Did Pierre Bezukhov find the truth? The moral quest of Pierre Bezukhov

Pierre Bezukhov is considered the main character of the novel “War and Peace”. With his dissatisfaction with the surrounding reality, disappointment in the world, and searches for the meaning of life, he reminds us of the “hero of his time,” traditional for Russian literature. However, Tolstoy's novel already goes beyond the literary tradition. Tolstoy's hero overcomes "tragedy" extra person", finds the meaning of life and personal happiness.

We get to know Pierre from the first pages of the novel and immediately note his dissimilarity from those around him. Count Bezukhov’s appearance, his behavior, manners - all this “does not fit” into the author’s image of the secular “public”. Pierre is a big, fat, awkward young man who has something of a child in him. This childishness is noticeable already in the very portrait of the hero. This is how Pierre’s smile differed from the smiles of other people, “merging with a non-smile.” “On the contrary, when a smile came, then suddenly, instantly, a serious and even somewhat gloomy face disappeared and another one appeared - childish, kind, even stupid and as if asking for forgiveness.”

Pierre is awkward and absent-minded, he does not have secular manners, “does not know how to enter the salon” and even less knows how to “exit it.” Openness, emotionality, timidity and naturalness distinguish him from the indifferently self-confident salon aristocrats. “You are the only living person among our entire world,” Prince Andrei tells him.

Pierre is shy, childishly trusting and simple-minded, subject to the influence of others. Hence his carousing, “hussarism” in the company of Dolokhov and Anatoly Kuragin, and his marriage to Helen. As N.K. Gudziy notes, due to the lack of internal composure and strong will, due to the disorder of his hobbies, Pierre’s character is to a certain extent opposed to the character of Andrei Bolkonsky. Pierre is not characterized by rationalism and constant introspection; there is sensuality in his nature.

However, Pierre's lifestyle here is determined not only by his personal qualities. Riotous revelry in the company of “golden youth” is also his unconscious protest “against the base boredom of the surrounding reality, a waste of energy that there is nothing ... to apply”;

The next stage of Pierre's moral quest is his passion for Freemasonry. In this teaching, the hero is attracted by a certain freedom, Freemasonry in his eyes is “the teaching of Christianity, freed from state and religious shackles,” the brotherhood of people capable of supporting each other “on the path of virtue.” It seems to Pierre that this is an opportunity to “achieve perfection”, to correct human and social vices. The ideas of the “brotherhood of free masons” seem to the hero to be a revelation that has descended on him.

However, Tolstoy emphasizes the fallacy of Pierre's views. None of the provisions of Masonic teaching is realized in the life of the hero. Trying to fix an imperfection public relations, Bezukhov is trying to change the situation of his peasants. He builds hospitals, schools, orphanages in his villages, and tries to alleviate the situation of the serfs. And it seems to him that he is achieving tangible results: grateful peasants solemnly greet him with bread and salt. However, all this “national welfare” is illusory - it is nothing more than a performance staged by the general manager on the occasion of the master’s arrival. Pierre's chief manager considers all the master's undertakings to be eccentricities, an absurd whim. And he acts in his own way, maintaining the old order on Bezukhov’s estates.

The idea of ​​personal self-improvement turns out to be just as fruitless. Despite the fact that Pierre sincerely strives to eradicate personal vices, his life goes on as before, “with the same hobbies and debauchery,” he cannot resist the “amusements of single societies,” although he considers them “immoral and humiliating.”

The inconsistency of Masonic teaching is also exposed by Tolstoy in his depiction of the behavior of the “brothers” visiting the lodge. Pierre notes that most lodge members in life are “weak and insignificant people", many become Freemasons "because of the opportunity to get closer to rich, noble, influential people", others are only interested in the external, ritual side of the teaching.

Returning from abroad, Pierre offers the “brothers” his program of socially useful activities. However, the Masons do not accept Pierre's proposals. And he is finally disappointed in the “brotherhood of free masons.”

Having broken with the Freemasons, the hero experiences a deep internal crisis, a mental catastrophe. He loses faith in the very possibility of socially useful activities. Outwardly, Pierre returns to his previous activities: benefit performances, bad paintings, statues, charitable societies, gypsies, carousing - nothing is refused. He is no longer visited, as before, by moments of despair, melancholy, disgust for life, but “the same illness, previously expressed in sharp attacks,” is now “driven inside” and does not leave him for a moment. That period of Bezukhov’s life begins when he gradually begins to turn into an ordinary “retired good-natured chamberlain living out his days in Moscow, of which there were hundreds.”

Here in the novel the motive of a disappointed hero, an “extra person”, Oblomov’s motive arises. However, in Tolstoy this motif takes on a completely different meaning than in Pushkin or Goncharov. Tolstoy’s man lives in a great era, unprecedented for Russia, which “transforms disappointed heroes,” bringing out the best and most authentic in their souls, awakening rich inner potential to life. The heroic era is “magnanimous, generous, broad”, it “integrates, purifies, elevates everyone who... is able to respond to its greatness...”.

And indeed, 1812 changes a lot in the hero’s life. This is a period of restoration of spiritual integrity, Pierre’s familiarization with the “common”, the establishment in his soul of his “sense of the purposefulness of being.” A big role here was played by Pierre's visit to Raevsky's battery during the Battle of Borodino and his stay in French captivity.

Being on the Borodino field, among the endless roar of guns, the smoke of shells, the screech of bullets, the hero experiences a feeling of horror, mortal fear. The soldiers seem to him strong and courageous, there is no fear in them, no fear for their lives. The very patriotism of these people, seemingly unconscious, comes from the very essence of nature, their behavior is simple and natural. And Pierre wants to become “just a soldier”, to free himself from the “burden outer man", from everything artificial, superficial. For the first time, faced with the people's environment, he acutely feels the falsehood and insignificance of the secular world, feels the fallacy of his previous views and life attitudes.

Returning to Moscow, Pierre becomes imbued with the idea of ​​killing Napoleon. However, his intention is not allowed to come true - instead of the grandiose “picture murder of the French emperor,” he performs a simple, human feat, saving a child in a fire and protecting a beautiful Armenian woman from French soldiers. In this very opposition of plans and reality, one can discern Tolstoy’s favorite thought about the “external forms” of true heroism.

It is characteristic that it was for this feat that Bezukhov was captured by the French, although he was officially accused of arson. By depicting events in this aspect, Tolstoy expresses his attitude towards them. “Napoleonic army is committing the inhumane act of an unjust war; therefore, it deprives a person of freedom only for the fact that a person performs a human deed,” writes V. Ermilov.

And for Pierre the difficult days of captivity begin, when he is forced to endure the ridicule of others, the interrogation of French officers, and the cruelty of a military court. He feels like “an insignificant sliver caught in the wheels of a machine unknown to him.” This order established by the French kills, destroys, deprives him of life, “with all his memories, aspirations, hopes, thoughts.”

A meeting with Platon Karataev helps Pierre survive, gain a new view of the world and himself. The main thing for Karataev is decorum, acceptance of life as it is. Just in case in life, he has a saying: in his movements Pierre seems to feel something “calming and round.” S. G. Bocharov notes that there is a certain duality in the idea of ​​a circle: on the one hand, it is “an aesthetic figure with which the idea of ​​achieved perfection has been associated from time immemorial,” on the other hand, the idea of ​​“a circle contradicts the Faustian endless striving into the distance, the search for a goal, contradicts the path as the line along which Tolstoy’s heroes move.”

However, Pierre comes to moral satisfaction precisely through “Karataev’s roundness.” “He sought this in philanthropy, in Freemasonry, in the dispersion of social life, in wine, in the heroic feat of self-sacrifice” - but all these searches deceived him. Pierre had to go through the horror of death, through deprivation, through what he understood in Karataev, in order to come to an agreement with himself. Having learned to appreciate simple everyday things: good food, cleanliness, fresh air, freedom, the beauty of nature - Pierre experiences a hitherto unknown feeling of joy and strength of life, a feeling of readiness for anything, moral composure, inner freedom.

These feelings are generated in the hero by the adoption of the “Karataev philosophy”. It seems that this was necessary for Pierre in this period; the instinct of self-preservation spoke in him, and not so much physical, but the instinct of spiritual self-preservation. Life itself sometimes suggests a “way out,” and the grateful subconscious accepts it, helping a person survive in an impossible situation.

French captivity became such an “impossible situation” for Pierre. In his soul, it was as if “the spring on which everything was held” had been pulled out. “In him... faith in the improvement of the world, and in humanity, and in his soul, and in God was destroyed... Previously, when such doubts were found on Pierre, these doubts had their source in his own guilt. And in the very depths of his soul, Pierre then felt that from that despair and those doubts there was salvation in himself. But now he felt that it was not his fault that the world had collapsed in his eyes... He felt that returning to faith in life was not in his power.” For Bezukhov, these feelings are tantamount to suicide. That is why he is imbued with the philosophy of Platon Karataev.

However, then the hero moves away from her. And the reason for this is a certain duality, even contradiction, of this philosophy. Unity with others, the feeling of being a part of existence, the world, a sense of conciliarity - positive traits"Karataevism". The reverse side of it is a kind of detachment, indifference to man and the world. Platon Karataev treats everyone around him equally and kindly, without having any attachments, love, or friendship. “He loved his mongrel, he loved his comrades, the French, he loved Pierre, who was his neighbor; but Pierre felt that Karataev, despite all his affectionate tenderness towards him, ... would not be upset for a minute at being separated from him.”

As S. G. Bocharov notes, Pierre’s internal freedom is freedom not only from circumstances, but also from normal human feelings, freedom from thoughts, habitual introspection, from the search for purpose and meaning in life. However, this kind of freedom is the opposite of Pierre’s very nature, his mental make-up. Therefore, the hero breaks up with this feeling only when his former love for Natasha comes to life.

At the end of the novel, Pierre finds personal happiness in his marriage to Natasha Rostova. However, being happy in his family, he is still active and active. We see him as “one of the main founders” of the Decembrist societies. And the path of quest begins again: “It seemed to him at that moment that he was called to give a new direction to the entire Russian society and the whole world.”

Pierre Bezukhov is one of Tolstoy’s favorite heroes; he is close to the writer with his sincerity, restless, searching soul, critical attitude towards everyday life, desire for moral ideal. His path is the eternal comprehension of the truth and its affirmation in the world.

May 01 2015

The first time we meet Pierre Bezukhov is in the salon of Anna Pavlovna Scherer. Appearing at an evening dominated by hypocrisy and unnaturalness, clumsy and absent-minded, Pierre is strikingly different from all those present, first of all, by his sincerely good-natured expression on his face, which, as in a mirror, reflects both his reluctance to take part in conversations that do not interest him and his joy at the appearance of the prince Andrei, and delight at the sight of the beautiful Helen. Almost everyone in the salon is condescending, or rather even dismissive, towards this “bear” who “doesn’t know how to live.” I am only truly glad to meet Pierre, whom he calls the only “alive” among this society. Ignorant of the laws high society Bezukhov almost becomes a victim of the machinations of Prince Vasily and his half-sister, who do not want Pierre to be recognized as the legitimate son of the old count and are trying in every possible way to prevent this. All rights reserved and protected by law © 2001-2005 olsoch.

ru But Pierre wins with his kindness, and the count, dying, leaves an inheritance to his beloved son. After Pierre becomes the heir to a huge fortune, he cannot help but be in society. Being naive and short-sighted, he cannot resist the intrigues of Prince Vasily, who directed all his efforts to marry his daughter Helen to the rich Pierre.

The indecisive Bezukhov, only subconsciously feeling the negative side of his relationship with Helen, does not notice how he is becoming more and more entangled in a network of circumstances, one way or another pushing him towards marriage. As a result, guided by etiquette, he is literally married to Helen, virtually without his consent. It does not describe the life of the newlyweds, letting us know that it does not deserve attention.

Soon rumors spread in society about a love affair between Helen and Dolokhov, Pierre’s former friend. At an evening given in honor of Bagration, Pierre was driven to fury by far from ambiguous hints about Helen’s affair on the side. He is forced to challenge Dolokhov to a duel, although he himself does not want this: “Stupid, stupid: death, lies...

“Tolstoy shows the absurdity of this duel: Bezukhov does not even want to protect himself from a bullet with his hand, and he himself seriously wounds Dolokhov, not even knowing how to shoot. Not wanting to live like this anymore, Pierre decides to break up with Helen. All these events leave a deep imprint on the worldview. He feels that “the main screw on which his whole life was held” has turned in his head.” After breaking up with the woman he married without love, who disgraced him, Pierre is in a state of acute mental crisis.

“What's wrong? What's good? - these are the questions that concern the hero.

It was during this period of searching for answers to the questions posed that he met Bazdeev, a member of the brotherhood of free masons, thanks to which he became imbued with the idea of ​​​​changing life for the better and truly believed in the possibility of this: “He wanted to believe with all his soul, and believed, and experienced a joyful feeling of calm , renewal and return to life.” The result was Bezukhov’s entry into the Freemasonic lodge. “Rebirth” Pierre began by deciding to carry out transformations in the village, but the clever manager quickly found a way not to use the money of the unlucky Pierre for its intended purpose.

Pierre himself, calmed by the appearance of activity, still led the same riotous life. Having stopped by his friend Prince Andrei in Bogucharovo, Pierre expresses to him his thoughts, imbued with faith in the need for a person to strive for virtue, and for Andrei this meeting with Bezukhov “was the era from which, although in appearance the same, but in inner world his new life" In 1808, Pierre became the head of St. Petersburg Freemasonry.

He gave his money for the construction of temples, and supported the house of the poor with his own funds. In 1809, at a ceremonial meeting of the lodge of the 2nd degree, Pierre made a speech, which was not received with enthusiasm; he was only made a “remark about his ardor.” Circumstances, as well as the “first rules of a Mason” force Pierre to make peace with his wife.

In the end, Pierre understands that for many Freemasonry is not a desire to serve the great idea of ​​virtue, but only a way to win a place in society, and, disappointed, he leaves Freemasonry. Arriving in Moscow and seeing her, Bezukhov realized that he loved her. He helped bring Anatoly Kuragin to clean water, thereby preventing the spread of rumors about the relationship between Anatole and Natasha in the light. Pierre wanted to come to the site of the upcoming battle in Borodino. After the battle, on the way back, he eats “a mess” with the soldiers, which seemed to him tastier than anything in the world, and thinks that he would like to “throw off all this unnecessary, devilish stuff” and be “just a soldier.”

This is the moment of real spiritual unity between the hero and the people. He is trying to unravel the mystery of the soldier's character. Why do soldiers calmly go to their death, without fear of being killed? “He who is not afraid of her belongs to him everything.” With such thoughts, Bezukhov returns to Moscow. At the time when the French almost reached the quarter in which Pierre lived, he was “in a state close to madness.”

Pierre had long been occupied with the thought of the predetermination of his fate, of his highest destiny to kill Napoleon; “a feeling of the need for sacrifice and suffering” lived in him. Waking up one day, he took a pistol, a dagger and left the house with the intention of finally doing what he was born for, but in fact only to prove to himself that he “does not renounce” his intention. On the street, Pierre met a woman begging to save her child.

He rushed to look for the girl, but when he found her, scrofulous, a feeling of disgust was ready to prevail over the spiritual need to be needed. But still, he takes her in his arms and, after many attempts to find her parents, gives the girl to the Armenians. Pierre is captured after standing up for an Armenian woman. During the execution of the prisoners, Pierre experiences a terrible feeling of the collapse of all life beliefs: nothing was significant in the face of death.

After his release, Pierre was ill for a long time, but was full of joy in life. He became friends with Princess Marya, where he met Natasha, and the long-lit flame of his love flared up with renewed vigor. In the epilogue we meet Pierre, living a calm, happy life: he has been Natasha's husband for 7 years and the father of four children. Arguing with Nikolai, Pierre defends the ideas of the revolutionaries - the need for transformation.

Thus, we see that Tolstoy brings his hero to the beginning of the path of hardship in the struggle for the people, the path of Pyotr Lobazov, the Decembrist, who was originally supposed to be the hero of Tolstoy’s novel.

Need a cheat sheet? Then save - "The Path of Search by Pierre Bezukhov. Literary essays!

Life quests of Pierre Bezukhov

Pierre Bezukhov was illegitimate son one of richest people in Russia. In society he was perceived as an eccentric, everyone laughed at his beliefs, aspirations and statements. No one considered his opinion or took him seriously. But when Pierre received a huge inheritance, everyone began to fawn on him, he became a desired groom for many social coquettes...

While living in France, he became imbued with the ideas of Freemasonry; it seemed to Pierre that he had found like-minded people, that with their help he could change the world for the better. But soon he became disillusioned with Freemasonry, although his desire for equality among people and justice in everything was ineradicable.

Pierre Bezukhov is still very young and inexperienced, he is looking for the purpose of his life and existence in general, but, unfortunately, he comes to the conclusion that nothing can be changed in this world and falls under the bad influence of Kuragin and Dolokhov. Pierre simply begins to “waste his life”, spending his time on balls and social evenings. Kuragin marries him to Helen.

Bezukhov was inspired by passion for Helen Kuragina, the very first secular beauty, he rejoiced at the happiness of marrying her. But after some time, Pierre noticed that Helen was just beautiful doll With icy heart, a painted smile and a cruel hypocritical disposition. Marriage to Helen Kuragina brought Pierre Bezukhov only pain and disappointment in the female sex.

Tired of a wild life and inaction, Pierre's soul is eager to work. He begins to carry out reforms in his lands, tries to give freedom to the serfs, but what is very unfortunate is that people do not understand him, they are so accustomed to slavery that they cannot even imagine how they can live without it. People decide that Pierre has “quirks.”

When the War of 1812 began, Pierre Bezukhov, although not a military man, went to the front to see how people fought for their Fatherland. While on the fourth bastion, Pierre saw real war, he saw how people suffer because of Napoleon. Bezukhov was struck and inspired by patriotism, zeal and self-sacrifice ordinary soldiers, he felt pain along with them, Pierre was imbued with a fierce hatred of Bonaparte, he wanted to kill him personally. Unfortunately, he failed and was captured instead.

Bezukhov spent a month in prison. There he met a simple “soldier” Platon Karataev. This acquaintance and being in captivity played a significant role in Pierre's life quest. He finally understood and realized the truth that he had been looking for for a long time: that every person has the right to happiness and should be happy. Pierre Bezukhov saw the true price of life.

Pierre found his happiness in marriage with Natasha Rostova, she was for him not only his wife, the mother of his children and his beloved woman, she was more - she was a friend who supported him in everything.

Bezukhov, like all the Decembrists, fought for truth, for the freedom of the people, for honor; it was these goals that served as the reason for his joining their ranks.

A long path of wanderings, sometimes erroneous, sometimes funny and absurd, nevertheless led Pierre Bezukhov to the truth, which he had to understand after going through difficult trials of fate. We can say that, no matter what, the end life's quest Pierre is good, because he achieved the goal that he initially pursued. He tried to change this world for the better. And each of us must also strive for this goal, because the house consists of small bricks, and they are made of small grains of sand, and the grains of sand are our good and fair deeds.

In addition to the essay about Pierre Bezukhov’s life quest, also see:

• The image of Marya Bolkonskaya in the novel “War and Peace”, essay
• The image of Napoleon in the novel "War and Peace"
• The image of Kutuzov in the novel “War and Peace”
• Comparative characteristics of the Rostovs and Bolkonskys - essay

In the epic novel JI. N. Tolstoy's "War and Peace" Pierre Bezukhov is one of the author's main and favorite characters. Pierre is a searching man, unable to stop, calm down, forget about the need for a moral “core” of existence. His soul is open to the whole world, responsive to all impressions of the surrounding existence. He cannot live without resolving for himself the main questions about the meaning of life, about the purpose of human existence. And he is characterized by dramatic delusions and contradictory character. The image of Pierre Bezukhov is especially close to Tolstoy: the internal motives of the hero’s behavior and the uniqueness of his personality are largely autobiographical.

When we first meet Pierre, we see that he is very pliable, soft, prone to doubt, and shy. Tolstoy more than once emphasizes, “Pierre was somewhat larger than other men,” “big legs,” “clumsy,” “fat, taller than normal height, wide, with huge red hands.” But at the same time, his soul is subtle, gentle, like that of a child.

Before us is a man of his era, living by its spiritual mood, its interests, seeking answers to specific questions of Russian life at the beginning of the century. Bezukhov is looking for a business to which he could devote his life; he does not want and cannot be satisfied with secular values ​​or become a “better person.”

Opierre is told that with a smile, “his serious and even somewhat gloomy face disappeared and another one appeared - childish, kind...” About him, Bolkonsky says that Pierre is the only “living person among our entire world.”

The bastard son of a major nobleman, who inherited the title of count and a huge fortune, Pierre nevertheless turns out to be a special stranger in the world. On the one hand, he is certainly accepted in the world, and on the other, respect for Bezukhov is not based on the count’s commitment “ values ​​common to all, and on the “properties” of his property status. Sincerity and openness of soul distinguish Pierre in secular society and contrast him with the world of ritual, hypocrisy, and duality. His openness of behavior and independence of thought distinguish him among visitors to the Scherer salon. In the living room, Pierre is always waiting for an opportunity to break into the conversation. Anna Pavlovna, who was “watching” him, manages to stop him several times.

The first stage of Bezukhov's internal development, depicted in the novel, covers Pierre's life before his marriage to Kuragina. Not seeing his place in life, not knowing what to do with his enormous strength, Pierre leads a riotous life in the company of Dolokhov and Kuragin. Open kind person, Bezukhov often finds himself defenseless against the skillful play of those around him. He cannot correctly evaluate people and therefore often makes mistakes about them. Revelry and reading of spiritual books, kindness and involuntary cruelty characterize the count's life at this time. He understands that such a life is not for him, but he does not have the strength to break out of the usual cycle. Like Andrei Bolkonsky, Pierre begins his moral development with a delusion - the deification of Napoleon. Bezukhov justifies the actions of the Emperor state necessity. But at the same time, the hero of the novel does not strive for practical activity and denies war.

Marrying Helene calmed Pierre down. Bezukhov does not understand for a long time that he has become a toy in the hands of the Kuragins. The stronger his feeling of bitterness and offended dignity becomes when fate reveals to Pierre his deception. Time lived in the calm consciousness of one’s happiness turns out to be an illusion. But Pierre is one of those rare people, for whom moral purity and understanding of the meaning of one’s existence are vital.

The second stage of Pierre's internal development is the events after the breakup with his wife and the duel with Dolokhov. Realizing with horror that he was capable of “encroaching” on the life of another person, he tries to find the source of his fall, that moral support, which will give him the opportunity to “return” his humanity.

Bezukhov's search for truth and the meaning of life leads him to the Masonic lodge. The principles of the Freemasons seem to Bezukhov “a system of rules of life.” It seems to Pierre that in Freemasonry he has found the embodiment of his ideals. He is imbued with a passionate desire to “regenerate the vicious human race and bring himself to highest degree perfection." But even here he will be disappointed. Pierre is trying to free his peasants, establish hospitals, shelters, schools, but all this does not bring him closer to the atmosphere of brotherly love preached by the Freemasons, but only creates the illusion of his own moral growth.

Napoleon's invasion sharpened the count's national consciousness to the highest degree. He felt like a part of a single whole - the people. “To be a soldier, just a soldier,” Pierre thinks with delight. But the hero of the novel nevertheless does not want to become “just a soldier.” Having decided to “execute” the French emperor, Bezukhov, according to Tolstoy, becomes the same “madman” as Prince Andrei was under Austerlitz, intending to single-handedly save the army. Borodin's field opened up to Pierre a new, unfamiliar world of simple, natural people, but previous illusions do not allow the count to accept this world as the ultimate truth. He never understood that history is made not by individuals, but by people.

Captivity and the execution scene changed Pierre's consciousness. He, who had spent his whole life looking for kindness in people, saw indifference to human life, “mechanical” destruction of the “culprits”. The world turned into a meaningless pile of fragments for him. The meeting with Karataev revealed that side to Pierre national consciousness which requires humility before the will of God. Pierre, who believed that the truth “is” with people, is shocked by the wisdom that testifies to the inaccessibility of truth without help from above. But something else won in Pierre - the desire for earthly happiness. And then it became possible new meeting with Natasha Rostova. Having married Natasha, Pierre for the first time feels like a truly happy person.

Marriage to Natasha and passion for radical ideas are the main events of this period. Pierre believes that society can be changed through the efforts of several thousand honest people. But Decembrism becomes a new delusion of Bezukhov, close in meaning to Bolkonsky’s attempt to get involved in changing Russian life “from above.” Not genius, not the “order” of the Decembrists, but the moral efforts of the entire nation is the path to real change in Russian society. According to Tolstoy's plan, the hero of the novel was to be exiled to Siberia. And only after this, having experienced the collapse of “false hopes”, Bezukhov will come to a final understanding of the true laws of reality...

Tolstoy shows the change in Pierre's character over time. We see twenty-year-old Pierre in Anna Scherer's salon at the beginning of the epic and thirty-year-old Pierre in the epilogue of the novel. It shows how an inexperienced youth became a mature man with a great future. Pierre made mistakes in people, submitted to his passions, committed unreasonable acts - and thought all the time. He was always dissatisfied with himself and reconsidered himself.

People with weak character often tend to explain all their actions by circumstances. But Pierre - in the most difficult, painful circumstances of captivity - had the strength to do enormous spiritual work, and it brought him that same sense of inner freedom that he could not find when he was rich, owned houses and estates.

Lesson summary:
“The Path of Quest of Pierre Bezukhov”

The path of quest of Pierre Bezukhov
Epigraph:
To live honestly
you have to be torn, confused,
struggle, make mistakes...
L.N. Tolstoy.
Main stages of the lesson:
1. Definition of lesson objectives, motivation educational activities.
2. Update background knowledge.
3. Based on problematic questions and tasks, organizing a discussion “Did Pierre Bezukhov find the meaning of life?”
4. Summing up the lesson.
5. Homework.
Goals
1. Summarize the knowledge gained about the moral quest of the heroes of the novel by L.N. Tolstoy “War and Peace”.
2. Reflect on the question of possible ways of development of Russia in the 2nd half of the 19th century and determine the attitude of L.N. Tolstoy to this issue, analyzing the images of the main characters of the novel.
3. Continue developing students’ ability to work with text work of art. Continue development monologue speech students, the ability to think analytically, compare concepts, images, draw conclusions based on facts. Continue training in discussion skills.
4. Cultivate interest in literature, in the work of the great classic of Russian literature L.N. Tolstoy. To cultivate the ability to work in a team, an active life position in students, and a sense of patriotism.
Lesson type: Lesson on generalization and systematization of knowledge

Lesson progress
Introductory conversation.
-Today we are conducting another lesson on L.N. Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace.” The topic of today's lesson is “The Path of Quest of Pierre Bezukhov” (slide 1). (Students write down the topic in their notebooks).
Epigraph to the lesson:
“To live honestly, you have to rush, get confused, ..., start and give up, and give up again... And calmness is spiritual meanness“- wrote L.N. Tolstoy.
The purpose of today's lesson is... Summarize the knowledge gained about the moral quest of the hero of the novel L.N. Tolstoy “War and Peace” by Pierre Bezukhov
I. Updating knowledge.
According to Tolstoy, living with dignity means struggling, getting confused, making mistakes, trying to resolve eternal questions: “What is bad? what's good? what should you love? what to hate? what is life? what is death? What force controls everything? (slide 2)
The wanderings of such people, the eternal search, the incessant spiritual work - this is a sign of the inner nobility of the Personality.
- Which heroes of the novel can you name that meet Tolstoy’s moral ideal? (Of course, the writer gives the love of his heart not only to ordinary people, but also to the best representatives of the nobility, who were still separated from the serf peasants by a whole social abyss. But they consciously or spontaneously were drawn to the people, felt in them the main moral support and vitality. Especially Dear writer Pierre and Prince Andrey, who walk along difficult roads in search of “simplicity, goodness and truth.”
Pierre Bezukhov is one of Tolstoy’s most beloved and dear heroes. He is the illegitimate son of a rich and noble nobleman of Catherine, recognized as the legal heir after the death of his father. (Slide 3)
The writer shows him in constant movement, in doubts and searches, in continuous internal development. Tolstoy traces how Pierre's character changes, how the worldview of the leading man of the era - the Decembrist - is formed. But life path Pierre, full of discoveries and disappointments, this is not the typical path of the Decembrist, but only a special, Tolstoyan version of this path.
- Do you remember Pierre’s first appearance in the novel? Where did it happen? How? Draw an oral portrait of our hero.
(At the beginning of the novel, we see a fat man with a cropped head, glasses, light trousers, a high frill and a brown tailcoat. A massive young man with an intelligent, timid and observant look. Pierre Bezukhov is emotional, soft, pliable, easily susceptible to other people's influence, he stands out among other visitors to the secular salon with his naturalness, sincerity, and simplicity.
that he has “an intelligent and at the same time timid, observant and natural look”, “an expression of good nature, simplicity and modesty.”
-How was Pierre met in secular society, in Anna Scherer’s salon?
(Anna Pavlovna greeted him with a bow, referring to people of the lowest hierarchy in her salon.” The beautiful Helen does not notice him, although she lives in the same house with him (Pierre settled in St. Petersburg with Prince Vasily, a relative of his father). And Prince Vasily speaks of he casually: “Teach me this bear.” Only Andrei does not care whether Count Bezukhov is in front of him or who the other is. He loves Pierre for who he is...
Text. When the non-secular Pierre Bezukhov appeared in the living room of the socialite Anna Pavlovna Scherer, the gloomy, dissatisfied face of Prince Andrei suddenly lit up with an “unexpectedly kind and pleasant smile.” The sparkle of his joyful and friendly eyes encouraged and inspired Pierre. .)
– What is the friendship of Pierre and Andrei Bolkonsky based on? (slide 4) (the friendship of the heroes is built on common interests. At first, this friendship is surprising: they are so different! And seven years of difference is a lot when one of the friends is twenty. These seven years are reflected in the “ You,” which Pierre says to Andrei, and in Andrei’s “you,” strange in the mouth of this reserved man. The relationship between Prince Andrei and Pierre is an example of a demanding friendship.
unchanged, carried through all trials. This is what Tolstoy meant when he said in his novel: “I would like you to love these children of mine. There are nice people there. I love them very much"

Can we say that Tolstoy idealized his favorite heroes? (And the prince
Andrei and Pierre are shown as people of their time, their environment, with many
their inherent shortcomings. It is enough to recall the love of popularity, the
aristocratic prejudices that were characteristic of Prince Andrei, or about the wild youth of Pierre, who paid tribute to the habits of the St. Petersburg “golden” youth...
The most attractive thing about Tolstoy's heroes is not that they
the characters are not without flaws, but the fact that both Bolkonsky and Bezukhov are able to overcome their shortcomings is that they thinking people, who are not afraid to pose and solve the most pressing questions from their own and common life...
Pierre is one of those rare people (“one living person among
of our entire world,” Prince Andrei says about him), for whom moral
purity and understanding of the meaning and purpose of life are necessary above all.)
Teacher.- So: Scenes in A.P.’s salon. Scherer (Pierre's preaching of freedom-loving views) and entertainment secular youth represent a psychological connection in the development storyline Pierre.
– Why did Pierre marry Helen? (slide 5) (On the one hand, this marriage was arranged by Prince Vasily, because Pierre was a very rich groom. But this marriage was natural for Pierre, because not only he had to be deceived, but he himself had to be deceived This was the act of Pierre himself.)
– Name the main distinctive features Pierre's character. (Pierre is characterized by true kindness and humanity).
Message. ""

After this, Pierre experiences spiritual crisis: “What’s wrong? What's good? What should you love, what should you hate? Why do you need to live and what am I? What is life? What is death? What force controls everything? - he asks himself.
Pierre and the Masonic Society. (6 slide)
Teacher: After breaking up with his wife, Pierre wanted to find a new truth.
Pierre's entry into the Masonic society occurred during a difficult period of his life associated with his marriage to Helen Kuragina. He considered himself guilty for marrying without loving... And later, the fact that he almost killed Dolokhov because he himself was to blame for marrying without loving puts Pierre into the deepest crisis.
Message by Shajin Sayan “Pierre Bezukhov in the Masonic Society”
– Why does Pierre, being an atheist and considering religion “unfair,” join the Masonic society? (Pierre was attracted by the formulation of the goals of this society: by purifying and correcting the heart and mind of individual members of society, thereby correcting the human race. Pierre perceived in Freemasonry not religion, but its moral side. (6 slide) This decision gave him for a time the illusion of a way out of the impasse , caused by the feeling of the purposelessness of existence. It opened the way for him to do the activity for which he yearned.)
– Why did Pierre become disillusioned with Freemasonry? (He is convinced that the majority achieve their personal goals in Freemasonry: uniforms, crosses, connections in society. He suspected that Russian Freemasonry had gone down the wrong path and was going abroad. And when he returned and offered his brothers his program, he realized that it will not be accepted.)
Teacher: It was no accident that Tolstoy brought his hero into Freemasonry. Advanced people of this era, they looked for more advanced standards of social life in Freemasonry, tried to create organized prerequisites for the social restructuring of society on a reasonable basis. But Freemasonry did not live up to the hopes placed on it by the leading nobility.
Another step taken by Pierre almost simultaneously with his entry into the Masonic order was an attempt to “completely liberate” the peasants of his estates from serfdom. However, this attempt not only failed, but also revealed Pierre’s complete incompetence in practical matters. (7 slide)
Teacher.
Here Tolstoy leaves the hero on the eve of the events of 1812 in the same impasse of unresolved issues as at the time of his break with his wife. The entire path he made independently during these years (1805-1812) did not lead to anything.
But this does not mean that the problem of Pierre Bezukhov’s life was completely insoluble. The revival of the hero was possible, but not on the path of personal self-improvement and liberal activity...
1812 Borodino in the life of Pierre (8 slide)
Malakshinova Tanya "(Message “Pierre on the Borodino Field”)

– Battle (fragment of the video film “War and Peace” directed by S. Bondarchuk. Disc).
Conversation on questions:
Teacher.
-Conclusion: He realized here that history is created by the most powerful force in the world - the people. Bezukhov approves words of wisdom unknown soldier: “They want to attack all the people, one word - Moscow. They want to make one end.” Pierre now not only observes what is happening, but reflects and analyzes. Under the influence of people from the people, he decides to participate in the defense of Moscow.
Teacher. A new stage in Pierre's quest was his stay in French captivity, where he ends up after a fight with French soldiers, where he meets Platon Karataev.
Conversation on issues.
– Who is Platon Karataev? In a wretched barracks, Pierre meets Platon Karataev, which brings the hero closer to ordinary people. .Platon Karataev is the embodiment of “everything Russian, good, round.” He loves and knows how to work. He treats everything with sincerity. It is characterized by selfless love To all people, patience.
-How does Platon Karataev appear on the pages of the novel? Let’s open the textbooks on page 154 and read a short passage (from the words “ Physical strength)
– Why is the meeting with Platon Karataev important for Pierre? Pierre became close to Karataev, fell under his influence and began to look at life as a spontaneous and natural process. Under the influence of Karataev, Pierre's spiritual revival occurs. Like this simple peasant, Pierre begins to love life in all its manifestations, despite all the vicissitudes of fate. He comprehends the truth: happiness lies in the person himself, one must love life. Man was created for happiness. (slide 10) The meaning and purpose of each person is to be a part and reflection of the whole world. Close rapprochement with the people after his release from captivity leads Pierre to Decembrism.
Conclusion: " Peace of mind, Pierre gains confidence in the meaning of life after experiencing the heroic time of the 12th year and the suffering of captivity next to ordinary people, with
Platon Karataev. (slide 9)
Teacher: Tolstoy's hero goes through a new moral test. It became a real, great love for Natasha Rostova. So, Pierre and Natasha Rostova.
-Describe the portrait of Natasha Rostova at the beginning of the novel (At the beginning of the novel, Natasha appears to us as a 13-year-old girl. “Black-eyed, with a big mouth, ugly, but live girl, with their childish open shoulders, which, shrinking, moved in their bodice from fast running, with their black curls clumped back, thin bare arms and small legs in lace pantaloons and open shoes...")
-Tell us about the relationship between Natasha and Pierre. (Natasha will also go through trials more than once in life. On her way she will meet Pierre. His “childish soul” was close to Natasha. He idolized her, and Natasha was grateful to him only for the fact that he exists in the world and that he is the only one for her comfort.
-What can you say about Natasha? Do you like her? (Natasha Rostova is the most beautiful in a feminine way in Russian literature. The image of Natasha embodied the ideal of a woman for Tolstoy - a woman for whom family is the meaning of her whole life. She will become the mother of 4 four children).
- What is the further fate of our hero in the epilogue? (A happy husband and father. A man who, in a dispute with Nikolai Rostov, expresses convictions that allow him to be seen as a future Decembrist. Pierre, after long and difficult searches found happiness in the fusion of social activities and happy family life.
– Why does Pierre think that Karataev would not approve of him? (If the novel had been continued, it would have become clear that Pierre was again in error at that moment. Pierre’s closeness with the future Decembrists should not be exaggerated. Tolstoy’s goal, as already noted, is to trace the very process of the emergence of Decembrist ideas.
Relaxation(3 min.)
Conclusion of the lesson: Pierre was always looking for a solution to the question of the meaning of life: “He looked for this in Freemasonry, in the distraction of social life, in wine, in the heroic feat of self-sacrifice, in romantic love for Natasha. As a result of communicating with Platon Karataev, Pierre finds “that peace and self-satisfaction for which he had vainly strived before,” he “... learned not with his mind, but with his whole being, that man was created for happiness, that happiness is in him. Thus, it is Pierre Bezukhov who achieves spiritual harmony with the surrounding world and with himself in “War and Peace”.
- Let's remember the epigraph “To live honestly, you have to rush, get confused, fight, make mistakes, start and quit, start again and quit again. And calmness is spiritual meanness.”
A person who is morally demanding of himself cannot be complacent - he must struggle, get confused, he must look for the meaning of life, his own and all people’s. This belief is one of the main and constant among Tolstoy himself (slide 11)
Intense intellectual search, nobility in love for Natasha Rostova, genuine patriotism, the desire to make society more just and humane, honesty and naturalness, the desire for self-improvement make Pierre one of the best people his time. (slide12)
Summing up the results of our work in the lesson today, I ask you to compose a syncwine on the topic “Pierre Bezukhov.” (Slide 13) will remind you of the rules for compiling a syncwine)
1st line – header, which contains keyword, theme of syncwine, concept expressed in the form of a noun.
Line 2 – two adjectives.
Line 3 – three verbs.
Line 4 – a phrase carrying certain meaning.
Line 5 – summary, conclusion, one word, noun. For example:
Pierre Bezukhov
Smart, kind
Thinks, analyzes, searches
Calmness - spiritual meanness
Happiness. (Development (Personality)
Reading poems by students.

Teacher.
Pierre Bezukhov found his happiness - next to him was his beloved and loving woman, he found his place in life. But the main thing is still ahead. Because Bezukhov, like many other heroes of the novel, considers serving people as his main purpose. (slide 14)
Happiness illuminates his whole life with an even and calm light. The main conviction that Pierre learned from his long life quest and which is close to Tolstoy himself is this: “As long as there is life, there is happiness.”
I. Assessing student work.
II. Homework: p. 175, questions 3, 4, 7.

Messages (approximate)
Pierre Bezukhov in the company of “golden” youth
Pierre is sharply contrasted with those around him in the episode of the death of old man Bezukhov. Now he is the heir to his immensely rich father. Having received the title of count, Pierre immediately finds himself in the center of attention of secular society, where he was pleased and, as it seemed to him, loved. And he plunges into the flow of new life, submitting to the atmosphere big world. So he finds himself in the company of the “golden youth” - Anatoly Kuragin and Dolokhov. Under the influence of Anatole, he spends his days in revelry, unable to escape from this cycle. Pierre is wasting his vitality, showing lack of will. Prince Andrei tries to convince him that this dissolute life really does not suit him.
Pierre's marriage to Helen Kuragina dates back to this time. He perfectly understands her insignificance and outright stupidity. . However, Pierre's feelings are influenced by her beauty and feminine charm, although real, deep love Tolstoy's hero does not experience. Time will pass, and Pierre will hate Helene and feel her depravity with all his soul.
In this regard important point became a duel with Dolokhov, which took place after Pierre received an anonymous letter at a dinner in honor of Bagration that his wife was cheating on him with his former friend. Pierre does not want to believe this due to the purity and nobility of his nature, but at the same time he believes the letter, because he knows Helen and her lover well. Dolokhov's brazen behavior at the table throws Pierre off balance and leads to a fight. It is quite obvious to him that now he hates Helen and is ready to break with her forever, and at the same time break with the world in which she lived.
The attitude of Dolokhov and Pierre to the duel is different. The first goes into a fight with the firm intention of killing, and the second suffers from having to shoot a person. In addition, Pierre has never held a pistol in his hands and, in order to quickly end this vile business, he somehow pulls the trigger, and when he wounds his enemy, barely holding back his sobs, he rushes to him. “Stupid!.. Death... Lies...” he repeated, walking through the snow into the forest. So a separate episode, a quarrel with Dolokhov, becomes a milestone for Pierre, opening up to him a world of lies in which he was destined to find himself for some time.
Message. Pierre in the Masonic Society
Begins new stage Pierre's spiritual quest when, in a state of deep moral crisis, he meets the freemason Bazdeev on his way from Moscow. Pierre joins the religious and philosophical society of Freemasons. He is looking here for spiritual and moral renewal, hopes for rebirth to a new life, longs for personal improvement, and believes in the possibility of achieving brotherly love. He also wants to correct the imperfections of life, and this task does not seem difficult to him at all.
And so, under the influence of Masonic ideas, Pierre decides to free the peasants who belong to him from serfdom. He accepts the construction of schools, hospitals, and shelters as a radical improvement in the lives of peasants, while all this was ostentatious and burdensome for them. Pierre's undertakings not only did not alleviate the plight of the peasants, but also worsened their situation, because the predation of the rich was involved here.
Neither the transformations in the village nor Freemasonry lived up to the hopes that Pierre had placed on them. He is disappointed in the goals of the Masonic organization, which now seems to him deceitful, vicious and hypocritical, where everyone is concerned primarily with their career. Feeling the futility of Masonic ideas, which did not change him at all own life, Pierre “suddenly felt the impossibility of continuing his old life.”

War of 1812. Borodino
The events of the War of 1812 produce a sharp change in Pierre's worldview. They gave him the opportunity to get out of a state of selfish isolation. He begins to be overcome by an anxiety that is incomprehensible to him, and, although he does not know how to understand the events taking place, he inevitably joins the flow of reality and thinks about his participation in the destinies of the Fatherland. And these are not just thoughts. He prepares a militia, and then goes to Mozhaisk, to the field of the Borodino battle, where a new world of ordinary people, unfamiliar to him, opens up before him.
Under the influence of people from the people, Pierre decides to participate in the defense of Moscow. He wants to kill Napoleon in order to save the peoples of Europe from the one who brought them so much suffering and evil. Naturally, he sharply changes his attitude towards Napoleon’s personality, his former sympathy is replaced by hatred of the despot. However, many obstacles, as well as a meeting with the French captain Rambel, change his plans, and he abandons the plan to kill the French emperor.
Borodino becomes a new stage in Pierre's development process. Seeing the militia men dressed in white shirts for the first time, Pierre caught the spirit of spontaneous patriotism emanating from them, expressed in a clear determination to steadfastly defend their native land. Pierre realized that this is the force that moves events - the people. With all his soul he understood the hidden meaning of the soldier’s words: “They want to attack all the people, one word - Moscow.”
Pierre now not only observes what is happening, but reflects and analyzes. Here he was able to feel that “hidden warmth of patriotism” that made the Russian people invincible.
An important stage On the path of Pierre's quest is his visit to the Borodino field at the time of the famous battle.
Pierre Bezukhov in the company of “golden” youth
Questions. – Did Pierre want a duel? How does Pierre cope with Dolokhov’s injury? After all, this was the first time he had shot at a person. (He is sad, melancholy. And he suffers not only because he wounded Dolokhov, but also because life in general is absurd, if you don’t want to kill, you can suddenly kill)
Conclusion: Pierre cannot see someone else’s suffering, someone else’s misfortune, even if they are experienced by a person whom he does not love, who is guilty before him.
An important stage in Pierre’s quest is his visit to the Borodino field at the time of the famous battle.
-Conclusion: He realized here that history is created by the most powerful force in the world - the people. Bezukhov approvingly perceives the wise words of the unknown soldier: “They want to attack all the people, one word - Moscow. They want to make one end.” Pierre now not only observes what is happening, but reflects and analyzes. Under the influence of people from the people, he decides to participate in the defense of Moscow.
- What is the further fate of our hero in the epilogue? (A happy husband and father. A man who, in a dispute with Nikolai Rostov, expresses convictions that allow him to be seen as a future Decembrist. Pierre, after a long and difficult search, found happiness in the merging of social activities and a happy family life.)
Lesson conclusion:
Pierre always sought a solution to the question of the meaning of life: “He looked for this in Freemasonry, in the distraction of social life, in wine, in the heroic feat of self-sacrifice, in romantic love for Natasha. As a result of communicating with Platon Karataev, Pierre finds peace and self-satisfaction, which he had strived for in vain before,” he “...learned that man was created for happiness, that happiness is in himself. Thus, it is Pierre Bezukhov who achieves spiritual harmony with the surrounding world and with himself in “War and Peace”.

List of used literature
1.Literature. 10th grade. Textbook for general education institutions. At 2 o'clock / p/r V.I. Korovin.. - M.,: Education, 2012.
2.N.V.Egorova. Lesson developments for literature of the 19th century century: 11th grade. In 2 parts. – M.: Vako, 2011
3. I’m going to a literature lesson, 10th grade M. “The First of September,” 2013.
3. Teaching literature in 10th grade. Book for teachers M. 2012.