Who wrote Nikita's childhood. What was Nikita in the story of Nikita's childhood

All-Russian scientific and practical video conference

"The theme of childhood in world literature"

Section: literary criticism

Research

Formation of Nikita's character

(Based on the novel by A.N. Tolstoy "Nikita's Childhood")

Completed by: Grishina Polina,

9th grade student

Oryol region; Livny

Scientific adviser: Svechnikova O.N.,

Oryol region; Livny

MBOU "Lyceum im. S. N. Bulgakov»

Content

Chapter 1. Autobiographical story about the childhood of A.N. Tolstoy

The story of A.N. Tolstoy's "Childhood of Nikita" (originally titled "The Tale of Many Excellent Things") was first published in a separate edition in 1922. The story was written in 1919-1920. In the autumn of 1918 he emigrated abroad. In 1920, the writer was still in exile and was very homesick for Russia. Living in Paris and Berlin, Tolstoy shunned the emigrant environment and began to delve deeper into the meaning of historical events. Memories of the motherland, of the irrevocable days of childhood, of Russian nature, and the appearance of the story was caused. "Nikita's Childhood" is a work full of captivating lyricism, irresistible charm and truth, high poetry of folk life, a vivid perception of nature, the beauty of the native language. The author devotes all his attention to the embodiment of the poetic beginnings of the charm of the irrevocable time of childhood. The writer said: “For this book I will give all my previous novels and plays! Russian book and written in Russian!” The story was written for the Parisian magazine "Green Stick" - for emigrant children, who, like the son of A.N. Tolstoy Nikita, to whom the work is dedicated and whose name the main character is named, were in dire need of Russian impressions. He was interested in real life, he wanted to rely on the experience of his personal observations: "I started - and it was as if a window opened into the distant past with all the charm, tender sadness and sharp perceptions of nature, which are in childhood" (Poln. sobr. op., vol. 13, p. 563). Unlike most of the works of A. Tolstoy, the plot, a consistent chain of events, plays almost no role here, because everything in the world is excellent. The children's writer K. Chukovsky wrote about this in 1924: "This is the Book of Happiness - it seems to be the only Russian book in which the author does not preach happiness, does not promise it in the future, but immediately exudes from himself."

"Nikita's Childhood" is an autobiographical story. The scene quite accurately reproduces the atmosphere of the small estate of the writer's stepfather A. A. Bostrom, where Tolstoy grew up. Even the name of the estate, Sosnovka, is preserved in the story. Childhood impressions, A. Tolstoy's memories of his early life in the Samara province were included in the content of his work. In one of his autobiographical notes, A. Tolstoy wrote about himself like this: “I grew up alone, in contemplation, in dissolution, among the great phenomena of earth and sky. July lightning over a dark garden; autumn fogs like milk; a dry twig sliding under the wind on the first ice of the pond; winter blizzards, falling asleep with snowdrifts of huts to the very pipes; spring sound of waters; the cry of rooks that flew to last year's nests; people in the cycle of the seasons; birth and death, like sunrise and sunset, like the fate of grain; animals, birds ; red-faced boogers living in the crevices of the earth; the smell of a ripe apple, the smell of a fire in a twilight hollow; my friend Mishka Koryashonok and his stories; winter evenings under a lamp, books, daydreaming ... "(Complete collection of works, vol. 13 , pp. 557–558). Pictures of Russian winter, boundless snowy plains, sonorous spring days, summer suffering, golden autumn replace one another naturally, like the movement of time itself, conveyed in living images. The change of seasons is depicted not as a passive contemplative movement, but as an active one, affecting all aspects of human existence and activity. Just in such an atmosphere, the little hero of A. Tolstoy's story, Nikita, grows and forms. Nikita's parents largely repeat the real features of the writer's stepfather and mother. Nikita's mother's name is the same as the writer's mother, Alexandra Leontievna. For the image of the teacher, the prototype was the seminarian-repetiteur, Arkady Ivanovich Slovokhotov, who prepared the future writer for admission to a secondary educational institution. Nikita's relationship with village children - with Mishka Koryashonok and Styopka Karnaushkin, their friendship and friendly games are also autobiographical, as well as a number of details and details. It should be noted that the narration is not conducted in the first person, which makes it possible for the author to really, after many years, appreciate the happy time of his childhood.
Chapter 2. Formation of Nikita's character in the story "Nikita's Childhood"
§ 2.1. Parental love is the basis of raising a child
"Nikita's Childhood" tells about the childhood of a Russian boy from a noble landlord family, once rich and noble, but already on the verge of ruin, living out his last days in the village. In the image of the formation of the character of the protagonist A.N. Tolstoy puts the very reality surrounding the child in the first place.

Already from the first pages of the story, we see what a benevolent, normal environment surrounded Nikita, how his first ideas about life developed. "It was so quiet in the warm office that a barely audible ringing began in my ears. What extraordinary stories could be invented alone, on the sofa, to this ringing. White light poured through the frozen glass. Nikita read Cooper ..." So we plunge into the world of Nikita's childhood, into a world surrounded by books, classes with a teacher, into an atmosphere of kindness and care for a nine-year-old boy. Nikita's relationship with his mother, father, teacher is of such a nature that they bring up a sound mind, directness and honesty in the boy.

Nikita's family and the home environment in the house were always very kind and dear, it was clear how all family members take care of Nikita and everyone is trying to give a piece of their love to the boy, to raise him as a good person. All family members are very different in character, temperament, many have different views on life, but despite this, this is a friendly loving family. On the example of Nikita's sincerely loving parents, one can see how much family education means for shaping the child's character. Nikita's father is cheerful, with a subtle sense of humor, combined with an extraordinary mind, kindness and spiritual nobility, he is happy with his wife, who is very different from him. She is a well-mannered, intelligent, stately woman with delicate beauty, who, in the spirit of folk traditions, embodies the image of the keeper of the family hearth. The prototype of this image was the mother of A. Tolstoy. Nikita's mother misses her husband very much when he leaves, worries about him with all her heart and is worried that Nikita might forget him. One day, my father's life hung in the balance from death when he almost died in a ravine during a spring flood. This misfortune showed the unity of the family, caring for each other, the common thing that unites a real family - love. Sometimes conflicts arose between the boy’s parents over the extravagance of her husband, sometimes there were disagreements in Nikita’s upbringing, the mother was very kind to her son and was too worried about him and saw him only as a little boy, and the father insisted on raising a man in a child - a brave, strong , tempered. But at the same time, they went towards each other and found a common solution that did not harm Nikita, but, on the contrary, developed him. For example, the episode with Klopik. Mother was very afraid that it was too early for Nikita to ride a horse on his own: he might crash, he might not be able to cope with an unbroken horse. The father, on the contrary, was convinced that only in this way, when Nikita was introduced to independence, closeness to the life of the people, to participation in the common cause, it was possible to raise a strong, strong man.

Nikita's family was always very hospitable and glad to see guests. One of these visits of guests became a real event in Nikita's life, then he met his first love. The house has always been very fond of holidays. One of the highlights was a wonderful new year. In the description of preparations for the holiday, home-made crafts, decorations, persistent pine needles, waiting for long-awaited gifts, a magnificent table with treats, round dances around the Christmas tree with invited village children, one can feel the author's love for the traditions of the old noble way of life. So brightly, visibly noticed by A.N. Tolstoy, details of children's preparations for the new year.

In this house, even with simple workers, get along very well, despite the fact that there is a gentleman and peasants. Nikita's father is a very simple person in communication and behavior, he was friendly with the courtyards, and they respected the owners, tried to please them, paid with loyalty and care. The carpenter Pakhom, who is making a bench for Nikita, the sensible boy, the shepherd Mishka Koryashonok, the teacher Arkady Ivanovich, arouse sympathy. The most authoritative person Nikita considers Mishka Koryashonka, who works at the barnyard, is a shepherd. This is a serious and reasonable boy who, in imitation of adults, speaks with feigned indifference. "Nikita looked at Koryashonka with great respect." Although Mishka is small, but in his remarks, advice and actions, the Russian mindset and Russian character are already clearly visible. Another friend of Nikita's is the swirling, snub-nosed and large-mouthed Styopa Karnaushkin with a "spellbound fist". Semka, Lenka, Artamoshka-lesser, Nil, Vanka Black Ears and Bobylev's nephew Petrushka complete the company of Nikita's village friends. All day long Nikita is spinning in the yard, at the well, in the coach house, in the people's room, on the threshing floor ... For him, the judgments of Mishka Koryashonka are most understandable. But less important is what the carpenter Pahom, the worker Vasily, the stooping Artem said or did. Nikita is curious about the life of the village, the peasant children, the peasant occupations, not understanding the complexities and hardships of village life, but at the same time spontaneously, instinctively not separating himself from it, feeling himself as something inextricably linked with the village.

§ 2.2. Friendship with the village children

Nikita talked with village children, and in the traditions of village childhood there was always a confrontation between one court and another, fights, snowy battles, games of war - all this also made up his childhood, a happy childhood, tempered his character, put him to the test.

Nikita never had communication problems due to different social status, on the contrary, he believed that his village friends would never replace a single noble boy for him, which he was convinced of after talking with a second-class gymnasium student Viktor, who was visiting Nikita on Christmas. Victor also made friends with the villagers, tried to be his own, but did not. But Nikita was his own among the guys, he was not afraid to go to fights with a wall, to tease the villagers from the other side. Of great importance to him was friendship with the shepherd Mishka Koryashonok, resourcefulness, whose courage had a special meaning, since he had to support himself. Therefore, Nikita even imitates Mishka and tries to surpass him in prowess. Nikita managed to defeat even the “spellbound” first strongman Stepka Karnaushkin, from whom the others backed away, after which both boys exchanged gifts in a friendly manner - a knife and lead. The character of Nikita is especially revealed in the scene with the bull, which from the herd suddenly trotted at him and at the second-grade schoolboy Viktor, who was visiting them. Clapping his whip like a gun, Mishka Koryashonok managed to shout: “Beware, Nikita!” Nikita, in turn, shouted: "Victor, run!" But the high school student Victor screamed, fell and covered his head with his hands. Nikita rushed to help and began to beat the bull in the muzzle with his cap. Mishka, who ran up, drove the bull away with a whip. In this scene, the ratio of the three characters is clearly outlined. The high school student Viktor, who boasted of his courage, teased Nikita, who looked too much at his little sister Lily, with blue eyes, an upturned nose, curls and a lush bow on top of his head: "... you only play with the girls," - now he has lost a lot in Nikita's eyes . Victor could not stand any comparison with his village friends. And Nikita in this scene showed himself to be an adult boy, did not lose his head, but saved his comrade. It helped him in this observation of the life of the courtyards, communication with the people.

§ 2.3. Harmony with nature - the formation of the spiritual world of the child

Okay, Nikita? - asks the boy his cheerful father.

Wonderful! Nikita answers.

All images and events in this joyful book are marked with the word miraculous...

Any day of Nikita is a constant discovery and filling with happiness. Everything is good, everything pleases: spring rain, flooding of water, the onset of summer, “the smells of moisture, dampness, rain and grass”, the sun, water, the sky acquire the meaning of the spiritualized essences of being. The boy is connected by spiritual threads with the mysteries of all living things. The story has already begun: “Through the frosty patterns on the windows, through the stars wonderfully painted with silver and palmate leaves, the sun shone. The light in the room was snow white. A bunny slipped from the wash cup and trembled on the wall” prepares us for the perception of something kind, fabulous, for the perception of a carefree childhood.

The story of "Nikita's Childhood" reflected the main result of childhood - the harmonious fusion of all facets of life: plants, animals, people, life and death, the relationship of the life of a ten-year-old child with the life of nature creates a kind of lyrical flavor of the story: "Nikita swam under the stars, calmly looked at distant worlds. “All this is mine,” he thought, “someday I will sit on an airship and fly away ...” This is how a boy perceives nature when, in the summer, after threshing, he rides a wagon; Nikita is close to her, dissolves in the world around him. The author often animates natural phenomena, he creates poetic images of a starling, a cat, a horse, a hedgehog, an oriole. “Zheltukhin was sitting on a bush of grass, in the sun, in the corner between the porch and the wall of the house, and looked with horror at the approaching Nikita” - this description of the starling is given both by the author’s gently smiling look, and by some intuitive poetic vision of Nikita, and by the humanized perception of Zheltukhin.

It is understandable that Nikita pays such close attention to everything that surrounds him, Nikita is learning to understand the world around him and himself in it. It is nature that enriches Nikita's spiritual work, develops in him the need for spiritual kinship with all living things. The author often animates natural phenomena, he creates poetic images of a starling, a cat, a horse, a hedgehog, an oriole. Nikita's feelings for nature were especially sharpened by his love for a girl with a blue bow. After the New Year tree, Nikita returns home alone, seeing off the guys who were invited to visit: “It seemed to Nikita that he was walking in a dream, in an enchanted kingdom. Only in the enchanted realm is it so strange and so happy in the soul. Unity with nature, the feeling of being an integral part of it creates in the boy's soul an almost constant expectation of happiness, wonderful, fantastic.

Nikita's vision of the real echoes his fantastic ideas, coming from the boy's dream, from the desire to poeticize the world around him. He infects others with this desire. So, Lily is looking with him for a vase that Nikita once dreamed of. And in fact, this vase was found by children on a clock in a dark room, and there was a ring in it, Nikita says with confidence: "It's magical." And the story of two people who are depicted in family portraits, seen through the open door in the semi-dark enfilade of neighboring rooms. One is "a stern old man with a sharp nose and hawkish, piercing eyes." Another portrait depicts "a young woman of about 25 years old ... she holds a rose in her hand, but this rose does not go at all to her proud pose half-turned to the viewer, to her haughty smile and to her large, cheerful, defiant eyes. The flame slides over her white dress, bare shoulders, plays on her face". The old man and the proud beauty, "coming to life in portraits", ruined each other ... ". This story awakened Nikita's imagination, attracted him with its mystery, it seemed to him that the beauty looked mysteriously and saw Nikita. So the fantastic mixes with the real, shows the development of Nikita's spiritual world, his fantasies, inventions, dreaminess develop the imagination, softness and sensitivity of Nikita's nature.

The happiest, touching pages of Nikita's childhood are connected with Christmas, with the first love in Nikita's life. Lilya, beloved of Nikita, a nine-year-old girl, Victor's sister. Lily had long curly locks and a big blue bow. Nikita immediately fell in love with the shining blue eyes and the sonorous playful laugh. She was very reserved and did not show her interest in Nikita. Nikita's first love, one might even say love at first sight, pure, childish, innocent. The first kiss, which Nikita was very afraid of, Lily's response. Very touching, a little naive, but it is said simply and wonderfully:

You're a good boy, I didn't tell you that so no one would know, but it's a secret.

Nikitka was very shy and constantly blushed when talking to her, afraid to say something wrong. When Lilya visited, every day of Nikita was filled with happiness, joy, Nikita told her stories, and Lily listened to him attentively, not missing a single word of his. After Lily's departure, Nikita thought about her every day, the days dragged on gloomy, boring, his heart and soul were warmed by memories of the girl, he saw her image before his eyes: her big blue bow, blue eyes. With the first love, Nikita's growing up begins, his unreasonable sadness at times, the change of weather caused a feeling of change, a desire to hurry up time. And the letter that Nikita received from Lily! The long-awaited letter that Lily sent with an invitation to stay with them in the summer was another happy moment in her life. The ring with the blue stone of Lilia, presented by Nikita, reminded her of him. It was such happiness that Nikita on his horse seemed to be flying home with the wind.

Lilya transformed Nikita's childhood, made him even happier, gave him priceless memories of the first kiss, the ring, his first poem, the forest, an unforgettable Christmas Eve. She enriched his inner world and became an ideal for him, giving him her tenderness, casual glances, ringing laughter. Nikita even composed a poem - he was so overwhelmed with feelings of something unusual and happy.

The happy time of childhood in the steppe estate ends very prosaically. The family moves to a city where everything is not so simple, nice and easy, and everyone is in a hurry somewhere, busy with their own affairs. Nikita feels like a stranger here, "a captured prisoner," exactly like Zheltukhin.

After the words "A week later, Nikita passed the entrance exam and entered the second grade," there was also such a final phrase that completed the whole story: "This event ends his childhood."

Conclusion

The wonderful story "Nikita's Childhood", which completes the cycle of A.N. Tolstoy's autobiographical works about the life of the nobility, is rightfully considered one of the best Russian books for children. At first glance, "Nikita's Childhood" resembles old noble family chronicles, but the story is different from them. The exciting image of the motherland, the hot breath of living poetry, the plasticity of visual means, deep lyricism and realistic brilliance put "Nikita's Childhood" among the best works of A.N. Tolstoy.

The unfading vitality of Tolstoy's story is still determined by the writer's ability to "turn to a person who cannot be understood without understanding the earth and the sun", without understanding nature. A. Tolstoy's story "Nikita's Childhood" (in the first editions "The Tale of Many Excellent Things") introduces the reader into the circle of joyful impressions of a nine-year-old child that is not overshadowed by anything. In the work of A.N. Tolstoy's "Childhood of Nikita" one feels the atmosphere of love for everything around, and the hero himself is a kind of generalized image of a happy child, a symbol of a happy childhood. The life of the boy Nikita, growing up in a free steppe noble estate, takes place against the backdrop of a measured, stable landowner-village life, in direct contact with the violent steppe nature. Sleigh rides from the mountains, studying with a tutor, caresses of a loving mother, games and fights with village children, preparations for the Christmas tree and meeting guests, first love - this is what forms the character of the protagonist of the story. An independent, brave, very sensitive and impressionable boy, living in harmony with nature and loved ones. The writer's bright memories of childhood are permeated with a lyrical image of his beloved Motherland, which appears in everything: in descriptions of the nature and life of the Sosnovka farm, in stories about village children, in the pure, beautiful Russian language of the story. This is its main educational value.

"Childhood of Nikita" - a story about the first years of the formation of man. The reader unfolds a chronicle of the main events of the boy's life during the last year before the start of his studies. In "Nikita's Childhood" the miraculous art of transforming the writer into a child was reflected, it was reflected in free breathing, the extraordinary relief of each thing shown, it was reflected in a passionate and restrained love for nature, for all living things, an accurate adult knowledge of them and their exact children's perception, comprehension of a child's character.

Bibliography

1. 
   Ivanov N.N. Dialectics of the child's soul in the works of A.N. Tolstoy // Proceedings of the IX All-Russian scientific and methodological conference "World literature for children and about children." - Issue 9, 2004. - P.27-31.
2. 
   Alpatov A. Childhood of Nikita // Children's literature. - No. 5, 1936. - S.23-25.
3. 
   Smirnova V. The Third Tolstoy in Children's Literature // Children's Literature. - No. 2, 1966. - S.17-20.

How long have I been waiting for a quality reprint of this wonderful story! It is based on the memories of Alexei Nikolaevich Tolstoy about his own childhood, and the author dedicated it to his son. It begins with a touching dedication: "I dedicate it with deep respect to my son Nikita Alekseevich Tolstoy." It is the deep respect of the writer for the inner world of the little man and his feelings that we observe in the book. He managed to penetrate into the essence of the child's experiences, into the very depths of the child's soul, to find such simple, but the most correct words that managed to convey the fragile, touching world of childhood filled to the brim with feelings and sensations, vivid events and impressions.
This is a wonderful, kind and bright story about one year in the life of a little nine-year-old boy Nikita. It is about children's joys and sorrows, discoveries and adventures, about growing up, doubts and overcoming one's own fears, about the first manifestation of feelings. In one of the chapters, the boy just turned ten, and his father arranged a "sea" holiday for his son, congratulating him so jokingly and sweetly: , today you are ten years old, in fulfillment of which I have to hand you this penknife with twelve blades, very suitable for maritime affairs, and also in order to lose it.

The language of narration is pure and easy, the style is beautiful - this is magnificent prose, imbued with a lyrical, poetic sense of beauty. And what magical descriptions of nature Tolstoy has! Nikita is very attentive to the changes taking place in nature, he feels himself an integral part of it, she fascinates him, makes him happy. This is how Tolstoy describes the moment when Nikita went to see off the village children who were celebrating Christmas in their house: “Nikita went to see the children to the dam. When he alone returned home, the moon was burning high in the sky, in an iridescent pale circle. The trees on the dam and in the garden stood huge and white and seemed to have grown, stretched under the moonlight. To the right, the white desert stretched into an incredible frosty mist. To the side of Nikita, a long, large-headed shadow was moving its feet. It seemed to Nikita that he was walking in a dream, in an enchanted kingdom. Only in the enchanted realm is it so strange and so happy in the soul.
The book so interestingly and wonderfully describes the life of the estate, the celebration of Easter, Christmas Eve and the children's Christmas Tree in a noble house, the fun and games of village children with whom Nikita is friends. Reading is a pleasure!

The illustrations by Nina Alekseevna Noskovich are a good pictorial retelling of the story. They are unusual, dim, they use shades of only three colors - yellow, blue and brown. But they are so intelligent and modest, delicate and romantic. In my opinion, the drawings wonderfully convey the lyrical mood of the story and emphasize the difference between the modern world and the world of a noble estate of the 19th century, the perception of people of that culture and the current ones - nature, the passage of time, life in general.

The book is executed qualitatively: hard cover, stitched binding, dense offset, medium-sized, but easily readable font. Obsolete words are explained in footnotes at the bottom of the page.
I was somewhat upset by typos, because you always expect only impeccable quality from Rech. On page 43, an unnecessary letter “p” crept into the word “runners”, turning them into “creeps”, and somehow the proofreader did not work on page 13 at all - there are two mistakes at once:
“But there is no glass in the case ...”
“There are two frosty windows in the room; through the glass you can see a strange, larger than usual, moon.
Because of this, I had to lower my rating for the book.

When in 1920 Alexey Nikolaevich Tolstoy received an order from the Green Stick magazine to write a series of stories for the children of emigrants, he was so carried away by his childhood memories and succumbed to the spiritual impulse to recreate the image of the Motherland in verbal pictures that he conceived one of the most poetic stories of his "emigrant" period

- the story "Childhood of Nikita". Having settled himself on the pages of his work at the age of 9, giving the name of his son, Tolstoy creates a largely autobiographical story: “Nikita is myself, a boy from a small estate near Samara.”

"Nikita's Childhood" has many realistic details: for example, prototypes of real people whom the author transferred from his childhood (Mishka Koryashonok, tutor Arkady Slovokhotov, etc.). This quality makes the story related to such autobiographical works as “Childhood” by L.N. Tolstoy, "Childhood of Bagrov-grandson" S.T. Aksakov.

And Nikita at A.N. Tolstoy, and Nikolenka at L.N. Tolstoy, and Seryozha at S.T. Aksakov grew up in a noble environment, where they comprehended life in harmony and harmony with the outside world, feeling their merger with nature. Childish naivety, the first ride on horseback, the first love, the first disappointment associated with the contradictions of being, which were previously invisible - this is what unites the heroes. However, one cannot deny the significant difference between them. “Autobiographical stories about the childhood of a noble child are confessional works, focused on the primary disclosure of a person alienated from the world or already alienated, regardless of whether the little hero is drawn to this world or not.” 94 This is how Seryozha and Nikolenka appear before the readers, in the depiction of which the authors placed the main emphasis on the process of development of the individual "I". This is where psychological "hermeticism" originates.

In "Nikita's Childhood", as in "Childhood", the narrative is circular; it begins with a description of a frosty morning and ends with an autumn afternoon. Thus, the hero is built into the folk calendar system. The cyclic nature of the plot time has been repeatedly noted by the researchers of Nikita's Childhood. Here is what, for example, V. Shcherbina pointed out: “Four seasons pass sequentially in the story ... The change of seasons is depicted ... as active, affecting all aspects of people's existence and activities. Such a perception is understandable: it is determined by the entire labor schedule of the surrounding peasant life. 96 Such a compositional ring is a sign of an idyllic chronotope; thanks to this, young heroes can be attributed to the type of “idyllic people” who, according to E.I. Lyapushkina, "are characterized by the features of the world that formed it - they are always closed and always equal to themselves." 97 In contrast to this opinion, one can cite the statement of A.V. Alpatov that Nikolenka, as it were, introduces “complexity, with such layers that came rather from the consciousness of an adult narrator who recalled the old”; Nikita, however, "is alien to the element of moralization", in the story "everything is given as it is perceived by a child, inquisitively looking at the world with wide eyes."

For A.N. Tolstoy is primarily interested in the life of Nikita in conjunction with the life of other people and the whole existence. The boy joins the conflicts of this very existence, but only to the extent that they are interconnected with the outside world. The story focuses on how the world and the people around help Nikita's personality to open up and develop: the words and deeds of Arkady Ivanovich, parents, Mishka Koryashonok, Lily and her brother Viktor. Help the expression of the protagonist and images of holidays and everyday life: they open a picture of life, and Nikita is a part of it. “A.N. Tolstoy, depicting the childhood of his hero Nikita, describes his existence within the framework of “a single space - the motherland, Russia, forever young, indivisible, indivisible and bright”, that is, closed, idyllic, and epic time, round, complete, correlated with the seasons.

Through the character of Nikita, the world expresses itself, which appears in the form of mass life. Thus, the second character appears - the people, the life of the people. This suggests the writer's desire to talk about the natural force, powerful and life-affirming. Nikita's connection with mass peasant life is emphasized throughout the story. There is no characteristic of any social and property relations. The threat of drought and the following “starvation winter, typhus, livestock falling, children dying” are perceived not as their own misfortune, but as a national one. Social inequality recedes in the face of the people's misfortune.

According to A.K. Voronsky, A.N. Tolstoy "excellently feels the charm of simple human relationships, nature, life in love, in trifles, in joyful and uncomplicated everyday life." This is manifested in how organically Nikita fits into peasant life: does he bravely fight with “ours” against “not ours”? Konchansky guys, he plays cards on an equal footing with everyone else and just like everyone else, after losing, he gets a slap on the nose. It does not occur to the boy that he belongs to the privileged class, his parents never tried to drive him away from the village children. One day, only Nikita can feel his attitude towards the nobility - when an unknown old man calls him "cadet" on the way to the fair. Tolstoy frees his text from social class conflicts, in which he is helped by the mask of a child who spends his time with the children of peasants. Nikita's immersion in mass folk life is deepened by Mishka Koryashonka, the boy's best friend, who acts as a kind of guide to the world of nature: he teaches him the basics of riding, together they explore the local surroundings. “Nikita looked at Koryashonok with great respect.”103 This Nikita, no doubt, learned from his family, which is not alien to the joy of difficult peasant labor. The father, together with the farm laborers, works at the threshing machine; mother, tirelessly, does housework with the yard girls. Nikita's parents are shown as kind and natural people who are not characterized by affectation and arrogance. They organically fit into the surrounding peasant life, becoming an integral part of it. Mother is an ideal noblewoman, a good mother and a devoted wife, who combines such talents as playing the piano on the one hand, needlework and sewing on the other. The author endows her with expressive features in appearance that emphasize her noble origin: “Mother bowed her head over the book, her hair is ashen, thin and curls at the temple, where the mole is, like millet grain.” And the more contrasting is its harmonious connection with peasant life.

Nikita's father is depicted as the real owner: with his arrival, spring work begins with might and main. He is shown as a courageous, businesslike person, but at the same time, he is not alien to his shortcomings: Tolstoy emphasizes his passionate love for horses, it is not easy for him to resist buying a daring stallion. He sometimes argues with his wife, in some ways he is inferior to her, but somewhere he does not agree. This once again emphasizes their natural and free behavior. Nevertheless, quarrels do not leave an imprint on Nikita's worldview, because they do not make grandiose scandals, but decide everything amicably. Life in the estate is inseparable from peasant life and from work.

The relationship between Nikita and Arkady Ivanovich is interesting. They oppose each other, compete - but none of them can win a final victory over the other. Nikita wants to avoid classes and run out into the street without breakfast - he is intercepted by Arkady Ivanovich. Arkady Ivanovich hesitated when he learned that the mail had arrived - Nikita took advantage of the moment and ran away to his friends. And yet, in all this, one feels equality in the position of everyone. This is clear from the way Arkady Ivanovich treats Nikita, in his phrases one can feel attention to the child, respect for his personal boundaries:

When Nikita, rubbing his eyes, sat up in bed, Arkady Ivanovich winked several times and rubbed his hands vigorously.

Today, my brother, we will not study.

Because because it ends in y. You can run for two weeks sticking your tongue out. Get up"

There is no vertical “teacher over student”, both participants in the events are standing next to each other.

In all this there is a certain harmonious beginning, "the balance of victories and defeats, sorrows and joys, embodied visually." After a fight with the "leader" of the "Konchan" Styopka Karnaushkin, he and Nikita become friends. Mother is upset by Nikitin's behavior, but this does not last long, they come to reconciliation. Nikita felt sad on a long winter evening - guests from Samara arrived. All troubles do not last long, fun and love come in their place. In this world harmony - a feature of children's perception of the surrounding reality. Everything around is filled with a special meaning. In a dream, Nikita hears a voice that calls for something to get out of the vase - in reality the boy finds a ring that he gives to Lily - his first love. First love is also a part of life harmony, connecting Nikita with warm memories of home.

The author endows his hero with concrete-figurative thinking, which is a direct indication of his age. “A child animates the world around him, brings emotional coloring into it. He transforms the objects of reality with his imagination. The reality around him is perceived as a single figurative world, in which everything takes on a different meaning: portraits of great-grandfather and a mysterious lady in a velvet Amazon come to life in a dream and pursue Nikita, a merchant with an arshin of cloth from an ordinary arithmetic problem becomes alive, thin, in a long dusty frock coat. The child's fantasy draws completely unexpected pictures that have nothing to do with arithmetic: “Two pieces of cloth lay on a dusty flat shelf; the merchant stretched out his skinny hands to them, took pieces from the shelf and looked with dull eyes.

In the imagination of the child, animals are also endowed with characteristic features, their own line of behavior. The reaction of the hedgehog Akhilka, the cat Vasily Vasilyevich, whose name sounds very respectable, is described. Even the starling was given its unusual name - Zheltukhin.

The appearance of Zheltukhin in the general outline of the story is noteworthy. The author uses the so-called "text in text" technique: despite the narration in the third person, everything is now given on behalf of the starling, who got into the house of people and does not understand whether he is as dangerous as he seems. The nature of the bird is expressed, its thoughts and feelings about the fact that it was in captivity. This is a common technique used by K.G. Paustovsky in his stories about animals. Endowing animals with human qualities, Paustovsky shows the interrelated relationships in nature, and at the same time - its fragility, an easy transition from balance to imbalance. This technique is also used by A.N. Tolstoy, to emphasize the harmony and interconnection in the world around Nikita. Everything around him lives, breathes and understands him. So Zheltukhin, seeing in Nikita a defender who saved him from the assassination attempts of an insidious cat, becomes his true friend and savior: one dry evening, he predicts rain using a barometer.

In the Orthodox tradition, the bird is a symbol of the soul. This idea was transferred to their works by many Russian writers. I.S. Shmelev, numerous birds become a symbol of the father's soul - the main person in Vanya's life. A.N. Tolstoy associates Zheltukhin with Nikita. As a small yellow-mouthed chick, he also gets to know the world through the prism of his inexperienced perception - just like Nikita. Having matured and strengthened, the starling leaves the house, and Nikita feels his connection with him when he leaves the village for the city: “At dusk, Nikita sat at the window. The sunset outside the city was still the same rural one. But Nikita, like Zheltukhin for gauze, felt like a captured prisoner, a stranger - exactly like Zheltukhin.

It is noteworthy that Nikita's childhood ends as soon as it is time to leave for the city. At this moment, the hero ceases to be one with the people. His growing up is determined by the plot of the story: the boy has to leave, enter the gymnasium - accordingly, adolescence begins. At this moment, leaving the people, Nikita receives some kind of "privacy", he is cut off from the mass. But unlike L.N. Tolstoy or S.T. Aksakov, who were interested in such a manifestation of detachment and individuality, A.N. Tolstoy does not think of his hero in isolation from the people. And loses interest in him.

In this, according to V.P. Skobelev, a dual position: on the one hand, such an archaic element of the narrative as the people reveals “idyllicity”, solemnity, which is hidden in the “simplification” of the nation's being, which can be called an artistic embodiment, if not real, then certainly a memory of it; on the other hand, there is something that opposes this simplification and ideality: this is modern life, expressed in the image of the city, class relations, social inequality, alienation of the isolated “I” from the collective “we”.

In the finale, it is clear that nothing has changed in the life of the people - Dunyasha still runs around the yard and makes eyes at his lover, the worker Vasily. The grass, despite the frost that touched it, is still green. The villagers are preparing for the coming winter. The bright colors add a festive touch to the story.

And the city looks completely different. It is depicted in gray tones. Life is hectic, people on the streets "run, covering their mouths with collars from the wind carrying papers and dust." Each for himself, running about his business, in contrast to Sosnovka, where everyone was united by a common cause. In the village, Nikita felt free, he did not need to think about his appearance or his social position. In the city, he notices the difference between the village and the city, and he becomes ashamed that his family is not like the others. Even the people the boy knows begin to behave differently. Lily no longer looks at him affectionately and seems to condemn him for showing tender feelings. Her brother Vitya is also preoccupied with something, anxious, striving to run away somewhere. Even Arkady Ivanovich is changing: he no longer cares about the boy, he is in a hurry to meet his beloved. This is another contrast between the free life outside the city and the closed, always hurrying somewhere life inside it. Another opposition "village-city".

Here Tolstoy puts an end to the story. However, the ending is full of optimism. Even if Nikita turned out to be cut off from rural life, from the people, but his life is just beginning! It is still unknown whether he will really be alone in the new city, because it is likely that the boy will find true friends here as well. Optimism A.N. Tolstoy has been noted by critics more than once, in particular, V. Baranov pointed to the "joyful striving forward." It is due, first of all, not to Nikita's physical and mental health (despite the fact that this plays an important role), but to the fact that behind him is a reliable rear, a children's homeland based on the cohesion and unity of everyone and everyone.

The story of A.N. Tolstoy's "Childhood of Nikita" (originally titled "The Tale of Many Excellent Things") was first published in a separate edition in 1922. The story was written in 1919-1920. In the autumn of 1918 he emigrated abroad. In 1920, the writer was still in exile and was very homesick for Russia. Living in Paris and Berlin, Tolstoy shunned the emigrant environment and began to delve deeper into the meaning of historical events. Memories of the motherland, of the irrevocable days of childhood, of Russian nature, and the appearance of the story was caused. "Nikita's Childhood" is a work full of captivating lyricism, irresistible charm and truth, high poetry of folk life, a vivid perception of nature, the beauty of the native language. The author devotes all his attention to the embodiment of the poetic beginnings of the charm of the irrevocable time of childhood. The writer said: “For this book I will give all my previous novels and plays! Russian book and written in Russian!” The story was written for the Parisian magazine "Green Stick" - for emigrant children, who, like the son of A.N. Tolstoy Nikita, to whom the work is dedicated and whose name the main character is named, were in dire need of Russian impressions. He was interested in real life, he wanted to rely on the experience of his personal observations: "I started - and it was as if a window opened into the distant past with all the charm, tender sadness and sharp perceptions of nature, which are in childhood" (Poln. sobr. op., vol. 13, p. 563). Unlike most of the works of A. Tolstoy, the plot, a consistent chain of events, plays almost no role here, because everything in the world is excellent. The children's writer K. Chukovsky wrote about this in 1924: "This is the Book of Happiness - it seems to be the only Russian book in which the author does not preach happiness, does not promise it in the future, but immediately exudes from himself."

"Nikita's Childhood" is an autobiographical story. The scene quite accurately reproduces the atmosphere of the small estate of the writer's stepfather A. A. Bostrom, where Tolstoy grew up. Even the name of the estate, Sosnovka, is preserved in the story. Childhood impressions, A. Tolstoy's memories of his early life in the Samara province were included in the content of his work. In one of his autobiographical notes, A. Tolstoy wrote about himself like this: “I grew up alone, in contemplation, in dissolution, among the great phenomena of earth and sky. July lightning over a dark garden; autumn fogs like milk; a dry twig sliding under the wind on the first ice of the pond; winter blizzards, falling asleep with snowdrifts of huts to the very pipes; spring sound of waters; the cry of rooks that flew to last year's nests; people in the cycle of the seasons; birth and death, like sunrise and sunset, like the fate of grain; animals, birds ; red-faced boogers living in the crevices of the earth; the smell of a ripe apple, the smell of a fire in a twilight hollow; my friend Mishka Koryashonok and his stories; winter evenings under a lamp, books, daydreaming ... "(Complete collection of works, vol. 13 , pp. 557–558). Pictures of Russian winter, boundless snowy plains, sonorous spring days, summer suffering, golden autumn replace one another naturally, like the movement of time itself, conveyed in living images. The change of seasons is depicted not as a passive contemplative movement, but as an active one, affecting all aspects of human existence and activity. Just in such an atmosphere, the little hero of A. Tolstoy's story, Nikita, grows and forms. Nikita's parents largely repeat the real features of the writer's stepfather and mother. Nikita's mother's name is the same as the writer's mother, Alexandra Leontievna. For the image of the teacher, the prototype was the seminarian-repetiteur, Arkady Ivanovich Slovokhotov, who prepared the future writer for admission to a secondary educational institution. Nikita's relationship with village children - with Mishka Koryashonok and Styopka Karnaushkin, their friendship and friendly games are also autobiographical, as well as a number of details and details. It should be noted that the narration is not conducted in the first person, which makes it possible for the author to really, after many years, appreciate the happy time of his childhood.
Chapter 2. Formation of Nikita's character in the story "Nikita's Childhood"
§ 2.1. Parental love is the basis of raising a child
"Nikita's Childhood" tells about the childhood of a Russian boy from a noble landlord family, once rich and noble, but already on the verge of ruin, living out his last days in the village. In the image of the formation of the character of the protagonist A.N. Tolstoy puts the very reality surrounding the child in the first place.

Already from the first pages of the story, we see what a benevolent, normal environment surrounded Nikita, how his first ideas about life developed. "It was so quiet in the warm office that a barely audible ringing began in my ears. What extraordinary stories could be invented alone, on the sofa, to this ringing. White light poured through the frozen glass. Nikita read Cooper ..." So we plunge into the world of Nikita's childhood, into a world surrounded by books, classes with a teacher, into an atmosphere of kindness and care for a nine-year-old boy. Nikita's relationship with his mother, father, teacher is of such a nature that they bring up a sound mind, directness and honesty in the boy.

Nikita's family and the home environment in the house were always very kind and dear, it was clear how all family members take care of Nikita and everyone is trying to give a piece of their love to the boy, to raise him as a good person. All family members are very different in character, temperament, many have different views on life, but despite this, this is a friendly loving family. On the example of Nikita's sincerely loving parents, one can see how much family education means for shaping the child's character. Nikita's father is cheerful, with a subtle sense of humor, combined with an extraordinary mind, kindness and spiritual nobility, he is happy with his wife, who is very different from him. She is a well-mannered, intelligent, stately woman with delicate beauty, who, in the spirit of folk traditions, embodies the image of the keeper of the family hearth. The prototype of this image was the mother of A. Tolstoy. Nikita's mother misses her husband very much when he leaves, worries about him with all her heart and is worried that Nikita might forget him. One day, my father's life hung in the balance from death when he almost died in a ravine during a spring flood. This misfortune showed the unity of the family, caring for each other, the common thing that unites a real family - love. Sometimes conflicts arose between the boy’s parents over the extravagance of her husband, sometimes there were disagreements in Nikita’s upbringing, the mother was very kind to her son and was too worried about him and saw him only as a little boy, and the father insisted on raising a man in a child - a brave, strong , tempered. But at the same time, they went towards each other and found a common solution that did not harm Nikita, but, on the contrary, developed him. For example, the episode with Klopik. Mother was very afraid that it was too early for Nikita to ride a horse on his own: he might crash, he might not be able to cope with an unbroken horse. The father, on the contrary, was convinced that only in this way, when Nikita was introduced to independence, closeness to the life of the people, to participation in the common cause, it was possible to raise a strong, strong man.

Nikita's family was always very hospitable and glad to see guests. One of these visits of guests became a real event in Nikita's life, then he met his first love. The house has always been very fond of holidays. One of the highlights was a wonderful new year. In the description of preparations for the holiday, home-made crafts, decorations, persistent pine needles, waiting for long-awaited gifts, a magnificent table with treats, round dances around the Christmas tree with invited village children, one can feel the author's love for the traditions of the old noble way of life. So brightly, visibly noticed by A.N. Tolstoy, details of children's preparations for the new year.

In this house, even with simple workers, get along very well, despite the fact that there is a gentleman and peasants. Nikita's father is a very simple person in communication and behavior, he was friendly with the courtyards, and they respected the owners, tried to please them, paid with loyalty and care. The carpenter Pakhom, who is making a bench for Nikita, the sensible boy, the shepherd Mishka Koryashonok, the teacher Arkady Ivanovich, arouse sympathy. The most authoritative person Nikita considers Mishka Koryashonka, who works at the barnyard, is a shepherd. This is a serious and reasonable boy who, in imitation of adults, speaks with feigned indifference. "Nikita looked at Koryashonka with great respect." Although Mishka is small, but in his remarks, advice and actions, the Russian mindset and Russian character are already clearly visible. Another friend of Nikita's is the swirling, snub-nosed and large-mouthed Styopa Karnaushkin with a "spellbound fist". Semka, Lenka, Artamoshka-lesser, Nil, Vanka Black Ears and Bobylev's nephew Petrushka complete the company of Nikita's village friends. All day long Nikita is spinning in the yard, at the well, in the coach house, in the people's room, on the threshing floor ... For him, the judgments of Mishka Koryashonka are most understandable. But less important is what the carpenter Pahom, the worker Vasily, the stooping Artem said or did. Nikita is curious about the life of the village, the peasant children, the peasant occupations, not understanding the complexities and hardships of village life, but at the same time spontaneously, instinctively not separating himself from it, feeling himself as something inextricably linked with the village.

§ 2.2. Friendship with the village children

Nikita talked with village children, and in the traditions of village childhood there was always a confrontation between one court and another, fights, snowy battles, games of war - all this also made up his childhood, a happy childhood, tempered his character, put him to the test.

Nikita never had communication problems due to different social status, on the contrary, he believed that his village friends would never replace a single noble boy for him, which he was convinced of after talking with a second-class gymnasium student Viktor, who was visiting Nikita on Christmas. Victor also made friends with the villagers, tried to be his own, but did not. But Nikita was his own among the guys, he was not afraid to walk