"From the usual family romance Tolstoy’s novel is distinguished by the fact that it is, so to speak, an open family, with an open door - it is ready to spread, the path to the family is the path to people,” N. Berkovsky writes about the novel “War and Peace.”
In the novel "War and Peace" L.N. Tolstoy talks about different families - these include the Bolkonskys, who preserve aristocratic traditions; and representatives of the Moscow nobility Rostov; the Kuragin family, deprived of mutual respect, sincerity and connections; the Berg family, which begins its existence by laying the “material foundation”. And in the epilogue of the novel, Tolstoy presents to the readers two new families - Pierre and Natasha, Nikolai and Marya - families based on sincere and deep feelings.
Let's try to rank the families presented in the novel according to their proximity to Tolstoy's idea of ​​an ideal family.
Bergi.
Berg himself has much in common with Griboyedov’s Molchalin (moderation, diligence and accuracy). According to Tolstoy, Berg is not only a philistine in himself, but also a part of the universal philistinism (acquisitive mania takes over in any situation, drowning out the manifestation of normal feelings - the episode with the purchase of furniture during the evacuation of most residents from Moscow). Berg “exploits” the war of 1812, “squeezing” the maximum benefit out of it for himself. The Bergs try with all their might to resemble the models accepted in society: the evening that the Bergs throw is an exact copy of many other evenings with candles and tea. Vera (although she belongs to the Rostov family by birth) even as a girl, despite her pleasant appearance and development, good manners and “correctness” of judgment, pushes people away with her indifference to others and extreme selfishness.
Such a family, according to Tolstoy, cannot become the basis of society because... The “foundation” underlying it is material acquisitions, which are more likely to devastate the soul and contribute to the destruction of human relationships rather than unification.
Kuragins- Prince Vasily, Hippolyte, Anatole, Helen.
Family members are only related external relations. Prince Vasily does not have a fatherly feeling for children, all Kuragins are disunited. And in independent life, the children of Prince Vasily are doomed to loneliness: Helen and Pierre have no family, despite their official marriage; Anatole, being married to a Polish woman, enters into new relationships and is looking for a rich wife. Kuragins organically fit into the society of the regulars of Anna Pavlovna Scherer's salon with its falsehood, artificiality, false patriotism, and intrigue. The true face of Prince Vasily is revealed in the episode of dividing the inheritance of Kirila Bezukhov, which he does not intend to refuse under any circumstances. He actually sells his daughter, marrying her to Pierre. The animal and immoral principle inherent in Anatol Kuragin is especially clearly manifested when his father brings him to the Bolkonskys’ house in order to marry Princess Marya to him (episode with Mademoiselle Burien). And his attitude towards Natasha Rostova is so low and immoral that it does not need any comments. Helene completes the family gallery with dignity - she is a predatory woman, ready to marry for money and position in society for the sake of convenience, and then treat her husband cruelly.
The lack of connections and spiritual closeness makes this family formal, that is, people living in it are related only by blood, but there is no spiritual kinship or human closeness in this house, and therefore, it can be assumed that such a family cannot cultivate a moral attitude to life.
Bolkonsky.
The head of the family, the old Prince Bolkonsky, establishes a meaningful life in Bald Mountains. He is all in the past - he is a true aristocrat, and he carefully preserves all the traditions of the aristocracy.
It should be noted that real life is also in the field of attention of the old prince - his awareness of modern events surprises even his son. An ironic attitude towards religion and sentimentality brings father and son closer together. The death of the prince, according to Tolstoy, is retribution for his despotism. Bolkonsky lives “by the mind”; an intellectual atmosphere reigns in the house. The old prince even teaches his daughter the exact and historical sciences. But, despite a number of the prince’s eccentricities, his children - Prince Andrei and Princess Marya - love and respect their father, forgiving him some tactlessness and harshness. Perhaps this is the phenomenon of the Bolkonsky family - unconditional respect and acceptance of all senior family members, unaccountable, sincere, in some ways even sacrificial love of family members for each other (Princess Marya decided for herself that she would not think about personal happiness , so as not to leave the father alone).
The relationships that have developed in this family, according to Tolstoy, contribute to the education of such feelings as respect, devotion, human dignity, and patriotism.
Rostov.
Using the example of the Rostov family, Tolstoy presents his ideal of family life, good relations between all family members. The Rostovs live the “life of the heart,” without demanding special intelligence from each other, treating life’s troubles with ease and ease. They are characterized by a truly Russian desire for breadth and scope. All members of the Rostov family are characterized by liveliness and spontaneity. The turning point in the life of the family is leaving. Moscow in 1812, the decision to give up the carts intended for the removal of property for the transport of the wounded, which actually resulted in the ruin of the Rostovs. Old man Rostov dies with a feeling of guilt for ruining his children, but with a sense of fulfilled patriotic duty. Children in the Rostov family inherit from their parents best qualities- sincerity, openness, selflessness, the desire to love the whole world and all humanity.
And yet, it is probably no coincidence that in the epilogue of the novel Tolstoy talks about two young families.
Nikolai Rostov and Marya Bolkonskaya.
The love of these people arises at the moment of trouble hanging over the fatherland. Nikolai and Marya are characterized by a commonality in the perception of people. This is a union in which husband and wife mutually enrich themselves spiritually. Nikolai makes Marya happy, and she brings kindness and tenderness into the family.
Natasha Rostova and Pierre Bezukhov.
The purpose of their love is marriage, family and children. Here Tolstoy describes an idyll - an intuitive understanding loved one. The charm of Natasha the girl is clear to everyone, the charm of Natasha the woman is clear only to her husband. Each of them finds in love and family exactly what he has been striving for all his life - the meaning of his life, which, according to Tolstoy, for a woman consists of motherhood, and for a man - in realizing oneself as a support for more weak person, your need.
To sum up the discussion, it can be noted that the theme of family, its significance in the development of a person’s character for Tolstoy in the novel “War and Peace” is one of the most important. The author tries to explain many of the features and patterns in the lives of his characters by their belonging to one or another family. At the same time he emphasizes great importance family in the formation of both a young person and his character, and an adult. Only in the family does a person receive everything that subsequently determines his character, habits, worldview and attitude.

Family. How much this word means to each of us. Family is that circle of people where you will always be supported and understood. For Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy, family meant no less. The family is the beginning of everything for him. That is why his main work, “War and Peace,” is based on the story of the “growing up” of three families: the Kuragins, Bolkonskys and Rostovs. Using the example of his heroes, Lev Nikolaevich clearly showed the variety of models family relations, positive and negative sides each of them. Lev Nikolaevich portrayed so believably conditional types families that even in our time we can meet selfish Kuragins, rational Bolkonskys and hospitable Rostovs.

The Kuragin family unites people who do not know the rules of morality.

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Their relationships are dominated by selfishness and pride. They constantly act either as the instigators of scandals, or at the center of intrigue and gossip. Consider the role of Prince Vasily in the story of the “mosaic briefcase” or Anatole’s participation in the disruption of the wedding of Prince Andrei and Natasha Rostova. The Kuragin family is a high-society family. Their whole life is guided by ideals high society. Prince Vasily arranges the fate of his children, strengthening their financial position, and Helen enjoys the realization of her unspoken title of “the first beauty of St. Petersburg.”

The antipode of the Kuragin family is the Bolkonsky family. If for the head of the Bolkonsky family, Prince Nikolai Bolkonsky, there are only two virtues - “activity and intelligence,” which he instills in his children: Princess Marya and Prince Andrei, then the head of the Kuragin family, Prince Vasily, has no life guidelines, no moral standards, and he conveyed his vision of the world to Helen and Anatole. Marya and Prince Andrey differ from all other noble children by their ideals, which their father instilled in them. In their family we will not see manifestations of the kind of love that the Rostovs have, but it is not absent, like the Kuragins. It is different, if in the Rostovs it is expressed in words, then in the Bolkonskys it is unemotional, expressed in attitudes and actions. So old Prince Bolkonsky teaches Princess Marya sciences, wanting her not to become a toy in the wrong hands. Their relationship is not as warm as the Rostovs, but they are strong, like links in one chain.

Of course, the type of family that is close to most of us is the Rostov family. They are radically different from the two previous families. If all the actions of the Bolkonsky family are subordinated to the rules and concepts of honor, then in the Rostov family everything is subordinated to emotions and feelings. They are frank with each other, they have no secrets, they do not judge each other even in the most critical situations (such a situation was a major loss at cards to Nikolai Dolokhov). Their family happiness extends to everyone who can enter their hospitable Moscow home - mother and son Drubetsky, colleague Nikolai Denisov, Pierre Bezukhov.

Thus, Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy, presenting to the reader different models family relations, expresses his views on the future of the members of these families. The future belongs to the Bolkonskys and Rostovs, not to the Kuragins. After all, it was in the family of the latter that after the war of 1812 only the old Prince Vasily remained alive, and the children, when they died, did not leave offspring. And in the epilogue of the novel we see two new families. This is the Bezukhov family, ideal according to Tolstoy, because this family is based on complete mutual understanding, trust and spiritual kinship between Natasha and Pierre, and the Rostov family, based on mutual respect between Nikolai Rostov and Marya Bolkonskaya. Princess Marya introduced high spiritual and moral values ​​into Nikolai’s worldview, which he lacked, and Nikolai preserved the family comfort and sincerity of the Rostovs, something that Marya lacked all her life.

The history of a people consists of the destinies of millions of citizens of the state. In the works of Leo Tolstoy, the theme of family ties, their honor and dignity occupies a key place. A comprehensively developed family idea in the novel “War and Peace” is the basis storyline. The writer repeatedly emphasizes that great people consists of little people who pass on traditions and virtues to their children from generation to generation.

The Rostov family is an example of noble happiness.

Count Ilya Andreevich Rostov had four children of his own; the fifth girl, Sonya, was his niece, but was brought up as own daughter. The Countess, a faithful wife and caring mother, looked exhausted from four births, but was sensitive to the fruits of her torment. Children grew up without strictness, surrounded by care and tenderness.

The author treats this house with love, presenting the owners as kind and hospitable people. Mutual respect, sincerity and decency reign here. Future mothers of the fatherland and loyal subjects of the sovereign in the person of men are brought up in simplicity of communication.

The gates of the count's estate are open to guests. IN big house luxurious, as the hospitable hostess has been accustomed since childhood, noisy and cheerful from the many-faced cries of children who feel free and spacious. Using the Rostovs as an example, you can trace family values, as Leo Tolstoy understood them.

The image of Natasha Rostova, youngest daughter, her youth and life are typical of a Russian noblewoman early XIX century. Society shapes the meaning of a girl's life, which is to become a devoted wife and caring mother.

In a paired union, Natasha and Pierre Bezukhov manage to recreate the family model of society, where the father behaves as the spiritual legislator of the family, the mother bears the burden of the keeper of the hearth, and the children promise to provide for the future.

Princes Bolkonsky, patriots and defenders of the state.

The main theme of raising men in the Bolkonsky family is duty to the Sovereign and the Fatherland. Prince Nikolai Bolkonsky, like an old retired general, gravitates towards a simplified level of life at the level of Spartan traditions. A soldier at heart, he honors the memory of Catherine II as great woman of the past. This is an ideological servant of the imperial system, ready to die for state priorities.

Being an educated person, the old man values ​​intelligence and activity in people, forming these qualities in his children. In the Bolkonsky house, work is in full swing from morning to evening, because the head of the family is constantly at work, either creating a new military manual, or with pleasure, rolling up his sleeves, tinkering at the machine.

When Andrei goes to war, leaving his pregnant wife, the father blesses his son’s decision, because in their family the interests of the country have always stood above personal circumstances.

The life values ​​instilled by the father form in the daughter such a rare character trait as selflessness. Being a rich and educated bride, Marya Bolkonskaya could have gotten married in her early youth, but she remained with her father until the end of his days. The author presented the complex relationship between father and daughter as a psychological drama between a tyrant and a victim. Family members remain devoted to each other, neglecting painful situations that arise as a result of misunderstandings.

In the Kuragin family, the greedy father raised unworthy children

Prince Vasily Kuragin served at the emperor's court with benefit for himself. A calculating mind and a thirst for enrichment guide the nobleman’s actions. Having influence in the royal palace, an official rarely uses it to help others, using it in his own interests.

Kuragin speaks poorly of his own children, considering them a punishment from above, from God. Lev Tolstoy presents Hippolyta, Anatoly and Ellen to the reader as an example of unworthy behavior in society. These adult children are aimed at entertainment, an idle lifestyle; their characters are based on cynicism and indifference to all the problems of the country.

The author mentions Princess Kuragina twice, calls her fat and old, expressing his rejection, condemning her for complete indifference in raising children. After all, in order to form virtue in a child, you need to work hard, spend a lot of time, which the Countess did not deign to do.

According to the author, Helen deserves censure because she does not want to give birth to children. But in the family where the girl grew up, there was neither affection, like the Rostovs, nor honor and decency, like the Bolkonskys. Therefore, having married Pierre Bezukhov, the young woman recreated the life she knew - without love and tender feelings.

There is a struggle for inheritance in the Bezukhov family

The old count had so many illegitimate children that he himself did not know them all. He lived out his life surrounded by three nieces, and they hoped that after death their uncle would provide for them. Kirill Vladimirovich's fortune was considered enormous. Numerous close and distant relatives surrounded the dying nobleman with their attention, hoping for wealth.

The father loved Pierre Bezukhov more than other children, so he gave his son a decent education abroad. Compared to all the contenders for the inheritance, Pierre looks like a disinterested, decent and naive young man.

The main intrigue for the count's inheritance is led by Anna Drubetskaya on the one hand and Prince Kuragin on the other, having enlisted the support of the nieces of the hangers-on. The Kuragins are the direct heirs of the old man’s previously deceased legal wife. And Drubetskaya is the niece of Kirill Bezukhov himself, in addition, Pierre Kirillovich baptized her son Boris.

His Excellency was smart person, foresaw human passions by inheritance, so he submitted a petition to Emperor Alexander I himself so that Pierre would be recognized as his own son. The king granted the request of the dying nobleman. So Pierre received the title of count and the most profitable fortune in Russia.

Conclusion: family thought is one of the main themes of the novel “War and Peace,” which defines the state fortress as the fortress of an individual family in the state.

The theme of family and its role in human life concerned L.N. Tolstoy throughout his life. A whole series of bright and different families passes before us in the novel “War and Peace”.

The novel begins with how Prince Andrei Bolkonsky is burdened by family life and the company of his young wife. Family bonds interfere with his ambitious plans, and his pretty, flirtatious wife annoys him. “Never, never get married!” - he warmly advises Pierre Bezukhov.

At the same time, how respectful Bolkonsky is to his father, despite all his despotic ways and how difficult his sister Maria lives with his father. A difficult, tense atmosphere reigns in this family, but old man Bolkonsky sincerely loves his children, worries about them and unmistakably determines his son’s feelings for his wife. The children respond to him with mutual love.

The Kuragin family is one of the most significant families in the world and one of the most negatively represented in the novel. Prince Vasily, unlike the old man Bolkonsky, considers his children a burden, the Kuragins’ mother envies the youth and beauty of her daughter, Anatole and Helen are depraved and selfish people.

Pierre Bezukhov initially marries Helen Kuragina because he is struck by her beauty and falls into the cleverly placed networks of this family. And only after some time, when the scales fell from Pierre’s eyes, he saw how stupid and insignificant his beautiful wife was. Probably Pierre would have made much fewer mistakes if he had loving, understanding parents next to him.

The most memorable and harmonious family in the novel is, of course, the Rostovs. Starting from the sweet scenes of Natasha’s name day, when the head of the family, Count Rostov, famously dances in honor of his favorite, delighting everyone, to leaving Moscow, when Natasha passionately convinces her parents to give carts not for things, but for the wounded (and they agree! ), we see how great mutual love, friendship and understanding are in this family.

At the end of the novel, another family appears - Natasha and Pierre. And we understand that more suitable friend It's hard to find people for friends. Deep, sensitive and understanding of each other and those around them, boundlessly loving their children, Natasha and Pierre, of course, will live a full, happy life together family life. The sorrows and losses they experienced taught them to better appreciate each other, and quiet, true family happiness will heal the mental wounds of these worthy people.

Option 2

“War and Peace” is perhaps a real encyclopedia of Russian life in prose. Throughout the action of the novel, the life of three families over 15 years is described. The work is impressive, colossal. Throughout the novel we see family traditions, customs and treasures of several generations of the Rostov, Kuragin and Bolkonsky families. So we can safely say that “family thought” is one of the dominant thoughts of the epic novel.

The Rostov family is presented by Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy as exemplary and imitative. It is in the Rostov house that the novel begins with the scene of the celebration of the name day of the senior Countess Natalya Rostova and the youngest of the Count’s daughters, also Natalya. The Rostov estate is an abode of love, mutual understanding and support, goodwill, and hospitality. Each of the members of the Rostov family loves not only their neighbors, they are all, as one, true patriots, as can be judged by their joint move to the estate during the war with Napoleon. And, despite their origins, the Rostovs set up a hospital for wounded soldiers. And when they leave this shelter, they also help the soldiers evacuate on carts. The youngest Natasha played a huge role in this, because it was she who persuaded her relatives to leave things and family heirlooms in order to save the lives of the fighters.

The Bolkonsky family are antagonists of the Rostov family. No, Tolstoy shows them as relatives who love each other, but still harsh relatives. They have neither tenderness nor intimacy, which are so characteristic of the Rostovs. In the Bolkonsky family, like in the army, there is a strict hierarchy and order. Every thing has its place, time, task. What a thing, every person! And it was simply impossible to disrupt this course and order. And if after the war the Rostov family lives and enjoys the life saved, then it is difficult to say whether the Bolkonskys are happy. Prince Andrei died at Borodino, Prince Nikolai - a clerk at the Tsar's court, Princess Marya - passage through the hardest way difficulties and adversities and survived only thanks to her upbringing and faith.

And if both the Rostovs and the Bolkonskys, although they are opposite in their attitude towards each other, then in the Kuragin family everything is completely bad. This is a whole “galaxy” of failed family relationships. For each of this family, the meaning of life becomes power and money. The elder Prince Vasily abandons his relatives in favor of friends whose position can be taken advantage of. Helen (the prince's daughter) is stupid, empty, cold and even partly vulgar, which does not prevent her from presenting herself from a perspective favorable to the Light and her interlocutors. Hippolytus (the eldest son) even receives the title “fool” from his father. And Tolstoy speaks of Anatole (his brother) as a person prone to fornication.

And yet, having presented us with a gallery of various family “portraits,” Lev Nikolaevich hopefully describes to us the family that Natasha Rostova and her chosen one Pierre Bezukhov have already formed. And in the image of Natalya Bezukhova, a caring and tender mother of four children, we see the image that the author would like to see not only on the pages of his novel.

It is in the image of the families of the novel that one can read one of the main thoughts of the epic: the strength of the family can strengthen the state.

Essay Family Thought in the novel War and Peace

“War and Peace” is an epic novel about the fate of the people and the people’s exploits. But “folk thought” is not the only thing presented in the work. “Family Thought” is also one of the main themes of War and Peace. The reader sees the families of the main characters. There are three of them: Bolkonsky, Rostov and Kuragin.

In the Rostov house, as well as in the salon of Anna Pavlovna Scherer, secular society talks about war. The difference is that those gathered at the Rostovs are interested in the war because their children are going to war. Naturalness, simplicity, cordiality, nobility and sensitivity reign at the Rostov table. We see a closeness in language and customs to the common people, but at the same time, adherence to secular conventions, but, unlike the Scherer salon, without any calculation or self-interest.

The Bolkonskys are a princely family, rich and respected. Their life is somewhat similar to the life of the Rostov family - the same love, cordiality and closeness to the people. But at the same time, the Bolkonskys differ from the Rostovs in their work of thought, high intelligence and pride. They are characterized by dry features, short stature, small arms and legs. Beautiful eyes with a smart, unusual sparkle. Aristocratism, pride, depth of spiritual thought - these are the characteristics of the family of Prince Bolkonsky.

The Kuragin family is also aristocratic and influential, like the Bolkonskys. But, unlike previous families, the Kuragins personify vices. The head of the family, Vasily Kuragin, is an empty, deceitful and proud person who adapts to circumstances. His wife Alina is jealous of the beauty of her seemingly ideal, but depraved and stupid daughter. Their son Anatole is a guard officer who loves to drink and have fun, and the second son, Hippolyte, is ugly and even more stupid than the rest. And the relationships in the Kuragin family are cold and calculating. Vasily Kuragin himself admits that his children are a burden for him.

From all this it follows that it is the Rostov family that is the ideal for Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy. Kind, sympathetic, loving their homeland and people, they are role models. After all, later Natasha, the third daughter of Count Ilya Rostov, created her own family with Pierre Bezukhov. She is a loving and caring mother and wife, protecting family comfort.

The ability to follow certain rules and follow a routine is called discipline. Thus, if a person is disciplined, then he can move (in figuratively move) to the side

What is family? This is an important part of each of us. A separate unit of society in which you and I live. In our modern world family has a tremendous impact on the lifespan of our family

“Family Thought” in the novel “War and Peace”

In the epic novel “War and Peace,” family thought occupies a very important place. Tolstoy saw the beginning of all beginnings in the family. As you know, a person is not born good or bad, but his family and the atmosphere that prevails within it make him so. Using the example of his heroes, Lev Nikolaevich clearly showed the diversity of family relationships, their positive and negative sides.

All the families in the novel are so natural, as if they existed in real life. Even now, two centuries later, we can meet the friendly Rostov family or the selfish “pack” of the Kuragins. Members of the same family have a common feature that unites them all.

So, main feature The Bolkonsky family can be called the desire to follow the laws of reason. None of the Bolkonskys, except, perhaps, Princess Marya, are characterized by an open manifestation of their feelings. The Bolkonsky family belongs to the old Russian aristocracy. Old Prince Bolkonsky embodies best features serving nobility, devoted to the one to whom he “sworn allegiance.” Nikolai Andreevich Bolkonsky most of all valued “two virtues in people: activity and intelligence.” Raising his children, he developed these qualities in them. Both Prince Andrei and Princess Marya differ in their spiritual education from other noble children.

In many ways, the worldview of this family is reflected in the words of the old prince, who sends his son to war: “Remember one thing, Prince Andrei: if they kill you, it will hurt the old man... and if I find out that you did not behave like the son of Nikolai Bolkonsky, it will hurt me. .. ashamed!" (clear moral criteria, the concept of honor of the family, clan). The behavior of Princess Marya evokes respect, feeling a deep sense of responsibility for her family, infinitely respecting her father (“Everything her father did aroused in her a reverence that was not subject to discussion”)

Different in character, all members of the Bolkonsky family are one thanks to their spiritual connection. Their relationship is not as warm as the Rostovs, but they are strong, like the links of a chain.

Another family depicted in the novel is in some way opposed to the Bolkonsky family. This is the Rostov family. If the Bolkonskys strive to follow the arguments of reason, then the Rostovs obey the voice of feelings, their family is filled with love, tenderness, and care. Everyone is frank with each other, they have no secrets or secrets. Maybe these people are not distinguished by special talents or intelligence, but they glow from within with family happiness. Unfortunately, the Rostovs will face terrible troubles and trials. Maybe this is how they will have to pay for the happiness that was in the house for many years?.. But, having lost everything, Rostov family will come to life again, only in another generation, preserving the tradition of love and comfort.

The third family is the Kuragin family. Tolstoy, showing all its members, be it Helen or Prince Vasily, devotes great attention portrait, appearance. The external beauty of the Kuragins replaces the spiritual. This family contains many human vices: hypocrisy, greed, depravity, stupidity. Every person in this family has sinfulness in them. Their affection is not spiritual or loving. She is more animal than human. They are similar to each other, that's why they stick together. Tolstoy shows us that families like the Kuragins are ultimately doomed. None of its members is capable of being “reborn” from filth and vice. The Kuragin family dies, leaving no descendants.

In the epilogue of the novel, two more families are shown. This is the Bezukhov family (Pierre and Natasha), which embodied the author's ideal of a family based on mutual understanding and trust, and the Rostov family - Marya and Nikolai. Marya brought high spirituality to the Rostov family, and Nikolai continued to honor the value of family comfort and cordiality.

By showing different families in his novel, Tolstoy wanted to say that the future belongs to families such as the Rostovs, Bezukhovs, and Bolkonskys. Such families will never die.

The Rostov family in the novel "War and Peace"

In War and Peace, family associations and the hero’s belonging to a “breed” mean a lot. Actually, the Bolkonskys or Rostovs are more than families, they are entire ways of life, families of the old type, with a patriarchal basis, old clans with their own special tradition for each family,” wrote (“War and Peace.” - In the book: Three masterpiece of Russian classics. M., 1971. p. 65).

Let's try to consider the Rostov family in this aspect, the features of the “Rostov breed”. The basic concepts that characterize all members of this family are simplicity, breadth of soul, life with feeling. The Rostovs are not intellectual, not pedantic, not rational, but for Tolstoy the absence of these traits is not a disadvantage, but only “one of the aspects of life.”

The Rostovs are emotional, generous, responsive, open, hospitable and friendly in the Russian way. In their family, in addition to their own children, Sonya, the niece of the old count, is being brought up; Boris Drubetskoy, the son of Anna Mikhailovna, who is a distant relative of them, has lived here since childhood. In the big house on Povarskaya there is enough space, warmth, love for everyone; there is that special atmosphere that attracts others.

And people themselves create it. The head of the family is the old count, Ilya Andreevich. This is a good-natured, eccentric gentleman, carefree and simple-minded, the foreman of the English club, a passionate hunter, and a lover of home holidays. He adores his family, the count has relatives, trusting relationship with children: he does not interfere with Petya’s desire to join the army, he is worried about the fate and health of Natasha after her breakup with Bolkonsky. Ilya Andreevich literally saves Nikolai, who is caught in unpleasant story with Dolokhov.

At the same time, the Rostov household is left to chance, the manager deceives them, and the family gradually goes bankrupt. But the old count is not able to correct the current situation - Ilya Andreevich is too trusting, weak-willed and wasteful. However, as V. Ermilov notes, it is precisely these qualities of the hero that appear in a “completely different, new sense and meaning” to a greater, heroic era(Tolstoy the artist and the novel “War and Peace.” M., 1961, p. 92).

In difficult times war time Ilya Andreevich abandons his property and gives up carts to carry the wounded. Here in the novel there is a special internal motive, the motive of “transformation of the world”: liberation from the world of material things is liberation “from all the wardrobes of the old, evil, stupid world that Tolstoy was sick of with its deathly and deadening egoism - that happiness of liberation that he dreamed of for myself” and the writer himself. Therefore, Tolstoy sympathizes with this character, justifying him in many ways. “...He was a most wonderful man. You won’t meet such people these days,” friends say after the death of the old count.

The image of Countess Rostova, who has a real gift for teaching, is also remarkable in the novel. She also has a very close, trusting relationship with her children: the Countess is the first adviser to her daughters. “If I had kept her strictly, I had forbidden her... God knows what they would have done on the sly (the Countess meant, they would have kissed), but now I know her every word. She’ll come running in the evening and tell me everything,” says the countess about Natasha, who is in love with Boris. The Countess is generous, like all the Rostovs. Despite the difficult financial situation of her family, she helps her longtime friend, Princess Anna Mikhailovna Drubetskaya, by obtaining money for uniforms for her son, Boris.

The same warmth, love, and mutual understanding reign in the relationships between children. Long intimate conversations in the sofa are an integral part of this relationship. Natasha and Sonya open up for a long time when left alone. Natasha and Nikolai are spiritually close and tenderly attached to each other. Rejoicing at the arrival of her brother, Natasha, a lively, impetuous girl, cannot remember herself from delight: she has fun from the bottom of her heart, kisses Denisov, tells Nikolai her secrets and discusses Sonya’s feelings with him.

When girls grow up, that special elusive atmosphere is established in the house, “as it happens in a house where there are very nice and very young girls.” “Every young man who came to the Rostovs’ house, looking at these young, receptive, smiling girlish faces for something (probably their happiness), at this animated running around, listening to this inconsistent, but affectionate to everyone, ready for anything, full of hope the babble of female youth... experienced the same feeling of readiness for love and expectation of happiness that the youth of the Rostov house themselves experienced.”

Sonya and Natasha standing at the clavichord, “pretty and happy”, Vera playing chess with Shinshin, the old countess playing solitaire - this is the poetic atmosphere that reigns in the house on Povarskaya.

This one family world Nikolai Rostov is so dear to him, it is he who gives him one of the “best pleasures of life.” Tolstoy remarks about this hero: “gifted and limited.” Rostov is simple-minded, simple, noble, honest and straightforward, sympathetic and generous. Remembering his former friendship with the Drubetskys, Nikolai, without hesitation, forgives them their old debt. Like Natasha, he is receptive to music, to a romantic situation, to goodness. At the same time, the hero is deprived creativity in life, Rostov's interests are limited to the world of his family and the landowner's economy. Pierre's thoughts about a new direction for the whole world are not only incomprehensible to Nikolai, but also seem seditious to him.

The soul of the Rostov family is Natasha. This image serves in the novel as that “arch”, “without which the work could not exist as a whole. Natasha is the living embodiment of the very essence of human unity.

At the same time, Natasha embodies selfishness as a natural beginning human life, as a property necessary for happiness, for real activity, for fruitful human communication. In the novel, Natasha’s “natural egoism” is contrasted with the “cold egoism” of Vera and Helen, the sublime altruism and self-denial of Princess Marya, and Sonya’s “selfish self-sacrifice.” None of these properties, according to Tolstoy, are suitable for living, authentic life.

Natasha intuitively feels the very essence of people and events, she is simple and open, close to nature and music. Like the other Rostovs, she is not very intellectual, she is not characterized by deep thoughts about the meaning of life, or the sober introspection of the Bolkonskys. As Pierre remarks, she “doesn’t deign to be smart.” Main role For her, feelings play, “living with the heart” and not with the mind. At the end of the novel, Natasha finds her happiness in marriage with Pierre.

The Rostov family is unusually artistic and musical; all members of this family (with the exception of Vera) love singing and dancing. During a dinner party, the old count famously dances “Danila Kupora” with Marya Dmitrievna Akhrosimova, captivating the audience with “the surprise of deft twists and light jumps of his soft legs.” “Our father! Eagle!" - exclaims the nanny, delighted with this wonderful dance. Natasha’s dancing at her uncle’s in Mikhailovka and her singing are also extraordinary. Natasha has a beautiful raw voice, captivating precisely with its virginity, innocence, and velvet. Nikolai is deeply touched by Natasha’s singing: “All this, and misfortune, and money, and Dolokhov, and anger, and honor - all this is nonsense... but here it is real... My God! how good!... how happy!... Oh, how this third trembled and how something better that was in Rostov’s soul was touched. And this something was independent of everything in the world and above everything in the world.”

The only difference from all the Rostovs is the cold, calm, “beautiful” Vera, whose correct remarks make everyone feel “awkward.” She lacks the simplicity and warmth of the “Rostov breed”; she can easily offend Sonya and read endless moral lectures to children.

Thus, in the life of the Rostov family, feelings and emotions prevail over will and reason. The heroes are not very practical and businesslike, but they life values- generosity, nobility, admiration for beauty, aesthetic feelings, patriotism - worthy of respect.