Secular society in the novel by L.N. Tolstoy "War and Peace"
Initially L.N. Tolstoy did not plan to write a voluminous novel. He wanted to create a small work about how the Decembrist returned from exile to his homeland, about changes in his outlook on life.
However, working on the novel, the writer required much more material than originally planned. It was necessary to write the origins of Decembrism, the characteristics of the character of the rich and the poor. As a result, Tolstoy wrote a voluminous and multifaceted work that has no equal in world literature. Tolstoy's
Attitude to the war
highlights Napoleon's attack, the nuances of the Battle of Borodino, the capture of Moscow, and a hasty flight from Russia. The novel clearly traces the idea of the futility of a war of conquest, during which almost the entire Napoleonic army was destroyed.
Parallel to this, Tolstoy describes how different classes react to war, and how war affects each of them. So, at the very beginning of the novel, the aristocratic society almost enthusiastically accepted the news of the war. The aristocrats wanted to participate in hostilities, which would give them pride in the Fatherland and awards. However, they were not prepared for the troubles that the war brought. In addition, she did not want to know to fight, they were satisfied with victories by someone else's hands, peasants.
The salon of Anna Pavlovna Scherer, personifying the upper class in the novel, is not good for anything but criticizing commoners and speaking French while wearing French dress. These people are cowardly and selfish, it is difficult to imagine them in the role of national heroes.
Attitude towards peasants
All the noble gentlemen in the novel are predominantly landowners. Not all of them were humane to the peasants. An ordinary person could easily be sold, donated or lost at cards, like a thing. It is noteworthy that the number of peasants was measured by “souls”. This gave the landowners a sense of superiority, equated them with the gods - the same also owned "human souls."
However, it is the Russian people who are the true hero of War and Peace.
