What influence did the Plato of the Karatays have on Pierre. Spiritual searches of Pierre Bezukhov. The lessons of Platon Karataev (on the material of the IV volume of L. Tolstoy's novel "War and Peace"). Biography of Paton Karataev

Pierre Bezukhov, one of the main characters in Leo Tolstoy's epic novel "War and Peace", meets the SIMPLE soldier Platon Karataev at a difficult moment in his life, while being a prisoner of the French. Watching the execution of young fighters, having himself been on the verge of death, having felt the “extreme limits of deprivation” in devastated and burned Moscow, the young count feels as if “the world collapsed in his eyes and only senseless ruins remained.” Bitterness, despair, emptiness - that's all that Pierre experiences on the eve of the meeting with Karataev.

after some time, it is almost impossible to recognize Tolstoy's beloved hero: previously in conflict with himself, constantly looking for something, restless, now enthusiastic, now deeply saddened by something, Bezukhov acquired a firm, “live-ready” expression of his eyes, serenity and consent to which he had been striving for so long. “His former promiscuity. has now been replaced by an energetic, ready for action and repulse selection. Pierre, who throughout the novel sought himself in charity, freemasonry, secular life, self-sacrifice and love for Natasha, received the long-awaited peace of mind.

“through hardships and through what he understood in Karataev”, an ordinary peasant who forever remained in Bezukhov’s soul a dear memory, the personification of everything Russian and good.

The young count was struck by the calmness with which Karataev accepted everything around him, how easily and naturally he spoke simple truths, with what kindness and kindness he addressed both his comrades and French enemies, and even animals. The instructive stories of an elderly soldier, his attitude to life completely changed Pierre's worldview: Bezukhov's former anger at his wife, concern about his reputation now seemed insignificant to him. He now considered the highest happiness to be the absence of suffering experienced by the count during the war, the satisfaction of needs and freedom. Freedom, which Pierre thought with delight every minute of his stay in captivity.

Thus, the meeting with Platon Karataev greatly influenced the worldview of Pierre Bezukhov: the previously restless, desperate hero felt how “the ruined world is now with new beauty. moving in his soul. He found spiritual satisfaction and harmony with himself, which he had always striven for.

Biography and appearance of Platon Karataev

Platon Karataev is a short-lived character in the novel. He appears in the novel only in a few chapters, but his influence on the further fate of one of the representatives of the aristocracy, Pierre Bezukhov, becomes exceptionally great.

The reader gets acquainted with this character at the age of 50 Karataev. This age limit is quite vague - Karataev himself does not know exactly how many winters he lived. Karataev's parents are simple peasants, they were not literate, so the data on the exact date of birth of their son has not been preserved.

The biography of Plato does not stand out in any way in the context of an ordinary representative of the peasantry. He is an illiterate person, his wisdom is based solely on the life experience of his personal and other representatives of the peasantry. However, despite this, in his mental development he is somewhat higher than the highly educated aristocrat Pierre.

We suggest that you familiarize yourself with the “Image and Characteristics of Pierre Bezukhov” in Leo Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace”.

This is explained by the fact that Bezukhov is deprived of the pragmatism of his life positions, he has never been able to solve complex, controversial issues and life problems. It is full of idealistic concepts and perception of reality within the framework of unreality. His world is a utopia.

Platon Karataev is a good-natured, sincere person. All of his physical features lead to the perception of him as a warm and pleasant and positive image of the novel. He has a positive, optimistic attitude and resembles the sun: he has an absolutely round head, gentle brown eyes, a sweet, pleasant smile. He himself is not very tall. Plato often smiles - at the same time his good white teeth become visible. His hair was still untouched by gray, either on his head or on his beard. His body was distinguished by smoothness of movement and flexibility - which was surprising for a man of his age and origin.

We know very little about the hero's childhood and youth. Tolstoy is not interested in the process of his formation as an integral personality, but in the end result of this process.

In clothes, Karataev adheres to the principle of convenience and practicality - his clothes should not have hindered movements.

During the captivity of Karataev, he walks in a dirty, torn shirt, black, soiled trousers. With every movement, an unpleasant, pungent smell of sweat is heard from him.

Karataev's life before military service

The life of Platon Karataev before the service was more joyful and successful, although not without its tragedies and sorrows.

Plato married and had a daughter. However, fate was not favorable to the girl - she died before her father entered the service.

What happened to Plato's wife and whether he had other children - Tolstoy does not tell us. What we know about civil life is that Karataev did not live in poverty. He was not a wealthy peasant, but he did not live in poverty either. His service in the army was predetermined by chance - Plato was caught cutting down someone else's forest and given to the soldiers. In the army, Plato did not lose his positive attitude, but such an occupation is alien to him, he sincerely regrets that he is not at home. He misses his former life, he misses his home.

The character of Platon Karataev

Platon Karataev does not have an explosive, contradictory character. He knows well all the hardships of peasant life, understands and realizes the injustices and difficulties of life, but perceives this as inevitable.

Karataev is a sociable person, he loves to talk and knows how to find a common language with virtually any person. He knows many interesting stories, knows how to interest his interlocutor. His speech is poetic, it is devoid of the rudeness common among soldiers.

Plato knows many proverbs and sayings and often uses them in his speech. Soldiers often use proverbs, but mostly they bear the imprint of military life - with a certain amount of rudeness and obscenity. Karataev's proverbs are not like soldier's statements - they exclude rudeness and vulgarity. Karataev has a pleasant voice, he speaks in the manner of Russian peasant women - melodiously and drawlingly.

Plato can sing well and loves to do it very much. He doesn't do it like the usual songwriters - his singing is not like the trill of birds - it is gentle and melodic. Karataev does not sing thoughtlessly, automatically, he passes the song through himself, it seems that he is living the song.

Karataev has golden hands. He knows how to do any work, it does not always work out well for him, but still the objects made by him are of tolerable, good quality. Plato knows how to perform both truly masculine - hard, physical work, as well as women's - he cooks food well, knows how to sew.

He is a caring, selfless person. During captivity, Karataev sews a shirt for Bezukhov, makes shoes for him. He does this not out of a selfish goal - to curry favor with a wealthy aristocrat, so that, in the event of a successful release from captivity, to receive any reward from him, but out of the kindness of his heart. He is sorry for the captivity, Pierre's military service, unadapted to the complexities.

Karataev is a kind, not greedy person. He feeds Pierre Bezukhov, often brings him baked potatoes.

Karataev believes he should stick to his word. He promised - fulfill - he always corresponded to this simple truth.

In the best traditions of the peasantry, Karataev is endowed with diligence. He cannot sit still doing nothing, even in captivity he is constantly busy with something - he makes things, helps others - for him this is a natural state.

We are used to the fact that ordinary men are far from neatness, but this only partially applies to Plato. He may look rather untidy himself, but in relation to the products of his labor he is always very careful. Such a diametrically opposite combination is surprising.

Most people, regardless of their social and financial status, tend to become attached to other people. At the same time, it does not matter what feelings they have in relation to certain heroes - friendship, sympathy or love. Karataev is friendly, he easily converges with new people, but he does not feel much affection. He easily breaks up with people. At the same time, Plato is never the initiator of the termination of communication. In most cases, such events occur in the context of certain events over which neither he nor his interlocutor have influence.

Those around him have a completely positive opinion - he is non-conflict, positively disposed, knows how to support a person in difficult times, infect him with his cheerfulness. It is practically impossible to summarize this fact and determine whether Karataev had such an attitude before the service.

On the one hand, we can assume that he had a different attitude before - he sincerely regrets that he is far from his home and a civilized, "peasant" life.

And it is likely that such an attitude was formed by Karataev as a result of military service - according to Plato, he has repeatedly taken part in military events and is not the first time he takes part in battles, so he could already experience all the bitterness of the loss of his comrades and in connection with this, such a protective mechanism arose - you should not become attached to those people who may not die today or tomorrow. Another factor that taught Karataev not to dwell on failures and partings could be the death of his daughter.

In the life of Plato, this event became tragic, perhaps a rethinking of the value of life and feelings of affection occurred with Karataev at that time. On the other hand, the presence of insufficient information on the subject of the life of Platon Karataev before military service and in 1812 in particular does not give the right to draw an unambiguous conclusion on this matter.

Platon Karataev and Pierre Bezukhov

It is unlikely that the image of Karataev had an influence exclusively on Pierre Bezukhov, but we do not know about other interactions of Plato with a similar result.

After disappointments in family life, Freemasonry and secular society in general. Bezukhov goes to the front. Here he also feels superfluous - he is too pampered and not adapted for this type of activity. Military events with the French become the cause of another disappointment - Bezukhov is hopelessly disappointed in his idol - Napoleon.

After he was captured and saw the executions, Pierre finally broke down. He learns too many things that are unpleasant for him and therefore the prerequisites for disappointment in people in general are born in him, but this does not happen, since it was at this moment that Bezukhov met Karataev.

Simplicity and calmness is the first thing that surprises Pierre in a new acquaintance. Karataev showed Bezukhov that a person's happiness lies in himself. Over time, Bezukhov also becomes infected with Plato's calmness - he does not start chaotically, as he did before, but balancedly put everything on the shelves in his head.

Death of Platon Karataev

The conditions in which the captured Russian soldiers were kept were far from ideal. This fact leads to a new relapse of Karataev's illness - he spent a long time in the hospital with a cold, and in captivity he falls ill again. The French are not interested in keeping prisoners, especially if they are ordinary soldiers. When the disease took possession of Karataev in full, and it became clear that the fever would not go away on its own, Plato was killed. This is done to prevent the spread of the disease.

From the point of view of literary criticism, the death of Platon Karataev was fully justified. He fulfilled his destiny and therefore leaves the pages of the novel and his literary life.

Thus, Platon Karataev is an important element of L.N. Tolstoy. His meeting with Pierre Bezukhov becomes fateful for the latter. The optimism, wisdom and cheerfulness of a simple peasant accomplish what neither bookish knowledge nor high-society society could accomplish. Bezukhov is aware of the life principles that allow him to remain himself, but at the same time not to degrade and not renounce his life positions. Karataev taught the count to find happiness in himself, Pierre is convinced that the main purpose of a person is to be happy.

During their formation, both characters in Leo Tolstoy's novel "War and Peace" Pierre Bezukhov and his friend Andrei Bolkonsky admired Napoleon. They wanted to be like him, they saw the greatness and intelligence of the ruler. However, real life put everything in its place. Everything changes, Pierre, being a prisoner of the French, understands the horror and senselessness of human deaths.

The decision to kill Napoleon

The influence of Masons, disappointment in marriage, wild loneliness and a lack of understanding of the meaning of life pushes Pierre to a strange rash act. Bezukhov finds himself on the field of the Battle of Borodino, he feels fear and at the same time unity with ordinary people who are making history. He believes that he can rid the world of the tyrant and is trying to break into the lair of the French in occupied Moscow. Naturally, a person who held a weapon in his hands only once (during a duel with Dolokhov) was not ready for such a step.

Pierre is captured and sentenced to death for something he did not do. The hero sees everything that happens in a new way: there is death, injustice, wild animal fear, real courage and self-sacrifice. It is the time spent in captivity that affects everything that was a huge unresolved problem for the hero - Pierre begins to appreciate life, stops looking for some higher meaning, learns wisdom and humility.

Platon Karataev and his wisdom

In prison, Bezukhov meets a simple peasant Karataev Platon, who shares his understanding of life. This is a very important moment in the biography of the hero: life begins to take on real meaning. A simple man gives the hero more than 10 years spent abroad in luxury and serenity. Karataev teaches Pierre to understand that life is given to a person in order to accept what it gives with gratitude, to love, to raise children, to work. The simplest truths become a revelation for Pierre, including the fact that all problems are from excess, and not from lack of money.

In captivity, Karataev is constantly busy with something, he fixes things, patches what is torn, cooks food, tells his aristocratic friend how to protect his health. Through a character from the common people, Tolstoy shares his life position: a person must seek, make mistakes and seek again, gain knowledge and go on his own way, without remaining subordinate to the one who shares his knowledge. Pierre learns to live with emotions, not with reason, listen to himself, treat everything simply and calmly. Conversations with Karataev calm the soul of the hero, he sees his life with different eyes, he understands that he is happy here and now. The author says this about Bezukhov's accidental spiritual mentor: he was "like a living vessel filled with the purest folk wisdom."

The episode in captivity - its significance in the development of the image of Pierre Bezukhov

There, in captivity of the French, Pierre rethought all the components of his reality. Differences in origin, class, wealth, upbringing and education are gone. All were united by a common misfortune, compassion, a desire to help each other. There, Pierre takes on a good physical shape, his fullness goes away, a fortress and a strong body remain, he becomes stronger not only physically, but also mentally. Pierre understands that there is nothing more to be afraid of in life, “he learned that there is nothing terrible in the world.” The horror experienced in the first days of captivity, when the scene of the execution of two prisoners took place in front of Bezukhov, left an imprint on the whole life of the hero. The understanding that not only Russians, but also the French are against murder and violence, makes these events even more tragic and absurd.

The appearance of Platon Karataev is traditionally associated with one of the stages of Pierre's spiritual quest. Meeting with a peasant in a soldier's overcoat meant for Bezukhov familiarization with folk wisdom, rapprochement with ordinary people, gaining "peace and contentment with himself, which he vainly sought before", spiritual freedom and peace.

Plato belongs to the world of the peasant community. His appearance is not individualized, emphatically devoid of any personal characteristics, because Karataev lives in complete harmony with the whole world. He feels like a particle of a single and harmonious natural organism, a “particle of the whole”: “His life, as he himself looked at it, did not make sense as a separate life.” This hero is devoid of selfish desires, subject to some higher mind that created everything and for everything answering. Platon Karataev lives easily and joyfully. He is alien to the desire to change the surrounding reality, to remake it in accordance with some abstract ideals.

The meaning of life for Platon Karataev is a joyful feeling of merging with the world. His attitude to life is expressed by a single word - love. Karataev did not have “affection, friendship, love, as Pierre understood them,” but “he loved and lived lovingly with everything that brought his life together.” This deep Christian feeling was the essence of Plato's soul, the essence of the people's soul. Karataev meekly accepts everything that is sent down from above. Karataev does not dare to demand anything from life. Tolstoy's "Man of God" is meek and happy with the little he has. Even anticipating the approach of death, he does not lose the feeling of "rapturous joy."

In their own way, wonderful Karataev ideas are opposite to the idea of movement, development, intense search for the truth that Bezukhov lived. Plato appeared to Pierre at a terrible moment and returned the hero's faith "in the improvement of the world, and in the human, and in his soul, and in God." This meeting healed the young Count Bezukhov. The soldier makes Pierre again look at the world brightly and joyfully, believe in goodness, love, justice. As a result of communication with Platon Karataev, Pierre finds “that calmness and contentment with himself, to which he vainly sought before”, he “... learned not with his mind, but with his whole being that a person was created for happiness, that happiness is in himself, in satisfaction of natural human needs ... ".

The end of moral quest; harmony had satisfaction in Pierre's life.

Pierre Bezukhov was always looking for an answer to the question: "What is the meaning of life?" “He looked for this in philanthropy, in freemasonry, in the distraction of secular life, in wine, in the heroic deed of self-sacrifice, in romantic love for Natasha. He was looking for this by thought, and all these searches and attempts deceived him. The hero naturally comes to the ideas of the Decembrists, joins a secret society in order to fight against everything that interferes with life, humiliates the honor and dignity of a person.

At the end of the novel, we see a happy man who has a good family, a faithful and devoted wife who loves and is loved. Thus, it is Pierre Bezukhov who, in War and Peace, achieves spiritual harmony with the world around him and with himself.

"War and Peace"

tenacious Tikhons Shcherbaty, but also "gentle-melodious" Platons Karataevs, carriers of life-giving love and kindness, without which the world became "meaningless rubbish." They restore faith in the value of life and bring light into the souls of people broken by senseless cruelty, and thereby save them morally. The mission of the Karataevs is great. The post-war activities of Pierre Bezukhov became possible only after gaining the inner harmony that he experienced in captivity. One cannot agree with V. Kamyanov that Pierre's meeting with Karataev turned into "in a spiritual and especially intellectual sense - a period of passive contemplation."

“Platon Karataev remained forever in Pierre’s soul the most powerful and dearest memory and personification of everything Russian, kind and round”, “incomprehensible, round and eternal personification of the spirit of simplicity and truth.” Pierre understood this “round” in Karataev as calm and completion, as agreement with himself, complete peace of mind and perfect inner freedom. “And it was at this very time that he received that calmness and self-satisfaction, for which he had vainly sought before. For a long time in his life he searched from various sides for this calm, for harmony with himself, for what so struck him in the soldiers in the battle of Borodino - he searched for this in philanthropy, in Freemasonry, in the dispersal of secular life, in wine, in heroic deeds. self-sacrifice, in romantic love for Natasha; he sought it by way of thought, and all these searches and attempts deceived him.

". This "comfort", that is, complete moral freedom, he gained by living among the people, soldiers and prisoners. It is this “calmness”, that is, the deepest inner peace, that makes Pierre Bezukhov spiritually related to the people. The feeling in oneself of the precious gift of inner freedom, Tolstoy shows, is due to a combination of life circumstances: “Pierre learned not with his mind, but with his whole being, with his life, that man was created for happiness, that happiness is in himself, in satisfying natural human needs, and that all misfortune comes not from lack, but from excess. According to the writer, "an excess of the comforts of life destroys all the happiness of satisfying needs." The moral and psychological states of Pierre Bezukhov, torn from the usual conditions of an idle lordly life, are associated with a sense of inner spiritual freedom. These states are clearly not covered by the influences of the external social historical world: “The more difficult his situation became, the more terrible the future was, the more independent of the position in which he was, joyful and soothing thoughts, memories and ideas came to him.” Pierre Bezukhov accepted the mental health of the people, agreement with himself, the ability to spiritually overcome circumstances. The defenders of Russia showed moral strength, civic courage. Again, the "mystery" of the connection of the consciousness of freedom with the law of necessity, the meeting of external and internal determinants, is revealed.

"hidden warmth of patriotism", devotion to the motherland, inseparability from it. If in the aristocratic salon of Anna Pavlovna Scherer, the Russian hero, due to his simplicity and enthusiasm, seemed something unusual for the place, then among the soldiers he was perceived as a hero: “The very properties of him, which in the light in which he lived before, were for him, if not harmful, then shy - his strength, disregard for the comforts of life, absent-mindedness, simplicity, here, among these people, gave him the position of almost a hero. And Pierre felt that this look obliged him.

desired inner freedom. Then, throughout the rest of his life, “Pierre thought and spoke with delight about this month of captivity, about those irrevocable, strong and joyful sensations and, most importantly, about that complete peace of mind, about perfect inner freedom, which he experienced only at that time.” The fracture experienced in captivity comes down to "a new, untested feeling of joy and strength of life."

“almost the extreme limits of deprivation that a person can endure”, with his whole being, comes to an understanding of life as the highest good and possible harmony on earth. Life in his perception is love, that is, God: “And again, someone, whether he himself or someone else,” said to him in a dream: “Life is everything. Life is God. Everything moves and moves, and this movement is God. And as long as there is life, there is the enjoyment of the self-consciousness of the deity. Love life, love God. It is most difficult and most blessed to love this life in one's suffering, in the innocence of suffering. The writer conveys the dialectics of life itself in this depiction of Pierre Bezukhov's severe physical suffering, which, however, led him to life-affirmation.

Tolstoy wrote in his diary: “I always considered life to be the greatest blessing, for which one cannot be grateful enough. The longer I live and the closer I approach death, the stronger and stronger the consciousness of this good becomes in me. Philosophical reflections of Pierre in a dream are close to Tolstoy, which is also confirmed by the content of his philosophical treatises and, above all, "Confessions". Here Tolstoy rejected speculative philosophy with its assertion that "the world is something infinite and incomprehensible", the pessimistic answers of the "wise" (Socrates, Buddha, Schopenhauer), who considered life to be nonsense. To all these abstract conclusions, as well as to the inescapable anguish of the “idle”, he contrasted the spiritual culture of the patriarchal Russian peasant and fully shared his naive faith and optimistic recognition of life as an absolute value, the timeless significance of man. He preferred the "reason" of the wise to the "faith" of Russian peasant workers.

The question of the meaning of life was decided by Tolstoy from a religious and moral standpoint. Life for him is meaningless and absurd, if it is devoid of absolute spiritual content, and becomes an expression of higher wisdom, expediency, if it is illuminated by a higher consciousness. If the mind of a person and he himself are the result of a "temporary random coupling of particles", then life is meaningless and therefore good in this case loses its strength. Therefore, Tolstoy's moral teaching about man and the norms of his behavior is inextricably linked with the solution of the philosophical question. In the treatise "What is my faith?" Tolstoy writes about this question in the following way; “The teaching of Christ, like any religious teaching, contains two sides:

the explanation why people should live in this way and not otherwise is a metaphysical doctrine. One is the effect and at the same time the cause of the other. The unity of the "metaphysical" and "moral" teachings about human life is affirmed.