“Tolstoy’s novel differs from an ordinary family novel in that it is, so to speak, an open family, with an open door - it is ready to spread, the path to the family is the path to people,” N. Berkovsky writes about the novel “War and Peace.”
In the novel "War and Peace" L.N. Tolstoy talks about different families - these include the Bolkonskys, who preserve aristocratic traditions; and representatives of the Moscow nobility Rostov; the Kuragin family, deprived of mutual respect, sincerity and connections; the Berg family, which begins its existence by laying the “material foundation”. And in the epilogue of the novel, Tolstoy presents to the readers two new families - Pierre and Natasha, Nikolai and Marya - families based on sincere and deep feelings.
Let's try to rank the families presented in the novel according to their proximity to Tolstoy's idea of ​​an ideal family.
Bergi.
Berg himself has much in common with Griboyedov’s Molchalin (moderation, diligence and accuracy). According to Tolstoy, Berg is not only a philistine in himself, but also a part of the universal philistinism (acquisitive mania takes over in any situation, drowning out the manifestation of normal feelings - the episode with the purchase of furniture during the evacuation of most residents from Moscow). Berg “exploits” the war of 1812, “squeezing” the maximum benefit out of it for himself. The Bergs try with all their might to resemble the models accepted in society: the evening that the Bergs throw is an exact copy of many other evenings with candles and tea. Vera (although she belongs to the Rostov family by birth) even as a girl, despite her pleasant appearance and development, good manners and “correctness” of judgment, repels people with her indifference to others and extreme selfishness.
Such a family, according to Tolstoy, cannot become the basis of society because... The “foundation” underlying it is material acquisitions, which rather devastate the soul and contribute to the destruction of human relationships rather than unification.
Kuragins- Prince Vasily, Hippolyte, Anatole, Helen.
Family members are connected only by external relations. Prince Vasily does not have a fatherly feeling for children, all Kuragins are disunited. And in independent life, the children of Prince Vasily are doomed to loneliness: Helen and Pierre have no family, despite their official marriage; Anatole, being married to a Polish woman, enters into new relationships and is looking for a rich wife. Kuragins organically fit into the society of the regulars of Anna Pavlovna Scherer's salon with its falsehood, artificiality, false patriotism, and intrigue. The true face of Prince Vasily is revealed in the episode of dividing the inheritance of Kirila Bezukhov, which he does not intend to refuse under any circumstances. He actually sells his daughter, marrying her to Pierre. The animal and immoral principle inherent in Anatol Kuragin is especially clearly manifested when his father brings him to the Bolkonskys’ house in order to marry Princess Marya to him (episode with Mademoiselle Burien). And his attitude towards Natasha Rostova is so low and immoral that it does not need any comments. Helene completes the family gallery with dignity - she is a predatory woman, ready to marry for money and position in society for the sake of convenience, and then treat her husband cruelly.
The lack of connections and spiritual closeness makes this family formal, that is, people living in it are related only by blood, but there is no spiritual kinship or human closeness in this house, and therefore, it can be assumed that such a family cannot cultivate a moral attitude to life.
Bolkonsky.
The head of the family, the old Prince Bolkonsky, establishes a meaningful life in Bald Mountains. He is all in the past - he is a true aristocrat, and he carefully preserves all the traditions of the aristocracy.
It should be noted that real life is also in the old prince’s field of attention - his awareness of modern events surprises even his son. An ironic attitude towards religion and sentimentality brings father and son closer together. The death of the prince, according to Tolstoy, is retribution for his despotism. Bolkonsky lives “by the mind”; an intellectual atmosphere reigns in the house. The old prince even teaches his daughter the exact and historical sciences. But, despite a number of the prince’s eccentricities, his children - Prince Andrei and Princess Marya - love and respect their father, forgiving him some tactlessness and harshness. Perhaps this is the phenomenon of the Bolkonsky family - unconditional respect and acceptance of all senior family members, unaccountable, sincere, in some ways even sacrificial love of family members for each other (Princess Marya decided for herself that she would not think about personal happiness , so as not to leave the father alone).
The relationships that have developed in this family, according to Tolstoy, contribute to the education of such feelings as respect, devotion, human dignity, and patriotism.
Rostov.
Using the example of the Rostov family, Tolstoy presents his ideal of family life, good relations between all family members. The Rostovs live the “life of the heart,” without demanding special intelligence from each other, treating life’s troubles with ease and ease. They are characterized by a truly Russian desire for breadth and scope. All members of the Rostov family are characterized by liveliness and spontaneity. The turning point in the life of the family is leaving. Moscow in 1812, the decision to give up the carts intended for the removal of property for the transport of the wounded, which actually resulted in the ruin of the Rostovs. Old man Rostov dies with a feeling of guilt for ruining his children, but with a sense of fulfilled patriotic duty. Children in the Rostov family inherit the best qualities from their parents - sincerity, openness, selflessness, the desire to love the whole world and all humanity.
And yet, it is probably no coincidence that in the epilogue of the novel Tolstoy talks about two young families.
Nikolai Rostov and Marya Bolkonskaya.
The love of these people arises at a time of trouble looming over the fatherland. Nikolai and Marya are characterized by a commonality in the perception of people. This is a union in which husband and wife mutually enrich themselves spiritually. Nikolai makes Marya happy, and she brings kindness and tenderness into the family.
Natasha Rostova and Pierre Bezukhov.
The purpose of their love is marriage, family and children. Here Tolstoy describes an idyll - an intuitive understanding of a loved one. The charm of Natasha the girl is clear to everyone, the charm of Natasha the woman is clear only to her husband. Each of them finds in love and family exactly what he has been striving for all his life - the meaning of his life, which, according to Tolstoy, for a woman consists of motherhood, and for a man - in the awareness of himself as a support for a weaker person, his necessity.
To summarize the discussion, it can be noted that the theme of family, its significance in the development of a person’s character for Tolstoy in the novel “War and Peace” is one of the most important. The author tries to explain many of the features and patterns in the lives of his characters by their belonging to one or another family. At the same time, he emphasizes the great importance of the family in the formation of both a young person and his character, and an adult. Only in the family does a person receive everything that subsequently determines his character, habits, worldview and attitude.

The main thought in L.N. Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace,” along with the people’s thought, is “family thought.” The writer believed that the family is the basis of the entire society, and it reflects the processes that occur in society.
The novel shows heroes who go through a certain path of ideological and spiritual development; through trial and error, they try to find their place in life and realize their purpose. These characters are shown against the backdrop of family relationships. So, the Rostov and Bolkonsky families appear before us. Tolstoy depicted the entire Russian nation from top to bottom in his novel, thereby showing that the top of the nation had become spiritually dead, having lost contact with the people. He shows this process using the example of the family of Prince Vasily Kuragin and his children, who are characterized by the expression of all the negative qualities inherent in people of high society - extreme selfishness, baseness of interests, lack of sincere feelings.
All the heroes of the novel are bright individuals, but the members of the same family have a certain common feature that unites them all.
Thus, the main feature of the Bolkonsky family can be called the desire to follow the laws of reason. None of them, except, perhaps, Princess Marya, is characterized by an open manifestation of their feelings. The image of the head of the family, the old prince Nikolai Andreevich Bolkonsky, embodies the best features of the ancient Russian nobility. He is a representative of an ancient aristocratic family, his character bizarrely combines the morals of an imperious nobleman, before whom all the household are in awe, from the servants to his own daughter, an aristocrat proud of his long pedigree, the traits of a man of great intelligence and simple habits. At a time when no one required women to display any special knowledge, he teaches his daughter geometry and algebra, motivating it like this: “And I don’t want you to be like our stupid ladies.” He educated his daughter in order to develop in her the main virtues, which, in his opinion, were “activity and intelligence.”
His son, Prince Andrei, also embodied the best features of the nobility, the progressive noble youth. Prince Andrei has his own path to understanding real life. And he will go through errors, but his unerring moral sense will help him get rid of false ideals. So, . Napoleon and Speransky turn out to be debunked in his mind, and love for Natasha will enter his life, so unlike all the other ladies of high society, the main features of which, in his opinion and the opinion of his father, are “selfishness, vanity, insignificance in everything” . Natasha will become for him the personification of real life, opposing the falsehood of the world. Her betrayal of him is tantamount to the collapse of an ideal. Just like his father, Prince Andrei is intolerant of simple human weaknesses that his wife, a very ordinary woman, has, a sister who is looking for some special truth from “God’s people,” and many other people whom he encounters in life.
A peculiar exception in the Bolkonsky family is Princess Marya. She lives only for the sake of self-sacrifice, which is elevated to a moral principle that determines her entire life. She is ready to give all of herself to others, suppressing personal desires. Submission to her fate, to all the whims of her domineering father, who loves her in his own way, religiosity is combined in her with a thirst for simple, human happiness. Her humility is the result of a peculiarly understood sense of duty as a daughter who does not have the moral right to judge her father, as she says to Mademoiselle Burien: “I will not allow myself to judge him and would not want others to do this.” But nevertheless, when self-esteem demands, she can show the necessary firmness. This is revealed with particular force when her sense of patriotism, which distinguishes all Bolkonskys, is insulted. However, she can sacrifice her pride if it is necessary to save another person. So, she asks for forgiveness, although she is not guilty of anything, from her companion for herself and the serf servant, on whom her father’s wrath fell.
Another family depicted in the novel is in some way opposed to the Bolkonsky family. This is the Rostov family. If the Bolkonskys strive to follow the arguments of reason, then the Rostovs obey the voice of feelings. Natasha is little guided by the requirements of decency, she is spontaneous, she has many child traits, which is highly valued by the author. He emphasizes many times that Natasha is ugly, unlike Helen Kuragina. For him, it is not the external beauty of a person that is important, but his internal qualities.
The behavior of all members of this family shows high nobility of feelings, kindness, rare generosity, naturalness, closeness to the people, moral purity and integrity. The local nobility, unlike the highest St. Petersburg nobility, is faithful to national traditions. It was not for nothing that Natasha, dancing with her uncle after the hunt, “knew how to understand everything that was in Anisya, and in Anisya’s father, and in her aunt, and in her mother, and in every Russian person.”
Tolstoy attaches great importance to family ties and the unity of the entire family. Although the Bolkonsikh clan should unite with the Rostov clan through the marriage of Prince Andrei and Natasha, her mother cannot come to terms with this, cannot accept Andrei into the family, “she wanted to love him like a son, but she felt that he was a stranger and terrible to her Human". Families cannot unite through Natasha and Andrei, but are united through the marriage of Princess Marya to Nikolai Rostov. This marriage is successful, it saves the Rostovs from ruin.
The novel also shows the Kuragin family: Prince Vasily and his three children: the soulless doll Helen, the “dead fool” Ippolit and the “restless fool” Anatole. Prince Vasily is a calculating and cold intriguer and ambitious man who claims the inheritance of Kirila Bezukhov, without having a direct right to do so. He is connected with his children only by blood ties and common interests: they care only about their well-being and position in society.
The daughter of Prince Vasily, Helen, is a typical social beauty with impeccable manners and reputation. She amazes everyone with her beauty, which is described several times as “marble,” that is, cold beauty, devoid of feeling and soul, the beauty of a statue. The only thing that occupies Helen is her salon and social receptions.
The sons of Prince Vasily, in his opinion, are both “fools.” His father managed to place Hippolytus in the diplomatic service, and his fate is considered settled. The brawler and rake Anatole causes a lot of trouble for everyone around him, and, in order to calm him down, Prince Vasily wants to marry him to the rich heiress Princess Marya. This marriage cannot take place due to the fact that Princess Marya does not want to part with her father, and Anatole indulges in his former amusements with renewed vigor.
Thus, people who are not only related by blood, but also spiritually, unite into families. The ancient Bolkonsky family is not interrupted by the death of Prince Andrei; Nikolenka Bolkonsky remains, who will likely continue the tradition of moral quests of his father and grandfather. Marya Bolkonskaya brings high spirituality to the Rostov family. So, “family thought,” along with “folk thought,” is the main one in L. Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace.” Tolstoy's family is studied at turning points in history. Having shown three families most fully in the novel, the writer makes it clear to the reader that the future belongs to families such as the Rostov and Bolkonsky families, who embody sincerity of feelings and high spirituality, the most prominent representatives of which each go through their own path of rapprochement with the people.

“War and Peace” is one of the best works of Russian and world literature. In it, the author historically correctly recreated the life of Russian people at the beginning of the 19th century. The writer describes in detail the events of 1805-1807 and 1812. Despite the fact that the “family thought” is the main one in the novel “Anna Karenina”, in the epic novel “War and Peace” it also occupies a very important place. Tolstoy saw the beginning of all beginnings in the family. As you know, a person is not born good or bad, but his family and the atmosphere that prevails within it make him so. The author brilliantly outlined many of the characters in the novel, showed their formation and development, which is called the “dialectics of the soul.” Tolstoy, paying great attention to the origins of the formation of a person’s personality, has similarities with Goncharov. The hero of the novel “Oblomov” was not born apathetic and lazy, but life in his Oblomovka, where 300 Zakharovs were ready to fulfill his every desire, made him so.
Following the traditions of realism, the author wanted to show and also compare various families that are typical of their era. In this comparison, the author often uses the technique of antithesis: some families are shown in development, while others are frozen. The latter includes the Kuragin family. Tolstoy, showing all its members, be it Helen or Prince Vasily, pays great attention to the portrait and appearance. This is no coincidence: the external beauty of the Kuragins replaces the spiritual. There are many human vices in this family. Thus, the meanness and hypocrisy of Prince Vasily are revealed in his attitude towards the inexperienced Pierre, whom he despises as an illegitimate. As soon as Pierre receives an inheritance from the deceased Count Bezukhov, his opinion about him completely changes, and Prince Vasily begins to see in Pierre an excellent match for his daughter Helen. This turn of events is explained by the low and selfish interests of Prince Vasily and his daughter. Helen, having agreed to a marriage of convenience, reveals her moral baseness. Her relationship with Pierre can hardly be called a family one; the spouses are constantly separated. In addition, Helen ridicules Pierre's desire to have children: she does not want to burden herself with unnecessary worries. Children, in her understanding, are a burden that interferes with life. Tolstoy considered such a low moral decline to be the most terrible thing for a woman. He wrote that the main purpose of a woman is to become a good mother and raise worthy children. The author shows all the uselessness and emptiness of Helen's life. Having failed to fulfill her destiny in this world, she dies. None of the Kuragin family leaves behind heirs.
The complete opposite of the Kuragins is the Bolkonsky family. Here you can feel the author’s desire to show people of honor and duty, highly moral and complex characters.
The father of the family is Prince Nikolai Andreevich Bolkonsky, a man of Catherine’s temperament, who places honor and duty above other human values. This is most clearly manifested in the scene of farewell to his son, Prince Andrei Bolkonsky, who is leaving for the war. The son does not let his father down, does not lose honor. Unlike many adjutants, he does not sit at headquarters, but is on the front line, in the very center of military operations. The author emphasizes his intelligence and nobility. After the death of his wife, Prince Andrey was left with Nikolenka. We can have no doubt that he will become a worthy person and, like his father and grandfather, will not tarnish the honor of the old Bolkonsky family.
The daughter of the old Prince Bolkonsky is Marya, a person of pure soul, pious, patient, kind. The father did not show his feelings for her, since it was not in his rules. Marya understands all the prince’s whims and treats them resignedly, because she knows that her father’s love for her is hidden in the depths of his soul. The author emphasizes in the character of Princess Marya self-sacrifice for the sake of another, a deep understanding of daughterly duty. The old prince, unable to pour out his love, withdraws into himself, sometimes acting cruelly. Princess Marya will not contradict him: the ability to understand another person, to enter into his position - this is one of the main traits of her character. This trait often helps save a family and prevents it from falling apart.
Another antithesis to the Kuragin clan is the Rostov family, showing whom Tolstoy emphasizes such qualities of people as kindness, spiritual openness within the family, hospitality, moral purity, innocence, closeness to people's life. Many people are drawn to the Rostovs, many sympathize with them. Unlike the Bolkonskys, an atmosphere of trust and mutual understanding often reigns within the Rostov family. This may not always be the case in reality, but Tolstoy wanted to idealize openness and show its necessity between all family members. Each member of the Rostov family is an individual.
Nikolai, the eldest son of the Rostovs, is a brave, selfless man, he passionately loves his parents and sisters. Tolstoy notes that Nikolai does not hide from his family his feelings and desires that overwhelm him. Vera, the Rostovs' eldest daughter, is noticeably different from other family members. She grew up an outsider in her family, withdrawn and angry. The old count says that the countess “did something with her.” Showing the Countess, Tolstoy focuses on her trait of selfishness. The Countess thinks exclusively about her family and wants to see her children happy at all costs, even if their happiness is built on the misfortune of other people. Tolstoy showed in her the ideal of a female mother who worries only about her cubs. This is most clearly demonstrated in the scene of the family's departure from Moscow during the fire. Natasha, having a kind soul and heart, helps the wounded leave Moscow, giving them carts, and leaves all the accumulated wealth and belongings in the city, since this is a profitable business. She does not hesitate to make a choice between her well-being and the lives of other people. The Countess, not without hesitation, agrees to such a sacrifice. Blind maternal instinct shines through here.
At the end of the novel, the author shows us the formation of two families: Nikolai Rostov and Princess Marya Bolkonskaya, Pierre Bezukhov and Natasha Rostova. Both the princess and Natasha, each in their own way, are morally high and noble. They both suffered a lot and finally found their happiness in family life and became the guardians of the family hearth. As Dostoevsky wrote: “Man is not born for happiness and deserves it through suffering.” These two heroines have one thing in common: they will be able to become wonderful mothers, they will be able to raise a worthy generation, which, according to the author, is the main thing in a woman’s life, and Tolstoy, in the name of this, forgives them some of the shortcomings characteristic of ordinary people.
As a result, we see that “family thought” is one of the fundamental ones in the novel. Tolstoy shows not only individuals, but also families, shows the complexity of relationships both within one family and between families.

“War and Peace” is a Russian national epic, which reflected the national character of the Russian people at the moment when their historical fate was being decided. L.N. Tolstoy worked on the novel for almost six years: from 1863 to 1869. From the very beginning of work on the work, the writer’s attention was attracted not only by historical events, but also by the private, family life of the characters. Tolstoy believed that the family is a unit of the world, in which the spirit of mutual understanding, naturalness and closeness to the people should reign.
The novel “War and Peace” describes the life of several noble families: the Rostovs, the Bolkonskys and the Kuragins.
The Rostov family is an ideal harmonious whole, where the heart prevails over the mind. Love binds all family members. It manifests itself in sensitivity, attention, and closeness. With the Rostovs, everything is sincere, it comes from the heart. Cordiality, hospitality, hospitality reign in this family, and the traditions and customs of Russian life are preserved.
Parents raised their children, giving them all their love. They can understand, forgive and help. For example, when Nikolenka Rostov lost a huge amount of money to Dolokhov, he did not hear a word of reproach from his father and was able to pay off his gambling debt.
The children of this family have absorbed all the best qualities of the “Rostov breed”. Natasha is the personification of heartfelt sensitivity, poetry, musicality and intuitiveness. She knows how to enjoy life and people like a child.
Life of the heart, honesty, naturalness, moral purity and decency determine their relationships in the family and behavior among people.
Unlike the Rostovs, the Bolkonskys live with their minds, not their hearts. This is an old aristocratic family. In addition to blood ties, the members of this family are also connected by spiritual closeness.
At first glance, the relationships in this family are difficult and devoid of cordiality. However, internally these people are close to each other. They are not inclined to show their feelings.
The old Prince Bolkonsky embodies the best features of a serviceman (nobility, devoted to those to whom he “sworn allegiance.” The concept of honor and duty of an officer was in the first place for him. He served under Catherine II, participated in Suvorov’s campaigns. He considered intelligence and activity to be the main virtues , and his vices are laziness and idleness. The life of Nikolai Andreevich Bolkonsky is a continuous activity. He either writes memoirs about past campaigns, or manages the estate. Prince Andrei Bolkonsky greatly respects and honors his father, who was able to instill in him a high concept of honor. the road is the road of honor,” he tells his son. And Prince Andrei follows his father’s parting words both during the campaign of 1806, in the battles of Shengraben and Austerlitz, and during the war of 1812.
Marya Bolkonskaya loves her father and brother very much. She is ready to give all of herself for the sake of her loved ones. Princess Marya completely submits to her father's will. His word is law for her. At first glance, she seems weak and indecisive, but at the right moment she shows strength of will and fortitude.
Both the Rostovs and the Bolkonskys are patriots, their feelings were especially clearly manifested during the Patriotic War of 1812. They express the people's spirit of war. Prince Nikolai Andreevich dies because his heart could not stand the shame of the retreat of the Russian troops and the surrender of Smolensk. Marya Bolkonskaya rejects the French general's offer of patronage and leaves Bogucharovo. The Rostovs give their carts to the soldiers wounded on the Borodino field and pay the most dearly - with the death of Petya.
Another family is shown in the novel. This is Kuragin. The members of this family appear before us in all their insignificance, vulgarity, callousness, greed, and immorality. They use people to achieve their selfish goals. The family is devoid of spirituality. For Helen and Anatole, the main thing in life is the satisfaction of their base desires. They are completely cut off from people's life, they live in a brilliant but cold world, where all feelings are perverted. During the war, they lead the same salon life, talking about patriotism.
In the epilogue of the novel, two more families are shown. This is the Bezukhov family (Pierre and Natasha), which embodied the author's ideal of a family based on mutual understanding and trust, and the Rostov family - Marya and Nikolai. Marya brought kindness and tenderness, high spirituality to the Rostov family, and Nikolai shows kindness in his relationships with those closest to him.
By showing different families in his novel, Tolstoy wanted to say that the future belongs to families such as the Rostovs, Bezukhovs, and Bolkonskys.

Krinitsyn A.B.

Family plays a huge role in shaping the character of heroes. This is a kind of microcosm, a world unique in its completeness, outside of which there is no life. It is the family that is the smallest, but also the most important unity, from the many of which society and the nation are formed. In his novel, Tolstoy examines in most detail the families of the Kuragins, Rostovs and Bolkonskys. In each of the families, both the older (parents) and the younger generation (brother and sister) are depicted in detail, which allows us to trace the family’s ancestral traits.

In the Bolkonsky family, a common character-building feature is the spiritual, intellectual principle. Spiritual life presupposes intense internal mental work, and therefore is inevitably combined in Tolstoy’s understanding with intellectuality, rationality, and also with the development of individualism. The image of the old Prince Nikolai Bolkonsky, an atheist and Voltairian, makes us recall the rationalism of the 18th century. This is one of the “Catherine’s eagles”, a general of Suvorov’s school, a real statesman who cares for the interests of Russia, and not for career advancement (that’s why in modern times he remains out of work, retired). His character is dominated by intelligence, will and authority, combined with coldness and irony. Tolstoy especially stands out for his amazingly sharp mind (one question or even one glance is enough for him to completely understand a person). In his son, Prince Andrei Bolkonsky, he instills a serious attitude towards life, masculinity, independence, a sense of honor and duty. It is no coincidence that Andrei, leaving for war, asks his father to raise his grandson himself, without giving him to his daughter-in-law. Despite his advanced age, the prince never changes the established daily routine, reads and works a lot. Even living in the village without a break, he remains aware of all the latest political news in Europe. With age, he develops a distrust of the new time, the merits and significance of which he downplays in every possible way. He scolds all new political figures, preferring to all of them his idol - Suvorov, whom he imitates even in his behavior and sometimes funny antics (for example, he orders to deliberately throw snow on the already cleared road to the house before the arrival of Prince Vasily Kuragin, because he does not want to show “excessive” respect for him). His family fears him, but respects him for his unyielding character.

However, over the years, his oddities become increasingly cruel. The strong love for children, which he does not like to show, becomes openly selfish: for example, he does not allow his beloved daughter, Princess Marya, to get married, keeping her with him in the village, and also does not give consent to the marriage of Prince Andrei with Natasha (he is generally the Rostov family) dislikes) earlier than a year after the engagement, as a result of which the marriage is upset. Not wanting to show his feelings, he gets used to hiding them under a shell of external severity and coldness, but this mask, imperceptibly for him, grows to his face and becomes his nature. As a result, he torments his daughter with cruel antics and ridicule, the more painfully the more he feels guilty before her, alienating her from himself and mocking her faith in God. He also quarrels with his son, who dares to openly reproach him for being wrong. Then he painfully struggles with himself, wanting reconciliation and at the same time being afraid of losing himself.

The princess notices her father’s suffering by the way he changes his place to sleep every night, most of all avoiding the usual sofa in the office - he had too many difficult thoughts to change his mind there. Only at the point of death, half paralyzed after the blow, in despair from the abandonment of Smolensk by Russian troops and from the news of the approach of the French to the Bald Mountains, does he give up his pride and wants to ask for forgiveness from his daughter, but she, due to her habitual fear of her father, is somewhat Once approaching the threshold of his room, he does not dare to enter his room on the last night allotted to him in his life. This is how he pays for his past cruelty...

Princess Marya represents a “feminine”, contemplative type of spirituality - religiosity. She lives entirely by faith and Christian ideals, confident that true happiness is not in earthly goods, but in connection with the source of “all breath” - with the Creator. The main thing in life for her is selfless love and humility, so she is very close to Tolstoy’s philosophical ideals of the world. She is not alien to earthly feelings: like a woman, she passionately desires love and family happiness, but she completely trusts the will of God and is ready to accept any fate. She catches herself with bad thoughts about her father, who fetters her freedom and dooms her to loneliness. But every time she manages to overcome herself by doing the usual spiritual work in prayer: faith in her is stronger than all other feelings, in which she is unexpectedly similar to her father, who also considers all human feelings to be weakness and subordinates them to the highest imperative of duty. Only the old prince identifies duty with reason, and the princess with religious commandments, which again oblige her to feelings, but of a higher order: to love God with all her heart and mind, and her neighbor as herself. As a result, for Princess Marya, the duty to obey her father is inseparable from sincere love for him.

There was only a minute when she caught herself thinking that she was rejoicing at the imminent death of her father, which should free her. But immediately, horrified by this thought, the princess began to fight it and won, joyfully feeling that the temptation had been overcome and she loved her father again. “- Why should that happen? What did I want? I want him dead! - she exclaimed with disgust at herself.” When her dying father asks her for forgiveness, the princess “could not understand anything, think about anything and feel anything except her passionate love for her father, love which, it seemed to her, she did not know until that moment.”

Her brother, Prince Andrei, combines all the best qualities of the Bolkonsky family: will, intelligence, nobility, a sense of honor and duty. His father's coldness and harshness towards people who are strangers and unpleasant to him are combined with his sister's warmth and gentleness in dealing with people close to him. He loves his sister tenderly and devotedly, and reveres his father immensely. We recognize from Prince Andrei his father's independence and ambition, growing to the desire for worldwide fame, similar to that of Napoleon. Just like his father, Andrei is subject to painful, protracted mental crises, and just before his death, suffering from a mortal wound, he comes to faith in God and is imbued with it with no less strength than his sister Marya.

Tolstoy treats all the Bolkonskys with respect and sympathy, but at the same time shows how these noble, intelligent and sublime people, despite their love and mutual devotion to each other, spiritual sensitivity and complete mutual understanding, remain separated due to the self-centeredness of father and son and reluctance to show your feelings. They are too protective of their complex inner world and their love, so that they are often late with it, like Prince Andrei, who only realized after the death of his wife the pain that he caused her with his coldness, or the old prince, who for a long time pestered his beloved daughter with his domineering whims . Over the years, as the prince ages, a cold and wary atmosphere develops in their house, which gives them more and more moral torment, for they judge themselves with the strictest judgment.

A completely different atmosphere reigns in the Rostov house. The invisible core of their family is spiritual life. These people are warm-hearted and simple, there is something childish in them all. The pride of the Bolkonskys is alien to them, they are natural in all their spiritual movements and, like no one else, they know how to enjoy life. The Rostovs can never contain their emotions: they constantly cry and laugh, forgetting about decency and etiquette. In general, the brightest and most sincerely lyrical scenes of the novel are associated with the Rostovs. Holidays and balls are their element. No one knows how to organize dinners so generously and on such a scale as Ilya Andreich Rostov, who is famous for this even in hospitable Moscow. But the most fun in the Rostov house is not crowded gatherings, but family holidays in a narrow family circle, sometimes improvised and even more memorable (such as Christmastide with mummers). However, they generally live in a festive atmosphere: Nikolai’s arrival from the army, Natasha’s first ball, the hunt and the subsequent evening at his uncle’s turn into a holiday. For Nikolai, even Natasha’s singing after his terrible loss to Dolokhov becomes an unexpectedly bright, festive impression, and for the younger Petya Rostov, the arrival in Denisov’s partisan detachment, the evening with the officers and the battle the next morning, which became his first and last, becomes a holiday.

The old count, due to his natural generosity and habit of taking everyone’s word for it, turns out to be a bad owner of his wife’s estate, because housekeeping requires systematicity, rigor and the will to order, which Rostov lacks. Under his leadership, the estate is slowly but surely heading towards ruin, but, what is very important, none of his family reproaches him for this, continuing to love him tenderly for his affection and kindness.

The mother - the “countess”, as her husband affectionately calls her - always remains the best friend for her children, to whom they can always tell everything, and for herself they always remain children, no matter what age they are. She generously bestows her love on all of them, but she gives the most warmth to those of them who at that moment need it most. It is no coincidence that Natasha’s betrayal of her fiancé, Prince Andrei, occurs precisely in the absence of her mother, when Natasha is visiting Akhrosimova and is temporarily deprived of the cover of maternal love and protection.

Only the eldest daughter, Vera, falls out of the general harmony of the Rostov family, because she is too reasonable and cannot share the general sentimentality, which she, sometimes rightly, finds inappropriate. But Tolstoy shows how her rationality, although correct, is narrow-minded - she does not have the spiritual generosity and depth of nature that the rest of the family members are endowed with. Having married Berg, Vera finally becomes what she was created to be - an arrogant, narcissistic bourgeois.

If the best features of the Bolkonsky family are most vividly embodied in Prince Andrei, then the outstanding representative of the Rostov family, undoubtedly, is Natasha, for if spiritual and intellectual life is more characteristic of the male consciousness, then women are more gifted with emotionality, sincerity, richness and subtlety of feelings. An example of a man who lives primarily in the world of emotions is shown to us in the person of Nikolai Rostov. In him, feelings always take precedence over reason. This does not mean that he is less firm and courageous in character than Andrei Bolkonsky, but it makes him a much more mediocre and primitive person, because he does not know how to think independently and bring a decision to the end, but is accustomed to living by the first strong impulses of the soul. They may be noble (as is almost always the case with Rostov), ​​but ultimately they doom him to follow the thoughts and ideals of society without testing them. For Rostov, such ideals include the honor of the regiment, the oath, and Emperor Alexander himself, with whom Nicholas falls in love as a girl.

Because of his impressionability and emotionality, Rostov does not immediately get used to war and the constant danger of death. In the first battle (near Shengraben), when Rostov is wounded, we see him pitiful and confused, but in the end he becomes a brave and truly skillful officer. War and military service cultivate in him important masculine qualities, but deprive him of Rostov tenderness. The last time the Rostov beginning is clearly manifested in him is after a terrible loss to Dolokhov, when he cannot stand the proud pose in which he intended to ask his dad for money. Considering himself the ultimate scoundrel, he is on his knees, sobbing, begging for forgiveness. Rostov apparently “humiliated himself,” but readers cannot help but approve of him for this impulse.

Tolstoy does not share all of Rostov’s ideals: for example, he clearly does not sympathize with his hero when, in order to maintain the honor of the regiment, he refuses to expose officer Telyanin, who stole Denisov’s wallet. Even more ridiculous and even harmful is Rostov's blind and naive attachment to the emperor. If in the eyes of Rostov the emperor is the father of Russia, then the author considers all representatives of power and kings in particular to be the most useless and harmful people, carrying out the state ideology of justifying and praising wars. Tolstoy gives Nikolai Rostov the opportunity to first become convinced of the emperor’s helplessness (when he, confused and crying, flees from the Battle of Austerlitz), and then of his immorality: after the Peace of Tilsit, former enemies - the emperors Napoleon and Alexander - travel together, reviewing their guards and awarding soldier of the allied army with the highest orders. Joint feasts of the two courtyards are arranged, champagne flows. Rostov comes to headquarters to submit a request to the emperor for pardon for his colleague Denisov, and receives a refusal from the adored emperor in a soft, beautiful form: “I can’t... and therefore I can’t because the law is stronger than me.” At that moment, Rostov, “beside himself with delight” and without thinking about refusal, runs with the crowd after the emperor. But soon painful doubts come to him: “A painful work was going on in his mind, which he could not complete. Terrible doubts arose in my soul. Then he remembered Denisov<...>and the whole hospital with these severed arms and legs, with this dirt and disease.<...>Then he remembered this smug Bonaparte with his white hand, who was now an emperor, whom Emperor Alexander loves and respects. What are the torn off arms, legs, and killed people for? Then he remembered the awarded Lazarev and Denisov, punished and unforgiven. He found himself having such strange thoughts that he was frightened by them.”

Tolstoy directly leads Rostov to the idea of ​​​​the criminality of the war, for which, it turns out, there was no reason, and, consequently, to the idea of ​​​​the criminality of both emperors, who unleashed it with complete indifference to the suffering of their subjects. But Rostov cannot and does not want to give up worshiping his idol, and decides simply not to think, to close his eyes to the embarrassing facts. To make this easier, he gets drunk and screams, embarrassing his fellow guests with his irritation:

“How can you judge the actions of the sovereign, what right do we have to reason?! We cannot understand either the goal or the actions of the sovereign!<...>We are not diplomatic officials, but we are soldiers and nothing more,<...>They tell us to die - so die. And if they punish, it means he is guilty; It's not for us to judge. It pleases the sovereign emperor to recognize Bonaparte as emperor and enter into an alliance with him—that means it must be done. Otherwise, if we began to judge and reason about everything, there would be nothing sacred left. This way we will say that there is no God, there is nothing,” Nikolai shouted, hitting the table.”

From this moment on, the hussar, soldier element finally becomes the main thing in Nikolai’s character instead of the Rostov, spiritual element, which does not disappear completely, but recedes into the background. Refusal of thought gives him rigidity and strength of character, but at a high price - he becomes an obedient instrument in the hands of others. Prince Andrei and Pierre often make mistakes, they do not immediately find the answer to the worldview questions that torment them, but their minds are always at work; thinking is as natural to them as breathing. Nikolai, despite the fact that he is sympathetic to Tolstoy as a pure, honest and kind person, comes to the readiness to carry out obviously cruel orders and justify in advance any social injustice.

It is significant that Rostov does not like Prince Andrei precisely because the stamp of intellect and spiritual life appears on his face, which is not characteristic of him, but at the same time Nikolai falls in love with Prince Andrei’s sister Marya, reverently before her because she has her own exalted , the world of faith inaccessible to him. It turns out that they complement each other, forming an ideal combination of hardness and softness, will and intelligence, spirituality and sincerity. Rostov, from Tolstoy’s point of view, despite his mediocrity, has something to love and respect. One cannot help but appreciate, for example, his dedication when, after the death of his father, which was immediately followed by final ruin, Nikolai resigns to be with his mother. He enters the civil service to earn at least some money and provide her with a peaceful old age. We see that he is a reliable and noble person. Out of a sense of honor, which never allowed him to be in the “lackey” position of adjutant, he does not want to seek the hand of the “rich bride” Princess Marya, despite the fact that he loves her touchingly, so their rapprochement occurs on her initiative.

Having taken possession of a large fortune, Nikolai becomes, in contrast to his father, a wonderful owner - driven by a sense of duty and responsibility for the future of his children. However, his character retains rigidity (he cannot stand small children, is irritated by the pregnant Marya, treats men rudely, to the point of assault), with which Nikolai constantly fights, submissive to the beneficial influence of his wife, and does not allow breakdowns. One of the last episodes of the novel characterizes him negatively, when he sharply responds to Pierre’s words about the need to take a critical approach to the actions of the government: “You say that the oath is a conditional matter, and to this I will tell you: that you are my best friend, you know that, but, if you form a secret society, if you begin to oppose the government, whatever it may be, I know that it is my duty to obey it. And Arakcheev told me now to go at you with a squadron and cut down - I won’t think for a second and I’ll go. And then judge as you wish.” These words make a painful impression on everyone around. We see that Nicholas's long-standing decision to obey the government without reasoning like a soldier has now taken root in him and has become the essence of his nature. However, in his own way, Nikolai is right: the state rests on people like him. Tolstoy condemns him from his point of view as an anti-statist who dreamed of a Rousseauian anarchist “natural” idyll, but we, already from the perspective of the social cataclysms that have happened to our country over the last century, can look at Nicholas from the other side: we know what happens, when the state is destroyed. If in 1917 Russia had been dominated by people like Nicholas - officers who remained loyal to the tsar and tried to save the army from disintegration in the chaos of the revolution (started by reformers and revolutionaries like Pierre), then the country could have been saved from many troubles, including from the Stalinist dictatorship.

Finally, the Kuragin family evokes only contempt and indignation in Tolstoy. Its members play the most negative role in the destinies of the other heroes. All of them are people of high society, and therefore are false and insincere in all their words, deeds and gestures. The head of the house, Prince Vasily, is a cunning, dexterous courtier and an inveterate intriguer. Tolstoy emphasizes his deceit and duplicity in every possible way. He thinks first of all about his successes at court and about moving up the career ladder. He never has his own opinion, turning like a weather vane in his judgments behind the political course of the court. During the war of 1812, Prince Vasily at first speaks of Kutuzov with contempt, knowing that the emperor does not favor him; the next day, when Kutuzov is appointed commander-in-chief, Kuragin begins to extol him, in order to renounce him at the first dissatisfaction of the court due to abandonment named after Moscow.

Kuragin also perceives his family as a means for gaining social position and enrichment: he tries to marry his son and marry off his daughter as profitably as possible. For the sake of profit, Prince Vasily is even capable of crime, as evidenced by the episode with the mosaic briefcase, when Kuragin tried to steal and destroy the will of the dying Count Bezukhov in order to deprive Pierre of his inheritance and redistribute it in his favor. During these hours, as Tolstoy describes, “his cheeks twitched nervously” and “jumped” “first to one side, then to the other, giving his face an unpleasant expression that never appeared on the face of Prince Vasily when he was in the living rooms.” . This is how his predatory nature inadvertently comes out. When the intrigue breaks down, Prince Vasily immediately “restructures” so as to still maintain his own benefit: he instantly “marries” Pierre to his daughter and, under the guise of a family and trusting relationship, deftly puts his hands into his son-in-law’s money, and then becomes the main character face in the daughter's salon. Tolstoy specifically emphasizes that Prince Vasily was hardly guided by conscious calculation: “Something constantly attracted him to people stronger and richer than him, and he was gifted with the rare art of catching exactly the moment when it was necessary and possible to take advantage of people.” Thus, when describing Kuragin’s psychology, the author again focuses our attention on feeling, intuition, instinct, which come to the fore, being more important than conscious will and reason.

“Worthy” are Prince Vasily and his children, Helen, Anatole and Hippolyte, who also enjoy brilliant success in the world and universal respect. Hélène, having married Pierre, soon opened a luxurious salon in his house, which quickly became one of the most fashionable and prestigious in St. Petersburg. She is not distinguished by intelligence or originality of judgment, but she knows how to smile so charmingly and meaningfully that she is considered the smartest woman in the capital, and the cream of the intelligentsia gathers in her salon: diplomats and senators, poets and painters. Pierre, being much more educated and deeper than his wife, finds himself in her salon as something like necessary furniture, the husband of a famous wife, whom the guests condescendingly tolerate, so that Pierre gradually begins to feel like a stranger in his own home.

Helene is constantly surrounded by men courting her, so Pierre doesn’t even know who to be jealous of and, tormented by doubts, comes to a duel with Dolokhov, whom his wife clearly singled out more than others. Helen not only did not feel sorry for her husband and did not think about his feelings, but made a scene for him and severely reprimanded him for an inappropriate “scandal” that could undermine her authority. In the end, having already broken up with her husband and living separately from him, Helen starts an intrigue with two admirers at once: with an elderly nobleman and with a foreign prince, wondering how she could get married again and settle down in such a way as to maintain a connection with both of them. For this reason, she even converts to Catholicism in order to declare the Orthodox marriage invalid (how different this unscrupulousness in matters of religion is from the ardent faith of Princess Marya!).

Anatole is the brilliant idol of all secular young ladies, the hero of the golden youth of both capitals. A slender, tall, blond handsome man, he drives all women crazy with his proud posture and ardent passion, behind which they do not have time to discern his soullessness and thoughtlessness. When Anatole came to the Bolkonskys, all the women in the house involuntarily became eager to please him and began to intrigue against each other. Anatole does not know how to talk to women, because he never finds anything smart to say, but he has a bewitching effect on them with the look of his beautiful eyes, like Helen’s smile. Natasha, even during her first conversation with Anatole, looking into his eyes, “felt with fear that between him and her there was absolutely no barrier of modesty that she had always felt between herself and other men. She, without knowing how, after five minutes felt terribly close to this man.”

Both brother and sister are incomparably good-looking; nature has endowed them with external beauty, which has an irresistible effect on people of the opposite sex with its sensual attraction. Even such noble and deep people as Pierre Bezukhov, who married Helene without love, Princess Marya, who dreamed of Anatole, and Natasha Rostova, who was carried away by the handsome Kuragin to the point of leaving her fiancé for him, are seduced by them. Helen's appearance emphasizes the antique beauty of her shoulders and bust, which she deliberately exposes as far as fashion allows.

The author even makes a passing comment about the strange, unhealthy relationship that existed between the sister and brother in childhood, because of which they had to be separated for a while. On the pages of the novel, they often act together: Helen acts as a pimp, introducing and bringing Natasha closer to her brother, knowing that he is not allowed to visit her, Prince Andrei’s fiancée. As a result of this intrigue, Natasha’s whole life could have been ruined: she was ready to run away with him, not suspecting that he had been married for a long time. Thanks to Pierre's intervention, Anatole's plans were destroyed, but Natasha paid for her gullibility with the loss of Prince Andrei's love and a deep spiritual crisis, from which she could not recover for several years. “Where you are, there is debauchery and evil,” Pierre angrily says to his wife, having learned about her insidious act.

Thus, the main features of the Kuragin family are secularism and the animal, carnal nature. In Tolstoy's portrayal, secularism inevitably implies deceit, unprincipledness, selfishness and spiritual emptiness.

Hippolytus becomes a symbol of the spiritual ugliness of this family. Outwardly, he is surprisingly similar to Helen, but at the same time he is “amazingly bad-looking.” His face was “foggy with idiocy and invariably expressed self-confident disgust. He cannot say anything smart, but in society he is greeted very kindly and all the absurdities he says are forgiven, because he is the son of Prince Vasily and the brother of Helen. In addition, he very boldly courtes all the pretty women, since he is unusually voluptuous. Thus, his example reveals the inner ugliness of Helen and Anatole, hiding under their beautiful appearance.

Krinitsyn A.B. Family plays a huge role in shaping the character of heroes. This is a kind of microcosm, a world unique in its completeness, outside of which there is no life. It is the family that is the smallest, but also the most important unity, of which many

Introduction

The novel “War and Peace” by Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy is considered a historical novel. It describes the real events of the military campaigns of 1805-1807 and the Patriotic War of 1812. It would seem that apart from battle scenes and discussions about the war, nothing should worry the writer. But Tolstoy prescribes the central plot line of the family as the basis of all Russian society, the basis of morality and ethics, the basis of human behavior in the course of history. Therefore, the “family thought” in Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace” is one of the main ones.

L.N. Tolstoy introduces us to three secular families, which he shows for almost fifteen years, revealing family traditions and culture of several generations: fathers, children, grandchildren. These are the Rostov, Bolkonsky and Kuragin families. The three families are so different from each other, but the fates of their pupils are so closely intertwined.

Rostov family

One of the most exemplary families of society presented by Tolstoy in the novel is the Rostov family. The origins of family are love, mutual understanding, sensual support, harmony of human relationships. Count and Countess Rostov, sons Nikolai and Peter, daughters Natalya, Vera and niece Sonya. All members of this family form a certain circle of living participation in each other’s destinies. The elder sister Vera can be considered a certain exception; she behaved somewhat colder. “...beautiful Vera smiled contemptuously...”, Tolstoy describes her manner of behaving in society; she herself said that she was raised differently and was proud that she had nothing to do with “all sorts of tenderness.”

Natasha has been an eccentric girl since childhood. Childhood love for Boris Drubetsky, adoration for Pierre Bezukhov, passion for Anatoly Kuragin, love for Andrei Bolkonsky - truly sincere feelings, absolutely devoid of self-interest.

The manifestation of true patriotism of the Rostov family confirms and reveals the importance of “family thought” in “War and Peace.” Nikolai Rostov saw himself only as a military man and enlisted in the hussars to go defend the Russian army. Natasha gave up carts for the wounded, leaving behind all her acquired property. The Countess and Count provided their home to shelter the wounded from the French. Petya Rostov goes to war as a boy and dies for his homeland.

Bolkonsky family

In the Bolkonsky family, everything is somewhat different than in the Rostovs. Tolstoy does not say that there was no love here. She was there, but her manifestation did not carry such a tender feeling. The old prince Nikolai Bolkonsky believed: “There are only two sources of human vices: idleness and superstition, and that there are only two virtues: activity and intelligence.”

Everything in their family was subject to strict order - “the order in his way of life was brought to the utmost degree of precision.” He himself taught his daughter, studied mathematics and other sciences with her.

Young Bolkonsky loved his father and respected his opinion, he treated him worthy of a princely son. When leaving for war, he asked his father to leave his future son to be raised, since he knew that his father would do everything with honor and justice.

Princess Marya, Andrei Bolkonsky's sister, obeyed the old prince in everything. She lovingly accepted all her father's strictures and cared for him with zeal. To Andrey’s question: “Is it difficult for you with him?” Marya answered: “Is it possible to judge my father?.. I am so pleased and happy with him!”

All relationships in the Bolkonsky family were smooth and calm, everyone minded their own business and knew their place. Prince Andrei showed true patriotism by giving his own life for the victory of the Russian army. Until the last day, the old prince kept notes for the sovereign, followed the progress of the war and believed in the strength of Russia. Princess Marya did not renounce her faith, prayed for her brother and helped people with her entire existence.

Kuragin family

This family is presented by Tolstoy in contrast to the previous two. Prince Vasily Kuragin lived only for profit. He knew who to be friends with, who to invite to visit, who to marry children to in order to get a profitable life. In response to Anna Pavlovna’s remark about his family, Sherer says: “What to do! Lavater would say that I don’t have the lump of parental love.”

The secular beauty Helen is bad at heart, the “prodigal son” Anatole leads an idle life, in revelries and amusements, the eldest, Hippolytus, is called a “fool” by his father. This family is incapable of loving, empathizing, or even caring for each other. Prince Vasily admits: “My children are a burden to my existence.” The ideal of their life is vulgarity, debauchery, opportunism, deception of people who love them. Helene destroys the lives of Pierre Bezukhov, Anatole interferes in the relationship between Natasha and Andrei.

We are not even talking about patriotism here. Prince Vasily himself constantly gossips in the world about Kutuzov, now about Bagration, now about Emperor Alexander, now about Napoleon, without having a constant opinion and adapting to circumstances.

New families in the novel

At the end of the novel “War and Peace,” L.N. Tolstoy creates a situation of mixing of the Bolkonsky, Rostov and Bezukhov families. New strong, loving families connect Natasha Rostova and Pierre, Nikolai Rostov and Marya Bolkonskaya. “Like in every real family, in the Lysogorsk house several completely different worlds lived together, which, each maintaining its own peculiarity and making concessions to one another, merged into one harmonious whole,” says the author. The wedding of Natasha and Pierre took place in the year of the death of Count Rostov - the old family collapsed, a new one was formed. And for Nikolai, marrying Marya was salvation for both the entire Rostov family and himself. Marya, with all her faith and love, preserved family peace of mind and ensured harmony.

Conclusion

After writing an essay on the topic “Family Thought in the Novel “War and Peace”,” I became convinced that family means peace, love, and understanding. And harmony in family relationships can only come from respect for each other.

Work test

The history of a people consists of the destinies of millions of citizens of the state. In the works of Leo Tolstoy, the theme of family ties, their honor and dignity occupies a key place. A comprehensively developed family idea in the novel “War and Peace” is the basis of the storyline. The writer repeatedly emphasizes that a great nation consists of little people who pass on traditions and virtues to their children from generation to generation.

The Rostov family is an example of noble happiness.

Count Ilya Andreevich Rostov had four children of his own; the fifth girl, Sonya, was his niece, but was raised like his own daughter. The Countess, a faithful wife and caring mother, looked exhausted from four births, but was sensitive to the fruits of her torments. Children grew up without strictness, surrounded by care and tenderness.

The author treats this house with love, presenting the owners as kind and hospitable people. Mutual respect, sincerity and decency reign here. Future mothers of the fatherland and loyal subjects of the sovereign in the person of men are brought up in simplicity of communication.

The gates of the count's estate are open to guests. The big house is luxurious, as the hospitable hostess is accustomed to since childhood, noisy and cheerful from the many-faced cries of children who feel free and spacious. Using the example of the Rostovs, one can trace family values, as Leo Tolstoy understood them.

The image of Natasha Rostova, the youngest daughter, her youth and life are typical of a Russian noblewoman of the early 19th century. Society shapes the meaning of a girl's life, which is to become a devoted wife and caring mother.

In a paired union, Natasha and Pierre Bezukhov manage to recreate the family model of society, where the father behaves as the spiritual legislator of the family, the mother bears the burden of the keeper of the hearth, and the children promise to provide for the future.

Princes Bolkonsky, patriots and defenders of the state.

The main theme of raising men in the Bolkonsky family is duty to the Sovereign and the Fatherland. Prince Nikolai Bolkonsky, like an old retired general, gravitates towards a simplified level of life at the level of Spartan traditions. A soldier at heart, he honors the memory of Catherine II as a great woman of the past. This is an ideological servant of the imperial system, ready to die for state priorities.

Being an educated person, the old man values ​​intelligence and activity in people, forming these qualities in his children. In the Bolkonsky house, work is in full swing from morning to evening, because the head of the family is constantly at work, either creating a new military manual, or with pleasure, rolling up his sleeves, tinkering at the machine.

When Andrei goes to war, leaving his pregnant wife, the father blesses his son’s decision, because in their family the interests of the country have always stood above personal circumstances.

The life values ​​instilled by the father form in the daughter such a rare character trait as selflessness. Being a rich and educated bride, Marya Bolkonskaya could have gotten married in her early youth, but she remained with her father until the end of his days. The author presented the complex relationship between father and daughter as a psychological drama between a tyrant and a victim. Family members remain devoted to each other, neglecting painful situations that arise as a result of misunderstandings.

In the Kuragin family, the greedy father raised unworthy children

Prince Vasily Kuragin served at the emperor's court with benefit for himself. A calculating mind and a thirst for enrichment guide the nobleman’s actions. Having influence in the royal palace, an official rarely uses it to help others, using it in his own interests.

Kuragin speaks poorly of his own children, considering them a punishment from above, from God. Leo Tolstoy presents Hippolyta, Anatoly and Ellen to the reader as an example of unworthy behavior in society. These adult children are aimed at entertainment, an idle lifestyle; their characters are based on cynicism and indifference to all the problems of the country.

The author mentions Princess Kuragina twice, calls her fat and old, expressing his rejection, condemning her for complete indifference in raising children. After all, in order to form virtue in a child, you need to work hard and spend a lot of time, which the Countess did not deign to do.

According to the author, Helen deserves censure because she does not want to give birth to children. But in the family where the girl grew up, there was neither affection, like the Rostovs, nor honor and decency, like the Bolkonskys. Therefore, having married Pierre Bezukhov, the young woman recreated the life she knew - without love and tender feelings.

There is a struggle for inheritance in the Bezukhov family

The old count had so many illegitimate children that he himself did not know them all. He lived out his life surrounded by three nieces, and they hoped that after death their uncle would provide for them. Kirill Vladimirovich's fortune was considered enormous. Numerous close and distant relatives surrounded the dying nobleman with their attention, hoping for wealth.

The father loved Pierre Bezukhov more than other children, so he gave his son a decent education abroad. Compared to all the contenders for the inheritance, Pierre looks like a disinterested, decent and naive young man.

The main intrigue for the count's inheritance is led by Anna Drubetskaya on the one hand and Prince Kuragin on the other, having enlisted the support of the nieces of the hangers-on. The Kuragins are the direct heirs of the old man’s previously deceased legal wife. And Drubetskaya is the niece of Kirill Bezukhov himself, in addition, Pierre Kirillovich baptized her son Boris.

His Excellency was an intelligent man, he foresaw human passions for inheritance, so he submitted a petition to Emperor Alexander I himself so that Pierre would be recognized as his own son. The king granted the request of the dying nobleman. So Pierre received the title of count and the most profitable fortune in Russia.

Conclusion: family thought is one of the main themes of the novel “War and Peace,” which defines the state fortress as the fortress of an individual family in the state.