Project on the topic: “The life path of Andrei Bolkonsky. The life path of Andrei Bolkonsky The path of life searches of Andrei Bolkonsky

Andrei Bolkonsky inherited from his father a love of order, activity and "pride of thought." But, as a representative of a new generation, Prince Andrei softened many of his father's habits. For example, the family tree makes him smile: along with others, he freed himself from this superstition of aristocracy. He liked to meet people who did not have a "common secular imprint".

Bolkonsky's marriage. Savor.

The novel finds Andrei Bolkonsky just at that moment in his spiritual life, when the superstition of secular relations became especially painful for him. He is a young husband, but in his richly decorated dining room, where all the silver, faience and table linen shine with newness, he advises Pierre never to marry with nervous irritation. Having married, because everyone marries, a kind, very pretty girl, Andrey had to get, like everyone else, into the "enchanted circle of living rooms, gossip, balls, vanity, insignificance."

Bolkonsky at war.

He realizes that this life is "not for him" - and in order to just break with it, he decides to go to war. War, he thinks, like everyone else, is something bright, special, not vulgar, especially a war with such a commander as Bonaparte.

But Bolkonsky is not destined to follow the beaten path. The very first victory, which he, as adjutant of Kutuzov, reported to the Minister of War, led him to thoughts that tormented him in high-society living rooms. The stupid, feigned smile of the minister, the insulting behavior of the adjutant on duty, the rudeness of ordinary officers, the stupidity of the "dear Orthodox army" - all this quickly drowned out interest in the war and the happiness of new, joyful impressions.

Prince Andrei was leaving for the war as an opponent of all abstract reasoning. A family trait, practical efficiency, combined with a mockingly contemptuous attitude towards everything that bore the imprint of metaphysics. When his sister put a small icon around his neck, suffering from his jokes about the shrine, Andrei took this gift so as not to upset his sister, and "his face was at the same time tender and mocking." Near Austerlitz, Andrei was seriously wounded. Then, exhausted from the loss of blood, knocked out of the ranks of his comrades, finding himself in the face of death, Andrei somehow became closer to the religious worldview of his sister. When Napoleon stopped above him with his retinue, everything suddenly appeared to him in a different light than before.

The death of his wife and the first rebirth of Bolkonsky

On the eve of the battle, after a military council, which left a very confused impression, Prince Andrei for a moment came up with the idea that the victims were aimless due to some kind of court considerations; but this thought was drowned out by other habitual thoughts of glory; it seemed to him that he would give the people dearest to him for a minute of glory, of triumph over people. But, seeing near him the conqueror covered with glory, Napoleon, whom he considered his hero, the wounded Prince Andrei could not respond to the question addressed to him. “All the interests that occupied Napoleon seemed so insignificant to him at that moment, his hero himself seemed so petty to him.” He only wanted to comprehend that deity, touching and soothing, about which his sister spoke to him. Still not fully recovered from the wound, Prince Andrei arrives home just in time for the birth of his son and the death of his wife, who could not bear childbirth.

The dying childishly reproachfully looked at her husband, and "something torn off the axis in his soul." Even so recently, it seemed to him indisputable that this woman, the "little princess", was tying him to a vulgar life, standing in his way to glory and triumph; and now he is a hero, crowned with glory, who has received the attention of Napoleon and the most flattering reviews of Kutuzov, just as powerless, shallow and guilty before a dying woman, just as there, on the field of Austerlitz, in front of him, lying in blood, his hero was powerless, shallow and guilty Napoleon. And after the death of his wife, he keeps imagining her unspoken reproach: “Oh, what and why did you do this to me?”

With his unaccustomed to abstractions, Prince Andrei is not able to reconcile the contradictions caused in his soul. It seems to him that he needs to completely get away from any social activity, and for two years he leads a secluded life in his village, slowly recovering from the consequences of the wound. It seems to him that the mistake of his former life was in the pursuit of fame. But glory, he thinks, is love for others, the desire to do something for them, the desire for their praise. It means that he lived for others and therefore ruined his own life. You need to live only for yourself, for your family, and not for the so-called neighbors. Therefore, in a conversation with Pierre, he passionately and convincingly objects to all his plans to benefit the peasants. Muzhiks are also "neighbors", "the main source of delusion and evil."

He does not want to serve in the army, he also refuses an elected position of the nobility, he tries to completely withdraw into worries only about himself, about his father, about his home. Not to get sick and not to feel remorse - this is the basis of happiness. But without a mocking smile, as it would have been before, Prince Andrei listens to Pierre when he expounds to him the teachings of Freemasonry: to live for others, but not despising them, as Prince Andrei despised those people who should glorify him, you need to see yourself as a link, part of a huge , a harmonious whole, one must live for truth, for virtue, for love for people.

Slowly and difficultly, as in a strong nature, this seed of new life developed in Andrei's soul. He sometimes even wanted to assure himself that his life was over. It seems to him that, protecting his father, only for his own peace of mind takes on the chores of militia affairs, that only out of material interests he travels on guardian affairs of his distant estate, that only from idleness he follows the developing political events and studies the reasons for the failures of past military campaigns. . In fact, a new attitude to life is born in him: “No, life is not over at thirty-one… Not only do I know all that. what is in me ... it is necessary that everyone knows me, so that my life goes not for me alone! The decision to move to St. Petersburg in the fall to take an active part in social activities was a natural way out of this mood.

Bolkonsky in the service of Speransky.

In 1809, Prince Andrei appears in the capital with a reputation as a liberal, created by setting the peasants free. In the circle of the younger generation, adjoining the reform activities of Speransky, Prince Andrei immediately occupies a prominent place. Former acquaintances find that in five years he has changed for the better, softened, matured, got rid of his former pretense, pride and mockery. Prince Andrei himself is unpleasantly struck by the contempt of some people for others, which he sees, for example, in Speransky. Meanwhile, Speransky for him is almost the same as Napoleon before Austerlitz, and it seems to Prince Andrei that he is again as if before a battle, but only now as a civilian. He enthusiastically set to work on part of the civil code, rejuvenated, cheered up, prettier, but lost all ability to deal with secular ladies, very unhappy that he "contacted Speransky."

Love for Natasha, which in its simplicity was so unlike Speransky's strict opponents, grows in Bolkonsky's heart, but
at the same time, he wants again something infinitely great, like the sky of Austerlitz, and the halo of Speransky fades for him. “... He vividly imagined Bogucharovo, his activities in the village, his trip to Ryazan, remembered the peasants, Dron - the headman, and, having attached to them the rights of persons, which he divided into paragraphs, he wondered how he could have been doing such a thing for so long idle work."

Bolkonsky in the war of 1812.

The break with Speransky was accomplished simply and easily; but it was all the more difficult for Bolkonsky, who was not carried away by some business, to endure
the unexpected betrayal of Natasha, who had already agreed with him on the date of the wedding. Only out of a desire to meet his rival in the army and bring him to a duel, he enters the army just before the start of the Patriotic War of 1812. Glory, the public good, love for a woman, the fatherland itself - everything now appears to Prince Andrei as "roughly painted figures." War is "the most disgusting thing in life" and at the same time "the favorite pastime of idle and frivolous people." “The purpose of the war is murder ... They will come together to kill each other, kill, maim tens of thousands of people. As God watches and listens to them from there!” This is how Prince Andrei argues in a conversation with Pierre on the eve of the battle of Borodino and concludes: “Oh, my soul, it has become hard for me to live lately ... And it’s not good for a person to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil ... Well, not for long!”

The next morning, frowning and pale, at first he walked for a long time in front of the ranks of soldiers, considering this necessary to arouse their courage, “then
he was convinced that he had nothing and nothing to teach them.”

Hours and minutes drag on, when all the strength of the soul is directed not to think about the danger ... In the middle of the day, the bursting core struck Andrey.

Reconciliation with life and death of Bolkonsky.

And the first thought of the wounded man was the unwillingness to die and the question of why it is so pitiful to part with life. At the dressing station, when he was undressed, childhood flashed before him for a moment - a nanny putting him to bed and lulling him to sleep. He was somehow touched - and then he suddenly recognized Kuragin in the terribly groaning man. that broke his happiness with Natasha. I also remember Natasha. And he, looking at the once hateful, now pitiful face with eyes swollen with tears, he himself “wept tender, loving tears over people, over himself and over their and his own delusions.” He understood what he did not understand before - love for everyone, even for enemies. "... Enthusiastic pity for the love of this man filled his happy heart."

“Compassion, love for brothers, for those who love, love for those who hate us, love for enemies — yes, that love that God preached
on the land that Princess Marya taught me and which I did not understand; that's why I felt sorry for life, that's what was left to me. / 5. 7

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LN Tolstoy never showed himself as an unprincipled writer. Among the variety of his images, one can easily find those to whom he treated positively, with enthusiasm, and those to whom he felt antipathy. One of the characters to whom Tolstoy was clearly not indifferent was the image of Andrei Bolkonsky.

Marriage to Lisa Meinen

For the first time we meet Bolkonsky at Anna Pavlovna Sherer's. He appears here as a guest bored and tired of the whole secular society. In his inner state, he resembles a classical Byronic hero who does not see the point in secular life, but continues to live this life out of habit, while experiencing internal torment from moral dissatisfaction.

At the beginning of the novel, Bolkonsky appears before readers as a 27-year-old young man married to Kutuzov's niece, Lisa Meinen. His wife is pregnant with her first child and is due to give birth soon. Apparently, family life did not bring happiness to Prince Andrei - he treats his wife rather coolly, and says to Pierre Bezukhov that marriage is detrimental to a person.
During this period, the reader sees the development of two different hypostases of Bolkonsky's life - secular, related to the arrangement of family life and military - Prince Andrei is in military service and is an adjutant under General Kutuzov.

Battle of Austerlitz

Prince Andrei is full of desire to become a significant person in the military field, he gives great hopes for the military events of 1805-1809. - according to Bolkonsky, this will help him lose his sense of the meaninglessness of life. However, the very first injury sobers him up significantly - Bolkonsky reconsiders his priorities in life and comes to the conclusion that he will be able to fully realize himself in family life. Having fallen on the battlefield, Prince Andrei notices the beauty of the sky and wonders why he had never looked at the sky before and did not notice its uniqueness.

Bolkonsky was not lucky - after being wounded, he became a prisoner of war in the French army, but then he has the opportunity to return to his homeland.

Having recovered from his wound, Bolkonsky goes to his father's estate, where his pregnant wife is. Since there was no information about Prince Andrei, and everyone considered him dead, his appearance was a complete surprise. Bolkonsky arrives home just in time - he finds his wife giving birth and her death. The child managed to survive - it was a boy. Prince Andrei was depressed and upset by this event - he regrets that he was in a cool relationship with his wife. Until the end of his days, he remembered the frozen expression on her dead face, which seemed to ask: "Why did this happen to me?"

Life after the death of his wife

The sad consequences of the Battle of Austerlitz and the death of his wife were the reasons why Bolkonsky decided to refuse military service. While most of his compatriots were called to the front, Bolkonsky specifically tried to make sure that he did not get back on the battlefield. To this end, under the guidance of his father, he begins to work as a militia gatherer.

We suggest that you familiarize yourself with the summary of the novel by L.N. Tolstoy's "Resurrection" is a story of moral transformation.

At this moment, there is a famous fragment of Bolkonsky's vision of an oak, which, in contrast to the entire verdant forest, argued the opposite - the blackened oak trunk suggested the finiteness of life. In fact, the symbolic image of this oak embodied the internal state of Prince Andrei, who also looked devastated. After some time, Bolkonsky again had to pass along the same road, and he saw that his seemingly dead oak had found the strength to live. From this moment begins the moral restoration of Bolkonsky.

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He does not stay in the position of militia collector and soon receives a new appointment - work in the commission for drafting laws. Thanks to his acquaintance with Speransky and Arakcheev, he was appointed to the post of head of the department.

At first, this work captures Bolkonsky, but gradually his interest is lost and he soon begins to miss life on the estate. His work on the commission seems to Bolkonsky to be idle nonsense. Prince Andrei increasingly catches himself thinking that this work is aimless and useless.

It is likely that during the same period, Bolkonsky’s internal torment brought Prince Andrei to the Masonic lodge, but judging by the fact that Tolstoy does not develop this part of Bolkonsky’s relationship with society, the Masonic lodge did not have any spread and influence on the life path.

Meeting with Natasha Rostova

At the New Year's ball in 1811, he sees Natasha Rostova. After meeting with the girl, Prince Andrei realizes that his life is not over and he should not get hung up on Lisa's death. Bolkonsky's heart is filled with love in Natalia. Prince Andrei feels natural in Natalya's company - he can easily find a topic for conversation with her. In communicating with a girl, Bolkonsky behaves at ease, he likes the fact that Natalya accepts him for who he is, Andrei does not need to pretend or play along. Natalya was also captivated by Bolkonsky, he seemed attractive to her both externally and internally.

Without thinking twice, Bolkonsky proposes to the girl. Since the position in Bolkonsky's society was impeccable, and besides, the financial situation was stable, the Rostovs agree to marriage.

The only person who was extremely dissatisfied with the engagement that took place was the father of Prince Andrei - he persuades his son to go abroad for treatment and only after that deal with marriage matters.

Prince Andrei gives in and leaves. This event became fatal in the life of Bolkonsky - during his absence, Natalya fell in love with the rake Anatoly Kuragin and even attempted to escape with the brawler.

He learns about this from a letter from Natalia herself. Such behavior unpleasantly struck Prince Andrei, and his engagement with Rostova was terminated. However, his feelings towards the girl did not fade away - he still continued to love her passionately until the end of his days.

Return to military service

To drown out the pain and take revenge on Kuragin, Bolkonsky returns to the military field. General Kutuzov, who always treated Bolkonsky favorably, invites Prince Andrei to go with him to Turkey. Bolkonsky accepts the offer, but the Russian troops do not stay in the Moldavian direction for a long time - with the beginning of the military events of 1812, the transfer of troops to the Western Front begins, and Bolkonsky asks Kutuzov to send him to the front line.
Prince Andrei becomes the commander of the Jaeger regiment. As a commander, Bolkonsky demonstrates himself in the best possible way: he treats his subordinates with care and enjoys significant authority with them. Colleagues call him "our prince" and are very proud of him. Such changes in him were realized thanks to Bolkonsky's rejection of individualism and his merger with the people.

The Bolkonsky regiment became one of the military units that took part in the military events against Napoleon, in particular during the Battle of Borodino.

Wound in the Battle of Borodino and its consequences

During the battle, Bolkonsky is seriously wounded in the stomach. The wound received causes Bolkonsky to reevaluate and realize many life dogmas. Colleagues bring their commander to the dressing station, on the next operating table he sees his enemy - Anatol Kuragin and finds the strength to forgive him. Kuragin looks very pathetic and depressed - the doctors amputated his leg. Looking at Anatole's emotions and his pain, anger and the desire to take revenge, which has been devouring Bolkonsky all this time, recedes and is replaced by compassion - Prince Andrei feels sorry for Kuragin.

Then Bolkonsky falls into unconsciousness and is in this state for 7 days. Bolkonsky comes to consciousness already in the Rostovs' house. Together with other wounded, he was evacuated from Moscow.
Natalia at this moment becomes his angel. In the same period, Bolkonsky's relationship with Natasha Rostova also takes on a new meaning, but for Andrei everything is too late - his wound leaves him no hope of recovery. However, this did not prevent them from finding short-term harmony and happiness. Rostova all the time relentlessly cares for the wounded Bolkonsky, the girl realizes that she still loves Prince Andrei, because of this, her guilt towards Bolkonsky only intensifies. Prince Andrei, despite the severity of his injury, tries to look as usual - he jokes a lot, reads. Oddly enough, of all the possible books, Bolkonsky asked for the Gospel, probably because after the “meeting” with Kuragin at the dressing station, Bolkonsky began to realize Christian values ​​​​and was able to love people close to him with true love. Despite all efforts, Prince Andrei still dies. This event tragically affected Rostova's life - the girl often remembered Bolkonsky and went over in her memory all the moments spent with this person.

Thus, the life path of Prince Andrei Bolkonsky once again confirms Tolstoy's position - the life of good people is always full of tragedy and quest.

The path of searching for Andrei Bolkonsky. L.N. Tolstoy "War and Peace"

Did I know that after reading "War and Peace", I would change my moral principles, look at life from a new, unexpected side? No, of course, I didn’t know, but it happened, and Andrei Bolkonsky contributed to this event. This fictional character has become my idol. Perhaps I still did not understand much of his thoughts and actions, but even a small part of what I realized was enough to radically change my life principles and beliefs. Naturally, each person perceives information in his own way, but in this article I will try to convey those spiritual transformations and personality transformations that happened to “my” Prince Andrei.
At the beginning of the novel, he appears to me as a proud, arrogant, tough person with an emotional range limited to a thin, cold and mocking smile. He is only interested in what directly concerns himself, his own "I". Rumors, events in society, and society itself does not bother him at all. He is looking for glory and greatness that could quench his thirst to know his destiny. Andrei goes to war only in order to get the opportunity to stand out from other people. The possible death not only does not bother him, but he considers it as one of the options to get what he wants. However, all his hopes and dreams come to an end on the field of Austerlitz. Napoleon - the greatest of the greats, the man whom Prince Andrei idolized, turns out in fact to be a small, frail likeness of the genius of war. After that, the prince's views on life change a little.
Bolkonsky decides that he still needs to live only for himself, but by the latter he means not only his person. All his relatives and close people: Princess Marya, father, wife, son, Pierre, as well as everything that, one way or another, is connected with him and now constitutes the “I” of Prince Andrei. All his efforts are now directed to the well-being of these people and himself. But he soon realizes that everything he does does not contribute to achieving the desired result. Andrew is despondent. He is trying to find something important - something that he could miss and not notice in his thoughts. However, neither a conversation with Pierre, nor the surrounding nature can help him. Prince Andrei begins to die, but then salvation comes to him in the form of a young and cheerful nymph - Natasha Rostova. He falls in love with her, she reciprocates and radically changes Bolkonsky. After meeting this angel, his state of mind changes forever. He himself admits this to himself when he meets the oak. His mind clears up, and Bolkonsky understands that he must live for all people, that the meaning of life lies in the simple little things that create it, that you should not look for special meaning in familiar things, but you just need to live and love further.
But, even after he gained peace of mind and balance, fate does not leave Prince Andrei alone. She sends him the last two trials: the betrayal of the woman he loves and death. After he learns about the events that took place between Natasha and Anatole Kuragin, he does not fall into a rage, but he cannot forgive Natasha either. Andrei finds the only right way out of this situation - he just continues to live on. After a long time, already on his deathbed, he forgives his beloved, and fate gives him the opportunity to meet her. So he passes the test of treason.
The last test prepared for him is beyond the power of any person to pass. But Prince Andrei Bolkonsky was able to do it. Death came for him, and he appeared before her as a man who, in his short life, was able to understand what people cannot learn today. Prince Andrei finally understood that the meaning of life is life itself.
Usually they say about a dead person: "Death took him too soon." But this is definitely not about Bolkonsky. Death overtook him, and he agreed to go with her on an equal footing.

Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy wrote the novel "War and Peace" from 1863 to 1869. It was originally conceived as a novel about the return of a Decembrist from exile in 1856, and the main character was to be Pyotr Ivanovich Lobadov. In the image of Lobadov, Tolstoy wanted to show the tragedy of the hero of the Decembrist uprising, whose era has remained in the past and who will no longer be able to find himself in a changed society. But in order to . in order to reliably recreate the events of 1825, Tolstoy had to return to the history of the Patriotic War (as one of the Decembrists wrote in his diary: “... we all came out of the war of 1812 ...”). The first chapters of the novel were originally called "1805" and told about the origins of the war and about the people who participated in it. This is how the main characters of the work appeared, including one of the author's favorites, Andrei Bolkonsky.

It is important to note that the positive heroes of Tolstoy are always characterized by a difficult life path, full of wrong deeds, mistakes, painful searches for their destiny in life.

We will try to trace the fate of Andrei Bolkonsky and the path of his moral quest in the novel.

So, for the first time we meet Prince Andrei, a man with a “tired, bored look”, in the secular salon of Anna Pavlovna Scherer, where all the best representatives of high Petersburg society gather, people with whom the fate of the hero will subsequently intersect: “beautiful Helen” Kuragina and her brother Anatole, the “chief reveler” of St. Petersburg, Pierre Bezukhov, the illegitimate son of Count Bezukhov, and others. Some come here to show themselves in the world, others - to make a career for themselves, to advance in the service. Having performed the ceremony of greeting the “unknown ... and unnecessary aunt”, the guests gather to start a casual secular conversation, and the hostess of the salon “presents” Abbe Morio and Viscount Mortemart to her guests, “like roast beef on a hot dish”. Prince Andrei is indifferent to this society, he is tired of it, “having fallen into a vicious circle” from which he cannot escape, he decides to find his destiny in the military field, and leaving his wife whom he does not love (“... Never marry. .. - he says to Pierre, - do not marry until ... until you stop loving the woman you chose ...”), goes to the war of 1805, hoping to find “your Toulon”. It is very important to note here that, on the one hand, being an enemy of Napoleon, Bolkonsky is at the same time embraced by the ideas of Napoleonism: before the battle, he admits to himself that he is ready to sacrifice his father, sister, wife, is ready to shed the blood of other people for the sake of his personal victory, so that take the place of Kutuzov, and then - "it doesn't matter what happens next ...".

When the battle begins, Bolkonsky grabs the banner and, “dragging it along the ground”, runs ahead of the soldiers to become famous, but is wounded - “as if with a stick on the head.” Opening his eyes, Andrey sees a “high, endless sky”, except for which “nothing, nothing is there and ... everything is empty, everything is a lie ...”, and Napoleon seems just a small, insignificant person compared to eternity. From this moment, liberation from Napoleonic ideas begins in Bolkonsky's soul.

Returning home, Prince Andrei dreams of starting a new life no longer with a “little princess” with a “squirrel expression” on his face, but with a woman with whom he hopes to finally create a single family, but does not have time - his wife dies in childbirth, and the reproach that Andrei read on her face: "... what have you done to me?" - will always haunt him, making him feel guilty in front of her.

After the death of Princess Lisa, Bolkonsky lives on his estate in Bogucharovo, arranging the economy and becoming disillusioned with life. Having met with Pierre, full of new ideas and aspirations, who joined the Masonic society and wants to show that he is “a different, better Pierre than he was before”, Prince Andrei treats his friend with irony, believing that “he must live out his life. .. not worrying and not wanting anything.” He feels himself lost for life.

Having gone to Otradnoye to see Count Rostov on business, Bolkonsky drove through a green forest, saw an oak tree, which, spreading its branches, seemed to say: “Everything is the same, and everything is a deceit! There is no spring, no sun, no happiness...”

Having agreed to spend the night in Otradnoye, Bolkonsky, going up to the window at night, heard the voice of Natasha Rostova, who, admiring the beauty of the night, wanted to “fly up” to the sky.

Returning back and driving through the forest, Prince Andrei looked for an oak tree and did not find it. The oak blossomed, covered with greenery, and seemed to be admiring itself. And at that moment Andrei decided that at the age of 31, life was not only not over, but, on the contrary, was just beginning. And the desire to make sure that both the girl who wanted to fly into the sky, and Pierre, and everyone else would know about him and “so that they would not live so independently of his life, so that it would be reflected on everyone ...”, seized him. Returning to St. Petersburg, Andrei entered the official service and began to create bills, got along with Speransky, but soon abandoned this service, realizing with horror that here, dealing with state issues, people are guided solely by their own personal interests.

Bolkonsky's love for Natasha Rostova, whom he met at a ball on the occasion of the onset of 1811, helped Bolkonsky to revive again. Having not received his father's permission to marry, Prince Andrei went abroad.

The year 1812 came and the war began. Disappointed in Natasha's love after her betrayal with Kuragin, Bolkonsky went to war, despite his oath never to serve again. Unlike the war of 1805, now he did not seek glory for himself, but wanted to take revenge on the French, “his enemies”, for the death of his father, for the crippled fate of many people. On the eve of the Battle of Borodino, Bolkonsky had no doubts about victory and believed in the spiritual strength of the Russian people, who rose to defend the Fatherland and Moscow. Now Andrei did not have that individualism that was before, he felt like a part of the people. After a mortal wound he received on the battlefield, Andrei Bolkonsky finally found, according to Tolstoy, the highest truth that every person should come to - he came to the Christian worldview, understood the meaning of the fundamental laws of life, which he could not comprehend before, and forgave his enemy: "Compassion, love for brothers, for those who love, love for those who hate us, love for enemies, yes, that love that God preached on earth ... and which I did not understand."

So, having comprehended the laws of higher, Christian love, Andrei Bolkonsky dies. He dies because he saw the possibility of eternal love, eternal life, and “to love everyone, to always sacrifice oneself for love meant not to love anyone, it meant not to live this earthly life ...”.

The more Prince Andrei moved away from women, “the more the barrier between life and death was destroyed” and the path to a new, eternal life opened up for him. It seems to me that in the image of Andrei Bolkonsky, a contradictory person, capable of making mistakes and correcting his mistakes, Tolstoy embodied his main idea about the meaning of moral quest in the life of any person: “To live honestly, you need to tear, get confused, fight, make mistakes ... and the main thing is to fight. And peace is spiritual meanness.”

Andrei Bolkonsky, his spiritual quest, the evolution of personality are described throughout the entire novel by L. N. Tolstoy. For the author, changes in the consciousness and attitude of the hero are important, because, in his opinion, this is what speaks of the moral health of the individual. Therefore, all the positive heroes of "War and Peace" go the way of searching for the meaning of life, the dialectics of the soul, with all the disappointments, loss and gain of happiness. Tolstoy indicates the presence of a positive beginning in the character by the fact that despite life's troubles, the hero does not lose dignity. These are Andrei Bolkonsky and Pierre Bezukhov. The common and most important thing in their quest is that the heroes come to the idea of ​​unity with the people. Let us consider what the spiritual searches of Prince Andrei led to.

Orientation to the ideas of Napoleon

Prince Bolkonsky first appears before the reader at the very beginning of the epic, in the salon of Anna Scherer, the maid of honor. Before us is a short man, with somewhat dry features, very handsome in appearance. Everything in his behavior speaks of complete disillusionment with life, both spiritual and family. Having married a beautiful egoist, Lisa Meinen, Bolkonsky soon gets tired of her and completely changes his attitude towards marriage. He even conjures a friend of Pierre Bezukhov never to marry.

Prince Bolkonsky longs for something new, for him constant going out, family life is a vicious circle from which a young man strives to break out. How? Leaving for the front. This is the uniqueness of the novel "War and Peace": Andrei Bolkonsky, as well as other characters, their dialectics of the soul, are shown within a certain historical setting.

At the beginning of Tolstoy's epic, Andrei Bolkonsky is an ardent Bonapartist, admiring Napoleon's military talent, an adherent of his idea of ​​gaining power through a military feat. Bolkonsky wants to get "his Toulon".

Service and Austerlitz

With the arrival in the army, a new milestone in the search for the young prince begins. The life path of Andrei Bolkonsky made a decisive turn in the direction of bold, courageous deeds. The prince shows exceptional talent as an officer, he shows courage, valor and courage.

Even with the smallest details, Tolstoy emphasizes that Bolkonsky made the right choice: his face became different, it ceased to express fatigue from everything, feigned gestures and manners disappeared. The young man did not have time to think about how to behave correctly, he became real.

Kutuzov himself makes a note about what Andrei Bolkonsky is a talented adjutant: the great commander writes a letter to the young man's father, where he notes that the prince is making exceptional progress. Andrey takes all the victories and defeats to heart: he sincerely rejoices and worries with pain in his soul. He sees an enemy in Bonaparte, but at the same time continues to admire the genius of the commander. He still dreams of "his Toulon". Andrei Bolkonsky in the novel "War and Peace" is the spokesman for the author's attitude to outstanding personalities, it is from his lips that the reader learns about the most important battles.

The center of this stage of the prince's life path is He who showed high heroism, is seriously wounded, he lies on the battlefield and sees the bottomless sky. Then Andrey comes to the realization that he must reconsider his life priorities, turn to his wife, whom he despised and humiliated with his behavior. Yes, and once an idol, Napoleon, he sees as an insignificant human being. Bonaparte appreciated the feat of the young officer, only Bolkonsky did not care. He dreams only of quiet happiness and an impeccable family life. Andrei decides to end his military career and return home to his wife, in

The decision to live for yourself and loved ones

Fate is preparing Bolkonsky another heavy blow. His wife, Liza, dies in childbirth. She leaves Andrei a son. The prince did not have time to ask for forgiveness, because he arrived too late, he was tormented by guilt. The life path of Andrei Bolkonsky further is caring for his loved ones.

Raising a son, building an estate, helping his father in forming the ranks of the militia - these are his life priorities at this stage. Andrei Bolkonsky lives in seclusion, which allows him to focus on his spiritual world and the search for the meaning of life.

The progressive views of the young prince are manifested: he improves the life of his serfs (replaces corvée with dues), he gives status to three hundred people. Still, he is still far from accepting a sense of unity with the common people: thoughts of disregard for the peasantry and ordinary soldiers slip through his speech every now and then .

A fateful conversation with Pierre

The life path of Andrei Bolkonsky moves to another plane during the visit of Pierre Bezukhov. The reader immediately notes the kinship of the souls of young people. Pierre, who is in a state of high spirits because of the reforms carried out on his estates, infects Andrey with enthusiasm.

Young people discuss for a long time the principles and meaning of changes in the life of the peasantry. Andrei does not agree with something, he does not accept Pierre's most liberal views on serfs at all. However, practice has shown that, unlike Bezukhov, Bolkonsky managed to really make life easier for his peasants. All thanks to his active nature and practical view of the fortress system.

Nevertheless, the meeting with Pierre helped Prince Andrei to penetrate well into his inner world, to begin moving towards the transformation of the soul.

Rebirth to new life

A breath of fresh air, a change in outlook on life was made by a meeting with Natasha Rostova, the main character of the novel "War and Peace". Andrei Bolkonsky visits the Rostov estate in Otradnoy on matters of land acquisition. There he notices a calm, cozy atmosphere in the family. Natasha is so pure, direct, real ... She met him on a starry night during the first ball in her life and immediately captured the heart of the young prince.

Andrey, as it were, is born again: he understands what Pierre once told him: you need to live not only for yourself and your family, you need to be useful to the whole society. That is why Bolkonsky travels to St. Petersburg to make his proposals to the military charter.

Awareness of the meaninglessness of "state activity"

Unfortunately, Andrei did not manage to meet with the sovereign, he was sent to Arakcheev, an unprincipled and stupid man. Of course, he did not accept the ideas of the young prince. However, another meeting took place that influenced Bolkonsky's worldview. We are talking about Speransky. He saw in the young man a good potential for public service. As a result, Bolkonsky is appointed to a position related to the drafting. In addition, Andrei heads the commission for the drafting of wartime laws.

But soon Bolkonsky is disappointed with the service: the formal approach to work does not satisfy Andrey. He feels that here he is doing a job that no one needs, he will not provide real help to anyone. Increasingly, Bolkonsky recalls life in the village, where he was really useful.

Initially admiring Speransky, Andrei now saw pretense and unnaturalness. Increasingly, Bolkonsky is visited by thoughts about the idleness of Petersburg life and the absence of any meaning in his service to the country.

Breakup with Natasha

Natasha Rostova and Andrei Bolkonsky were a very beautiful couple, but they were not destined to get married. The girl gave him the desire to live, to do something for the good of the country, to dream of a happy future. She became Andrew's muse. Natasha favorably differed from other girls in St. Petersburg society: she was pure, sincere, her actions came from the heart, they were devoid of any calculation. The girl sincerely loved Bolkonsky, and not just saw him as a profitable game.

Bolkonsky makes a fatal mistake by postponing the wedding with Natasha for a whole year: this provoked her passion for Anatole Kuragin. The young prince could not forgive the girl. Natasha Rostova and Andrei Bolkonsky break off their engagement. The blame for everything is the excessive pride of the prince, the unwillingness to hear and understand Natasha. He is again as self-centered as the reader observed Andrei at the beginning of the novel.

The final turning point in consciousness - Borodino

It is with such a heavy heart that Bolkonsky enters 1812, a turning point for the Fatherland. Initially, he longs for revenge: he dreams of meeting Anatole Kuragin among the military and avenging his failed marriage by challenging him to a duel. But gradually the life path of Andrei Bolkonsky is changing once again: the vision of the tragedy of the people served as an incentive for this.

Kutuzov trusts the young officer to command the regiment. The prince is completely devoted to his service - now this is his life's work, he is so close to the soldiers that they call him "our prince".

Finally, the day of the apotheosis of the Patriotic War and the quest of Andrei Bolkonsky comes - the battle of Borodino. It is noteworthy that L. Tolstoy puts his vision of this great historical event and the absurdity of wars into the mouth of Prince Andrei. He reflects on the pointlessness of so many sacrifices for the sake of victory.

The reader sees here Bolkonsky, who has gone through a difficult life path: disappointments, deaths of loved ones, betrayal, rapprochement with the common people. He feels that now he understands and realizes too much, one might say, foreshadows his death: “I see that I began to understand too much. And it is not good for a man to eat from the tree of good and evil.”

Indeed, Bolkonsky is mortally wounded and, among other soldiers, falls into the care of the Rostovs' house.

The prince feels the approach of death, he thinks about Natasha for a long time, understands her, “sees the soul”, dreams of meeting his beloved, asking for forgiveness. He confesses his love to the girl and dies.

The image of Andrei Bolkonsky is an example of high honor, loyalty to the duty of the Motherland and people.