day of Shrove Tuesday, on the eve of Great Lent, is strangely sanctioned in the depiction of Tolstoy by pagan, in general, blasphemous laws of ballroom secular entertainment.

Further events take place with I. V. the very next morning, on the first day of Lent. By chance, he becomes a witness to a barbaric execution - a rite of punishment with gauntlets for a fugitive Tatar. The execution scene is a distorted mirror of the ballroom ritual. The perception of I. V. involuntarily fixes these distorted correspondences. The melody of the mazurka is superimposed on the shrill accompaniment of the drum and flute, the rhythm of the dance steps is superimposed on the chased wave of soldiers’ hands and the biting whistle of stick blows, Varenka’s dance with her father is superimposed on the hellish “dance” of the Tatar tortured under torture and walking with him in a pair of “firm, trembling gait Colonel B. Instead of the "disembodied" Varenka - "motley, wet, red" "human body": "Brothers, have mercy." These are “brothers”, this clear analogy with Golgotha unequivocally echoes the motif of brotherly, universal love experienced by I.V. during the ball. In his imagination, seemingly dissimilar worlds are monstrously intertwined: spiritual and carnal, Christian and pagan, divine and demonic. The Maslenitsa ball, the pagan-Pharisaic official culture give rise to the idea of universal love, and the “modern Golgotha” seen at the beginning of Lent, on the contrary, does not show the face of Christ suffering for humanity, but an ugly bloody mess of tortured human flesh. Satan serves God, God serves Satan, and all this is united by a common symbol of a ritualized dance. All this for Tolstoy is “false culture”, “werewolf culture”, which denies itself.

In the image of Ivan Vasilyevich - the hero of the story "After the Ball" - L. N. Tolstoy showed us typical person of that time, a student, one might say, an inhabitant, standing aloof from big things, living modestly and no different from others outwardly. At the same time, there is something more behind this faceless figure: through the character of Ivan Vasilyevich, Tolstoy shows the attitude (as it “should be”) of every honest and decent person to what is happening in the country. The writer angrily denounces in an accessible and elegant form the vices of the time when the story was written, identifying them with the past.
Ivan Vasilyevich the narrator appears before us as a highly experienced, gray-haired man who has lived a long life, one might say, a teacher of youth, a man who had influence on young people and aroused their respect. He begins to talk about "the affairs of bygone days." Why does Tolstoy introduce this technique? Precisely in order to show the similarities between the past and the present. But let's get back to the story.
At that time (40s XIX years century) Ivan Vasilyevich was a student at the university, "a cheerful and lively fellow, and even rich." He devoted all his time to entertainment and fun adventures (and sometimes to study). He loved evenings and balls, he danced well and, according to the ladies, he was simply handsome. In general, he did not differ from other young people of his time - he was just as frivolous and did not think at all about moral categories, O public affairs about philosophical truths. Recently, his soul was entirely occupied with love: he was insanely passionate about the daughter of Colonel B. Varenka, a hand-written beauty, who was courted by many gentlemen. It so happened that Ivan Vasilyevich was invited to a ball to a rich chamberlain, provincial marshal of the nobility, a good-natured old man. The ball was chic: she played good music, a wonderful dinner was served, but the main thing was that Varenka B. was among the guests, which especially pleased Ivan Vasilyevich. So the ball began, Ivan Vasilyevich danced with Varenka almost all the time. She smiled at him and he was happy with her love. He was very nervous when he did not dance with his chosen one, and always looked in her direction, as if at his mate. Ivan Vasilyevich did not know whether Varenka loved him, but he considered his happiness own feeling. He was completely intoxicated with this love of his, he seemed to love the whole world, all the guests, the hostess in the feronniere, father Varenka, literally everyone. Delight, joy, love and happiness mixed up in his soul, and he was at the height of bliss. And Varenka was supportive, which only increased happiness.
Father Varya made a special impression on Ivan Vasilyevich - “a stately, tall and fresh old man” with a ruddy face, whiskers brought down to his mustache and “sideburns combed forward”. He smiled, his chest was decorated with orders, "he was a military commander like an old serviceman of the Nikolaev bearing." When the hostess persuaded him to dance with her daughter, he remembered his youth (he used to dance well), and, despite his age, he performed all the “pas” with dignity, grace and grace. The daughter was happy when they were applauded: she sincerely loved her father, and her love was transmitted through her and to Ivan Vasilyevich. Colonel B.'s boots were especially touching - old-fashioned, with square toes. It was rumored that he did not order new boots for himself in order to dress his daughter more magnificently. Ivan Vasilyevich was very touched by this concern. He sincerely fell in love with Father Varenka.
And so the ball is over. Saying goodbye to Varenka, Ivan Vasilievich goes home already in the morning. Trying to fall asleep, he realizes that he is not up to sleep: a feeling of love for Varya overwhelmed him. He only thinks about her, only lives by her. Ivan Vasilyevich decides to go back to B.'s house, to see her, perhaps once again.
He left the house. The weather was like a carnival, but somewhat gloomy, dull, damp. (Here Tolstoy uses the technique of forcing, brings the reader to the climax. The words “gloomy”, “black” are repeated several times.)
Approaching B.'s house, Ivan Vasilyevich saw something black and terrible in the wasteland. Horrible screeching music was playing. Ivan Vasilyevich thought that these were exercises, but, coming closer, he understood what was the matter.
Between two rows of soldiers in overcoats, non-commissioned officers led a Tatar soldier tied to butts. He was chased “through the ranks” for escaping. Blows, merciless and strong, fell on his back, which was a kind of bloody mess. The Tartar groaned, fell, he was lifted up, blows rained down, the flute squealed. And nearby followed the tall figure of a military man, walking with a firm and confident gait, which seemed familiar to Ivan Vasilyevich. It was Varenka's father. The young man witnessed a terrible scene: because one soldier weakly hit, the colonel began to beat him in the face.
After everything he had seen, Ivan Vasilievich did not go to B. He thought hard: why did the colonel, kind and cheerful at the ball, do this? Maybe that's what you need? Ivan Vasilievich decided so, but a protest raged inside him. Despite all the excuses, he could no longer dream of a military career (and did not become one later), even for some reason his feelings for Varenka cooled.
What is behind this?
Outwardly agreeing and reconciling with the actions of the colonel, with the orders of that time, Ivan Vasilyevich could not forget this and forgive. The conscience of each person tells him how to act. So it happened with Ivan Vasilyevich, which was reflected in his entire future fate.
The main idea of Tolstoy is this: even without daring to rebel openly, a person rebels internally against the terrible orders, lawlessness and remnants of the past, which have not died in the present.