When people talk about L.N. Tolstoy, they immediately remember the wonderful epic works of the Russian classic, such as “War and Peace” or “Anna Karenina”. But Lev Nikolaevich is good in small forms. When he takes on a story or story, his talent does not change him at all. The focus is on “After the Ball.” This article will examine the characteristics of the characters in “After the Ball.”

Plot

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

The main character, Ivan Vasilyevich, a man respected by everyone in the circle where the conversation is taking place, tells one story from his life, which refutes the fact that a person is shaped by his environment.

It was a long time ago, one of the main provincial officials was throwing a ball in honor of last day Maslenitsa. The entire provincial elite came to the ball.

Ivan Vasilyevich was then a university student from the same city. There was nothing to do, and the main entertainment was attending such events. At this ball he saw a girl - Varenka B. and fell madly in love with her. I only danced with her. Varenka was the daughter of Colonel Pyotr Vladislavovich, who, together with his wife, honored all those gathered with their presence at the holiday.

Father had to go home. And to say goodbye, he danced with his daughter, so dashingly that everyone was absolutely delighted. Seeing this, young Ivan Vasilyevich was imbued with warm feelings for the old man. The colonel left, but the young people (Varenka and Vanya) were still dancing. In the morning everyone left. Here the events of the work “After the Ball” calm down. The heroes of the story cannot yet be suspected of anything bad.

The hero couldn’t sleep, and he went wandering around the city. Accidentally, unconsciously, he came to the house of his sweetheart. In the field adjacent to the house there was a line of soldiers. Accompanied by the beating of drums and the sound of a flute, they let the fugitive Tatar pass through the ranks. He was beaten as hard as he could with sticks on his back. His back had already turned into a bloody mess, and he himself only repeated: “Lord, brothers, have mercy.” He said this quietly, because he no longer had enough strength to scream.

The torture was led by the “dear colonel,” who had recently danced with his daughter at a ball. After this event, Ivan Vasilyevich’s love for Varya passed. Every time he looked at her face, he saw the Tatar and his back.

Perhaps the reader is tired of the excessive detail of the plot, but its consideration is absolutely necessary in order to understand which characteristics of the characters in “After the Ball” most suit them.

Ivan Vasilyevich is a man whose conscience has awakened

What happened to Ivan Vasilyevich then? Then, after the ball, his conscience awoke, and he himself woke up from his sleep. So much so that it seems as if he was lashed with a whip, so sudden was the awareness of the baseness of the general, the “light”, which is no different from darkness in a moral sense. So, we can already say that the first characterization of the characters in “After the Ball” is ready: the main character can be defined as a person who has a conscience.

Colonel

Here everything is a little more complicated. It cannot be said that the colonel and his daughter are unscrupulous people. For them, the hierarchy that existed in Russia in the 19th century is simply normal. It is also normal that after the holiday they can warm up or calm their excited nerves by torturing a person. There is nothing out of the ordinary about this.

The reader can rightly say that if you really think about what characteristics of the heroes of “After the Ball” (meaning specifically the colonel), then you only need to blame the old soldier for everything. Oh no, that won't do. The colonel's women are no less to blame for his fanaticism than he himself. After all, they didn’t stop him from doing them.

Varenka

Nothing bad can be said about the daughter of a fanatic, but nothing good can be said about her either. She is a faceless character in the story. Only one memory will remain of her: she was stunningly beautiful, but it is difficult to define her meaningfully if we're talking about about the disclosure of the topic “Characteristics of the heroes “After the Ball””.

Moral issues raised in the work

So, here at the center of the work is the eternal dispute about the confrontation between the individual and society. The author also focuses his attention (and the reader’s attention) on the abomination of human duplicity and double-mindedness.

L.N. 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 to treat the “bottoms” in such a way, and the “bottoms” took revenge. This is the short answer moral content"After the ball." In fact, this story may unfold with a fan of other moral problems, but that is a completely different story.

Characteristics of Ivan Vasilievich Ivan Vasilievich - main character story. The story is narrated from his perspective. The story takes place in a provincial town in the 1840s. At that time, I.V. was a student and lived enjoying his youth. At Maslenitsa, the hero was invited to a ball with the provincial leader. “The lady of his heart” was also present there - Varenka B. From love for her, I.V. “was happy, blissful, ... was ... some kind of unearthly creature, knowing no evil and capable of only good.” The hero feels that he loves all people. They are all so wonderful: the hospitable leader and his wife, the lady with plump shoulders, and Varenka’s father, who danced so touchingly and caringly with his daughter. The newlyweds spent the entire evening together. After this, under the influence of impressions, I.V. goes to wander around the city. In the morning, on the first day Lent , I.V. comes across a terrible picture. He sees the punishment of the fugitive Tatar. He is passed through a line of soldiers, each of whom cuts the Tatar's bare back with spitzrutens. The Tatar’s back turned into a mess: “motley, wet, red.” The unfortunate Tatar begs the soldiers for mercy: “Brothers, have mercy.” But Colonel B., Varenka’s father, strictly ensured that “the brothers did not show mercy.” He walked with a “firm, trembling gait” together with the Tatar. One of the soldiers “smears”, weakens the blow, for which Colonel B. hits him in the face. I.V. was horrified by what he saw. He thought that the colonel probably knew something that allowed him to behave this way both at the ball and on the parade ground. But the hero himself is not capable of such hypocrisy. He refuses military service and marriage to Varenka. Characteristics of the Colonel (Varenka’s father). I read Tolstoy’s story “After the Ball,” where one of the main characters was the colonel, Varenka’s father. The author wanted to show readers a real picture of how unfair life can sometimes be. And the most important thing is that the writer did not invent a non-existent story from his head, but described events that happened earlier. In his youth, Lev Nikolaevich heard a story from the lips of his brother, which made a huge impression on him. The story was about how an unfortunate soldier was first punished and then executed for hitting an officer who constantly mocked him. The writer was so amazed that he took upon himself the defense of the soldier before the trial... but he was not acquitted. The heaviest mark remained on Tolstoy’s soul. All his life he remembered this event, but only 50 years after the incident, he was inspired to write a story. To construct it, Tolstoy used a contrasting description of two episodes: a social ball, where an attentive and smiling colonel dances along with everyone, and the punishment of a soldier, carried out under the cruel supervision of the same colonel. The brighter and more festive the reader sees the triumph at the beginning of the work, the more compassion for the soldier the second part of the story evokes. The narration is told in the first person. At the ball, the colonel seemed to be a very kind and friendly man who madly loves and respects his daughter. “The same affectionate, joyful smile, like his daughter’s, was in his sparkling eyes and lips.” In addition, he gave the impression of an intelligent man, possessing secular, one might say, refined manners of a man. Despite the fact that he was a colonel (And colonels, as I think, by their profession should be very tough, strict and rude), at the beginning of the story he seemed to me sensitive, noble and kind. I thought that such a military commander would definitely not give offense to his soldiers, he would be honest, fair with them and at the same time not too cruel. But I was wrong! After the end of the ball, it was as if the colonel had been replaced! It turned out that the employee is not at all the person we saw him in the first part of the story! Suddenly he turned into a spiteful, angry dictator, not at all noble, not at all polite...

Ivan Vasilyevich is the main character of Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy’s story “After the Ball.” In the image of the main character, the author depicted a portrait of a man who was typical of that era. Ivan Vasilyevich was a man who lived very modestly; big things were indifferent to him. Such a person was like everyone else, not standing out in any way from total mass. But the seemingly “ordinariness” of this person is not his full description. By the character of the main character, the author showed how an honest and decent person should relate to what is happening in society. Tolstoy managed to portray in a very accessible and understandable way the shortcomings that were inherent in the time described in the story. Ivan Vasilievich is an experienced person, knower of life. He teaches young people and is respected by them. Ivan Vasilyevich tells the younger generation about “things that have happened for a long time” days gone by" Probably in order to show how similar the past tense is to the present. But it all started with the fact that in the forties of the nineteenth century, Ivan Vasilyevich was “a cheerful and lively fellow, and also rich.” At this time he was a student, studying at the university. In addition to studying, for which a certain time was allotted, the main character had fun, attended balls, where he amazed those present with his ability to dance. He was successful among women. Ivan Vasilyevich lived the life that many other young people of that era lived. He did not think about any moral categories, important matters. As is typical for all young people, Ivan Vasilyevich fell in love. He fell in love with a girl named Varenka, who was the daughter of Colonel B. The girl was beautiful and not without the attention of many young people. One day, Ivan Vasilyevich found himself at a ball hosted by a wealthy chamberlain, who was the provincial leader of the nobility. Ivan Vasilyevich’s beloved was also at this luxurious ball. With whom he danced almost the entire evening. At this moment, Tvan Vasilievich felt like a happy man. He didn't know? whether the girl reciprocated his feelings, but her smile and look made him happy. Ivan Vasilyevich was intoxicated with his feeling, everything around him seemed beautiful. Varenka’s father also made a huge impression on Ivan Vasilyevich: “a stately, tall and fresh old man.” “He was a military commander, like an old campaigner of Nikolaev bearing.” The father, dancing with his daughter, looked dignified, graceful, graceful. His whole appearance, the presence of many orders, aroused respect from Ivan Vasilyevich. Ivan Vasilyevich drew attention to the old colonel’s boots: they were old-fashioned. But the colonel’s lack of new boots, as people said, was caused by a desire to dress his daughter better. Such care for his daughter evoked admiration and respect from Ivan Vasilyevich. After the ball, impressed by this gorgeous event, Ivan Vasilyevich cannot fall asleep. And the young man decides to go to Colonel B.’s house to see his beloved Varenka again. In a vacant lot in front of the colonel's house, Ivan Vasilyevich saw soldiers leading another Tatar soldier, who was tied to rifle butts. This soldier was punished for escaping and, while passing through the ranks, he was subjected to severe blows from other soldiers. Next to this formation, Ivan Vasilyevich saw the father of his beloved, who was hitting a soldier in the face, who, in the opinion of the colonel, did not hit the punished man hard enough. This scene made Ivan Vasilyevich think: how can a man who was so cheerful and caring towards his daughter at the ball act so cruelly? What he saw in front of the colonel’s house influenced Ivan Vasilyevich. He changed his mind about becoming a military man. This picture even cooled Ivan Vasilyevich’s feelings for Varenka. Ivan Vasilyevich understood that, probably. the colonel did what was necessary, as was customary. But there must also be a moral side to actions. Beating a defenseless person is immoral. Thus, Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy showed that man (in in this case Ivan Vasilyevich), does not dare to openly express his protest against what is happening, and what happened was a product of the existing order and lawlessness in the state. But inside Ivan Vasilyevich there is a seething protest against the existing system, against the laws and foundations by which his contemporary society lives.

Main features of the story “After the Ball”:
genre - story;
based on real events;
plot: one incident from the life of the hero;
narration: from the perspective of the main character;
contrast as a compositional device;
detail as a way of revealing events and characters;
attention to the hero’s inner world;
the story of the hero's spiritual insight.

The history of the creation of Tolstoy’s work “After the Ball”

The story “After the Ball” was written in 1903 and published after the writer’s death in 1911. The story is based on a real event that Tolstoy learned about when he lived as a student with his brothers in Kazan. His brother Sergei Nikolaevich fell in love with the daughter of the local military commander L.P. Koreysha was going to marry her. But after Sergei Nikolaevich saw the cruel punishment commanded by the father of his beloved girl, he experienced a strong shock. He stopped visiting Koreish's house and gave up the idea of ​​getting married. This story lived so firmly in Tolstoy’s memory that many years later he described it in the story “After the Ball.” The writer was thinking about the title of the story. There were several options: “The Story of the Ball and the Gauntlet”, “Daughter and Father", etc. As a result, the story was called "After the Ball." The writer was concerned with the problem: man and environment, the influence of circumstances on human behavior. Can a person manage himself or is it all a matter of environment and circumstances.

Type, genre, creative method of the analyzed work “After the Ball” - prose work; it is written in the short story genre, since the center of the story is one important event from the hero’s life (the shock of what he saw after the ball) and the text is small in volume. It must be said that in his declining years Tolstoy showed particular interest in the short story genre. The story depicts two eras: the 40s of the 19th century, the time of Nicholas's reign and the time of the creation of the story. The writer restores the past to show that nothing has changed in the present. He opposes violence and oppression, against inhumane treatment of people. The story “After the Ball,” like all the works of L.N. Tolstoy, is associated with realism in Russian literature.

Subject of the work

Tolstoy reveals in the story “After the Ball” one of the bleak aspects of life in Nicholas Russia - the position of the tsarist soldier: a twenty-five-year service life, meaningless drill, complete lack of rights for soldiers, being held through the ranks as punishment. However, the main problem in the story is related to moral questions: what shapes a person - social conditions or chance. A single incident rapidly changes an individual life (“The whole life changed from one night, or rather morning,” says the hero). In the center of the image in the story is the thought of a person who is able to immediately discard class prejudices.

Idea

The idea of ​​the story is revealed using a certain system of images and composition. The main characters are Ivan Vasilyevich and the colonel, the father of the girl with whom the narrator was in love, through whose images the decision is made main problem. The author shows that society and its structure, and not chance, influence personality. In the image of the Colonel, Tolstoy exposes the objective social conditions that distort human nature and instill in him false concepts of duty. The ideological content is revealed through the depiction of the evolution of the narrator’s inner feelings, his sense of the world. The writer makes you think about the problem of human responsibility for the environment. It is precisely the awareness of this responsibility for the life of society that distinguishes Ivan Vasilyevich. A young man from a wealthy family, impressionable and enthusiastic, faced with terrible injustice, dramatically changed his life path, giving up any career. “I was so ashamed that, not knowing where to look, as if I had been caught in the most shameful act, I lowered my eyes and hurried to go home.” He dedicated his life to helping other people: “Say better: no matter how many people would be worthless if you weren’t here.” In the story by L.N. In Tolstoy, everything is in contrast, everything is shown according to the principle of antithesis: a description of a brilliant ball and a terrible punishment on the field; the setting in the first and second parts; graceful, lovely Varenka and the figure of the Tatar with his terrible, unnatural back; Varenka’s father at the ball, who evoked enthusiastic tenderness in Ivan Vasilyevich, and he is also an evil, formidable old man, demanding that the soldiers carry out orders. Studying the general structure of a story becomes a means of revealing its ideological content.

Expressed his attitude towards the cruelty of treatment of soldiers.
-Social injustice: Why some live a carefree life, while others eke out a miserable existence.
-Problems of honor, duty, conscience.

Nature of the conflict

Analysis of the work shows that the basis of the conflict in this story is laid, on the one hand, in the depiction of the two-facedness of the colonel, on the other, in the disappointment of Ivan Vasilyevich. The colonel was a very handsome, stately, tall and fresh old man. Affectionate, leisurely speech emphasized his aristocratic essence and aroused even more admiration. Varenka’s father was so sweet and kind that he endeared himself to everyone, including the main character of the story. After the ball, in the scene of the soldier’s punishment, not a single sweet, good-natured feature remained on the colonel’s face. There was nothing left of the man who was at the ball, but a new one appeared, menacing and cruel. The angry voice of Pyotr Vladislavovich alone inspired fear. Ivan Vasilyevich describes the soldier’s punishment this way: “And I saw how he, with his strong hand in a suede glove, beat a frightened, short, weak soldier in the face because he did not lower his stick strongly enough on the red back of the Tatar.” Ivan Vasilyevich cannot love just one person, he must certainly love the whole world, understand and accept it entirely. Therefore, along with his love for Varenka, the hero also loves her father and admires him. When he encounters cruelty and injustice in this world, his entire sense of harmony and integrity of the world collapses, and he prefers not to love at all than to love partially. I am not free to change the world, to defeat evil, but I and only I am free to agree or disagree to participate in this evil - this is the logic of the hero’s reasoning. And Ivan Vasilyevich consciously refuses his love.

Main characters

The main characters of the story are the young man Ivan Vasilyevich, in love with Varenka, and the girl’s father, Colonel Pyotr Vladislavovich. Colonel, handsome and strong man about fifty years old, an attentive and caring father who wears homemade boots to dress and take out his beloved daughter. The colonel is sincere both at the ball, when he dances with his beloved daughter, and after the ball, when, without reasoning, like a zealous Nikolaev campaigner, he drives a fugitive soldier through the ranks. He undoubtedly believes in the need to deal with those who have broken the law. It is this sincerity of the colonel in different life situations that most baffles Ivan Vasilyevich. How do you understand someone who is sincerely kind in one situation and sincerely angry in another? “Obviously, he knows something that I don’t know... If I knew what he knows, I would understand what I saw, and it would not torment me.” Ivan Vasilyevich felt that society was to blame for this contradiction: “If this was done with such confidence and was recognized by everyone as necessary, then, therefore, they knew something that I did not know.” Ivan Vasilyevich, a modest and decent young man, shocked by the scene of the beating of soldiers, is unable to understand why this is possible, why there are orders that require sticks to protect. The shock experienced by Ivan Vasilyevich turned his ideas about class morality upside down: he began to understand the Tatar’s plea for mercy, compassion and anger sounding in the words of the blacksmith; Without realizing it, he shares the highest human laws of morality.

Plot

In the course of analyzing the work, we come to the conclusion that the plot of the story is simple. Ivan Vasilyevich, convinced that the environment does not influence a person’s way of thinking, and that it’s all a matter of chance, tells the story of his youthful love for the beautiful Varenka B. At the ball, the hero meets Varenka’s father, a very handsome, stately, tall and “fresh old man” with ruddy face and a luxurious mustache, Colonel. The owners persuade him to dance a mazurka with their daughter. While dancing, the couple attracts everyone's attention. After the mazurka, the father takes Varenka to Ivan Vasilyevich, and the young people spend the rest of the evening together. Ivan Vasilyevich returns home in the morning, but cannot sleep and goes to wander around the city in the direction of Varenka’s house. From afar, he hears the sounds of a flute and a drum, which endlessly repeat the same shrill melody. On the field in front of B.'s house, he sees how some Tatar soldiers are being driven through the line for escaping. The execution is commanded by Varenka’s father, the handsome, stately Colonel B. Tatar begs the soldiers to “have mercy,” but the colonel strictly makes sure that the soldiers do not give him the slightest concession. One of the soldiers “smears.” B. hits him in the face. Ivan Vasilyevich sees the red, motley, blood-wet back of the Tatar and is horrified. Noticing Ivan Vasilyevich, B. pretends to be unfamiliar with him and turns away. Ivan Vasilyevich thinks that the colonel is probably right, since everyone admits that he is acting normally. However, he cannot understand the reasons that forced B. to brutally beat a person, and not understanding, he decides not to enroll. military service. His love is waning. So one incident changed his life and views.

How positive the portrait of this hero was in the first part, so terrible and disgusting he became in the second. Calmly watch the torment of a living person (Tolstoy says that the Tatar’s back turned into a wet piece of bloody meat) and also punish for the fact that one of the soldiers takes pity on the poor fellow and softens the blow!
It is also important that this punishment took place on the first day of Lent, when you especially strictly need to monitor the purity of your thoughts and your actions. But the colonel doesn't think about it. He received an order and carries it out with great zeal.
It seems to me that in his “work” the hero resembles a machine that simply does what it is programmed to do. But what about his own thoughts, his own position? After all, the colonel is capable of experiencing good feelings - the writer showed us this in the episode of the ball. And therefore, the “morning episode” of this hero’s life becomes even more terrible. A person suppresses, does not use his sincere good emotions, hides all this in a military uniform, hides behind someone else’s order.
Using the example of Colonel B. Tolstoy raises two important problems: personal responsibility for one’s actions, reluctance to live a “conscious life” and the destructive role of the state, forcing one to destroy the individual.
The morning episode had a shocking effect on the narrator, Ivan Vasilyevich. He did not understand who was right and who was wrong in this situation, but he only felt with all his soul that something wrong was happening, something fundamentally wrong.
This hero, unlike Colonel B., listens to his soul. That is why he makes a very important decision - never to serve anywhere. Ivan Vasilyevich simply cannot allow someone to destroy him, force him to do what he does not want.
Thus, we see that the second part of the story, describing the events after the ball, completely changed the hero’s life. The first morning of Lent made this young man, who had lived for a long time with rose-colored glasses, think about important things - about morality, responsibility, the meaning of life. We can say that it forced Ivan Vasilyevich to grow up and look at his life and the world around him from a different angle. That is why Tolstoy’s story is called “After the Ball”

Composition

The whole story is the events of one night, which the hero recalls many years later.

1.In the work no exposure. An exposition is a narration about the fate of the characters before the events described, the background to the events underlying the work of art.

The story can be divided into three parts: the author's text opens and closes the story - the frame, and inside it there is a story told by the hero, Ivan Vasilyevich.

2. “After the Ball” is structured as a “story within a story”: begins framing - dialogue: venerable, having seen a lot in life and, as the author adds, a sincere and truthful person - Ivan Vasilyevich, in a conversation with friends, asserts that a person’s life develops one way or another not at all from the influence of the environment, but because of chance, and cites as proof of this an incident, as he himself admits, that changed his life. What is this dispute about? First of all, about global problem improvement of the world and man. From time immemorial, man has felt this internal need to fight the bad within himself and without. Is such a struggle possible? Will she be hopeless? Where to start? From external conditions, from the environment or from yourself?

Framing — artistic technique, when the main plot is, as it were, introduced into the frame of another plot. One of the main techniques in the composition of the story “After the Ball” is antithesis, i.e. contrasting image of heroes, circumstances, events, certain details.

Antithesis- an artistic technique based on comparison storylines, episodes, images.

This is actually a story, whose heroes are Varenka B., her father and Ivan Vasilyevich himself. Thus, from the dialogue between the narrator and his friends at the very beginning of the story, we learn that the episode in question was of great importance in a person’s life. The form of oral storytelling gives events a special realism. The mention of the sincerity of the narrator serves the same purpose. He talks about what happened to him in his youth; This narrative is given a certain “patina of antiquity,” as well as the mention that Varenka is already old, that “her daughters are married.”

3. The story itself can be divided into two parts. The first is “At the Ball”, the second is “After the Ball”, or you can call it more specifically - “On the Parade Ground”.
The ball scene is the beginning of the action, its development and culmination. Ivan Vasilyevich, a young, “cheerful and lively fellow”, and also “handsome” and “rich”, is in love with the beautiful girl Varenka. Ivan Vasilyevich’s feelings developed upward. The hero saw the girl as angelic. White her dress seems to emphasize the bright image of Varenka and the bright feelings of Ivan Vasilyevich.
It seemed to Ivan Vasilyevich that love was lifting him to some unprecedented height. The hero is at the height of happiness and it seems that his feeling cannot develop further. But no, this is not the limit. Varenka’s dance with her father raises a previously unknown wave of tenderness and happiness in his soul. This dance is the culmination of the hero’s feelings and the culmination of the plot.
The dance of a father and his daughter is described in detail by the author, with Tolstoy paying more attention to the father. In his appearance, as well as in Varenka’s appearance, white color predominates.
Ivan Vasilyevich unnoticed and easily transferred his love to Varenka’s father. For him, father and daughter are one. A little later, the realization of their inseparability will cause feelings opposite to tenderness. Having reached its culmination, Ivan Vasilyevich’s love remains the same after the ball. “My happiness grew and grew,” he will say, spreading his love to the whole world. The first part of the action ends on the highest note of the hero’s feelings.
“I saw... something big, black”
The second part of the story is in many ways the opposite of the first. At the ball, white dominated, and on the parade ground, black. At the ball, a mazurka was played, which maintained a feeling of happiness, and on the parade ground “drums were beating and flutes were whistling.” These sounds awakened the alarm. The figures on which the hero’s attention is focused are also contrasting. At the ball there is the lovely Varenka, and on the parade ground there is a soldier being beaten by spitzrutens. He could only sob: “Brothers, have mercy.”
“At the Ball” and “On the Parade Ground” are different scenes, and the contrast between them is quite natural, if not for one “but”... The same person participates in them. The execution on the parade ground was led by Varenka’s father, Colonel B. Blinded by love, Ivan Vasilyevich had previously seen him as ideal, so the shock from what was happening on the parade ground was severe. “There was an almost physical melancholy in my heart, almost to the point of nausea...” And it was also very “ashamed.”
The scene on the parade ground is the denouement of the action. Ivan Vasilyevich for a short period of time (from evening to morning) went from blindness to insight. Having regained his sight, he realized that in the human world there is appearance and essence, and they are not always in harmony. In the case of the colonel, everything was exactly like that. At the ball he is “pink and white.” It turned out that this was an appearance, but his essence was revealed on the parade ground.
"If I had known..."
Ivan Vasilyevich also realized that morning that there was some other truth that he did not know. This truth allows the guilty soldier to be beaten to death.
The inability to understand that other truth, and therefore to accept it, turned Ivan Vasilyevich’s whole life upside down. He, a carefree young man, suddenly discovered previously unknown feelings in himself: “I was so ashamed... as if I had been caught in the most shameful act...” He was ashamed of the actions of another.
Having dreamed of military service, Ivan Vasilyevich refuses it. Why? Probably, again, from the inability to understand what it is - this service.
And “from that day on, love began to wane.” But what does Varenka have to do with it? Nothing to do with it. But if in a moment of happiness she was for Ivan Vasilyevich one with her father, then even in a moment of horror and shame he could not separate them in his mind. The evil emanating from the colonel, contrary to his wishes, struck the love of his beloved daughter. This is the only punishment for him.
The narration, led by Ivan Vasilyevich, shows events in reverse chronology, which allows you to see its destructive consequences in his fate.

Analysis of the first part “Ball”.

Varenka is in a white dress, white gloves, and white shoes. White color is the personification of purity, light, joy. Vivid means of expression are used - epithets: the ball is wonderful, the hall is beautiful, the buffet is magnificent, etc.
- An elegant mazurka, a perky polka, a cheerful quadrille, a gentle, smooth waltz sounded.
-Varenka’s father is handsome, stately, tall, fresh, with a joyful smile; the guests are delighted by the colonel's charm and courtesy. expressive verbs: touched the boots, performed beautiful and fast steps.
-Ivan Vasilyevich “at that time embraced the whole world with his love,” “he was happy, blissful, and kind. “I was not me, some unearthly creature who knows no evil and is capable only of good. I loved the hostess...and her husband, and even the engineer Anisimov.”

the ball is wonderful, the hall is wonderful, the buffet is magnificent

sounds - Quadrilles, waltzes, polkas

the hosts of the ball are a good-natured old man, a rich hospitable man,

Varenka is his good-natured wife in a white dress, white gloves, white shoes, she has a radiant, flushed face and gentle, sweet eyes.

Colonel - Handsome, stately, tall, fresh, with a white mustache, white sideburns, sparkling eyes

Ivan Vasilievich - Satisfied, happy, blessed, kind,

Analysis of the second part of “After the Ball” - “The Punishment of the Soldier.”

The colors change dramatically: the landscape of a spring morning is not encouraging, first at the end of the field you can see something large, black, then soldiers in black uniforms, the soldier’s back is described as “something motley, wet, red, unnatural.” Verbs, participles, gerunds are expressive: “a man naked to the waist, tied to the guns of two soldiers,” “a face wrinkled with suffering,” pushed, pulled, sobbed, twitching with his whole body, tipping back, etc.
-The melody is unpleasant, shrill, “something different, harsh, bad.”
-The colonel walked with a firm, trembling gait, “..with a strong hand he hits the weak soldier in the face.” Means of expression are antonyms: a stumbling soldier writhing in pain and the tall, stately figure of the colonel.
-State I.V. conveyed by the words “And it seemed to me that I was about to vomit with all the horror that entered me from this sight”

Execution (corporal punishment):

street - Something big, black, hard, bad music

sounds - Unpleasant, shrill melody

soldiers - Many black people, in black uniforms,

punished - Bare to the waist, his back is something motley, wet, red, unnatural

Colonel - Tall military man, walked with a firm, trembling gait

Ivan Vasilyevich - I was ashamed, I lowered my eyes, there was an almost physical melancholy in my heart, almost to the point of nausea

Artistic originality

Tolstoy the artist always took care to “reduce everything to unity” in his work. In the story “After the Ball,” contrast became such a unifying principle. The story is built on the device of contrast, or antithesis, by showing two diametrically opposed episodes and, in connection with this, a sharp change in the narrator’s experiences. Thus, the contrasting composition of the story and the appropriate language help to reveal the idea of ​​the work, tear off the mask of good nature from the colonel’s face, and show his true essence. Contrast is also used by the writer when choosing linguistic means. Thus, when describing Varenka’s portrait, white color predominates: “ white dress“,” “white kid gloves,” “white satin shoes” (this artistic technique is called color painting). This is due to the fact that white color is the personification of purity, light, joy. Tolstoy, with the help of this word, emphasizes the feeling of celebration and conveys state of mind narrator. The musical accompaniment of the story speaks of the holiday in Ivan Vasilyevich’s soul: a cheerful quadrille, a gentle flowing waltz, a playful polka, and an elegant mazurka create a joyful mood. In the punishment scene there are different colors and different music: “... I saw... something big, black and heard the sounds of a flute and drum coming from there... it was... hard, bad music.”

The role of artistic detail

Any artistic detail helps to reveal the ideological meaning of the work

Colonel Pyotr Vladislavovich B. is the father of the girl with whom the hero-narrator is in love. For the first time, Varenka points to the “tall, stately figure of her father, the colonel.” Colonel's appearance. “A handsome, stately, tall and fresh old man.” Important: parallels with Nicholas I (Nikolai Palkin) - mustache“A la Nicholas I,” “a military commander of the type of an old campaigner, of Nikolaev bearing” is an indication of the torture of soldiers customary in Nikolaev’s time. “A tender, joyful smile, like his daughter’s” - a decent citizen, a caring father.

Colonel's Suede White Glove- “everything must be done according to the law” - at the ball, he puts it on while dancing with his daughter, and after the ball: “with a strong hand in a suede glove, he hit a frightened, short, weak soldier in the face.” A suede glove is an important artistic detail that emphasizes the status of its owner. In the ball scene, bright and festive, she is an adornment and exaltation of her “master”. Pulling a suede glove over right hand During the ball, the colonel said: “Everything must be according to the law.” During the execution, Ivan Vasilyevich saw a colonel who “with his strong hand, in a suede glove, beat a frightened little soldier in the face because he did not lower the stick firmly enough on the red back of the Tatar.”

"Unfashionable", "homemade" boots of the colonel who touched the hero at the ball. To take out and dress his beloved daughter, he does not buy fashionable boots, but wears homemade ones” instead fashionable shoes orders boots from the battalion shoemaker.; white mustache and sideburns - this detail is also repeated in the second episode.

The colonel's beauty evokes disgust in Ivan Vasilyevich, who is observing the punishment (the colonel's protruding lip, puffy cheeks). The writer resorts to the technique of contrasting colors (dominant white and pink colors the first part is contrasted with the red, motley, unnatural appearance of the Tatar’s back in the second part of the story), as well as a contrasting comparison of sounds (the sounds of a waltz, quadrille, mazurka, polka in the first part are dissonant with the whistle of a flute, the thump of a drum, and the refrain repeated throughout the second.

What was left of Ivan Vasilyevich after the ball in memory of Varenka? - Her glove, a feather from her fan.

Color and sound images of the story

The short story “After the Ball” by L.N. Tolstoy logically falls into two parts, with the second part clearly contrasted with the first. How is such a contrast achieved? Among the linguistic means used by the author, sound and color images that reveal the psychological state of the main character, Ivan Vasilyevich, cannot but attract the reader’s attention. It is he who tells us about how an incident can change a person’s life; it is through his eyes that we see and hear what happens at the governor’s ball and after the ball.

So, the last day of Maslenitsa, the leader’s ball. Everything and everyone surrounding our hero is beautiful, wonderful, magnificent. And the colors corresponding to this mood are pleasing to the eye: silver, pink (as an option - blush) and white. There is a lot of white: these are the white shoulders of the governor’s wife, and Varenka, all in white - shoes, dress, gloves, fan, and Father Varenka with a white mustache and sideburns. A lot of light.

The sounds of polka, quadrille, waltz and mazurka are unlikely to evoke a sad mood, especially since they were performed by famous, albeit serf, musicians.

As the hero of the story moves away from the venue after the ball, the colors darken and finally become black: Ivan Vasilyevich sees something black, he meets black people, soldiers are wearing black uniforms. The back of the tortured Tatar is motley, red, and wet. The general impression of the color is something unnatural and scary.

And the music here is completely different: bad, hard, unpleasant, shrill. The flute does not sing, but whistles, the drums beat. Screams, sobs, and an angry voice are heard.

All this leads Ivan Vasilyevich into such a state of horror that it dramatically changes him future fate: “...could not enter military service, as I wanted before...”, “love began to wane from that day on.”

Meaning of the work

The significance of the story is enormous. Tolstoy poses broad humanistic problems: why do some live a carefree life, while others drag out a miserable existence? What is justice, honor, dignity? These problems have worried and continue to worry more than one generation of Russian society. That is why Tolstoy remembered an incident that happened in his youth and based it on his story. 2008 marked the 180th anniversary of the birth of the great Russian writer Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy. Hundreds of books and articles have been written about him, his works are known all over the world, his name is revered in all countries, the heroes of his novels and stories live on screens and theater stages. His word is heard on radio and television. “Without knowing Tolstoy,” wrote M. Gorky, “one cannot consider oneself to know one’s country, one cannot consider oneself a cultured person.” Tolstoy's humanism, his penetration into inner world people, protest against social injustice do not become obsolete, but live and influence the minds and hearts of people today. An entire era in the development of Russian classical literature is associated with the name of Tolstoy. fiction. Tolstoy's legacy has great value to shape the worldview and aesthetic tastes of readers. Acquaintance with his works, filled with high humanistic and moral ideals, undoubtedly contributes to spiritual enrichment. There is no other writer in Russian literature whose work would be as diverse and complex as the work of L.N. Tolstoy. The great writer developed Russian literary language, enriched literature with new means of depicting life. Global significance Tolstoy's creativity is determined by the formulation of great, exciting socio-political, philosophical and moral problems, unsurpassed realism in the depiction of life and high artistic skill. His works - novels, stories, short stories, plays - are read with unflagging interest by more and more generations of people all over the globe. This is evidenced by the fact that the decade from 2000 to 2010 was declared by UNESCO as the decade of L.N. Tolstoy.

Psychological portraits

Portrait- image in literary work the hero’s appearance: facial features, figures, clothes, posture, facial expressions, gestures, demeanor. Portrait is also one of the important composition techniques.

The author describes only appearance girls, clothes, behavior at the ball, without affecting her inner world. We see the girl “...in her youth, eighteen years old, she was lovely: tall, slender, graceful and majestic, just majestic. She always held herself straight - as if she couldn’t do otherwise - throwing her head back a little, and this gave her, with her beauty and tall stature, despite her thinness, even bonyness, a kind of regal appearance...”

When describing Varenka, the dominant color is white: “white dress”, “white kid gloves”, “white satin shoes”. White color is the personification of purity, light, joy. Tolstoy emphasizes the feeling of celebration and conveys the narrator’s state of mind. The hero draws attention to her “radiant, flushed face with dimples and gentle, sweet eyes.”

And here is the description of the tortured soldier: “something terrible, a man naked to the waist, a face wrinkled with suffering, a stumbling, writhing man, a motley, wet, red, unnatural body.”

In a portrait important role plays an indication of nationality. He was a Tatar. By this Tolstoy hints at the disdainful attitude of his contemporaries towards people of other nationalities.
The technique of antithesis is used in creating a portrait of the colonel at the ball and after it. In literature, a psychological portrait is more common, in which, through the appearance of the hero, the writer always strives to reveal his inner world.

Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy is a master of psychological portraiture. The author creates portrait of a colonel at a ball - an affable and likeable person, handsome, stately, tall, fresh, with a white mustache, white sideburns, sparkling eyes, a joyful smile, a broad chest, strong shoulders and long slender legs.After the ball we see a different colonel, the author not only depicts his appearance, but creates his psychological portrait - the embodiment of cruelty and indifference. The hero notices the colonel’s protruding lip, pays attention to his firm step, strong hand in a suede glove, and how menacingly and angrily the colonel frowned when he was caught in a terrible act.

Contrast is used in describing a psychological portrait Ivan Vasilievich at the ball and after the ball. The writer gives a description of the hero’s appearance, a description of his experiences, introduces an internal monologue, and talks about his actions. There's a hero at the ball he was in a state of falling in love, admired, did not feel his body, the feeling of delight did not leave him, gratitude, rapturous tenderness, an enthusiastically tender feeling, he was satisfied, happy, blissful, kind, infinitely happy, his happiness “grew and grew.” After the ball he is disappointed , depressed, feels shame, anguish reaching the point of nausea, he is about to vomit with horror, he is embarrassed, unpleasant, love has come to naught.

The contrasting image of the characters, their psychological portrait, and the environment in which they live allows the writer to reveal the essence of their characters and at the same time expose the idea of ​​social contradictions in Russia. Contrast helps reveal the idea of ​​coexistence of 2 worlds, two Russias - peasant and noble .

Tolstoy not only shows the bizarre combination of good and evil impulses in the colonel’s soul, but also exposes the objective social conditions that distort human nature and instill in him false concepts of duty.

At the same time, the writer makes us think about the problem of human responsibility for the environment. It is precisely the awareness of this responsibility for the life of society that distinguishes Ivan Vasilyevich. A young man from a wealthy family, impressionable and enthusiastic, faced with terrible injustice, he dramatically changed his life path, abandoning any career. “I was so ashamed that, not knowing where to look, as if I had been caught in the most shameful act, I lowered my eyes and hurried to go home.” He dedicated his life to helping other people: “Say better: no matter how many people would be worthless if you weren’t here.”
Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy is a master of psychological portraiture. Ivan Vasilyevich, who plays the role of narrator in the work, can be considered a typical representative of the progressive part Russian society XIX century. His fate is the fate of hundreds and thousands of thinking people who actively resisted the deadening influence of tsarism in Russia.

In addition to the antithesis, the portrait, the landscape plays an important ideological and compositional role in the work. Scenery- description of nature in a literary work.

The landscape is introduced by the author in the second part of the story. The picture of nature does not in any way correspond to the triumphant mood of the hero, even though events develop in the morning - the time of awakening of all living things. But did the hero awaken after numerous balls, fun, and celebrations?

There is fog all around, and it is difficult to see anything. But the young man is considering. He sees something big and black. The hero observes a brutal execution of a Tatar soldier.
It was this inhuman spectacle that awakened Ivan Vasilyevich, tore him out of his nightly revelry and festivities, from that usual carefree existence in which he was a simple man in the street.

The morning in nature that day became the morning of the hero’s life; he woke up and saw reality in completely different colors.
The composition of the story “After the Ball” and its techniques reveal the idea of ​​the work, emphasize the main points, and introduce the reader into the world of the characters’ experiences and thoughts.

This is interesting

The episode describing the punishment of the soldiers had a backstory. It first appeared in an article by L.N. Tolstoy’s “Nikolai Palkin”, written in 1886. The writer learned about the details of the cruel punishment with spitzrutens when, together with N.N. Ge Jr. and M.A. Stakhovich walked from Moscow to Yasnaya Polyana. They stopped for the night with a 9-5-year-old soldier, who told them this story. Although Tolstoy himself never witnessed such a punishment, the story made a huge impression on him. On the same day, Lev Nikolaevich made an outline of the article in his notebook. The article “Nikolai Palkin” is a dialogue between the author and the soldier, which gradually turns into the reflections of the lyrical hero about the events of those years. Each word of Tolstoy has extraordinary expressiveness and capacity. Thus, in the story there is an extremely significant epithet in its meaning: “a flexible stick of such the highest approved thickness...”. It was included by Tolstoy for a specific purpose - to indicate that despotism and cruelty come from the tsar himself and are determined by the autocratic system. The indication that the thickness of the spitzrutens was approved by the tsar himself is based on documentary data. It is known that Tolstoy was familiar with the note of Nicholas I, in which the tsar outlined the ritual of execution of the Decembrists with all the details. Regarding this note, Tolstoy wrote with indignation that “this is some kind of sophisticated murder.” In his article “Nikolai Palkin,” the author mentions an acquaintance of a regimental commander who “the day before, he and his beautiful daughter danced a mazurka at a ball and left early, so that early the next morning he could order the execution of a fleeing Tatar soldier through the ranks to death, mark this soldier to death and return dine with the family." This scene represents, as it were, an intermediate stage between the article “Nikolai Palkin” and the story “For What?”, closer to the latter. The emotional impact of this scene on the reader intensifies from work to work (“Nikolai Palkin” - “After the Ball” - “For What?”). Here Tolstoy manages to most vividly convey the feelings, thoughts, experiences of the characters during the execution, their mental and physical suffering.-

“After the Ball” is a story written by Tolstoy. Thanks to the images of the created heroes, we can see how different a person can be in his guise, and how important it is not to be guided by regulations, but also to be a person, because you can act not as you should, but as morality dictates.

The main characters of the story After the Ball

Before getting acquainted with the characters created by Tolstoy in the story “After the Ball,” I will name the characters. There are few main characters - Ivan Vasilyevich, who narrates the story, the Colonel - Varenka's father, who with his actions opened the eyes of Ivan Vasilyevich and turned his whole idea of ​​​​life upside down, and Varenka herself - Ivan Vasilyevich's beloved.

I’ll start my description of the heroes of the story “After the Ball” with the hero of the story “After the Ball,” Ivan Vasilyevich. This is an image of a typical person of that era, and it is the author who describes the life of a small town in the 1840s of the 19th century. Here the hero talks about the days of bygone days. Then he was a student with money. I studied and went to balls. He was in love with a beautiful girl, Varenka. The hero of the story was successful with women, but he only needed one, and here I’ll dwell a little on Varenka.

Varya was pretty. She had a thin body. but at the same time the girl had a regal appearance and always behaved majestically. When she smiled, her eyes smiled too. She had plenty of admirers, but she only liked Ivan Vasilyevich.

So, one day they danced all night at a ball. The hero was happy, inspired, “blessed.” From his love for the two-room apartment, it seemed to him that he loved the whole world, all people. And how wonderful Varya’s father seemed to the hero.

The colonel was stately, arousing at first glance only pleasant emotions; although he was aged, he was fresh and tall. He held the post of military commander. He was graceful in dancing and when he danced with his daughter, everyone could not take their eyes off them. He was courteous and attentive. He was wearing old boots. As they explained to Ivan Vasilyevich, he saved on himself so that his daughter could buy more new dresses. Such concern struck the hero of the story even more until the events after the ball occurred.

This is where the real essence of the colonel was revealed, who ordered the soldier to be punished for escaping. And here Ivan Vasilyevich realized that at the ball Varya’s father had behaved in a pretentious way, because he couldn’t real person treat your daughter with such love, only to then show such cruelty towards your soldier. And although the colonel acted according to the regulations, maybe this is how it should happen in the army and discipline is above all, but for our hero, humanity, kindness, and compassion are important.

That is why the hero of the story “After the Ball” left the service. All because he did not want to live as the rules dictated, he wanted to live as his heart dictated. Well, the events that happened after the ball were so deeply embedded in his soul, it was such an immoral act to beat a defenseless person that he could no longer meet with Varenka, he could no longer see the colonel, he did not see himself in the service. And although he did not openly show his protest against the existing lawlessness, inside him there was a seething protest against the system, the existing laws and foundations.