Platon Karaev. Platon Karataev in the novel “War and Peace”: image and characteristics, description of the portrait
Heroes in whom deep things happen inner work, belong to noble class. The moral world of the peasantry is a kind of ideal for the author. The nobles, in his opinion, can only approach the moral integrity of the Russian peasant. However, Tolstoy was not a “chronicler of people’s life” - he describes the people every time from a certain perspective, through the eyes of one or another hero. So we see Platon Karataev in the novel “War and Peace” through the eyes of Pierre Bezukhov.
Karataev has become so deeply ingrained in the life of the people that he has neither his own feelings, nor his aspirations, nor his own language. “When you go to bed,” he said, “put it down, Lord, like a pebble, and lift it up into a ball,” and when he woke up, he repeated: “Lie down and curl up, get up and shake yourself.” He is a simple and truthful person, and most importantly, kind. Karataev’s kindness is the main quality of his nature: “He loved his mongrel, he loved his comrades, the French, he loved Pierre, who was his neighbor; but Pierre felt that Karataev, despite all the affectionate tenderness towards him, would not be upset for a minute by separation from him..." There was not even a hint of selfishness in this, and it was precisely this trait of those around him that offended Pierre. Karataev's life seemed to have no meaning in itself. Karataev was part of the national whole. The terrible war was raging around. Karataev became a soldier by chance, instead of his brother, whom he could no longer have, there was never any property, but Platon Karataev did not need anything. He lives with an inner feeling of humility. This humble perception of his own fate, complete agreement with it, touched Pierre. In Karataev’s melodious voice there was “such an expression of affection and simplicity that Pierre wanted to answer, but his jaw trembled, and he felt tears.”
Critics spoke of Karataev's fatalism and his optimism. Both of these qualities are national character, the best representatives of the people, according to Tolstoy, share these qualities: first of all, Kutuzov, Bagration, officers from the people Tushin and Timokhin.
Meeting Karataev was a turning point for Pierre. He will gain self-confidence that he lacked before, the same confidence that is based on faith in the immortality of his own soul.
Tolstoy’s great skill was also reflected in the fact that, in general, an episodic person (Platon Karataev) becomes the most important for the spiritual development of one of the main characters, an educated, self-demanding and very complex person. The author seems to bring the count closer to peasant simplicity, to evangelical humility, and this reveals the complexity and inconsistency of Tolstoy’s worldview.
Source (abbreviated): Lanin B.A. Russian language and literature. Literature: 10th grade / B.A. Lanin, L.Yu. Ustinova, V.M. Shamchikova. - M.: Ventana-Graf, 2016
Students of the Yasnaya Polyana school, Platon Karataev and Nikolai Rostov
In 1862, Lev Nikolaevich was engaged in pedagogy and became convinced of what Rousseau once wrote about: that a child contains elements of a perfect, intact person.
In the article “Who should learn to write from whom: the peasant children from us or us from the peasant children?” Lev Nikolaevich found out for himself: whose self-awareness is higher, stronger - his or that of a peasant child.
In one version of the article, he wrote: “Imagine a perfect, mathematically correct, living ball, developing with its own power. All parts of this ball grow with their own strength, commensurate with the other parts. This ball is a model of perfection, but it must grow to its limit of size, among countless numbers of the same freely growing balls... The task is to bring the balls to their size, preserving their primitive form... Only violence violates the primitive form.”
Dreaming of a free person, Tolstoy saw such a person in peasant children, not yet disfigured by violence. The peasant world seems to him to be a combination of freely growing living forces that do not violate their primitive form.
Tolstoy then considered the Cossacks to be the ideal of the peasant world. And here he comes into conflict, because he himself is a landowner, he wants to be a good landowner, and the Cossacks are a society without a landowner. Tolstoy wanted to see a freely developed person in Eroshka, but Eroshka’s world is destroyed - the Cossacks around him are no longer the same. People are suing, stealing each other’s gardens: the Cossacks are gone. The patriarchal peasantry is gone, long gone.
Tolstoy believes that “Our ideal is behind, not in front.”
Platon Karataev belongs to this ideal.
The image of Platon Karataev was created by Tolstoy during the completion of the text: in the plan there is neither Karataev nor the person behind whom we should assume Karataev. Pierre is alone in captivity; he protects the child he carried from the fire.
Karataev is introduced into the novel with a short and dense description, occupying two chapters in the episodes of Pierre Bezukhov’s captivity and then in the next book, when describing the French retreat from Moscow, several more chapters.
Karataev is from a wealthy family, in which there are many adult men.
“Our patrimony is rich, there is a lot of land, the men and our house live well, thank God. Father himself went out to mow. We lived well."
After Plato ended up in military service instead of his brother for cutting down forests, the strong family did not shake.
“I came on leave, I’ll tell you. I see they live better than before. The yard is full of bellies, women are at home, two brothers are at work.”
Everything is going for the better for Karataev. He doesn’t see the war and doesn’t talk about it.
Combat soldier of the Russian army early XIX centuries was cut off from the peasantry and had to go through many fields and countries if he went through battle,
Foreigners wrote very different things about the Russian soldier of the 1812 era. I will give two extracts: “The Russian dies with fearlessness in the very place where his boss ordered him to die” ( Byuozhine).
This is a persistent, strong soldier, accustomed to the formation.
“Russians die in battle, and their battalions do not ask for mercy...” ( Kanfich).
Considering that Platon Karataev was put into service for twenty-one years, he has been in service for thirty years, in any case, more than twenty-five years. This means that he entered service in the eighties of the 18th century. Thus, Karataev is a soldier with extensive military experience.
Meanwhile, Tolstoy’s Platon Karataev is not a soldier, but a man, although it is said that Platon Karataev must be over fifty years old, judging by his stories about the campaigns in which he participated as a long-time soldier.
Karataev is a man in captivity, like Pierre is a gentleman in captivity.
At the same time, captivity returns Karataev to the patriarchal life of the village.
These are drops of liquid that, according to Tolstoy, took on their true spherical shape.
“He did not understand and could not understand the meaning of words taken separately from the speech. His every word and every action was a manifestation of an activity unknown to him, which was his life. But his life, as he himself looked at it, had no meaning as a separate life. It made sense only as a part of the whole, which he constantly felt.”
Tolstoy claims that Platon Karataev “reluctantly spoke about his time as a soldier, although he did not complain and often repeated that he was never beaten throughout his service.”
Karataev willingly threw off all his soldierly pretense and “involuntarily returned to his former peasant, folk mindset.”
“A soldier on leave is a shirt made from trousers,” he used to say.”
There is no soldier's tone in Karataev's speech.
Tolstoy emphasizes: “The sayings that filled his speech were not, for the most part, those indecent and glib sayings that soldiers say.”
It’s hard to believe that a man who served for thirty years in combat, in foreign campaigns, in very tightly knit Russian regiments, did not accept anything military and remained to such an extent a peasant.
In accordance with this, Karataev speaks in proverbs, which he himself does not notice and cannot even repeat.
Let us note that all these proverbs were taken by Tolstoy from books.
Book and characteristics of proverbs.
“The main feature of his speech was its spontaneity and argument. He apparently never thought about what he said or what he would say, and because of this there was a special, irresistible persuasiveness in the speed and fidelity of his intonations.”
Karataev can do everything “not very well, but not badly either.”
He loves to sing, but “not the way songwriters sing when they know they are being listened to.”
What Platon Karataev says is, as it were, purified and generalized, as if it had already been published.
This in the description gives a special “spirit of simplicity and truth.”
During the era of writing “War and Peace,” Tolstoy studied folklore, Russian epics, and studied proverbs; in his library there was Buslaev, a deep but tendentious researcher who exaggerates the inertia of folklore.
Buslaev wrote in “Historical Sketches”: “During the epic period, no one was the creator of a myth, a legend, or a song. Poetic inspiration belonged to one and all..."
Elsewhere in the same article, Buslaev writes: “Everything went on as usual, as it had been customary from time immemorial... Even minute movements of the heart, joy and grief were expressed not so much by a personal outburst of passion, but by ordinary outpourings of feelings - at a wedding in wedding songs, at funerals in lamentations, once forever composed in ancient times and always repeated almost without change. There was no individual coming out of such a closed circle.”
Buslaev said: “The entire area of thinking of our ancestors was limited by language. He was not only an external expression, but an essential integral part that indivisible moral activity of an entire people, in which each person, although he takes an active part, does not yet emerge from the continuous mass of the entire people.”
Here the researcher exaggerates and idealizes what Tolstoy called the “swarm” principle among the people.
Meanwhile, folklore has its own direction; this orientation was subsequently formulated by V.I. Lenin, saying that folklore expresses the aspirations and expectations of the people; folklore is not only the creation of history, but also a premonition of the future.
The actions of Ilya Muromets in the epics are not harmless and not neutral; It’s not for nothing that he is an “old Cossack.”
Karataev’s wisdom is that childish humility that Tolstoy did not encounter at school.
The school in Yasnaya Polyana was destroyed by the gendarmes, but the gendarme raid only preceded the events: Tolstoy himself had already pruned and replanted himself like an apple tree, as he wrote in a letter to A. A. Tolstoy, he wanted to move into the usual path of noble life. Seeking a path to happiness along ordinary paths, Tolstoy got married. He wanted to be like everyone else, he didn’t want to be “piebald” like Kholstomer, he wanted to be a landowner, an aristocrat living in his village, independent of anyone.
It was a retreat.
In his writing, expanding his analysis, Lev Nikolaevich went so far as to describe Pierre’s captivity.
In captivity, Pierre freed himself, freed himself from his family and property, and recognized Platon Karataev. Tolstoy frames knowledge in the contradictory form of a dream.
Reality enters the dream; reality in its own way unravels what is given in the dream. This solution is cruel.
In a dream, Tolstoy sees Platon Karataev as he saw peasant children in the Yasnaya Polyana school.
Events of reality are combined with dreams. Pierre thinks: “...life is everything. Life is God. Everything moves and moves, and this movement is God. And as long as there is life, there is the pleasure of self-consciousness of the deity. Love life, love God. It is most difficult and most blissful to love this life in one’s suffering, in the innocence of suffering.”
"Karataev!" – Pierre remembered.
And suddenly Pierre introduced himself to a living, long-forgotten, gentle old teacher who taught Pierre geography in Switzerland. “Wait,” said the old man. And he showed Pierre the globe. This globe was a living, oscillating ball that had no dimensions. The entire surface of the ball consisted of drops tightly compressed together. And these drops all moved, moved and then merged from several into one, then from one they were divided into many. Each drop sought to spread out, to capture the greatest possible space, but others, striving for the same thing, compressed it, sometimes destroyed it, sometimes merged with it.
“This is life,” said the old teacher.”
Such is the dream. Karataev spilled and disappeared.
“Vous avez compris, mon enfant,” said the teacher.
– Vous avez compris, sacr? nom,” the voice shouted.
The dream said: “Do you understand, child?”
Reality says: “Do you understand, damned one?”
It turns out that Platon Karataev was shot, and his purple dog has now passed to Pierre Bezukhov.
The awakening is cruel, although Tolstoy accepts this awakening and the disappearance of Platon Karataev.
There is another man in the novel - partisan Tikhon Shcherbaty, who killed the landowner, and then turned out to be a hero, even from the point of view of Vasily Denisov. Tikhon Shcherbaty is a Pugachetist in his tendency; he passes through the novel as if sideways.
Platon Karataev is accepted entirely by Tolstoy, but at the end of the novel Pierre becomes a Decembrist. The liberation of Pierre, which paradoxically gave him captivity, freeing him from his disliked wife, removing the feeling of guilt from him - this liberation is over, but in his new family Pierre becomes a Decembrist, whom Platon Karataev would not approve of.
Once upon a time, Nikolai Rostov arrived on time in the village of Bogucharovo, where the men were rioting: he hit the “ringleader” and brought everyone into obedience. So he became the hero and liberator of Maria Bolkonskaya.
Now Pierre runs into Nikolai Rostov, who listens to him with displeasure. Nikolai objects to Pierre after hearing him talk about creating a new society:
“The society may not be secret if the government allows it. Not only is it not hostile to the government, but it is a society of true conservatives. Society of gentlemen in full meaning this word. We are only so that Pugachev does not come to slaughter both my and your children and so that Arakcheev does not send me to a military settlement - we only join hand in hand for this purpose, with the sole goal of the common good and common security.
– Yes, but a secret society is therefore hostile and harmful, which can only give rise to evil.
- From what? Did the Tugendbund, which saved Europe (at that time they did not dare to think that Russia had saved Europe), produced anything harmful? Tugendbund is a union of virtue: it is love, mutual assistance; This is what Christ preached on the cross..."
To this Denisov says:
“Well, brother, it’s the Tugendbund that’s good for sausage makers, but I don’t understand it, and I can’t even pronounce it... Everything is bad and disgusting, I agree, but I don’t understand the Tugendbund, and I don’t like it - so riot, that's it! Je suis vot’e homme.”
Nikolai does not accept Pierre's smile and Natasha's laughter with which they received these words. Nikolai says: “...tell me now Arakcheev to go at you with a squadron and cut down - I won’t think for a second and I’ll go. And then judge as you want.”
Nikolai Rostov not only verbally acted as a direct enemy of Pierre. People like him went and cut down and defeated the Decembrists.
The son of Andrei Bolkonsky listens to the conversation, then in a dream he sees a picture in which Tolstoy expressed his understanding of the December uprising.
“He saw in a dream himself and Pierre wearing helmets, such as those depicted in Plutarch’s edition. He and Uncle Pierre walked ahead of a huge army. This army was composed of white, oblique lines that filled the air like those cobwebs that fly in the fall and which Desalles called le fil de la Vierge. Ahead was glory, the same as these threads, but only a little denser. “They - he and Pierre - rushed easily and joyfully closer and closer to the goal. Suddenly the threads that moved them began to weaken, get tangled, and it became heavy. And Uncle Nikolai Ilyich stopped in front of them in a menacing and stern pose.
- Did you do this? - he said, pointing to the broken sealing wax and feathers. “I love you, but Arakcheev ordered me, and I will kill the first one who moves forward.”
Nikolenka is horrified; he feels the destruction of Pierre, who is at the same time Prince Andrei. He feels “...the weakness of love: he felt powerless, boneless and liquid. His father caressed and pitied him, but Uncle Nikolai Ilyich moved closer and closer towards them. Horror gripped Nikolenka, and he woke up.”
Nikolenka wakes up with words of love for her father and Pierre. He says:
“-Yes, I will do what even He was satisfied…"
This ends the event part of War and Peace. The work ends with the young man's promise to fight.
Through a description of the Decembrist’s return to Moscow, Tolstoy approached the great work and ended it with the words of a young man, Herzen’s peer.
During the writing of the novel, Tolstoy’s diaries were not preserved. The epic itself is a diary.
This text is an introductory fragment. From the book How Far Until Tomorrow author Moiseev Nikita NikolaevichRostov-on-Don Another, very joyful period of my life began after moving to Rostov-on-Don. It opened unexpectedly after all the terrible troubles, grief and dangers that befell me in the winter of 1949-50. Happiness came unexpectedly - I was never ready for it.
From the book Documents of the life and work of J. S. Bach author Schulze Hans-JoachimPERFORMING FORCES: STUDENTS, CITY MUSICIANS, STUDENTS OF ST. THOMAS Help of students in the performance of church music and in concerts of the Collegium musicum circle 182 (I/56a) In accordance with the fact that the bearer of this, Mr. Johann [(Georg!)] Gottlieb [(Gottfried!)] Wagner,
From the book Plato. Aristotle (3rd ed., revised and supplemented) [with illustrations] author Losev Alexey Fedorovich From the book Leo Tolstoy author Shklovsky Viktor BorisovichThe heyday of the Yasnaya Polyana school Tolstoy taught the first classes at the school in 1849; as he himself says in the article “Project general plan organization of public schools." The school was not officially registered in any way; these were classes of a young landowner with the children of his serfs. Helped Tolstoy
From the book Conversations with Ranevskaya authorTashkent Karataev Why am I writing about some things that may seem insignificant, small - and most likely, they really are? I am writing about Ranevskaya, an actress and a person. You can’t do without little things: sometimes they are very eloquent. And F. G. herself knew the price
From the book Impressions of my life author Tenisheva Maria KlavdievnaXVI Purchase of Flenov. School. Teachers. Students. Lesson program. The purpose of the school As soon as we decided to finally make our permanent summer shelter out of Talashkino, I began to realize my long-standing, cherished dream, the force of circumstances placed on long years under
From book Short story philosophy by Johnston DerekPlato Socrates in his philosophical reasoning was more inclined to criticize the opinions of other people than to form his own ideas. Plato far surpassed Socrates in this regard. He was the first thinker to form his own
From the book Memoirs. From serfdom to the Bolsheviks author Wrangel Nikolai EgorovichRostov-on-Don This completely special city, which in no way resembles ordinary Russian centers, arose and grew independently, spontaneously, as cities grow in a free America, but not in an official-controlled Russia. It was not created by the authorities, not by the powerful nobility,
From the book of Pythagoras author Surikov Igor EvgenievichPlato the Pythagorean One of the most significant figures in the history of Pythagoreanism is Plato - one of the greatest philosophers of all times and peoples, in some respects, one might say, the embodiment of Philosophy itself. We assume in advance that some readers will be surprised
From the book by Faina Ranevskaya. Fufa Magnificent, or with humor in life author Skorokhodov Gleb AnatolievichTASHKENT KARATAEV Why am I writing about some things that may seem insignificant, small - and most likely, they really are? I am writing about Ranevskaya, an actress and a person. You can’t do without little things: sometimes they are very eloquent. And F. G. herself knew the price
From the book 10 geniuses of science author Fomin Alexander VladimirovichPlato and the Academy Plato founded the academy around 387 BC. Actually, the word “academy” goes back to the school of Plato. After the death of his teacher Socrates, Plato traveled a lot. In particular, he paid special attention to the Greek colonies in Southern Italy, where
From the book Ten Years on the Razor's Edge author Konarzhevsky Anatoly IgnatievichRostov-on-Don In Rostov I could devote more time to creative work. It was there that the standard for installing plumbing systems in residential buildings was born, which it began to implement at Rostov sites, and to introduce installation preparation areas, using the experience of Krasnodar. But
From the book Without an Epilogue author Plyatt Rostislav YanovichRostov For me, a Rostovite by birth, the meeting with my homeland did not make much of an impression. Firstly, I was taken away from Rostov as a one-year-old child and, therefore, no memories remained, and secondly, all emotions and thoughts were turned to the theater, where I had to live and
From the book 50 geniuses who changed the world author Ochkurova Oksana YurievnaPlato Real name - Aristocles (born in 427 BC - died in 347 BC) Ancient Greek idealist philosopher, the founder of European philosophy. Founder of the school of Platonism. The creator of the doctrine - the first classical form of objective idealism and genre
From the book Stubborn Classic. Collected Poems (1889–1934) author Shestakov Dmitry Petrovich From the author's bookXVIII. Plato. "And he". 534 By the waters of honey, in the thickets of the muses And I, friends, flew like a bee, And I learned the living union of a submissive song with beauty. And I was light and winged, And I was accessible to creation, As soon as the immortals commanded To flare up madly with inspiration. April 10th
Article menu:
It rarely happens that the life and personality of serfs or individual representatives of the peasantry become the reason for changes in the personality or worldview of people in high society, aristocrats. This trend is exclusive to real life and no less rare in literature or other branches of art.
Basically, the opposite happens: powerful gentlemen bring dramatic changes to the lives of ordinary people. In the novel L.N. Tolstoy’s “War and Peace” contains many situations that happen over the years in everyday life. There are many heroes in the novel, some of them occupy a dominant position, others a secondary one.
Distinctive feature An epic novel is that all the characters in the novel are closely related to each other. The actions of the acting characters partially or globally influence life situations other characters. One of the main ones in terms of such influence on the worldview of other characters is the image of Platon Karataev.
Biography and appearance of Platon Karataev
Platon Karataev is a short-lived character in the novel. He appears in the novel only in a few chapters, but his influence on the future fate of one of the representatives of the aristocracy, Pierre Bezukhov, becomes exceptionally great.
The reader meets this character at the age of 50 Karataev. This age limit is quite vague - Karataev himself does not know exactly how many winters he lived. Karataev’s parents are simple peasants; they were not literate, so the data on exact date the birth of a son has not been preserved.
Plato's biography does not stand out in any way in the context of an ordinary representative of the peasantry. He is an illiterate man, his wisdom is based solely on life experience his personal and other representatives of the peasantry. However, despite this, in his mental development he is somewhat superior to the highly educated aristocrat Pierre.
We invite you to read Leo Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace.”
This is explained by the fact that Bezukhov lacks pragmatic life positions; he has never had the opportunity to solve complex, controversial issues and life problems. It is full of idealistic concepts and perception of reality within the framework of unreality. His world is a utopia.
Platon Karataev is a good-natured, sincere person. All his appearance features lead to the perception of him as a warm and pleasant and positive image of the novel. He has a positive, optimistic attitude and resembles the sun: he has an absolutely round head, gentle brown eyes, and a sweet, pleasant smile. He himself is short. Plato smiles often, and his good white teeth become visible. His hair was still untouched by gray on either his head or beard. His body was distinguished by smooth movements and flexibility - which was surprising for a man of his age and origin.
We know very little about the hero’s childhood and youth. Tolstoy is not interested in the process of his formation as an integral personality, but in the end result of this process.
In clothing, Karataev adheres to the principle of convenience and practicality - his clothes should not hinder movements.
During the captivity of the Karataevs, he wears a dirty, torn shirt and black, soiled trousers. Every time he moves, he smells an unpleasant, pungent smell of sweat.
Karataev's life before military service
The life of Platon Karataev before his service was more joyful and successful, although it was not without its tragedies and sorrows.
Plato got married and had a daughter. However, fate was not kind to the girl - she died before her father entered the service.
Tolstoy does not tell us what happened to Plato’s wife and whether he had any more children. What we know about civil life is that Karataev did not live poorly. He was not a wealthy peasant, but he was not poor either. His service in the army was predetermined by an accident - Plato was caught cutting down someone else's forest and given up as a soldier. In the army, Plato did not lose his positive attitude, but such an activity is alien to him, he sincerely regrets that he is not at home. He misses his old life, he misses his home.
The character of Platon Karataev
Platon Karataev does not have an explosive, contradictory character. He knows well all the hardships of peasant life, understands and is aware of the injustices and difficulties of life, but perceives it as inevitable.
Karataev is a sociable person, he loves to talk and knows how to find a common language with virtually any person. He knows a lot interesting stories, knows how to interest his interlocutor. His speech is poetic, it is devoid of the rudeness common among soldiers.
Plato knows many proverbs and sayings and often uses them in his speech. Soldiers often use proverbs, but mostly they bear the imprint of military life - with a certain amount of rudeness and obscenity. Karataev's proverbs are not like soldiers' sayings - they exclude rudeness and vulgarity. Karataev has a pleasant voice, he speaks in the manner of Russian peasant women - melodiously and drawlingly.
Plato can sing well and loves to do it very much. He does this unlike ordinary singers - his singing is not like the trill of birds - it is gentle and melodic. Karataev does not sing mindlessly, automatically, he passes the song through himself, it seems that he is living the song.
Karataev has golden hands. He knows how to do any work, he doesn’t always do it well, but still the objects he makes are of tolerable, good quality. Plato knows how to do both truly masculine - hard, physical work, and women's work - he cooks food well, knows how to sew.
He is a caring, selfless person. During captivity, Karataev sews Bezukhov’s shirt and makes his shoes. He does this not for a selfish purpose - to curry favor with a rich aristocrat, so that, in the event of a successful release from captivity, he will receive some kind of reward from him, but out of the kindness of his heart. He feels sorry for those unadapted to the difficulties of captivity, military service Pierre.
Karataev is a kind, not greedy person. He feeds Pierre Bezukhov and often brings him baked potatoes.
Karataev believes that he must stick to his word. Promise - fulfill - he always lived up to this simple truth.
In the best traditions of the peasantry, Karataev is endowed with hard work. He cannot sit still with nothing to do, even in captivity he is constantly busy with something - making crafts, helping others - for him this is natural state.
We are accustomed to the fact that ordinary men are far from neat, but this only partially applies to Plato. He may look rather untidy himself, but in relation to the products of his labor he is always very neat. This diametrically opposite combination is surprising.
Most people, regardless of social and financial situation, tend to become attached to other people. At the same time, it does not matter what feelings prevail in them in relation to certain characters - friendship, sympathy or love. Karataev is friendly, he easily gets along with new people, but does not feel much affection. He easily breaks up with people. At the same time, Plato never initiates the cessation of communication. In most cases, such events occur in the context of certain events over which neither he nor his interlocutor has control.
Those around him have a completely positive opinion - he is non-conflict, has a positive attitude, knows how to support a person in difficult times, and infect him with his cheerfulness. It is practically impossible to summarize this fact and determine whether Karataev had such an attitude before his service.
On the one hand, we can assume that he previously had a different attitude - he sincerely regrets that he is far from his home and civilized, “peasant” life.
And it is likely that this attitude was formed in Karataev as a result of military service - according to Plato, he had already repeatedly taken part in military events and was not the first time taking part in battles, so he could already experience all the bitterness of the loss of his comrades and in connection with this, this one arose defense mechanism– you shouldn’t get attached to those people who may die today or tomorrow. Another factor that taught Karataev to dwell on failures and breakups could have been the death of his daughter.
In the life of Plato, this event became tragic; perhaps a rethinking of the value of life and feelings of affection occurred with Karataev even at that time. On the other hand, the presence of insufficient information on the subject of Platon Karataev’s life before military service and 1812 in particular does not give the right to draw an unambiguous conclusion on this matter.
Platon Karataev and Pierre Bezukhov
It is unlikely that the image of Karataev had an influence exclusively on Pierre Bezukhov, but we are not aware of other interactions of Plato with a similar result.
After disappointments in family life, Freemasonry and secular society in general. Bezukhov goes to the front. Here he also feels superfluous - he is too pampered and not suited for this type of activity. Military events with the French become the cause of another disappointment - Bezukhov is hopelessly disappointed in his idol - Napoleon.
After he was captured and saw the executions, Pierre finally broke down. He learns too many things that are unpleasant for him and therefore the prerequisites for disappointment in people in general arise in him, but this does not happen, since it was at this moment that Bezukhov met Karataev.
Simplicity and calmness are the first things that surprise Pierre in his new acquaintance. Karataev showed Bezukhov that a person’s happiness lies in himself. Over time, Bezukhov also becomes infected with Plato’s calmness - he begins not to chaotically, as he did before, but to put everything in a balanced manner in his head.
Death of Platon Karataev
The conditions in which the captured Russian soldiers were kept were far from ideal. This fact leads to a new relapse of Karataev’s illness - he spent a long time in the hospital with a cold, and in captivity he fell ill again. The French are not interested in keeping prisoners, especially if they are ordinary soldiers. When the disease took full control of Karataev, and it became clear that the fever would not go away on its own, Plato was killed. This is done in order to prevent the spread of the disease.
From the point of view of literary criticism, the death of Platon Karataev was completely justified. He has fulfilled his purpose and therefore leaves the pages of the novel and his literary life.
Thus, Platon Karataev is important element novel by L.N. Tolstoy. His meeting with Pierre Bezukhov becomes fateful for the latter. The optimism, wisdom and cheerfulness of a simple man accomplishes what no one else could accomplish. book knowledge and high society. Bezukhov is aware of life principles that allow him to remain himself, but at the same time not degrade or renounce his life positions. Karataev taught the count to find happiness in himself, Pierre is convinced that the main purpose of a person is to be happy.
Pierre Bezukhov, being captured by the French, meets an amazing man. A simple soldier has a great influence on the count, revealing to him new horizons of worldview. The image and characterization of Platon Karataev in the novel “War and Peace” reflect the humility and patience of the Russian people in critical situation, ability to survive and self-control.
Dating in a booth
Count Bezukhov was in a state of shock after the demonstrative execution of Russian people. The monstrous fact was that the soldiers who shot the prisoners sentenced to execution were not fierce. They were simply doing their bloody work. Pierre was horrified by the cynicism of the massacre he saw, so in the barracks where he was transferred he did not react to anything.
The count was brought out of his stupor by the smell of sweat emanating from the little man fidgeting nearby. The man carefully unwound his legs, wrapped in rags and tied with twine. The man's movements were precise and skillful. The very presence of a balanced stranger nearby was calming.
The soldier was the first to speak in a melodious, pleasant voice. His words sounded affectionate, which made the master cry. A new friend encouraged:
“To endure an hour, but to live a century!”
Then the affectionate man stroked the dog that had clung to him in captivity and shared food with Bezukhov. Only after that did he say that his name was Platon Karataev, nicknamed Sokolik, from the Absheron Regiment.
The kind man was upset to learn that Pierre had no parents, and he was especially saddened to hear that there was no mother:
“A wife is for advice, a mother-in-law is for greetings, but nothing is dearer than your own mother!”
Plato had a ready-made proverb for every conclusion. When Pierre said that he would no longer have children, he heard the wise:
“Never give up money or prison.”
Biography of Karataev
The guy was born in a wealthy peasant family in a village that he considered rich. It seemed to him that everyone in his village had a good life, because there was a lot of land. One day Plato went to the forest that belonged to a neighboring gentleman to look for a tree. The watchman caught the thief. Karataev was flogged and put on trial.
By court decision, the criminal was exiled to the army. Plato talked about the verdict as if it were luck:
“We thought grief, but joy!”
The hero was ready to become a soldier. After all, the army was destined for the younger brother Mikhail, who already had five children. And so, for the reason that the elder was serving, the state exempted the younger from military service.
Only his wife was waiting for Plato at home, because his only daughter fell ill and left this world in infancy. The soldier performed his duty regularly, did not complain about anything, and was affectionate with everyone. When the Russian army left Moscow, he lay in the hospital, struck down by illness. So he was captured.
Appearance
Pierre associated the image of a neighbor with round concepts. Probably because the sun is warm, the bagels are delicious, the wheels are fast, the daisies are beautiful. A French overcoat, tied with a simple rope, divided the silhouette into two rounded shapes. Bast shoes stuck out below, and a cap was on top.
Bezukhov saw his good friend this morning:
“The head was completely round, the back, chest, shoulders, even the arms that he carried, as if always going to hug something, were round; a pleasant smile and big brown gentle eyes were round.”
The soldier talked about the battles in which he took part. So Pierre guessed that the interlocutor was living in his sixth decade of life.
The whiteness of the teeth indicated good health, made the smile especially pleasant. The beard and hair were without a single gray hair. The little soldier's physique looked flexible and wiry, able to endure any hardships of fate. Small wrinkles gave his face an expression of innocence and naivety, which made the man look dashing.
Christian worldview
The soldier had his own vision of human aspirations:
“Our happiness, my friend, is like water in delirium: if you pull it, it’s inflated, but if you pull it out, there’s nothing.”
Every evening the man read a prayer before going to bed, even mentioning horses. Closing his eyes, he sincerely said:
“Put it down, God, like a pebble, pick it up like a ball.”
Karataev, accustomed to subsistence farming, knew how to do everything. The result could have been better or worse than that of a real master, but the result was always worthy. Conversation was for Plato like a hobby, always a joy, like an art. But it was rarely possible to talk, except at night, because there was always something to do: cook, bake, sew, make shoes or plan.
Leo Tolstoy believes that military life alien to Karataev. Having been captured, deprived of weapons and the order to kill, solving the need for survival, the hero, along with an overgrown beard, again acquired the peasant skills that were natural to him. The hero personifies the mentality of the Russian people. The image of a simple Russian soldier remained in Bezukhov’s memory as a creative, life-affirming, meaningful symbol of existence.
A complete picture of life in the novel
Among the representatives of the nobility, the image of Platon Karataev in Tolstoy’s “War and Peace” stands out especially brightly and prominently. When creating his work, the writer sought to most fully reflect the picture of his contemporary era. In the novel, numerous faces and various characters pass before us. We meet emperors, field marshals, and generals. We study the life of secular society, the life of the local nobility. Heroes from the common people play an equally important role in understanding the ideological content of the work. Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy, who knew well the living conditions of people of the lower class, talentedly depicts it in his novel. Memorable images of Platon Karataev, Tikhon Shcherbaty, Anisya, and the hunter Danila were created by the writer with especially warm feeling. Thanks to this, we have before us a realistic and objective picture of the life of people in the first half of the nineteenth century.
The soft appearance of Plato
The most significant character from the common people is, of course, Platon Karataev. It is in his mouth that the author’s concept is put common life and the meaning of human existence on earth. The reader sees Plato through the eyes of Pierre Bezukhov, who was captured by the French. It is there that they meet. Under the influence of this simple man, the educated Pierre changes his worldview and finds the right path in life. Using a description of appearance and speech characteristics, the author manages to create a unique image. The hero’s round and soft appearance, leisurely but deft movements, gentle and friendly facial expression radiate wisdom and kindness. Plato treats his comrades in misfortune, his enemies and a stray dog with equal sympathy and love. He's the personification best qualities Russian people: peace, kindness, sincerity. The hero's speech, full of sayings, aphorisms, and aphorisms, flows measuredly and smoothly. He slowly talks about his simple fate, tells fairy tales, sings songs. Wise expressions fly from his tongue easily, like birds: “To endure an hour, but to live a century,” “Where there is judgment, there is untruth,” “Not by our mind, but by God’s judgment.”
Constantly busy useful work, Plato is not bored, does not talk about life, does not make plans. He lives for today, relying in everything on the will of God. Having met this man, Pierre understood a simple and wise truth: “His life, as he himself looked at it, had no meaning as a separate life. It made sense as a part of a whole that he constantly felt.”
Platon Karataev and Tikhon Shcherbaty. Comparative characteristics
The worldview and lifestyle of Platon Karataev are the closest and dearest to the writer, but in order to be objective and honest in depicting reality, he uses a comparison of Platon Karataev and Tikhon Shcherbaty in the novel.
We meet Tikhon Shcherbaty in the partisan detachment of Vasily Denisov. This man from the people is contrasted in his qualities to Platon Karataev. Unlike the peace-loving and all-forgiving Plato, the hero is full of hatred for the enemy. A man does not rely on God and fate, but prefers to act. The active, savvy partisan is everyone's favorite in the detachment. If necessary, he is cruel and merciless and rarely leaves the enemy alive. The idea of “non-resistance to evil through violence” is alien and incomprehensible to Shcherbaty. He is "the most useful and brave man in the detachment."
Giving a characterization of Platon Karataev and Tikhon Shcherbaty, Tolstoy compares their external features, character traits and life position. Tikhon is hardworking and cheerful like a peasant. He never loses heart. His rude speech is filled with jokes and jokes. Strength, agility, and self-confidence distinguish him from the soft and leisurely Plato. Both characters are well remembered, thanks detailed description. Platon Karataev is fresh, neat, and has no gray hair. Tikhon Shcherbaty is distinguished by a missing tooth, which is where his nickname came from.
Tikhon Shcherbaty is a character who personifies the image of the Russian people - a hero who stood up to defend his Fatherland. The fearlessness, strength and cruelty of such partisans struck terror into the hearts of the enemy. Thanks to such heroes, the Russian people managed to win. Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy understands the need for such behavior of his hero and partially justifies it in our eyes.
Platon Karataev is a representative of the other half of the Russian people, who believes in God, who knows how to endure, love and forgive. They, like halves of one whole, are necessary for a complete understanding of the character of the Russian peasant.
Dear image of Plato to the author
Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy’s sympathies are, of course, on the side of Platon Karataev. The writer, a humanist, has spent his entire adult life opposed to war, the most inhumane and cruel, in his opinion, event in the life of society. With his creativity, he preaches the ideas of morality, peace, love, mercy, and war brings death and misfortune to people. The terrible pictures of the Battle of Borodino, the death of young Petya, the painful death of Andrei Bolkonsky make the reader shudder from the horror and pain that any war entails. Therefore, the importance of Plato’s image in the novel “War and Peace” is difficult to overestimate. This man is the embodiment of the author’s main idea about harmonious life in agreement with oneself. The writer sympathizes with people like Platon Karataev. The author, for example, approves of the act of Petit, who takes pity on the French captive boy, and understands the feelings of Vasily Denisov, who does not want to shoot the captured French. Tolstoy does not accept the heartlessness of Dolokhov and the excessive cruelty of Tikhon Shcherbaty, believing that evil begets evil. Realizing that war is impossible without blood and violence, the writer believes in the victory of reason and humanity.