1873 From the point of view of the genre, it is an epic story. Outwardly adventurous story, a chain of adventures. This motif of wandering is connected with the comprehension of life. The true plot is an internal psychologism.
"The Enchanted Wanderer"- a story with a fantastic form of narration. Narrative form - oral speeches from the first person - is necessary for the author to create the image of the hero-narrator. Thus, in the work there are several stylistic layers that differ from each other, and a tale is not the only form of narration, although it is predominant. It is a means of expressing the character of the protagonist.
However, fairy tale form determines the plot and composition of the work. The Enchanted Wanderer is a chronicle of the life of one hero, where there is no central event to which all the others would be drawn, but where various episodes freely follow each other. The creation of such a narrative form was fundamental for Leskov. He noticed that the form of the novel is artificial and unnatural, it requires the plot to be rounded and the narrative to be concentrated around the main center, but this does not happen in life: the fate of a person is like a developing tape, and it must be portrayed in this way. Many critics did not accept this plot-compositional the structure of the Leskian text. Critic N. K. Mikhailovsky.
The introduction to the story is an exposition in which the reader, with the help of the narrator, gets acquainted with the scene and the characters. The main part is Ivan Flyagin's story about his life. Thus, composition is a story within a story.
In the enchanted wanderer, as in no other work by Leskova, an intricate attitude to the world is highlighted, which is characteristic of a Russian person. Under the iconic clothes of the narrator, Ivan Flyagin, who reminds his interlocutors of the legendary Russian hero, grandfather Ilya Muromets, hides the powerful life-affirming nature of a daring wanderer, who all his life howling autocratically tests his fate, with God's help overcoming his autocracy, humbles his pride, but at the same time has not lost his self-esteem of spiritual breadth and responsiveness.
The very figure of the wanderer is associated with the artistic tradition of Russian folklore and ancient literature, with images of passersby kaliks, seekers of a happy fate, Yes, and the poetics of the story largely goes back to walking, one of the most common genres ancient Russian literature. The narration in them was conducted, as a rule, from the first person and was a monologue, unhurried, stately and at the same time biased description of the journey, in which those around receive a deep personal and interested judgment.
Such is the extraordinary life of Flyagin, his wanderings through towns and villages. native land. All this surprisingly corresponds to his active, somewhat daring and at the same time peaceful and kind character. The whole appearance of a sincere hero is also remarkable: fortitude, heroic mischief, indestructible vitality and breadth of his soul, and responsiveness to someone else's grief. Leskov, however, does not idealize the hero. The writer notes the manifestation of his savagery impulses of anarchic self-will both in adolescence, when, out of mischief, he accidentally kills a nun lying on a wagon, and in his youth, when he traps the Tatar Savakirei to death in an honest fight. From his sinful deeds, the hero is gradually cleansed, reaching in his attitude to life truly folk wisdom.
There is another side of Flyagin's wandering: for him it is only a transition from one beast to another until he finds peace in what was determined by Providence, the test of fate. The test of character and the test of the soul - this is the trinity that he overcomes. Fate has prepared for him, the praying and promised son He strengthens character in difficult trials, maintaining height human dignity and nowhere descending to hypocrisy, immodesty, dishonor and shamelessness, nowhere renouncing deep faith, Innocentness and unselfishness, generosity and courage, good-heartedness and peacefulness, firmness and patience make up his unchanging features.
At the same time, the test of the soul, the most difficult test, leads to the achievement of previously absent qualities of the hero. Oh, acquiring humility, a great virtue, which is associated with the knowledge of one’s sinfulness and unworthiness, one’s weakness and a sense of God’s greatness. After all, humility that comes from self-knowledge brings a person closer to God, thus, Flyagin’s whole life becomes meaningful and soulful as liberation through humility and repentance to salvation.
He feels the beauty, fascinated by the beauty of the world. This fascination with the world is also manifested in the feeling of admiration that captures him, for which such piercing and direct words are found. And no matter what they say, no matter what he admires, his naked soul trembles in a living word.
Leskov portrays the hero who has experienced a lot, suffered and gains not only personal, but also huge folk-historical experience in judgments about the world. And therefore, Ivan's words, as if summing up his reflections on his life, are far from accidental: I really want to die for the people. And truly, what could be more beautiful than to wring out one's life for one's people!
- New!
The plot structure of the story is similar to the ancient Russian walks of the saints: the influence of the epic epic is manifested in the hero himself - the Russian hero Ivan Severyanych Flyagin. The purpose of the epic hero is to accomplish a feat, patriotic and Christian ....
By the beginning of the seventies, after the apparent failure of the novel "On the Knives", N. S. Leskov leaves this genre and seeks to assert the rights of that literary kind which spontaneously took shape in his work. This period coincided with a noticeable change in worldview ...
When I read this work, it shocked me with its sincerity, soulfulness, and realistic description of images. The story was written in the second half of the 19th century, in a difficult, contradictory time for Russia. It is very similar to our time, the end ...
The story "The Enchanted Wanderer" is one of the best works of the Russian writer of the 19th century. N. S. Leskova. Leskov - master folklore images- depicted in the story wonderful Russian characters that make an unforgettable impression on the reader. Main character...
The amazing Russian writer N. S. Leskov in the story "The Enchanted Wanderer" creates a completely special image, incomparable with any of the heroes of Russian literature. This is Ivan Severyanovich Flyagin, "the enchanted wanderer." He has no specific...
The righteous Leskova tells about himself, without hiding anything - the “denouement” with the gypsy Grusha, and the tavern adventures, and the painful life in a ten-year captivity of the Tatars. But with the course of the story, everything petty and everyday in the hero fades into the background. Really,...
The image of Ivan Flyagin, with apparent simplicity and uncomplicatedness, is ambiguous and complex. Leskov, learning the secrets of the Russian character, seeks the origins of holiness in the deeds of a sinner, depicts a truth seeker who has committed many unrighteous deeds, but suffering, comes to repentance and faith.
For the first time we meet the hero on a steamer sailing to Valaam. He was a Chernorian of heroic status, fifty-three years old, dark-skinned, with thick, graying hair, with a beard and mustache. After talking with fellow travelers, he told the story of his wanderings. He was a serf, his mother died, and his father served as a coachman for the master.
He spent all his childhood at the stable, learned to understand horses well. As a teenager, he is defined as a postilion, helping to manage six horses. Once, when the horses raced, he almost died saving the count's family, and as a reward he asked for an harmonica, which speaks of his disinterestedness and innocence. Somehow, Ivan whipped a monk who had dozed off in a cart and blocked the road with a whip, and he tipped over under the wheels and died. This monk dreamed of Ivan and told that he was a prayed and promised child to God, and therefore he should go to the monastery. All his life he was haunted by this prophecy.
More than once he looked into the eyes of death, but neither earth nor water took him. Many trials fell to his lot. Having escaped with the gypsies from the count's estate, he will wander for many years. He will endure a ten-year captivity from the Gentiles, after escaping he will work as a coneser for the prince, then he will leave as a recruit for the Caucasus, where he will fight for more than fifteen years, he will become an officer and a Knight of St. George. After returning, I had a chance to work as an assistant in the address office and as an actor in a booth. In the end, he goes to the monastery.
Ivan did not have a chance to lead a settled life, to find a house and a family. He is "an inspired vagabond with a baby soul". Christian humility is not inherent in him, because he cannot put up with evil and injustice, but he is a deeply religious person. But he feels that his destiny is not just faith in God, church services are boring for him, he dreams of serving with faith for the fatherland. He has an independent, honest and open nature. Ivan considers himself a terrible sinner, because he is involved in the deaths of three people, suffers and repents; although the monk died due to his negligence, the Tatar accepted death in a fair duel, and pushed Grushenka off a cliff into the river, giving her an oath that he would do this, saving her from a shameful fate. Having gone to the monastery, he wanders as a pilgrim to holy places, atoning for his sins, and becomes a righteous man.
Essay about Ivan Flyagin
“The Enchanted Wanderer” is a story by Nikolai Leskov, published by him in 1837. The main attention in the story is given to Ivan Severyanovich Flyagin, whose life is described in detail by the author. Leskov was able to present in his story new look, which has no analogues in Russian literature.
Why did Leskov put in his hero the image of the “enchanted wanderer”? He perceives the world like a real miracle. As the main character, he does not have a definite dream in life, which for him is endless. This person is always moving forward along the path of life and sees the challenge of fate in each new test.
It should be noted that Leskov's character took on the appearance of the legendary Ilya Muromets. Flyagin has a gigantic stature, a swarthy face and a truly heroic physique. At first glance, he is not even fifty years old. Ivan Severyanovich does not sit in one place throughout the story. You might think that he is not inclined to trust anyone. But main character later refutes this. And the rescue of Count K. is proof of that. That is exactly what Flyagin did with the prince and a young girl named Grusha.
You can add to the characterization of this person the fact that he is completely devoted higher powers, for which he received his patronage from them. Flyagin is not vulnerable to death. Death overtook him many times, but he could not die. He thinks that the earth does not want to accept him for the terrible sins that he committed. The hero believes that it was his fault that there were many murders. Ivan Severyanovich has his own life morality, but he always remains honest with himself and other heroes of the story. Sometimes, he is too simple and naive, to the depths of his soul he is good-natured and open to everyone with his soul, but when evil comes that he has to deal with, he is even cruel.
The main driving force of his actions is not a small force from nature. And this makes Flyagin go to recklessness. In his youth, Ivan was not very worried, but later he realizes that he is responsible for this. The author of the work does not hesitate to mention that his character is a person with great inner and physical strength. This lies in his ability in any situation to do the right thing and the right way. Ivan Flyagin is in complete harmony with others and, like a true hero, is always ready to help.
In conclusion, we can say that all the features of the Russian national character in the image of this man on the face. But that doesn't mean he's perfect. He is more inconsistent. Somewhere he is smart and quick-witted, but somewhere vice versa. He can do crazy things, but in the meantime he is drawn to doing good things. So, we can say with confidence: Ivan Severyanovich is the personification of a broad Russian personality, its infinity.
in detail
In the story "The Enchanted Wanderer" Ivan Flyagin has a major role.
His image appears before us in the form of a strong Ilya Muromets. Even at the beginning of the story, the Author compares him with this knight. He was tall, strong build with a swarthy face.
Our main character born in the name of a count, his father and mother were serfs and. Mom died while giving birth to Ivan. And my father worked in a stable. The boy spent all his time with horses. And when he more or less grew up he was put to work with his dad. Once they carried the count near the temple. And one father dreamed. And Vanya hit him with a whip.
When Ivan was taking the duke to Voronezh, a large cliff appeared in front of them. . Ivan managed to slow down, and he fell into it. But he miraculously survived. His duke, of course, thanked him. And instead of going to the monastery, Ivan chose an accordion, which he never knew how to play.
Soon Flyagin was sent to crush the stone on the garden paths. But he was tired of everyone laughing at him and he decided to run away and hang himself. As soon as he hung in a noose, someone cut the rope. It turned out to be a gypsy, who then offered Ivan to steal. And so that he would not betray him, he ordered to steal horses from the stables of the count in whom Ivan served. Ivan did it. And when they sold these horses, he received only one ruble. In the end, he went to turn himself in to the police. This speaks of his next quality - honesty. Although he went to steal horses, he later confessed.
Soon Ivan got a job working for the master, his wife left him for the military and abandoned her infant daughter. And Flyagin nursed this girl. It speaks of his love for children.
Once Ivan with the little daughter of the master went to the shore of the bay, the girl had sore legs and the doctor said that they should be buried in a squeak. But on the shore, her mother saw the girl. She asked Ivan to give her the child, but he did not agree. Then the cavalryman-husband of this young lady appeared and wanted to pay money so that they would give the child, but he received nothing but manual work under the eye. The lancer did not raise any money, and this pleased Ivan. Flyagin at first did not want to give the child away, but when he saw the girl's mother stretching out her hands to her, he nevertheless took pity. Suddenly, a gentleman appeared on the beach with a pistol and Ivan had to leave with the cavalryman and the girl's mother.
After they arrived in the city, the lancers said that they could not keep the serfs who had fled. Gave him money and let him go. At that moment, I felt very sorry for Ivan. He had nowhere to go. He wanted to go and turn himself in to the police. But I decided to go to drink tea with bagels. Then I saw how Khan Dzhangar and the king were selling a mare, and people fought for her. After that, a cavalryman entered the battle, but Ivan went to fight instead of him. This speaks of his positive quality - courage. But the fact that he fastened the Tatar with a whip speaks of his ruthlessness. They wanted to take him to prison, but the Tatars took pity on Ivan and took him to their place.
Ivan lived with them for ten years, was a doctor, but when he wanted to run away, the Tatars caught him, cut his heels and put cut horsehair there. Initially, it was very painful for him to walk. And so Ivan lived in this horde for many years. He had two wives and many children. Once the khan ordered him to cure his wife and let Ivan into his yurt, after which he had two more wives.
Somehow the priests came to the Tatars, they wanted them to accept Christianity, but the Tatars refused. And after some time, the main character of the story found one deceased priest in the field, but he did not find the second one. The next time unknown people came to them, they were in bright clothes. These people wanted to buy horses. One evening they set off fireworks and all the horses fled, and the Tatars, in turn, ran to catch them. Ivan understood what scared the horses and Tatars, and repeated the same thing. One fine day, he found earth that corrodes the skin. And he came up with such a plan: to pretend to be sick, and when the earth corroded his feet, horse hair came out, and pus along with it. Then our hero decided to launch the last fireworks and left.
After some time, Ivan went to the Caspian Sea, and then came to Astrakhan. He made money there and drank it away. When he woke up he was in prison. From prison he was sent to his native estate. But father Ilya refused to recognize his confession, since he lived with the Tatars in sins for a very long time. The count, who began to pray to God after the death of his wife, refused to have as a servant those who did not receive communion, gave him his passport and let him go.
When he left the estate, Ivan came to the market. I saw a gypsy trying to sell a bad horse to a simple peasant. Since Ivan was offended by the gypsies, he helped the peasant. After that, he began to walk around the bazaars and help the peasants, advise which horses can be bought and which ones cannot. Soon he became the king of gypsies and horse traders.
Once the prince asked to tell him the secret of how he chooses horses. Ivan began to teach him, but the prince did not understand anything, then he called Ivan to work with him. And they made friends with the prince. In order not to spend extra money, Ivan left them to the prince. But somehow the prince went to the market and ordered to send a mare there, which Ivan really liked, he wanted to drink it hot, but there was no one to leave the money. Then he went to the tavern to drink tea, and saw a peasant there who drank and did not get drunk. Ivan asked then to teach him that way. Then the peasant ordered him to drink a glass after a glass, but before each one to make passes with his hands, and Ivan learned to drink and not get drunk and kept checking whether all the money was in his bosom. By evening, the friends quarreled.
They were kicked out of the tavern, then the beggar led Ivan to a "living place" where there were only gypsies. And now Ivan will see a gypsy who sang songs, Pear called her. Then Ivan gave her all his savings.
When he sobered up, he confessed to the prince that he had spent the entire treasury on one gypsy. After that, he fell ill with alcoholic psychosis. When Ivan recovered, he learned that the prince had spent all the money to redeem Grusha from the crowd. She fell in love with the prince very much, and he began to be burdened by her, taking advantage of her ignorance. Ivan, in turn, was very sorry for her.
Once a gypsy woman suspected that the prince had a mistress and sent Ivan to the city to find out. He went to the prince's former mistress and found out that he wanted to marry Grusha to Ivan. When Flyagin returned from the market, he saw that Pear was nowhere to be found. Then he found a gypsy on the shore, it turned out that the prince locked her in a house in the forest under the protection of the girls, and she ran away from them. She asked to kill the prince's bride, otherwise she would become "the most shameful woman." Ivan could not stand it and threw her off the cliff.
Then Ivan ran away and began to walk around the world in wanderings, until Pear appeared to him and showed him the right way where he met two old people. These old people made Ivan new documents according to which he was Peter Serdyukov.
Then he asked me to go to the Caucasus and served there for more than fifteen years. Then he was consecrated to the officers, dismissed. In St. Petersburg, he worked as a "referencer" and earned little, since he got the letter "fita", and there were very few surnames for this letter. And he decided to leave this job. They did not take him as a coachman and he had to go to work as an actor. There he is portraying a demon.
The others asked him if the demon pretending to be a gypsy bothered him? By prayer, he coped with the demon, but small demons began to brain-peck him. Because of them, Ivan killed the monastery cow. For this and other sins he was locked in the cellar, and there he read the newspapers and began to prophesy. Then they took him to the forest and put him in a hut and shut him up there. Then a doctor was called to him and he could not understand the prophet Ivan or the bastard. And the doctor said to let him out.
On the steamer he found himself making his way to the service. At this point, the passengers did not ask him any more about anything.
The image of Ivan Flyagin in the story "The Enchanted Wanderer" was at one time honest and correct, and at another time cunning and merciless. I liked Ivan Flyagin because it seems to me that there are more good qualities than the bad ones.
Some interesting essays
- Characteristics and image of Svetlana in Zhukovsky's poem essay
The main character of the poem by Vasily Andreevich is a real Russian girl. Svetlana also has characteristic qualities: beauty, intelligence, modesty, respect for religion, humility, curiosity.
- Composition I am sitting on the shore of the sea, river, lake
I am sitting on the river bank. She runs, moves, carries her waters... they sparkle in the sun! Definitely a sunny, warm day. But it's still early, and I'm fishing. I love fishing very much, and the cat is also happy from my prey
- Characteristics and image of Taras Bulba Grade 7 essay
People who purposefully go towards their goal, for whom there are no barriers to what they are striving for, are very dangerous, because for them the motto and creed in life is “The end justifies the means”
What's happened heirloom what is she interested in? Probably, in every family there is such an item that is of a certain value, not necessarily material, and is passed down through generations.
In a war, it is possible to defeat an enemy outnumbered, but if there are soldiers in the ranks, brave patriots who love their land, in a word, heroes. Such an army will be invulnerable to the enemy. But it doesn't matter what fortitude was shown by those
In the story "The Enchanted Wanderer" the author attempted a religious interpretation of Russian reality. In the image of Ivan Flyagin, Leskov portrayed a truly Russian character, revealing the basis of the mentality of our people, which is closely connected with Orthodoxy. In modern realities, he dressed the parable of the prodigal son and thereby again raised the eternal questions that mankind has been asking for more than a century.
Nikolai Semenovich Leskov created his story in one breath. The whole job took less than a year. In the summer of 1872, the writer traveled to Lake Ladoga, the very place where the action in The Enchanted Wanderer takes place. It was not by chance that the author chose these protected areas, because the islands of Valaam and Korelu, the ancient dwellings of monks, are located there. On this trip, the idea of the work was born.
By the end of the year, the work was completed and acquired the name "Black Earth Telemak". The author included in the title a reference to ancient Greek mythology and binding to the place of action. Telemachus is the son of King Ithaca Odysseus and Penelope, the heroes of Homer's poem. He is known for going fearlessly in search of his missing parent. So Leskov's character set off on a long and dangerous journey in search of his destiny. However, the editor of Russkiy vestnik M.N. Katkov refused to publish the story, referring to the "dampness" of the material and pointing out the discrepancy between the title and the content of the book. Flyagin is an apologist for Orthodoxy, and the writer compares him with a pagan. Therefore, the writer changes the title, but refers the manuscript to another publication, the Russkiy Mir newspaper. It was published there in 1873.
The meaning of the name
If everything is clear with the first version of the title, then the question arises, what is the meaning of the title "The Enchanted Wanderer"? Leskov invested in it no less interesting idea. Firstly, it indicates the rich life of the hero, his wanderings, both on earth and within his inner world. Throughout life path he went to the realization of his mission on earth, this was his main search - the search for his place in life. Secondly, the adjective indicates Ivan's ability to appreciate the beauty of the world around him, to be fascinated by it. Thirdly, the writer uses the meaning "witchcraft", because often the character acts unconsciously, as if not of his own free will. He is led by mystical forces, visions and signs of fate, and not by reason.
The story is also called so because the author indicates the ending already in the title, as if fulfilling a destiny. The mother predicted the future for her son, promising him to God even before birth. Since then, he has been under the spell of fate, aimed at fulfilling his destiny. The wanderer does not walk independently, but under the influence of predestination.
Composition
The structure of the book is nothing but the modernized and composition of the tale ( folklore work, which implies an oral impromptu story with certain genre features). Within the framework of a tale there is always a prologue and an exposition, which we also see in The Enchanted Wanderer, in the scene on the ship where the travelers get to know each other. This is followed by the narrator's memoirs, each of which has its own plot outline. Flyagin tells the story of his life in the style that is characteristic of people of his class, moreover, he even conveys speech characteristics other people who are the heroes of his stories.
In total, there are 20 chapters in the story, each of which follows, not obeying the chronology of events. The Storyteller arranges them at his own discretion, based on the hero's random associations. So the author emphasizes that Flyagin lived his whole life as spontaneously as he talks about it. Everything that happened to him is a series of interconnected accidents, just like his narrative is a string of stories connected by vague memories.
It was not by chance that Leskov added the book to the cycle of legends about the Russian righteous, because his creation was written according to the canons of life - a religious genre based on the biography of the saint. The composition of The Enchanted Wanderer confirms this: first we learn about the special childhood of the hero, filled with signs of fate and signs from above. Then his life is described, filled with allegorical meaning. The climax is the battle with temptation and demons. In the end, God helps the righteous to endure.
What is the story about?
Two travelers talk on deck about a suicidal deacon and meet a monk who travels to holy places to escape temptation. People become interested in the life of this "hero", and he willingly shares his story with them. This biography is the essence of the story "The Enchanted Wanderer". The hero comes from serfs, served as a coachman. His mother could hardly bear the child and in her prayers she promised God that the child would serve him if she was born. She herself died in childbirth. But the son did not want to go to the monastery, although he was haunted by visions calling for him to fulfill his promise. While Ivan was stubborn, many troubles happened to him. He became the culprit in the death of a monk who dreamed of him and foreshadowed several "deaths" before Flyagin came to the monastery. But even this forecast did not make the young man think, who wanted to live for himself.
At first, he almost died in an accident, then he lost his lordly grace and sinned by stealing horses from the owner. For sin, he really did not get anything and, having made false documents, was hired as a nanny to a Pole. But even there he did not stay long, again violating the master's will. Then, in a battle for a horse, he accidentally killed a man, and in order to avoid prison, he went to live with the Tatars. There he worked as a doctor. The Tatars did not want to let him down, so they forcibly captured him, although there he got a family and children. Later, strangers brought fireworks, with which the hero scared the Tatars away and fled. By the grace of the gendarmes, he, like a runaway peasant, ended up in his native estate, from where he was expelled as a sinner. Then he lived for three years with the prince, whom he helped to choose good horses for the army. One evening he decided to get drunk and squandered government money on the gypsy Grusha. The prince fell in love with her and ransomed her, and later fell out of love and drove her away. She asked the hero to take pity on her and kill her, he pushed her into the water. Then he went to war instead of the only son of poor peasants, accomplished a feat, acquired the rank of officer, retired, but could not get a job. peaceful life, so he came to the monastery, where he really liked it. This is what the story "The Enchanted Wanderer" is written about.
Main characters and their characteristics
The story is rich actors from a variety of classes and even nationalities. The images of the characters in the work "The Enchanted Wanderer" are as multifaceted as their motley, heterogeneous composition.
- Ivan Flyagin is the main character of the book. He is 53 years old. This is a gray-haired old man of enormous growth with a swarthy open face. This is how Leskov describes him: “He was a hero in the full sense of the word, and, moreover, a typical, simple-hearted, kind Russian hero, reminiscent of grandfather Ilya Muromets in the beautiful picture of Vereshchagin and in the poem of Count A. K. Tolstoy.” This is a kind, naive and simple-hearted person, possessing outstanding physical strength and courage, but devoid of bragging and swagger. He is frank and sincere. Despite his low birth, he has dignity and pride. This is how he talks about his honesty: “Only I didn’t sell myself either for big money or for small ones, and I won’t sell myself.” In captivity, Ivan does not betray his homeland, since his heart belongs to Russia, he is a patriot. However, even with all positive qualities the man did a lot of stupid, random things that cost the lives of other people. So the writer showed the inconsistency of the Russian national character. Maybe that's why the character's life story is complex and eventful: he was a prisoner of the Tatars for 10 years (from the age of 23). After some time, he enters the army and serves in the Caucasus for 15 years. For the feat, he earned an award (George Cross) and the rank of officer. Thus, the hero acquires the status of a nobleman. At the age of 50, he enters a monastery and receives the name Father Ishmael. But also in the church service truth seeker the wanderer does not find peace: demons come to him, he has the gift of prophecy. The exorcism of demons did not work, and he is released from the monastery on a journey to holy places in the hope that this will help him.
- Pear- a passionate and deep nature, conquering everyone with its languid beauty. At the same time, her heart is true only to the prince, which betrays her strength of character, devotion and honor. The heroine is so proud and adamant that she asks to be killed, because she does not want to interfere with the happiness of her treacherous lover, but she cannot belong to another. Exceptional virtue contrasts in her with demonic charm that destroys men. Even Flyagin commits a dishonorable act for her sake. A woman, combining positive and negative forces, after death takes the form of either an angel or a demon: either protecting Ivan from bullets, or embarrassing his peace in the monastery. So the author emphasizes the duality of female nature, in which mother and temptress, wife and lover, vice and holiness coexist.
- Characters noble origin are presented caricatured, negatively. So, the owner of Flyagin appears before the reader as a tyrant and a hard-hearted person who does not feel sorry for the serfs. The prince is a frivolous and selfish scoundrel, ready to sell himself for a rich dowry. Leskov also notes that the nobility itself does not give privileges. In this hierarchical society, they are given only by money and connections, which is why the hero cannot get a job as an officer. This important characteristic nobility.
- Gentiles and foreigners also has its own characteristics. For example, the Tatars live as they have to, they have several wives, many children, but there is no real family, and, therefore, true love Same. It is no coincidence that the hero does not even remember his children who remained there, no feelings arise between them. The author defiantly characterizes not individuals, but the people as a whole, in order to emphasize the absence of individuality in him, which is not possible without a single culture, social institutions - all that the Orthodox faith gives Russians. The writer also got the gypsies, dishonest and thieving people, and the Poles, whose morality is cracking. Getting acquainted with the life and customs of other peoples, the enchanted wanderer understands that he is different, he is not on the same path with them. It is also indicative that he does not develop relationships with women of other nationalities.
- clergy characters severe, but not indifferent to the fate of Ivan. They have become for him a real family, a brotherhood that worries about him. Of course, they don't immediately accept it. For example, Father Ilya refused to confess a fugitive peasant after a vicious life among the Tatars, but this severity was justified by the fact that the hero was not ready for initiation and still had to pass worldly trials.
Subject
- In the story "The Enchanted Wanderer" the main theme is righteousness. The book makes one think that the righteous is not the one who does not sin, but the one who sincerely repents of sins and wants to atone for them at the cost of self-denial. Ivan searched for the truth, stumbled, made mistakes, suffered, but God, as is known from the parable of prodigal son, dearer is the one who returned home after long wanderings in search of truth, and not the one who did not leave and took everything on faith. The hero is righteous in the sense that he took everything for granted, did not resist fate, walked without losing his dignity and without complaining about the heavy burden. In search of the truth, he did not turn to profit or passion, and in the finale he came to true harmony with himself. He realized that his highest destiny was to suffer for the people, “to die for the faith”, that is, to become something greater than himself. A great meaning appeared in his life - service to the motherland, faith and people.
- The theme of love is revealed in Flyagin's relationship with the Tatars and Grusha. It is obvious that the author cannot imagine this feeling without unanimity, conditioned by one faith, culture, paradigm of thinking. Although the hero was blessed with wives, he could not love them even after the birth of joint children. Pear also did not become his beloved woman, because he was fascinated by only the outer shell, which he immediately wanted to buy, throwing government money at the feet of the beauty. Thus, all the feelings of the hero turned not to an earthly woman, but to abstract images of the homeland, faith and people.
- The theme of patriotism. Ivan more than once wanted to die for the people, and in the finale of the work he was already preparing for future wars. In addition, his love for his homeland was embodied in a quivering longing for the fatherland in a foreign land, where he lived in comfort and prosperity.
- Faith. The Orthodox faith, which permeates the entire work, had a huge impact on the hero. She showed herself both in form and in content, because the book resembles the life of a saint, both in composition and in ideological and thematic terms. Leskov considers Orthodoxy a factor that determines many properties of the Russian folk character.
Problems
The rich range of problems in the story "The Enchanted Wanderer" contains the social, spiritual, moral and ethical problems of the individual and the whole people.
- Search for the truth. In an effort to find his place in life, the hero stumbles upon obstacles and does not overcome all of them with dignity. Sins, which have become a means to overcome the path, become a heavy burden on the conscience, because he does not withstand some tests and makes mistakes in choosing the direction. However, without mistakes, there is no experience that led him to realize his own belonging to a spiritual brotherhood. Without trials, he would not have suffered his truth, which is never easy. However, the price for a revelation is invariably high: Ivan became a kind of martyr and experienced real spiritual torment.
- Social inequality. The plight of the serfs becomes a problem of gigantic proportions. The author not only depicts the sad fate of Flyagin, whom the master brought to injury by sending him to the quarry, but also individual fragments of the lives of other ordinary people. Bitter is the lot of old people who almost lost their only breadwinner, who was taken into recruits. The death of the hero's mother is terrible, because she was dying in agony without medical care and any help at all. The attitude towards serfs was worse than towards animals. For example, horses worried the master more than people.
- Ignorance. Ivan could have realized his mission faster, but no one was involved in his education. He, like his entire class, did not have a chance to go out into the people, even acquiring a free one. This restlessness is demonstrated by the example of Flyagin's attempt to settle in the city even in the presence of the nobility. Even with this privilege, he could not find a place for himself in society, since no recommendation can replace education, education and manners that were not learned in the stable or in the quarry. That is, even a free peasant became a victim of his slave origin.
- Temptation. Any righteous person suffers from the misfortune of demonic power. If we translate this allegorical term into everyday language, it turns out that the enchanted wanderer struggled with his dark sides - selfishness, desire for carnal pleasures, etc. No wonder he sees Grusha in the form of a tempter. The desire, once experienced in relation to her, did not give him rest in his righteous life. Perhaps he, accustomed to wandering, could not become an ordinary monk and come to terms with a routine existence, and he clothed this craving for active actions, new searches in the form of a “demon”. Flyagin is an eternal wanderer who is not satisfied with passive service - he needs flour, a feat, his own Golgotha, where he will ascend for the people.
- Homesickness. The hero suffered and languished in captivity in an inexplicable desire to return home, which was stronger than fear death, stronger than the thirst for comfort with which he was surrounded. Because of his escape, he experienced real torture - horse hair was sewn into his feet, so he could not escape all these 10 years of captivity.
- Faith problem. In passing, the author told how Orthodox missionaries died in an attempt to baptize the Tatars.
main idea
The soul of a simple Russian peasant comes off before us, which is illogical, and sometimes even frivolous in its actions and deeds, and most terrible of all, that it is unpredictable. The actions of the hero cannot be explained, because inner world this seemingly commoner is a labyrinth in which you can get lost. But no matter what happens, there is always a light that will lead you on the right path. This light for the people is faith, an unshakable faith in the salvation of the soul, even if life has darkened it with sins. Thus, the main idea in the story "The Enchanted Wanderer" lies in the fact that every person can become a righteous man, you just need to let God into your heart, repenting of evil deeds. Nikolai Leskov, like no other writer, was able to understand and express the Russian spirit, about which A.S. Pushkin. The writer sees a simple peasant, who embodied the entire Russian people, a faith that many deny. Despite this seeming denial, the Russian people do not stop believing. His soul is always open to miracles and salvation. To the last, she is looking for something holy, incomprehensible, spiritual in her existence.
The ideological and artistic originality of the book lies in the fact that it transfers the biblical parable of the Prodigal Son to the contemporary realities of the author and shows that Christian morality does not know time, it is relevant in every century. Ivan was also angry at the usual way of things and left his father's house, only the church was his home from the very beginning, so his return to his native estate did not bring him peace. He left God, indulging in sinful pleasures (alcohol, mortal combat, theft) and sinking deeper and deeper into the quagmire of depravity. His path was a heap of accidents, in it N. S. Leskov showed how empty and absurd life is without faith, how aimless its course is, which always brings a person to the wrong place where he would like to be. As a result, like his biblical prototype, the hero returns to the roots, to the monastery, which his mother bequeathed to him. The meaning of the work "The Enchanted Wanderer" lies in finding the meaning of being, which calls Flyagin to selfless service to his people, to self-denial for the sake of a higher goal. Ivan could not do anything more ambitious and correct than this dedication of himself to all mankind. This is his righteousness, this is his happiness.
Criticism
The opinions of critics about Leskov's story, as always, were divided due to the ideological differences of the reviewers. They expressed their views depending on the journal in which they published, because the editorial policy of the media of those years was subject to a certain direction of the publication, its main idea. There were Westernizers, Slavophiles, Soil-Christians, Tolstoyans, and so on. Some of them, of course, liked The Enchanted Wanderer due to the fact that their views found their justification in the book, and someone categorically disagreed with the author’s worldview and what he called the “Russian spirit”. For example, in the journal "Russian wealth" critic N.K. Mikhailovsky expressed his approval of the writer.
In terms of the richness of the plot, this is perhaps the most remarkable of Leskov's works, but in him the absence of any kind of center is especially striking, so that there is no plot in it, in fact, but there is a whole series of plots strung like beads on a thread, and each bead in itself can be very conveniently taken out, replaced by another, or you can string as many beads as you like on the same thread.
A critic from the Russian Thought magazine spoke equally enthusiastically about the book:
A truly wonderful collection of lofty examples of virtues, capable of touching the most callous soul, with which the Russian land is strong and thanks to which the “city stands” ...
N. A. Lyubimov, one of the publishers of Russkiy Vestnik, on the contrary, refused to print the manuscript and justified the refusal to publish it by saying that “the whole thing seems to him more like raw material for making figures, now very vague, than a finished description of something actually possible and happening.” This remark was eloquently answered by B. M. Markevich, who was the first listener of this book and saw what a good impression it made on the public. He considered the work to be something "highly poetic". He especially liked the descriptions of the steppe. In his message to Lyubimov, he wrote the following lines: “His interest is maintained equally all the time, and when the story ends, it becomes a pity that it has ended. It seems to me that there is no better praise for a work of art.”
In the Warsaw Diary newspaper, the reviewer emphasized that the work is close to folklore tradition and is of genuine national origin. The hero, in his opinion, has a phenomenal, typically Russian endurance. He talks about his troubles in a detached way, as about other people's misfortunes:
Physically, the hero of the story is the brother of Ilya Muromets: he endures such torture at the nomads, such an environment and living conditions that he is not inferior to any hero of antiquity. In the moral world of the hero, that complacency prevails, which is so characteristic of the Russian common man, by virtue of which he shares the last crust of bread with his enemy, and in the war, after the battle, he gives help to the wounded enemy on a par with his own.
Reviewer R. Disterlo wrote about the peculiarities of the Russian mentality, depicted in the image of Ivan Flyagin. He stressed that Leskov managed to understand and display the ingenuous and submissive nature of our people. Ivan, in his opinion, was not responsible for his actions, his life, as it were, was given to him from above, and he put up with it, as with the weight of the cross. L. A. Annensky also described the enchanted wanderer: “Leskov’s heroes are inspired, enchanted, mysterious, intoxicated, foggy, insane people, although according to their inner self-esteem they are always “innocent”, always righteous.”
ABOUT artistic originality Leskov's prose spoke literary critic Menshikov, emphasizing, along with the originality, the shortcomings of the writer's style:
His style is wrong, but rich and even suffers from the vice of wealth: satiety.
Interesting? Save it on your wall!It is impossible to demand from the pictures what you demand. This is a genre, and a genre must be taken by one measure: is it skillful or not? What are the directions here? Thus it will turn into a yoke for art and strangle it, as an ox is crushed by a rope tied to a wheel.
Russian 19th writer century N. S. Leskov was an expert on Russian patriarchal life. He was called a writer of everyday life for his excellent knowledge of the psychology and customs of the peasantry, artisans and workers' artels, officials of various ranks, the clergy, the intelligentsia and the military. He became famous as original master Russian language and a talented satirist, denouncing the injustice of the authorities.
In the 60s of the XIX century, when Leskov began his creative activity, the writers were faced with the issue of creating a positive character in the works. Unlike the vast majority of authors, goodies which were revolutionary-minded seekers of freedom, Leskov did not see in the revolutionary an ideal for a Russian person. The writer created his diverse gallery of positive types. His positive heroes were from different strata of society, but invariably endowed with a moral principle, integrity of soul and character. Leskov's characters were honest, steadfast, courageous, as well as religious and patient with life's adversities. Leskov believed that moral self-improvement was the only means of overcoming evil.
The hero of the story "The Enchanted Wanderer" embodies the talent of a Russian person, his love of life, reverence for his native land. The fate of the protagonist Ivan Severyanych Flyagin is unusual. It is a symbol of immortality and the mighty strength of the Russian people, to whom "death is not written in the race." About himself, he says: “All my life I was dying and could not die in any way.” The writer portrays Flyagin as an enchanted wanderer on Russian soil.
The very appearance of Flyagin was a miracle of God. His parents begged him, promising to give him to the monastery. The hero knows and remembers this, sees God's providence in everything, and at the end of his life ends up in a monastery. Flyagin is by no means a saint, although he sometimes feels a prophetic gift in himself, real miracles happen to him. Ivan is a sinner, like all people. Because of him, a monk accidentally dies, he kills the Tatar prince, pushes Grushenka, whom he loves, into the water. He wanders the earth and, when he had nowhere to go, ends up in a monastery. Flyagin struggles with diabolical temptations, he yearns with all his might to fight and "die for the people", to accomplish a feat.
Describing appearance his hero, Leskov compares him with epic hero: “He was a man of enormous stature, with a swarthy, open face and thick, wavy lead-colored hair: his gray cast so strangely ... he was in the full sense of the hero, and, moreover, a typical, simple-hearted, kind Russian hero, reminiscent of grandfather Ilya Muromets. Ivan is looking for his place in life, trying to find a balance between the elemental power of his personality and the laws of society.
The writer saw a deep meaning in Russian wandering. The motive of the road, the path has for him great importance. Each new residence of Flyagin is another stage moral development hero's soul. Living in the master's house, Ivan saves the owner's family from death, when a wagon with people almost falls into the abyss. At the same time, he does not expect gratitude, does not think that he has accomplished a feat. Ivan later serves as a nanny, raising someone else's girl with love and compassion. Here he gets the experience of communicating with the soul of another person, learns mercy and kindness. Further, by the will of fate, Flyagin spends nine years in captivity with the Tatars. The most dreary thing for him here was the monotonous steppe landscape, maddening solid feather grass stretching to the horizon. Ivan cannot understand the life of the Tatars, he yearns for his homeland, thinks about escaping.
Returning to his homeland, Ivan almost disappeared from drunkenness, but he is saved from this misfortune by a high, pure love to the gypsy Grushenka. The hero is completely reborn, giving everything to the woman he loves. After Grusha's death, Flyagin sets off again to atone for sin. Instead of a stranger, he goes to the soldiers, taking pity on his elderly parents. In the war, he accomplishes a feat, but still considers himself a "great sinner."
Leskov ends the story of the life of Ivan Flyagin when he, once in the monastery, still wants to go to war and die for the people. The writer created a generalized image of the Russian national character. The hero realized that the meaning of life is to give oneself to other people, to be useful to the people and the country.
