Characteristics of the characters "After the ball" and a short summary of the work of Leo Tolstoy

When people talk about LN Tolstoy, then immediately remember the remarkable epic works of Russian classics, such as "War and Peace" or "Anna Karenina." But Lev Nikolaevich is good in small forms. When he takes up a story or story, he does not change his talent at all. In the focus of attention - "After the ball." In this article, the characterization of the characters "After the ball" will be considered.

Plot

The reason for the story is an old story, an age-old question: the environment makes a person or a person creates an environment for his dwelling. There is a conversation between familiar people, and it concerns personal perfection.

The protagonist Ivan Vasilievich, a man respected by everyone in the circle where the conversation is being held, tells one story from his life, which refutes the fact that a person forms an environment.

It was a long time ago, one of the main provincial officials held a ball in honor of the last day of Shrovetide. The entire provincial beau monde came to the ball.

Ivan Vasilievich was then a university student from the same city. There was nothing to do, and the main entertainment is visiting such events. At this ball he saw a girl - Varenka B. and fell in love with her without a memory. Danced only with her. Varenka was the daughter of Colonel Peter Vladislavovich, who, together with his wife, honored all those present with their presence at the festival.

My father had to go home. And in parting, he danced with his daughter, so it is dashing, that everyone was in the utmost delight. Seeing this, the young Ivan Vasilievich imbued the old man with warm feelings. The colonel left, and the young people (Varenka and Vanya) were still dancing. In the morning everyone left. Here, the events of the work "After the ball" fade away. Heroes of the story can not yet be suspected of something nasty.

The hero could not sleep, and he went to wander around the city. Unintentionally, unconsciously came to the house of his sweetheart. On the field adjacent to the house, stood the formation of soldiers. Under the drumbeat and the sounds of the flute, they let through the runaway fugitive Tatar. He was beaten from all sides with sticks on his back. The back had already turned into a bloody mash, and he himself only repeated: "Lord, brothers, spare". He said it quietly, because he no longer had the strength to cry.

Guided torture "dear Colonel", recently dancing with his daughter at the ball. After this event, Ivan Vasilievich's love for Vary passed. Every time he looked at her face, he saw the Tatar and his back.

Perhaps the reader was tired of the excessive detailing of the plot, but its consideration is absolutely necessary in order to understand what characterization of the characters "After the ball" they most closely correspond.

Ivan Vasilievich - a man whose conscience has awakened

What happened to Ivan Vasilyevich? Then, after the ball, his conscience awoke, and he awakened from his sleep. Yes, so that it seems to him, as if he was quarreled with a whip, so sudden was the realization of the baseness of the general, the "light", which is no different from darkness in a moral, moral sense. So, you can already say that the first characterization of the characters "After the ball" is ready: the main character can be defined as a person who has a conscience.

Colonel

Here everything is a bit more complicated. It can not be said that the colonel and his daughter are unscrupulous people. For them, simply the hierarchy that existed in Russia in the 19th century is normal. It's also normal that after the holiday they can warm up or calm the nervous nerves with human torture. In this there is nothing out of the ordinary.

The reader can rightly say that if you really think about what characterization of the characters "After the ball" (implying specifically the colonel), then you only have to blame the old soldier for everything. Oh no, it will not work. The colonel's women are to blame for his fanaticism no less than he himself. After all, they did not stop them from doing it.

Varenka

About the daughter of a fanfare can not be said anything bad, but one can not say good things about her. She is an impersonal character in the narrative. From her there will be only one memory: she was amazingly beautiful, but it is difficult to determine her content if it is a question of revealing the theme "Characteristics of the heroes" after the ball. "

Moral questions raised in the work

So, here in the center of development is the eternal dispute about the confrontation between the individual and society. Also the author sharpens his attention (and the attention of the reader) to the abominations of human duplicity and double-mindedness.

LN Tolstoy in this story even indirectly gives an answer to the question of why, in fact, the Russian revolution happened: because the "tops" allowed themselves such treatment with "bottoms", and "bottoms" took revenge. This is a short moral content "After the ball." In fact, this story may reveal itself as a fan of other moral problems, but this is a completely different story.