Spiritual digging of Pierre Bolkonsky. Ways of searching for the meaning of life by Andrei Bolkonsky and Pierre Bezukhov

The epic "War and Peace" grew out of Tolstoy's idea to write the novel "The Decembrists". Tolstoy began to write his work, left it, returned to it again, until the Great French Revolution, the theme of which sounds from the first pages of the novel, and the Patriotic War of 1812 were in the center of his attention. The idea of ​​writing a book about the Decembrist was swallowed up by a broader idea - Tolstoy began to write about the world, shaken by the war. This is how the epic novel turned out, where the feat of the Russian people in the war of 1812 is shown on a historical scale. At the same time, "War and Peace" is also a "family chronicle" showing a noble society represented by several generations. And finally, it describes the life of a young nobleman, his views and spiritual development. Many of the features that, according to the author, a Decembrist should have, Tolstoy endowed Andrei Bolkonsky.

The novel shows the whole life of Prince Andrey. Probably, every person once in his life thinks about the questions: “Who am I? Why do I live? What am I living for? Tolstoy's hero tries to answer these and many other questions on the pages of the novel. The author sympathizes with the young prince Bolkonsky. This confirms the fact that Tolstoy endowed Prince Andrei with many of his views and beliefs. Therefore, Bolkonsky is, as it were, a conductor of the ideas of the author himself.

We meet Andrei Bolkonsky in the salon of Anna Sherer. Even then we see that this is an extraordinary person. Prince Andrei is handsome, he is impeccably and fashionably dressed. He is fluent in French, which at that time was considered a sign of education and culture. He even pronounces the name Kutuzov with an emphasis on the last syllable, like a Frenchman. Prince Andrei is a man of the world. In this sense, he is subject to all the influences of fashion, not only in clothes, but also in behavior and lifestyle. Tolstoy draws our attention to his slow, quiet, senile step and boredom in his eyes. On his face we read superiority and self-confidence. He considers those around him to be lower than himself, and therefore worse, hence boredom. Soon we realize that all this is superficial. Seeing Pierre in the salon, Prince Andrei is transformed. He is happy with his old friend and does not hide it. The prince's smile becomes "unexpectedly kind and pleasant." Despite the fact that Pierre is younger than Andrey, they talk on equal terms, and the conversation is a pleasure for both. By the time we meet him, Andrey is already a fully formed personality, but he will still have many trials in life. Prince Andrey will have to go through war, injury, love, slow dying, and all this time the prince will know himself, look for that “moment of truth” through which the truth of life will be revealed to him.

In the meantime, Andrei Bolkonsky is looking for fame. It was in the pursuit of glory that he went to the war of 1805. Andrew yearns to become a hero. In his dreams, he sees how the army gets into a dangerous position and he saves it alone. The idol of the prince, the subject of his worship is Napoleon. I must say that many young people of that time were fond of the personality of Napoleon. Andrey wants to be like him and tries to imitate him in everything. In such high spirits, the young Bol-konsky goes to war. We see Prince Andrei in the battle of Austerlitz. He runs ahead of the attacking soldiers with a banner in his hands, then falls, being wounded. The first thing that Andrei sees after the fall is the sky. High, endless sky, over which clouds run. It so calls, beckons, bewitches, lives with its greatness, that Prince Andrey is even surprised when he discovers it for himself for the first time. “How could I not have seen this lofty sky before? And how happy I am that I finally got to know him,” Andrei thinks. But at this moment, another truth is revealed to the prince. All that he aspired to, for which he lived, now seems like a trifle that does not deserve attention. He is no longer interested in the political life to which he aspired, is not needed and military career, to which he recently wanted to devote himself entirely. His recent idol Napoleon seems small and insignificant. Prince Andrei begins to rethink life. His thoughts return to his native home in the Ly-sykh Gory, where his father, wife, sister and unborn child remained. The war turned out to be not at all what Andrei imagined it to be. Intoxicated with a thirst for glory, he idealized military life. In fact, he had to face death and blood. Fierce fights, embittered faces of people showed him the real face of the war. All his dreams of military exploits now seem like child's play to him. Prince Andrei returns home. But at home, another blow awaits him - the death of his wife. At one time, Prince Andrei somewhat cooled towards her, and now he reads pain and reproach in her eyes. After the death of his wife, the prince withdraws into himself, even his little son does not bring him joy. To keep himself busy, he innovates in his village. Pierre sees the spiritual state of Prince Bolkonsky, his depression and disappointment. “He was struck by the change that had taken place in Prince Andrei. The words were kind, there was a smile on his lips and face ... but his eyes were dead, dead ... ”Pierre tries to bring Andrei back to life. True, a lot of time has passed since their last meeting, and friends have somewhat drifted away from each other. Nevertheless, the conversation in Bogucharov made Bolkonsky think about the words of Pierre “... if there is a God and there is a future life, then there is truth, there is virtue; and the highest happiness of a person lies in striving to achieve them”, “one must live, one must love, one must believe”. Despite the fact that these statements seemed controversial to Prince Andrei at that time, he realizes that Pierre was right. From this moment, Andrey's revival to life begins.

On the way to Otradnoye, Prince Bolkonsky sees a huge oak tree "with broken ... boughs and broken bark, overgrown with old sores," which "was an old, angry and contemptuous freak between smiling birches." Oak is a symbol of Andrey's state of mind. This tree seems to say that there is neither spring nor happiness on earth, only deceit remains. And Prince Andrei agrees with the oak: “... yes, he is right, this oak is a thousand times right ... let others, young ones, again succumb to this deception, and we know life, our life is over!”

In Otradnoye, the prince saw Natasha. This little girl was full of happiness, energy, cheerfulness. “And she doesn’t care about my existence!” thought Prince Andrei. But he is already challenging fate. He understands that you can’t bury yourself alive in the village, you just need to be able to live, enjoy life the way Natasha does. And the symbolic oak tree “all transformed, spreading out like a tent of juicy, dark greenery, was thrilled, slightly swaying in the rays of the evening sun.” Natasha changed Andrei's life in an instant, made him wake up from hibernation and believe in love again. Andrey says: “It’s not enough ... what is in me, it is necessary that everyone knows this ... so that my life goes not for me alone ... so that it is reflected on everyone and that they all live with me ".

But for now, Bolkonsky leaves Natasha and leaves for St. Petersburg. There he meets the leading people of his time, participates in the preparation of transformative projects, in a word, plunges into the political life of the country. In St. Petersburg, he spends more time than he thought at first, and, returning, Andrei finds out that Natasha has cheated on him, carried away by Anatole Kuragin. Bolkonsky loves Natasha, but he is too proud and arrogant to forgive her betrayal. Therefore, they are forced to part, each having an unhealed wound in his soul.

Prince Andrei once again meets with Pierre. Now just before the Battle of Borodino. Pierre feels that Andrei is not destined to live, it seems that Andrei also understands this. In the battle of Borodino, Bolkonsky again gets wounded. Now he's reaching for the ground. He envies grass, flowers, not proud, domineering clouds. He himself now had nothing left of that pride that forced him to part with Natasha. For the first time, Prince Andrei does not think about himself, but about others. It is now that the truth about which Pierre spoke to him is revealed to him. He forgives Natasha. Moreover, he also forgives Anatole. Already on the verge of death, Andrei realizes that “a new happiness has opened up to him, inalienable from a person ... happiness that is beyond material forces, beyond material influences on a person, the happiness of one soul, the happiness of love! Any person can understand it, but only God could recognize and prescribe it. Andrey meets Natasha again. The minutes spent with her turn out to be the happiest for Andrei. Natasha once again brings him back to life. But, alas, he did not have long to live. “Prince Andrei died. But at the same moment as he died, Prince Andrey remembered that he was sleeping, and at the same moment as he died, he, having made an effort on himself, woke up. From that moment, "for Prince Andrei, along with the awakening from sleep, the awakening from life began."

Thus, the novel shows two concepts of the happiness of Prince Andrei. At first, Andrei believes that one must live for oneself, that each person must live in his own way. There are two misfortunes in life: remorse and sickness. And a person is happy only when these misfortunes are absent. And only at the end of his life Andrey realized true happiness - to live for others.

AT the art world Tolstoy there are heroes who persistently and purposefully strive for complete harmony with the world, tirelessly looking for the meaning of life. They are not interested in selfish goals, secular intrigues, empty and meaningless conversations in high-society salons. They are easily recognizable among haughty, self-satisfied faces. These, of course, include the most vivid images of the novel "War and Peace" - Andrei Bolkonsky and Pierre Bezukhov. They stand out noticeably among the heroes of the Russian literature XIX century with its originality and intellectual wealth. Completely different in character, Prince Andrei and Pierre Bezukhov have much in common in their ideological aspirations and searches.

Tolstoy said: "People are like rivers ..." - emphasizing with this comparison the versatility and complexity human personality. The spiritual beauty of the writer's favorite heroes - Prince Andrei Bolkonsky and Pierre Bezukhov - manifests itself in the tireless search for the meaning of life, in dreams of activities useful for the whole people. Their life path is a path of passionate searches, leading to truth and goodness. Pierre and Andrei are internally close to each other and alien to the world of the Kuragins and Scherer.

Tolstoy chose dialogue as a means of revealing the inner world of heroes. The disputes between Andrei and Pierre are not idle chatter and not a duel of ambitions, this is the desire to sort out one's own thoughts and try to understand the thoughts of another person. Both heroes live an intense spiritual life and extract a common meaning from current impressions. Their relationship is one of broad friendship. Each of them goes their own way. They do not need everyday communication, they do not seek to find out as many details as possible about each other's lives. But they sincerely respect each other and feel that the truth of the other is just as obtained by suffering as his own, that it has grown out of life, that behind every argument of the dispute there is life.

The first acquaintance with Andrei Bolkonsky does not cause much sympathy. A proud and self-satisfied young man with dry features and a tired, bored look - this is how Anna Pavlovna Sherer's guests see him. But when we learn that the expression on his face was due to the fact that “all those who were in the living room were not only familiar, but already tired of him so much that it was very boring for him to look at them and listen to them,” interest arises in the hero. Further, Tolstoy reports that a brilliant and idle, empty life does not satisfy Prince Andrei and he strives with all his might to break the vicious circle in which he finds himself.

In an effort to get out of the social and family life that bothered him, Andrei Bolkonsky is going to war. He dreams of fame like that of Napoleon, he dreams of accomplishing a feat. “After all, what is glory? - says Prince Andrew. - The same love for others ... "The feat he accomplished during the Battle of Austerlitz, when he ran ahead of everyone with a banner in his hands, outwardly looked very impressive: even Napoleon noticed and appreciated him. But, having committed a heroic deed, Andrei for some reason did not experience any enthusiasm and spiritual uplift. Probably because at the moment when he fell, seriously wounded, a new high truth was revealed to him along with a high, endless sky that spread a blue vault over him. The desire for fame leads Andrei to a deep spiritual crisis. The sky of Austerlitz becomes for him a symbol of a high understanding of life: “How could I not have seen this high sky before? And how happy I am that I finally got to know him. Yes! Everything is empty, everything is a lie, except for this endless sky. Andrei Bolkonsky realized that the natural life of nature and man is more significant and important than the war and the glory of Napoleon.

Against the background of this clear sky, all former dreams and aspirations seemed to Andrei petty and insignificant, the same as the former idol. There was a reassessment of values ​​in his soul. What seemed to him beautiful and sublime turned out to be empty and vain. And what he so diligently fenced off - a simple and quiet family life, - now seemed to him a desirable world full of happiness and harmony. Further events - the birth of a child, the death of his wife - forced Prince Andrei to come to the conclusion that life in its simple manifestations, life for himself, for his relatives, is the only thing left for him. But the mind of Prince Andrei continued to work hard, he read a lot and pondered the eternal questions: what force controls the world and what is the meaning of life.

Andrei tried to live a simple, calm life, taking care of his son and improving the lives of his serfs: he made three hundred people free cultivators, and replaced the rest with dues. But the state of depression, the feeling of the impossibility of happiness indicated that all the transformations could not fully occupy his mind and heart.

Pierre Bezukhov followed other paths in life, but he was worried about the same problems as Prince Andrei. “Why live and what am I? What is life, what is death? - Pierre painfully searched for answers to these questions. At the beginning of the novel, at an evening at Anna Pavlovna Scherer's, Pierre defends the ideas of the French Revolution, admires Napoleon, wants to either "create a republic in Russia, or be Napoleon himself ...". Having not yet found the meaning of life, Pierre rushes about, makes mistakes. Suffice it to recall the story of the bear, which caused a lot of noise in the world. But the biggest mistake made by Pierre during this period is his marriage to the low and vicious beauty Helen Kuragina. The duel with Dolokhov opened Pierre A New Look on the world, he realized that it was no longer possible to live the way he lives.

The search for truth and the meaning of life lead him to the Freemasons. He passionately desires "to regenerate the vicious human race." In the teachings of the Freemasons, Pierre is attracted by the ideas of "equality, brotherhood and love", therefore, first of all, he decides to alleviate the fate of the serfs. It seems to him that he has finally found the purpose and meaning of life: "And only now, when I ... try ... to live for others, only now I understand all the happiness of life." But Pierre is still too naive to understand that all his transformations lead to nothing. Tolstoy, talking about the activities of Pierre in the estate, ironically over his favorite hero.

Returning from a trip to the estates, Pierre calls on Prince Andrei. Their meeting, which great importance for both and largely determined their future path, took place in the estate of Bogucharovo. They met at the moment when it seemed to each of them that he had found the truth. But if Pierre's truth was happy, he had recently joined her and she overwhelmed his whole being so much that he wanted to quickly reveal it to his friend, then the truth of Prince Andrei was bitter and devastating, and he did not want to share his thoughts with anyone.

Andrei's final rebirth to life came about through his meeting with Natasha Rostova. Communication with her opens up a new, previously unknown side of life for Andrey - love, beauty, poetry. But it is with Natasha that he is not destined to be happy, because there is no complete understanding between them. Natasha loves Andrei, but does not understand and does not know him. And she remains a mystery to him with her own, special inner world. If Natasha lives every moment, unable to wait and postpone the moment of happiness until a certain time, then Andrei is able to love at a distance, finding a special charm in anticipation of the upcoming wedding with his girlfriend. Separation proved to be too difficult a test for Natasha, because, unlike Andrei, she was not able to think about anything other than love.

The story with Anatole Kuragin destroyed the possible happiness of Natasha and Prince Andrei. Proud and proud Andrei could not forgive Natasha for her mistake. And she, experiencing painful remorse, considered herself unworthy of such a noble, ideal person and renounced all the joys of life. Fate separates loving people leaving bitterness and pain of disappointment in their souls. But she will unite them before Andrei's death, because Patriotic War 1812 will change a lot in their characters.

When Napoleon entered the borders of Russia and began to rapidly move forward, Andrei Bolkonsky, who hated the war after being seriously wounded near Austerlitz, joined the army, refusing the safe and promising service at the headquarters of the commander in chief. Commanding the regiment, the proud aristocrat Bolkonsky became close to the soldier-peasant mass, learned to appreciate and respect the common people. If at first Prince Andrei tried to arouse the courage of the soldiers by walking under the bullets, then, when he saw them in battle, he realized that he had nothing to teach them. From that moment on, he began to look at the peasants in soldier's overcoats as patriotic heroes who courageously and staunchly defended their Fatherland. So Andrei Bolkonsky came to the idea that the success of the army does not depend on the position, weapons or number of troops, but on the feeling that is in him and in every soldier.

After the meeting in Bogucharovo, Pierre, like Prince Andrei, was in for bitter disappointment, in particular in Freemasonry. Pierre's republican ideas were not shared by his "brothers". In addition, Pierre realized that even among the Masons there is hypocrisy, hypocrisy, careerism. All this led Pierre to break with the Masons and to another mental crisis. Just like for Prince Andrei, the goal of life, the ideal for Pierre became (although he himself did not yet understand and did not realize this) love for Natasha Rostova, overshadowed by the bonds of marriage with Helen. "For what? What for? What is going on in the world?” - these questions did not cease to disturb Bezukhov.

During this period, the second meeting of Pierre and Andrei took place. This time, Tolstoy chose Borodino as the place for the meeting of his heroes. Here the decisive battle for the Russian and French armies took place, and here the last meeting of the main characters of the novel took place. At this period, Prince Andrei perceives his life as “badly painted pictures”, sums up its results and reflects on the same eternal questions. But the landscape, against which his reflections are given (“... and these birch trees with their light and shadow, and these curly clouds, and this smoke of bonfires, everything around was transformed for him and seemed something terrible and threatening”) , a sign that something poetic, eternal and incomprehensible continues to live in his devastated soul. At the same time, he continues to think and be silent. And Pierre is eager to know, eager to listen and speak.

Pierre asks Andrei questions, behind which are serious, not yet formalized thoughts. Prince Andrei does not want to enter into a conversation. Now Pierre is not only alien to him, but also unpleasant: he has a reflection of that life that brought him much suffering. And again, as in Bogucharovo, Prince Andrei begins to speak and imperceptibly is drawn into the conversation. This is not even a conversation, but a monologue of Prince Andrei, which is pronounced unexpectedly, passionately and contains bold and unexpected thoughts. He still speaks in a maliciously mocking tone, but this is not anger and emptiness, but the anger and pain of a patriot: speech from an unexpected spasm that seized him by the throat.

Pierre listened to his friend, ashamed of his ignorance in military affairs, but at the same time he felt that the moment Russia was experiencing was something very special, and the words of his friend, a professional military man, convinced him of the truth of his feelings. Everything that he saw that day, what he thought and pondered, "lit up for him with a new light." The parting of Pierre and Andrei cannot be called warm and friendly. But like last time, their conversation changed the characters' previous ideas about life and happiness. When Pierre left, Prince Andrei, with a new feeling, began to think about Natasha, "long and joyfully," with the feeling that he understood her, who had inflicted a serious insult on him. In a conversation with Pierre on the eve of the Battle of Borodino, one can feel the unity of thoughts of Prince Andrei and the fighting people. Expressing his attitude to the events, he says that his thoughts are in tune with the people's. The life of Prince Andrei, his search for the meaning of life, ends with unity with the people fighting for their native land.

After meeting with Pierre, Prince Andrei enters a new, completely new phase of life for him. She matured for a long time, but took shape only after he told Pierre everything that he had thought about for so long and painfully. But with this new feeling, according to the author, he could not live. It is symbolic that at the moment of a mortal wound Andrey feels a great craving for a simple earthly life, but immediately thinks about why he is so sorry to part with it. This struggle between earthly passions and love for people becomes especially acute before his death. Having met Natasha and forgiving her, he feels a surge of vitality, but this quivering and warm feeling is replaced by unearthly detachment, which is incompatible with life and means death. Having revealed in Andrei Bolkonsky many remarkable features of a patriotic nobleman, Tolstoy cut off his path of search with a heroic death for the sake of saving the fatherland. And to continue this search for higher spiritual values, which remained unattainable for Prince Andrei, is destined in the novel to his friend and like-minded Pierre Bezukhov.

For Pierre, the conversation with Andrei became the initial stage of his spiritual purification. All subsequent events: participation in the Battle of Borodino, adventures in Moscow occupied by the enemy, captivity - brought Pierre closer to the people and contributed to his moral rebirth. “To be a soldier, just a soldier!.. To enter this common life with all my being, to be imbued with what makes them so” - such a desire took possession of Pierre after the Battle of Borodino. It is in captivity that Bezukhov comes to the conclusion: "Man was created for happiness." But even on this, Pierre does not calm down.

In the epilogue, Tolstoy shows Bezukhov as active and thinking hard as at the beginning of the novel. He managed to carry through time his naive spontaneity, he continues to reflect on eternal insoluble questions. But if earlier he thought about the meaning of life, now he is thinking about how to protect goodness and truth. The paths of searching lead Pierre to a secret political society fighting against serfdom and autocracy.

The disputes between Andrei Bolkonsky and Pierre Bezukhov about the meaning of life reflect internal struggle in the soul of the writer, which did not stop throughout his life. A person, according to the writer, must constantly think, search, make mistakes and search again, because "peace is a spiritual meanness." He himself was like that, he endowed the main characters of the novel "War and Peace" with such qualities. Using the example of Prince Andrei and Pierre Bezukhov, Tolstoy shows that no matter how different paths the best of the representatives of high society in search of the meaning of life, they come to the same result: the meaning of life is in unity with their native people, in love for this people.

Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy loves the people he describes in various works, not for any special merits, but truly for the inner consciousness and perception of the world, for their moral qualities and foundations. So, Lev Nikolaevich refers to one of the most important attributes of the inner world of a person as a constant desire for self-improvement. Everything would seem simple, but the author is not content with just one desire for moral ideals - he is interested in the path chosen to achieve this goal.

The world famous novel by L.N. Tolstoy's "War and Peace" is a very problematic work that highlights the difficulties of the social, political and family spheres of life. Among this, the writer highlights the basis - the search for the meaning of life and simple human well-being. In the novel "War and Peace" there are two overlapping characters - Pierre Bezukhov and Andrei Bolkonsky, who are self-improving personalities, and whom Tolstoy closely watches, noting their ups and downs.

Pierre Bezukhov in the novel initially leads a reckless social life of an idle reveler. Pierre is so subservient to someone else's will that he allows himself to be stripped to the skin and married to Helen Kuragina, who almost ruined Pierre's life, entangling him in a web of lies and falsehood.

The duel with Dolokhov leaves a deep moral shock and causes hatred for secular pathos and pretense. This state pushes Pierre to join the ranks of Freemasonry. But, after a while, he becomes disillusioned with this.

After a spiritual crisis, Pierre is again filled with patriotism and participates in the war of 1812. The turning point in Bezukhov's quest was a visit to the Battle of Borodino, and a meeting with Platon Karataev, a soldier who does not complain about anything, is kind to others and meek, introduces a new worldview of Pierre Bezukhov to the common people. The end point of Bezukhov's quest is the camp of the Decembrists, where he finds himself.

Glory is what the young Bolkonsky dreams of, and only for this he goes to the army. However, these youthful thoughts about dignity, valor, glory and other sublime quickly evaporate when he visits the Austerlitz field. Lying on the ground and bleeding, Bolkonsky realizes that glory is not the ultimate goal of existence. This disappointment is followed by another: his idol - Napoleon - "falls" in the eyes of Bolkonsky and appears to him as a petty little man.

After these incidents, Bolkonsky decides to devote his life to a child left without a mother. Andrei, being in a depressed state, will retire to his estate. However, this is tantamount to a small death for him, so Andrei again rushes into the cycle of life.

Arriving in St. Petersburg, he works with Speransky, but not for long. The war of 1812 caused fundamental changes in the life of the hero. He takes part in the battle and feels like the right person here. He is related to the people and knows that the fate of the Motherland depends on him.

A. Bolkonsky completed his spiritual quest before his death, when he stopped being afraid of her and realized that life was given for love of one's neighbor.

Both of these heroes strove for moral self-improvement, both started from scratch, and both reached the truth, which is as old as the world: "We must live, we must love, we must believe."

Question 27. The spiritual path of Andrei Bolkonsky and Pierre Bezukhov in Leo Tolstoy's novel War and Peace.

1. The ability to internally change a person.

2. The problem of human happiness in the novel.

3. Spiritual quest of Andrey Bolkonsky.

4. Pierre Bezukhov in search of the meaning of life.

5. Faith, hope, love are eternal values.

1. One of the most important properties of a person L.N. Tolstoy considered the ability to internal change, his desire for self-improvement, moral search. For Tolstoy, a person is a part of the Universe, and he is interested in what path the human soul goes in striving for the high, ideal, in striving to understand oneself.

2. One of the main problems that Tolstoy poses in the novel "War and Peace" is the problem of human happiness, the problem of searching for the meaning of life. His favorite heroes are Andrey Bolkonsky and Pierre Bezukhov - natures seeking, tormented, suffering. They are characterized by restlessness of the soul, the desire to be useful, necessary, loved. In the life of both, several stages can be distinguished at which their worldview changes, a certain turning point occurs in the soul.

3. We meet Andrei Bolkonsky in the salon of Anna Pavlovna Sherer. On the face of the prince boredom and fatigue. “This life is not for me,” he tells Pierre. Striving for useful activities, Prince Andrei goes to the army, dreaming of his glory. But romantic notions of honor and glory were dispelled on the field of Austerlitz. Lying on the battlefield, seriously wounded, Prince Andrei sees a high sky above him, and everything that he dreamed about before seems to him “empty”, “deceit”. He realized that there is something more important in life than fame. Having met with his idol Napoleon, Bolkonsky is also disappointed in him: “All the interests that occupied Napoleon seemed so insignificant to him at that moment, his hero himself seemed so petty to him ...” Disappointed in his previous aspirations and ideals, having experienced grief and remorse, Andrey comes to the conclusion that living for himself and his loved ones is the only thing left for him. But the active, ebullient nature of Bolkonsky cannot be content with just the family circle. Slowly he returns to life, to people. Pierre and Natasha help him get out of this state of mind. “We must live, we must love, we must believe” - these words of Pierre make Prince Andrei see the world in a new way, with its new colors, with the awakening spring. The desire for activity and fame returns to him.

He goes to St. Petersburg, where he begins his state activity in the Speransky commission. But disappointment soon followed, as Prince Andrei realized that this work was far from the vital interests of the people.

He is again close to a spiritual crisis, from which his love for Natasha Rostova saves him. Bolkonsky surrenders entirely to his feeling. The break with Natasha became a tragedy for him: “It was as if the endless vault of the sky that stood above him turned into a low, crushing vault, in which ... there was nothing eternal and mysterious.” The Patriotic War of 1812 dramatically changed the life path of the hero. She found Prince Andrei in confusion, thinking about the offense inflicted on him. But personal grief drowned in people's grief. The French invasion aroused in him a desire to fight, to be together with the people. He returns to the army and takes part in the Battle of Borodino. Here he recognizes himself as a particle of the people, and the fate of Russia depends on him, like on many soldiers.

The path of improvement of Andrei Bolkonsky passes through the blood, death and suffering of people in the war. Physical pain after being wounded and mental pain at the sight of suffering people lead Prince Andrei to an understanding of the truth about the need for love for one's neighbor, to the forgiveness of human sins, thereby bringing him closer to spiritual perfection. Prince Andrei knows that he still has to go the last way, but he no longer he is afraid of death, because he managed to overcome mental suffering, and physical suffering no longer frightens him. Just before his death, he forgives Anatole Kuragin. He clearly understands the whole depth of Natasha's soul, forgives her everything and says: "I love you more, better than before."

The war for Andrei served as the test that is necessary for the moral self-purification of a person on the path of knowing the truth of God.

4. Like Andrei Bolkonsky, Pierre is also characterized by deep reflections and doubts in search of the meaning of life.

At first, in his youth and under the influence of the environment, he makes many mistakes: he leads a reckless life of a secular reveler and loafer, allows Prince Kuragin to rob himself and marry the frivolous beauty Helen.

The moral shock experienced by Pierre in a collision with Dolokhov awakens remorse in him. He hates the lies of secular society, he often thinks about the question of the meaning of human life. This leads him to Freemasonry, which he understood as the doctrine of equality, brotherhood and love. He sincerely seeks to alleviate the situation of his peasants up to their liberation from serfdom. Here Pierre first comes into contact with the people's environment, but rather superficially. However, Pierre soon becomes convinced of the futility of the Masonic movement and moves away from it. The war of 1812 arouses patriotic feelings in Pierre, and he equips a thousand militias with his own money, while he himself remains in Moscow to kill Napoleon and "stop the misfortunes of all Europe."

An important stage on the path of Pierre's search is his visit to the Borodino field at the time of the battle. Here he understands that history is created not by the individual, but by the people. The sight of lively and sweaty "muzhiks affected Pierre more than anything that he had seen and heard so far about the solemnity and significance of the present moment."

The meeting with Platon Karataev, a former peasant and soldier, makes him even closer to the people. From Karataev, Pierre gains peasant wisdom, in communication with him "finds peace and contentment with himself, to which he vainly sought before." The life path of Pierre Bezukhov is typical for the best part of the noble youth of that time. It was these people who came to the camp of the Decembrists.

5. Each of these heroes has their own destiny, their own difficult path to understanding the meaning of life. But both heroes come to the same truth: "We must live, we must love, we must believe."

In order to live honestly, one must tear, get confused, fight, make mistakes, start and quit again, and start again, and quit again, and forever struggle and rush about.
And peace of mind is meanness.
L.N. Tolstoy

Many of the characters in the epic novel "War and Peace" cannot understand for a long time what the purpose of their life is, therefore they cannot find true happiness.

These characters include: Pierre Bezukhov and. They are in constant search for the meaning of life, they dream of activities that will be useful to the people and others. It is these qualities that characterize their personality, demonstrating their spiritual beauty. For them, life is an eternal pursuit of truth and goodness.

Pierre and Andrei are close not only in their inner world, but also in their alienation to the world of the Kuragins and Scherer. Tracing the lives of the heroes, we can see that Tolstoy leads the heroes through a cycle of disappointments and happiness: he shows the difficulty of the path leading to the realization of meaning. human life. But there are a great many ways to achieve happiness, which is why the author shows us two people: after all, they set themselves completely different goals, while going towards good and truth each in their own way.

Prince Andrei sees himself in the rays of glory, dreams of performing feats, extols the military gift of Napoleon, therefore his own "Toulon" is his goal. At the same time, he sees glory as

"Love for others, desire to do something for them."

To achieve the goal, he chooses to serve in the ranks of the army in the field. But on the field of Austerlitz, Andrei understands that the path he has chosen is false, that fame is nothing, life is everything. Andrei realizes the insignificance of the dream and, as a result, disappointment and mental crisis. He accomplished a feat by running forward with a banner, but this act did not save the plight: the battle was lost, and the prince himself was seriously wounded. In front of face "eternal, kind sky" he understands that one cannot live only one's dream, one must live in the name of people, relatives and strangers.

“It is necessary ... that my life goes not for me alone ...”,

he thinks.

A turning point occurs in Bolkonsky's mind, now for him Napoleon is not a brilliant commander, not a superpersonality, but a small, insignificant human being. Returning home to the Bald Mountains, Andrei goes about his daily business: raising his son, taking care of the peasants. At the same time, she withdrew into herself, he thinks that he is doomed, the appearance of Pierre brings him back to life. And Bolkonsky decides that

"We must live, we must love, we must believe."

Vitality awakens in him again: faith in himself, love is reborn. But the final awakening occurs in Otradnoe, when meeting with. He returns to society. Now he sees the meaning of life in joint happiness with his beloved Natasha Rostova.

And crash again.

The realization of the senselessness of state activity comes to him - he again loses his relationship with society. Then there is a break with Natasha - the collapse of hopes for family happiness. This leads him to a spiritual crisis. There seems to be no hope of overcoming this condition.

With the outbreak of the war of 1812, during human disasters, deaths and betrayals, Andrei finds the strength to restore himself. He understands that his personal suffering is nothing compared to human suffering. He goes to fight, but not for glory, but for the sake of life, happiness, freedom of people and the Fatherland.

And it is there, in this chaos of death and blood, that Andrei understands what his calling is - to serve the Motherland, to take care of his soldiers and officers. This sense of duty leads Andrey to the Borodino field, where he dies from his wound.

Before his death, he accepts and understands all the advice and covenants of Mary:

• Accepts God - forgives the enemy, asks for the Gospel;
• Knows the feeling eternal love, harmony.

Andrei ends his quest with what he started with: he gains the glory of a real hero.
Other way of life Pierre Bezukhov was walking, but he was worried about the same problems as Andrei Bolkonsky.

“Why live and what am I? What is life, what is death?

- Pierre was painfully looking for an answer to these questions.

Pierre is guided by the ideas of Napoleon, defends the problems of the French Revolution. He wishes then

"to produce a republic in Russia, then to be Napoleon yourself."

At first, he does not see the point in life: therefore, he rushes about, makes mistakes. The search leads him to the Freemasons. After which he acquires a passionate desire "to regenerate the vicious human race".The most attractive ideas to him seem to be the ideas of "equality, brotherhood and love." And again failures, but he does not renounce the Masons - after all, it is in this that he sees the meaning of life.

"And only now, when I ... try ... to live for others, only now I understand all the happiness of life."

This conclusion allows him to find his true path in the future. Soon Pierre leaves Freemasonry, disillusioned with social ideals. He does not find personal happiness either. In his life comes a period of disappointment.

And again a series of mistakes is coming: a trip to Borodino, participation in hostilities. He regains his imaginary destiny - to kill Napoleon. And he fails again: after all, Napoleon is unattainable.

In the subsequent captivity, he gains intimacy with ordinary people. He begins to appreciate life and small pleasures. The meeting with Platon Karataev helped to get out of the crisis: he becomes the personification of "all Russian, kind and round."

Karataev helps Pierre learn a new truth. Pierre feels that he has found harmony with himself. A simple truth was revealed to him: one must live to satisfy simple and natural needs, the main of which are love and family.

Initiation to the people, close rapprochement with them after being released from captivity leads Pierre to Decembristism. At the same time, he also finds happiness. The main belief he took from life quest:

"As long as there is life, there is happiness."

The result of the life searches of Andrei and Pierre is one: true happiness for a person is hidden in serving the people and the Motherland. But Pierre found himself in the service of the people, while Andrei does not find himself and his personality dies.