Russian character - a mystery with seven seals

About what is a Russian character, What features are the defining, the original in it, a lot of research has been written - artistic and journalistic. The best minds of Russian and Western philosophy and literature have been arguing about the mysterious Russian soul for several centuries. The same Dostoevsky with the lips of Dmitry Karamazov claimed that in the soul of every Russian man two ideals - the Madonna and Sodomite - coexist. Time has proved the full justice of his words and their relevance to the present day.

So, the Russian character - what is it? Let's try and identify some of its defining sides.

Qualitative characteristics

• Domestic poets and writers, such as Khomyakov, Aksakov, Tolstoy, Leskov, Nekrasov considered the catholicity to be a distinctive feature of a man from the people. It has long been accepted in Russia that the "world" solve many issues, from helping impoverished villagers and ending with global problems. Naturally, this moral and moral category was regarded as an attribute of village life. And since Russia was originally an agrarian country and the main mass of the population was the peasantry, it was the peasant man who personified the character of the Russian man. It's not for nothing that Leo Tolstoy in War and Peace has a spiritual closeness to the people that determines the value of all the heroes.
• With sobornostyu is directly connected one more feature, peculiar to the people - religiosity. Faith in God, sincere, profound, unseemly, and related to her peace, humility, mercy are part of the nature of the Russian man as an organic part of it. An example of this can serve as the legendary archpriest Avvakum, Peter and Fevronia of Murom, Matryona Moscow and many other personalities. No wonder the holy and holy fools, wandering monks and pilgrims enjoyed special respect and love among the people. And although the people treated the official church ironically and critically, examples of true piety can be considered as features of the Russian national character.
• Mysterious Russian soul, to a greater extent than other nationalities, inherent self-sacrifice. Sonechka Marmeladova as the personification of the eternal sacrifice in the name of others "while the world stands" - here it is, the Russian character in its pure form, without any foreign impurities. And if we recall the Great Patriotic War, the simplicity and grandeur of the soldier's heroic deed, it will become clear that neither time nor the change of the state system is powerful over true values, over what is eternal.
• Strangely enough, but among the natural properties of a person from the people include such qualities as stupidity, recklessness - on the one hand, and a sharp mind, a natural estimate - on the other. The most famous and popular heroes of folk tales are Ivanushka the fool and the lazy Emelya, as well as the craftsman Soldier, who has managed to weld soup and porridge from the ax, and embody these features of the Russian national character.
• Heroism, courage, devotion to your ideals, the work you serve, modesty, peacefulness - this should also not be forgotten when it comes to a Russian person. The writer Alexei Tolstoy has a remarkable essay in which the Russian character is defined in a capacious, deep and figurative way - "human beauty".
• However, the Russian person is ambivalent. Not for nothing did Dostoevsky talk about the two ideals that are struggling in his soul. And so along with boundless kindness, sacrifice, he is capable of the same unlimited cruelty. "Russian rebellion," senseless, ruthless, which Pushkin warned about, and then civil war, are terrible examples of what people are capable of, if their patience has burst, if they are brought to the limit of the possible.
• Alcoholics and theft, too, alas, are originally Russian qualities. In the jokes came the famous phrase of Karamzin about what is being done at home. His laconic response - "Steal!" - says a lot. By the way, he is still relevant!

Afterword

You can talk a lot about Russian national character for a long time. Love for one's native land, for "fatherly coffins", respect for ancestors and the memory of them are Russians. But even the Ivans, who do not remember the kinship that betrayed their small homeland, are also Russian. Pravdoiskateli, ready to suffer for the idea, who have taken up material values for the sake of spiritual - Russian. But Chichikov, and Sharikov and his like - the same Russian ...