The specificity of the work of the Russian classic Leo Tolstoy is the constant search for morality. He questioned the purpose of man. In Tolstoy's stories, the theme of relationships between people runs like a red thread. The philosophical orientation of his works touches on these issues and reveals their essence. This is most acutely felt in the works created after the spiritual crisis. The story "After the Ball" deserves special attention. The plan for the future story was created as a draft diary entry. The final version was approved by the writer at the end of August 1903.

Brief description of the heroes of "After the Ball"

main characters

Ivan Vasilievich	In the story “After the Ball”, the hero Ivan Vasilyevich has the ability to empathize, knows how to imagine himself in the place of another person. The misfortunes of a person for him were not an ordinary picture of the day. Ivan Vasilievich's conscience is not silent. From what he sees, the hero loses everything that is bright and quivering that is alive in him at this time. Neglects what is important to you. He accepts the tragedy and physical pain of a stranger to him as his own. A message and a look at the things of the author himself are embedded in his mouth and thoughts.
Colonel Pyotr Vladislavovich	The image of a caring parent and a wonderful family man. He positions himself as a true Christian who pleases God in every possible way, but also serves the state and the sovereign. He is most accurately characterized by an absolute indifference to the moral postulate of Christianity, according to which one must treat others as they would like to be treated. An example of the spiritual blindness of a warrior is his immense love for his daughter and bestial hatred for ordinary soldiers.
Varenka	The image of the girl in the story plays a rather secondary role. Varenka is a young girl with whom Ivan Vasilyevich is in love. She is the only child in the family. Varenka has a good education, enjoys reading, and is fluent in French. At the ball, the love of the girl and the main character is born. But after the ball, he lost his love for this person. Varenka marries another, and retains her attractiveness until her old age.

Minor characters

The portraits of the characters together reflect the view of the author himself. Illustrate his irreconcilable position regarding human bitterness. The colonel supervises the execution and vigilantly monitors the execution of the punishment. His whole appearance demonstrates cruelty towards subordinates. He takes out his anger not only on the offender, but also on the soldiers who stand in line and carry out the punishment.
The author describes the events on behalf of the main character, who tells two cases from his own life that happened to him during his student days. The main idea here is that the decisive moment in the fate of any person is not the environment, but the circumstances.

Retelling plan

1. Ivan Vasilyevich begins a story about an incident that turned his life upside down.
2. Description of the ball. Hero love.
3. After the ball. The hero accidentally witnesses the execution, the cruelty of Varenka's father.
4. This case turns the hero's life upside down and disrupts all his future plans.

retelling

Respected by all, Ivan Vasilyevich, unexpectedly for all those present, expresses the idea that it is not the environment that influences the formation of a young person's worldview, but chance. Your statement old man reinforces the story of an incident from his own life, after which for him "the whole life changed."

As a young man, Ivan Vasilyevich was in love with a certain Varenka B., a lovely girl: tall, slender, graceful. At that time he was "a student at a provincial university", a cheerful and lively fellow, and even rich. Like many young people of his circle, Ivan Vasilyevich spent his evenings at balls, reveling with friends.

Ivan Vasilyevich characterizes the ball at the provincial leader as “wonderful”, not so much because everything was really fine there, but because his beloved was at the ball. Varenka in a white and pink dress looked especially beautiful. Ivan Vasilyevich danced with her all evening and felt that his love for her was mutual.

Varenka's father, a colonel ("a very handsome, stately, tall and fresh old man"), has the same kind and joyful smile as his daughter's. The owners persuade him to dance the mazurka with his daughter. The dancing couple attracts everyone's attention. The protagonist is touched by the fact that the colonel is shod in unfashionable calcining boots, since, obviously, he is forced to deny himself a lot in order to dress and take his daughter out into the world. After the dance, the colonel brought Varenka to Ivan Vasilyevich, and the rest of the evening the young people did not part. They do not talk about love, and this is not necessary: ​​Ivan Vasilyevich is happy. He fears only one thing: that his happiness should not be spoiled by something.

The hero returns home in the morning, but cannot fall asleep, because he is "too happy." He sets out to wander around the city in the direction of Varenka's house. Suddenly, the young man hears the sounds of a flute and a drum, the sounds are harsh, not good. It turned out that this music accompanied the punishment of a Tatar soldier for escaping. He was "driven through the ranks." The execution was commanded by Varenka's father. The punished begged for "mercy", but the colonel strictly monitored the observance of the punishment procedure. Therefore, he slapped the face of a “frightened, small, weak soldier” for “smearing”, i.e. slightly lowers his stick on the already mutilated back of the punished. The sight of the red, mottled, blood-stained back of a soldier terrifies Ivan Vasilyevich, as does the punishment procedure itself. But most of all, the young man was shocked by the realization that he was unable to understand the obvious confidence of the colonel in the correctness of his actions, who, meanwhile, noticing Ivan Vasilyevich, turns away, pretending to be unfamiliar with him.

After all that he saw, Ivan Vasilievich “could not enter the military service, as he wanted before,” and “love from that day began to wane.” So just one case changed the whole life of the hero and his views.

« After the ball"- the story of Leo Tolstoy, which was published after his death, in 1911. The story is based on the events that happened to the elder brother of Leo Tolstoy - Nikolai. At that time, Lev Nikolayevich, being a student, lived in Kazan with his brothers. Nikolai Nikolaevich was in love with Varvara Andreevna Koreysh, the daughter of the military commander Andrei Petrovich Koreysh, and he visited their house. But after he saw the beating of a runaway soldier under the leadership of the girl's father, the lover's feelings quickly cooled, and he abandoned his intention to marry.

This story firmly settled in Tolstoy's memory, and many years later he described it in his work. Before the story got its final title, it was called "Daughter and Father", then - "And you say." Tolstoy wrote a story for a collection of works prepared by Sholom Aleichem in favor of the Jews who suffered during the Kishinev pogrom.

The "maiden institute" mentioned in the story is the Kazan Rodionov Institute for Noble Maidens, which was then located on the outskirts of the city. The place where "the Tartar was driven to escape" is now Leo Tolstoy Street.

After the ball

In the story, Tolstoy paints two contrasting pictures. The first is bright and festive, he describes a ball at the provincial leader, where the hero of the story is in love with Varenka and admired by her father-colonel ("provincial leader, good-natured old man, rich hospitable"). Taking care of his beloved daughter, the father saves on himself, instead of fashionable shoes, he orders boots from a battalion shoemaker. The mazurka of father and daughter is universally applauded, his careful attitude towards her is remarkable. The festive atmosphere is strengthened by the fact that the ball takes place on the last day of Shrovetide. But in contrast to this festivity and luxury, the event that takes place the next morning appears before the hero of the story, Ivan Vasilyevich, a bloody massacre, disgusting in its cruelty, carried out by Varenka's father over a Tatar soldier who had escaped. Moreover, a colonel with a “ruddy face and white mustaches and sideburns” beats a “short, weak soldier”, believing that he did not hit the Tatar with a stick hard enough on the back, which is already something “motley, wet, red, unnatural”. The transformation of a tenderly loving father and a good-natured colonel into a cruel and ruthless tormentor shocked Ivan Vasilyevich so much that his feelings for Varenka quickly cooled down, "love from that day began to wane." In the image of love that has come to naught, the writer conveys the parting with formal faith, which he himself experienced. The scale of the narrative is given by the fact that the massacre is carried out on Forgiveness Sunday, which makes Christian forgiveness a meaningless declaration. The writer emphasizes the mercilessness and non-Christian nature of society by the fact that not just a soldier, but a Muslim is punished with gauntlets; thus "Christian" preaching to non-believers is taught in the form of violence, and not of Christ's love.

Audiobook “After the Ball” listen online

“After the Ball” retelling. Tolstoy L.N.

Summary of the story “After the Ball” by Tolstoy L.N.

Above the story After the ball» Tolstoy worked in August 1903. The plot was based on an episode from the life of Tolstoy's brother, Sergei Nikolaevich, who was in love with the daughter of a military commander in Kazan. The relationship between Sergei Nikolayevich and the girl was upset after he had to see the execution of a soldier, which was led by the father of his beloved.

The theme of the cruelty of military service under the conditions of the tsarist regime so strongly and constantly worried Tolstoy that the idea of ​​the story immediately clearly emerged in his creative imagination.

But the writer raises another very important problem for him: can a person by himself "understand what is good and what is bad", or "it's all about the environment"? “... For personal improvement, it is necessary first of all to change the conditions among which people live,” - this is what the interlocutors of the respected Ivan Vasilyevich say at the beginning of the story “ After the ball» . And his answer: “But I think that the whole thing is in the case,” gives a thematic setting for resolving the main idea at the end of the story.

The story is told from the perspective of Ivan Vasilyevich, an already elderly man who recalls the history of the days of his youth, when he was “a very cheerful and lively fellow, and even rich,” besides a handsome man. From a short introduction, we learn that this person is respected by everyone, that “he spoke very sincerely and truthfully”, has rich life experience. All this causes special confidence in the hero.

In the center of the work is an event that happened one morning and played a decisive role in the fate of Ivan Vasilyevich.

The story is built as a consistent and contrasting image of two episodes: a ball at the provincial marshal and the punishment of a soldier on the parade ground. The opposing episodes are organically connected and develop the artistic idea.

At the ball, the hero, then a student at a provincial university, happily in love with the lovely girl Varenka, the daughter of Colonel Pyotr Vladislavovich, “like an old serviceman of the Nikolaev bearing”, not noticing anything around, danced only with her. A beautiful hall, music, the brilliance of outfits - all this only intensified the state in which the young man was, when "without wine ... drunk with love."

The mazurka that the graceful Varenka danced with her father, a handsome, stately, tall, still fresh old man, made the greatest impression on him, and although the colonel was heavy, it was clear that he once danced beautifully.

This dance between father and daughter was the most touching episode of the ball, which added heat to the fire of the hero’s soul: “... love for Varenka freed all the ability of love hidden in my soul. At that time I embraced the whole world with my love. I loved the hostess ... and her husband, and her guests, and her lackeys ... To her father, with his homemade boots and affectionate, like her smile, I experienced at that time some kind of enthusiastic tender feeling.

After the ball the young man, arriving home at five o'clock in the morning, could not sleep, so he decided to take a walk, and the strange sounds of the flute and drum, dissonant with the melody of the mazurka, which still sounded in him, attracted his attention.

He saw a terrible picture: “Soldiers in black uniforms stood in two rows opposite each other, holding guns to their feet, and did not move. Behind them stood a drummer and a flute player, and they kept repeating the same unpleasant and shrill melody.

Between these rows, the young man saw a man naked to the waist, on whom blows of sticks rained down from two sides, and he did not fall only because he was being led, tied to guns. Instead of the back of the poor Tatar, who tried to escape, "there was something so colorful, wet, red, unnatural ...".

And this execution was led by a stately colonel, who a few hours ago so touchingly danced a mazurka with his daughter, and it was impossible to guess in him such sophisticated malicious cruelty, fueled by official zeal.

Contrasting the two scenes, Tolstoy takes off the mask from outwardly prosperous, elegant reality. And the hero himself understands "what is good, what is bad"; in his perception, the image of the colonel was too closely intertwined with the image of Varenka, she also became unpleasant to him. But not only “love came to naught”, after this wild incident the hero “could not enter the military service, as he wanted before, and not only did not serve in the military, but did not serve anywhere ...”.

Analysis of the story “After the Ball” by Tolstoy L.N.

History of creation

The story "After the Ball" was written in 1903, published after the death of the writer in 1911. The story is based on a real event, which Tolstoy learned about when he was a student living with his brothers in Kazan. His brother Sergei Nikolaevich fell in love with the daughter of the local military commander L.P. Koreysha and 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 ​​marriage. This story lived so firmly in Tolstoy's memory that many years later he described it in the story "After the Ball." The writer thought about the title of the story. There were several options: “The Story of the Ball and Through the Line”, “Daughter and Father”, etc. As a result, the story was called “After the Ball”.

The writer was concerned about the problem: man and environment, the influence of circumstances on human behavior. Can a person manage himself or is it all about the environment and circumstances.

Genus, genre, creative method

“After the Ball” is a prose work; written in the genre of the story, since the center of the story is one important event in the life of the hero (the shock of what he saw after the ball), and the text is small in volume. It must be said that in his later years Tolstoy showed a special interest in the genre of the story.

The story depicts two eras: the 40s of the XIX century, the reign of Nicholas and the time of the creation of the story. The writer restores the past to show that nothing has changed in the present either. He opposes violence and oppression, against inhuman treatment of people. The story "After the Ball", like all the work of JI.H. Tolstoy is associated with realism in Russian literature.

Subject

Tolstoy reveals in the story “After the Ball” one of the bleak aspects of the life of Nikolaev Russia - the position of the tsarist soldier: twenty-five years of service, senseless drill, complete disenfranchisement of soldiers, being carried through the ranks as punishment. However, the main problem in the story is related to moral issues: what forms a person - social conditions or chance. A single incident rapidly changes a separate life (“The whole life has 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 with the help of a certain system of images and composition. The main characters are Ivan Vasilyevich and the colonel, the father of the girl the narrator was in love with, through whose images the main problem is solved. The author shows that the society and its structure, and not the case, influence the personality.
In the image of Colonel Tolstoy exposes objective social conditions that distort the nature of a person, instilling in him false concepts of duty.
The ideological content is revealed through the image of the evolution of the narrator's inner feeling, his sense of the world. The writer makes you think about the problem of human responsibility for the environment. It is the consciousness of this responsibility for the life of society that distinguishes Ivan Vasilyevich. A young man from a wealthy family, impressionable and enthusiastic, faced with a 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 devoted his life to helping other people: “Tell me better: no matter how many people are good for nothing, if you weren’t there.”
In the story JI.H. 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 situation in the first and second parts; graceful charming Varenka and the figure of a Tatar with his terrible, unnatural back; Varenka's father at the ball, who evoked enthusiastic tenderness in Ivan Vasilievich, and he is also a vicious, formidable old man, demanding that the soldiers obey orders. The study of the general construction of the story becomes a means of revealing its ideological content.

The nature of the conflict

The basis of the conflict of this story is laid, on the one hand, in the image of the two-faced colonel, on the other hand, in the disappointment of Ivan Vasilyevich.
The colonel was a very handsome, stately, tall and fresh old man. Affectionate, unhurried speech emphasized his aristocratic essence and aroused even more admiration. Varenka's father was so sweet and amiable that he endeared himself to everyone, including the protagonist of the story. After the ball, in the scene of the punishment of the soldier, not a single sweet, good-natured line remained on the face of the colonel. There was nothing left of the person who was at the ball, but a new one, formidable and cruel, appeared. Only one angry voice of Peter Vladislavovich inspired fear. Ivan Vasilievich describes the punishment of the soldier in this way: “And I saw how with his strong hand in a suede glove he hit the face of a frightened, short, weak soldier because he did not put his stick on the red back of the Tatar enough.” Ivan Vasilievich cannot love just one person, he must certainly love the whole world, understand and accept it as a whole. Therefore, along with love for Varenka, the hero also loves her father, admires him. When he encounters cruelty and injustice in this world, his whole sense of harmony, the integrity of the world collapses, and he prefers not to love in any way 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 Vasilievich deliberately refuses his love.

Main heroes

The main characters of the story are the young man Ivan Vasilyevich, who is in love with Varenka, and the girl's father, Colonel Pyotr Vladislavovich.
The colonel, a handsome and strong man of about fifty, 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 a campaigner, drives a fugitive soldier through the ranks. He undoubtedly believes in the need to punish those who have crossed the law. It is this sincerity of the colonel in various life situations that most of all puzzles Ivan Vasilyevich. How to 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 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 not able to understand why this is possible, why there are orders that sticks are needed 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 a blacksmith; without realizing it, he shares the highest human laws of morality.

Plot and composition

The plot of the story is uncomplicated. Ivan Vasilyevich, convinced that the environment does not affect a person’s way of thinking, but the whole thing is in the case, 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 luxurious mustache colonel. The owners persuade him to dance the mazurka with his daughter. During the dance, the couple attracts everyone's attention. After the mazurka, the father brings Varenka to Ivan Vasilyevich, and the young people spend the rest of the evening together.

Ivan Vasilievich returns home in the morning, but cannot fall asleep and sets off 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 driven through the ranks for escaping. Varenka's father, a handsome, stately colonel B. Tatarin, is in command of the execution, begging the soldiers to "have mercy", but the colonel strictly ensures that the soldiers do not give him the slightest indulgence. One of the soldiers "rubs". B. hits him in the face. Ivan Vasilyevich sees the back of the Tatar, red, motley, wet with blood, and is horrified. Noticing Ivan Vasilievich, 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 beat a man severely, and not understanding, he decides not to enter the military service. His love is waning. So one incident changed his life and views.
The whole story is the events of one night, which the hero remembers many years later. The composition of the story is clear and precise, it logically distinguishes four parts: a large dialogue at the beginning of the story, leading to the story of the ball; ball scene; the execution scene and the final remark.

“After the Ball” is built like a “story within a story”: it begins with the fact that the venerable, who has seen a lot in life and, as the author adds, a sincere and truthful person - Ivan Vasilyevich, in a conversation with friends, claims that a person’s life does not develop one way or another at all. from the influence of the environment, but because of the case, and as proof of this he cites the case, as he himself admits, that changed his life. This is actually a story, the heroes of which are Varenka B., her father and Ivan Vasilyevich himself. Thus, from the dialogue of the narrator and his friends at the very beginning of the story, we learn that the episode that will be discussed was of great importance in a person’s life. The form of the oral story gives the 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 “flavor of antiquity”, as well as the mention that Varenka is already old, that “her daughter is married”.

Artistic originality

Tolstoy the artist always took care that in the work "everything should be reduced to unity." In the story “After the Ball”, the contrast became such a unifying principle. The story is built on the technique of contrast, or antithesis, by showing two diametrically opposite episodes and, in connection with this, a sharp change in the experiences of the narrator. Thus, the contrasting composition of the story and the corresponding language help to reveal the idea of ​​the work, tear the mask of good nature from the face of the colonel, and show his true essence.
Contrast is also used by the writer when choosing language means. So when describing the portrait of Varenka, white color prevails: “ White dress”, “white kid gloves”, “white satin shoes” (this artistic technique is called color painting). This is due to the fact that white is the personification of purity, light, joy, Tolstoy, using this word, emphasizes the feeling of a holiday and conveys the state of mind of the narrator. The musical accompaniment of the story speaks about the holiday in the soul of Ivan Vasilyevich: a cheerful quadrille, a gentle smooth waltz, a perky polka, an elegant mazurka create a joyful mood.

In the scene of punishment, there are other colors and other music: “... I saw ... something big, black and heard the sounds of a flute and a drum coming from there. ... it was ... harsh, not good music."

The meaning of the work

The meaning of the story is enormous. Tolstoy poses broad humanistic problems: why do some live a carefree life, while others drag out a beggarly existence? What is justice, honor, dignity? These problems have worried and are worrying more than one generation of Russian society. That is why Tolstoy remembered an incident that happened in his youth and made it the basis of his story.
2008 marks the 180th anniversary of the birth of the great Russian writer Leo Tolstoy. Hundreds of books and articles have been written about him, his works are known all over the world, his name is honored in all countries, the heroes of his novels and short stories live on screens, on theater stages. His word is heard on radio and television. “Without knowing Tolstoy,” wrote M. Gorky, “you cannot consider yourself knowing your country, you cannot consider yourself a cultured person.”
Tolstoy's humanism, his penetration into the inner world of man, his protest against social injustice do not become obsolete, but live and influence the minds and hearts of people today.
A whole epoch in the development of Russian classical literature is associated with the name of Tolstoy. fiction.
Tolstoy's legacy is of great importance for the formation of the worldview and aesthetic tastes of readers. Acquaintance with his works, filled with high humanistic and moral ideals, undoubtedly contribute to spiritual enrichment.
In Russian literature, there is no other writer whose work would be as diverse and complex as the work of L.N. Tolstoy. The great writer developed the Russian literary language, enriched literature with new means of depicting life.
The world significance of Tolstoy's work 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, short stories, 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.

Characteristics of the image of Ivan Vasilyevich

Ivan Vasilievich- main character, narrator. His narration takes listeners into the atmosphere of a Russian provincial town in the 1840s. At that time, I. V. studied at the university, did not participate in any circles, but simply lived, “as is typical of youth.”

Once he happened to be "on the last day of Shrovetide at the ball of the provincial leader." His beloved, Varenka B., turned out to be there too. I.V. especially dwells on the “incorporeality” of his passion for a young beautiful woman, trying to give the audience the impression of almost “angelic” of his inner state: “... I was happy, blissful , I was kind, I was not me, but some kind of unearthly creature that knows no evil and is capable of only good. Tenderness for herself, Varenka is gradually transferred by I. V. to all those present: to the good-natured hospitable leader and his wife, a lady with plump white bare shoulders (I. V. emphasizes her resemblance to the ceremonial portraits of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna), to Varenka’s father, Colonel V ., and even to the engineer Anisimov, who beat off his first mazurka with Varenka. “I embraced the whole world at that time with my love.” This truly divine, brotherly love, which was revealed to I.V. on the last day of Shrove Tuesday, on the eve of Great Lent, is strangely sanctioned in the depiction of Tolstoy by pagan, in general, blasphemous laws of ballroom secular entertainment.

Further events take place with I. V. the very next morning, on the first day of Lent. By chance, he becomes a witness to a barbaric execution - a rite of punishment with gauntlets for a fugitive Tatar. The execution scene is a distorted mirror of a ballroom ritual. The perception of I. V. involuntarily fixes these distorted correspondences. The melody of the mazurka is superimposed on the shrill accompaniment of the drum and flute, the rhythm of the dance steps is superimposed on the chased wave of soldiers’ hands and the biting whistle of stick blows, Varenka’s dance with her father is superimposed on the hellish “dance” of the Tatar tortured under torture and walking with him in a pair of “firm, trembling gait Colonel B. Instead of the "disembodied" Varenka - "motley, wet, red" "human body": "Brothers, have mercy." These are “brothers”, this clear analogy with Golgotha ​​unequivocally echoes the motif of brotherly, universal love experienced by I.V. during the ball. In his imagination, seemingly dissimilar worlds are monstrously intertwined: spiritual and carnal, Christian and pagan, divine and demonic. The Maslenitsa ball, the pagan-Pharisaic official culture give rise to the idea of ​​universal love, and the “modern Golgotha” seen at the beginning of Lent, on the contrary, does not show the face of Christ suffering for humanity, but an ugly bloody mess of tortured human flesh. Satan serves God, God - Satan, and all this is united by a common symbol of a ritualized dance. All this for Tolstoy is “false culture”, “werewolf culture”, which denies itself.

Unlike the author, I.V. is not able to accept the truth revealed to him. “Obviously, he knows something that I don’t know,” I. V. thought about the colonel, watching how he easily and habitually passes from the ball to the execution, from the “spirit” to the “flesh”, without changing, in essence, their behavior. I. V. was never “initiated” into the secrets of secular “properties” that justify such “werewolfism”. He remained "on the other side" of the good and evil committed by the bearers of the official morality. Not having delved into the postulates of “decent” behavior contemporary to him, I.V. at the same time did not believe his natural moral feeling, not yet spoiled by society. Refusal from military service and marriage to Varenka is not so much a protest as I.V.'s spiritual capitulation to the chaos of his contemporary culture.

After the ball, the characterization of the image of Peter Vladislavovich

Petr Vladislavovich (Colonel B.)- father of Varenka, beloved of Ivan Vasilyevich. P. V. - “a military commander of the type of an old campaigner of the Nikolaev bearing.” This, however, does not prevent him from gracefully performing the mazurka with his daughter during the ball. P.V., both in the service and in the world, is used to doing everything “according to the law.” Following the rules of ballroom etiquette, before the dance, he does not forget to free himself from the sword and put on a suede glove on his right hand. This bureaucratic punctuality, which does not fundamentally distinguish between the spheres of official and private behavior, in the course of the story will still reveal its sinister meaning to the narrator Ivan Vasilyevich, but for now he enthusiastically follows the dancing couple, experiencing "some kind of enthusiastic tender feeling" for Varenka's father.

The next morning, the same and at the same time terribly different P.V. appears before the narrator. Just as methodically as he prepared for the dance in the meeting, now, on the parade ground, he competently performs the rite of execution of a fugitive soldier. To hold your daughter with your right hand in a suede glove around the waist during a mazurka and beat with the same hand in a suede glove in the face of a soldier who has strayed from the rhythm of punishment with canes - for P.V. it does not make much difference. In the mind of Ivan Vasilievich, the image of P.V. begins to split in two, acquiring an almost infernal meaning. Disparate details of the portrait and gestures suddenly pull together, revealing a chilling “identikit” to the eye. A gentle kiss on the daughter's forehead after the dance and an accentuated portrait resemblance to Nicholas I vividly reveal the meaning of this well-known Judas gesture. And the beautiful, stately, tall figure of P. V., his ruddy face, white mustache, white sideburns, “a kind joyful smile ... in his brilliant eyes and lips” - these portrait details of P. V. not only pass from the ball scene to the episode executions, but also unexpectedly repeated in the angelic, “incorporeal” appearance of his daughter Varenka: “tall, slender, graceful and majestic”, in all white and again “her radiant, blushed face with dimples and tender, sweet eyes”. Not without reason, when Ivan Vasilyevich later had to see a smile on Varenka's face, he "now remembered the colonel on the square", and he "became somehow awkward and unpleasant ...". As the plot unfolds, the angelic and Judas begin to unnaturally shine through each other in the guise of both P.V. and Varenka, exposing the “werewolf” nature of contemporary Christian culture to Tolstoy.

The role of chance in a person's life (On the example of L. N. Tolstoy's story "After the Ball")

1. Reception of contrast.
2. Bad joke.
3. Change of outlook.

Everyone is ruled by chance. It would be nice to know who rules the case.
S. E. Lets

The topic of the essay presents a very interesting question - the role of chance in a person's life. But indeed in life, Mr. Chance plays an important role. And he can not only open his eyes to some event, but also dramatically change the life of one or even several people. So what is the price of the case? To answer this question, consider one of the works of L. N. Tolstoy - the story "After the Ball."

The very title of the work already hints at the fact that the case in the life of the heroes plays an important, if not exceptional, significance. The title seems to suggest that something exceptional happened after the ball, which could affect the lives of the main, and possibly secondary actors works.

The story just begins with the fact that everyone respected Ivan Vasilyevich talks about one episode from his biography, which dramatically changed not only his life, but also his view of the world. “So you say that a person cannot understand on his own what is good, what is bad, that the whole thing is in the environment, that the environment is jammed,” Ivan Vasilyevich suddenly spoke. “And I think it’s all about the case.”

To describe such a radical change in outlook on life, the writer uses contrasting colors to recreate the shades of a brilliant ball and bloody punishment. In this picture, not only rigidity and hypocrisy appear, but also a special color palette. So, for example, the second part of the story becomes purple. It runs like a bloody wall between two days and puts an insurmountable barrier between two young people.

But not only external circumstances, but also the internal qualities of people change in such a short period of time. They are especially clearly reflected in the appearance of the colonel. Before us are two different person before and after the ball.

Ivan Vasilyevich notices at the ball that the colonel has a stately figure and a handsome face. However, after a few hours, he appears in a different light. And much attention is paid to the face of the military, which expresses some kind of hatred for the criminal. Now the colonel's lip is protruded and his cheeks are puffed out. There was not a trace left of the handsome, "ballroom" face of the military man. He was also changed by a case: the punishment of a Tatar for escaping. As a result, a new reason for reflection arises: if it were not a Tatar or a colonel, there would be another reason for punishment. What would be the description of the military then?

The contrast of two days is also preserved in the color range. The ball features pure airy colors such as white and pink. That evening, he "saw only a tall, slender figure in a white dress with a pink belt, her radiant, reddened, dimpled face and gentle, sweet eyes." After the ball, this is one, but very telling color - variegated red: “... I caught a glimpse of the back of the punished between the rows. It was something so motley, wet, red, unnatural that I did not believe that it was a human body. In order to create the most complete picture of two completely different worlds, the narrator introduces into his narrative not only color, but also sound shades. This allows you to see the difference between two days at the level of perception of subtle transitions of the melody. At the ball, Ivan Vasilievich was intoxicated with love and constantly “danced and quadrilles, and waltzes, and polkas,” and mazurkas. All this creates a melancholy and poetic picture of the evening.

During the punishment, a completely different music sounds: it is the thunder of drums, the whistle of a flute. They do not soothe, but seem to tear the soul even more and leave notes of confusion in it.

At first, echoes of the mazurka are still heard in the hero’s soul, but soon they are nevertheless replaced by a heavier melody: “... I heard the sounds of a flute and a drum coming from there. In my soul I sang all the time and occasionally heard the tune of the mazurka. But it was some other, tough, bad music.”

After what he saw in the soul of the hero, the opposite moods still remain. Different tonalities arise in it: either the harsh voice of the colonel, or the plaintive request of the Tatar, or the drum roll, or the whistle of the flute: “All the way in my ears, the drum roll was beating and the flute I heard the self-confident, angry voice of the colonel.

However, the case played a cruel joke with the girl herself. Varenka suffered a "punishment" for her father's actions. It is impossible, of course, to say that she did not know her father and could not imagine what he was capable of. But the main character combined these two so different images in one picture, thanks to which the young people had to leave. So his love seems to disappear somewhere: “When she, as often happened with her, with a smile on her face, thought, I immediately remembered the colonel on the square, and I felt somehow awkward and unpleasant, and I became less see her."

But what he saw influenced not only the relationship between Ivan Vasilyevich and Varenka. It severely affected the worldview of the narrator himself. He tried to understand and comprehend what he had to see in the morning. At first, Ivan Vasilyevich even assumed that those who punished had some information that was unknown to him. But even this could not calm him down and restore peace of mind. “But no matter how hard I tried - and then I could not find out. And without knowing it, I could not enter the military service, as I wanted to before, and not only did not serve in the military, but did not serve anywhere and, as you see, was no good. And such ignorance and doubt influenced the fact that Ivan Vasilyevich could not enter the military service, because for him she was embodied in the guise of a cruel colonel - not the smart man who danced at the ball, but in the image of the one who beat on the face of a soldier who weakly hit the Tatar.

However, in the story itself there is one small episode that proves that the colonel loves his daughter very much, that is, he would never do her any harm. A military man indulges himself in many things, even goes out into the world in unfashionable calf boots, only so that Varenka can deny herself nothing. The colonel dances beautifully, but in a pair, the elegance of the dance depends on both partners. So he again does everything to present his daughter in a good light.

But chance intervenes again. Ivan Vasilyevich and the colonel meet eyes during the punishment, the latter turns away, as if he had not noticed anything. He is far from the moral image that Leo Tolstoy formed in his later works. But I would like to believe that for the colonel himself, this meeting, and therefore the incident itself, played an equally important role. Since he turned away, then maybe he feels that he is not quite right and is behaving inappropriately at this moment: he hit the soldier who “smeares” in the face. Or maybe he just remembers what happened the night before at the ball at the provincial leader and understands how contrasting the picture is played out before the eyes of Ivan Vasilyevich.

It was this contrast that played the biggest role in the life of the protagonist. If these scenes had not been preserved in his soul, then maybe he could eventually calm down and meet Varenka again. But in his soul there was a constant struggle between two different, but very impressive pictures. And since the latter was more flamboyant, eloquent and cruel, she left a much greater impression in Ivan Vasilyevich's soul. Therefore, he could not overcome himself, so as not to remember this.

The writer chooses the most effective technique - the technique of contrast. We do not know what his attitude to what he saw and to the concept of “accident” in this life is. But the use of this technique makes it possible to understand that the writer is in solidarity with the main character to some extent. And in this way he denounces and does not accept either for his character, much less for himself the act of the colonel. This perception of the world leaves an imprint on the later views of the writer, who begins to think about the spiritual perfection of the individual. He shows us that the colonel is very far from all this. Ivan Vasilievich, on the contrary, probably encounters this for the first time and understands that in any act there must be a spiritual and moral basis. Perhaps then the case will not have its destructive effect on a person.

Tolstoy L.N.After the ball

– So you say that a person cannot understand on his own what is good, what is bad, that the whole thing is in the environment, that the environment is jamming. And I think it's all about the case. I'll tell about myself.

That is how Ivan Vasilyevich, respected by all, spoke after the conversation that was going on between us, that for personal improvement it is necessary first to change the conditions among which people live. No one, in fact, said that it was impossible to understand for oneself what was good and what was bad, but Ivan Vasilyevich had such a manner of responding to his own thoughts that arose as a result of a conversation and, on the occasion of these thoughts, told episodes from his life. Often he completely forgot the reason for which he was telling, being carried away by the story, especially since he told it very sincerely and truthfully.

So he did now.

- I'll tell about myself. My whole life has developed in this way, and not otherwise, not from the environment, but from a completely different one.

- From what? we asked.

- Yes, it's a long story. To understand, you need to talk a lot.

- So tell me.

Ivan Vasilyevich pondered, shook his head.

“Yes,” he said. – The whole life has changed from one night, or rather morning.

- Yes, what was it?

- And it was that I was very much in love. I fell in love many times, but this was my strongest love. It's a thing of the past; She already has a married daughter. It was B ... yes, Varenka B ... - Ivan Vasilyevich gave his last name. She was a wonderful beauty even at fifty. But in her youth, eighteen years old, she was charming: tall, slender, graceful and majestic, just majestic. She always carried herself unusually upright, as if she could not help it, throwing her head back a little, and this gave her, with her beauty and tall stature, despite her thinness, even bony, a kind of regal air that would scare away from her, if if it weren't for the affectionate, always cheerful smile and mouth, and lovely sparkling eyes, and all of her sweet, young being.

- What Ivan Vasilyevich paints.

- Yes, no matter how you paint, you can’t paint in such a way that you understand what she was like. But that's not the point: what I want to tell was in the forties. I was at that time a student at a provincial university. I don’t know if this is good or bad, but at that time we didn’t have any circles at our university, no theories, but we were just young and lived, as is typical of youth: we studied and had fun. I was a very cheerful and lively fellow, and even rich. I had a dashing pacer, rode from the mountains with young ladies (skates were not yet in vogue), reveled with comrades (at that time we didn’t drink anything but champagne; we didn’t have money - we didn’t drink anything, but we didn’t drink, as now , vodka). My main pleasure was evenings and balls. I danced well and was not ugly.

“Well, there’s nothing to be modest about,” one of the interlocutors interrupted him. “We know your still daguerreotype portrait. Not that he wasn't ugly, but you were handsome.

- A handsome man is so handsome, but that's not the point. But the fact is that during this my strongest love for her, on the last day of Shrovetide, I was at a ball with the provincial marshal, a good-natured old man, a rich hospitable man and a chamberlain. He was received by his wife, as good-natured as he, in a velvet puce dress, with a diamond ferroniere on her head and with open old, plump, white shoulders and breasts, like portraits of Elizabeth Petrovna. The ball was wonderful: the hall was beautiful, with choirs, the musicians were the famous serfs of the amateur landowner at that time, the buffet was magnificent and the bottled sea of ​​champagne. Although I was a fan of champagne, I did not drink, because without wine I was drunk with love, but on the other hand I danced until I dropped, danced quadrilles, and waltzes, and polkas, of course, as far as possible, all with Varenka. She was in a white dress with a pink sash, and white kid gloves, a little short of her thin, pointy elbows, and white satin shoes. The mazurka was taken away from me: the repulsive engineer Anisimov - I still cannot forgive him for this - invited her, she had just come in, and I stopped by the hairdresser and for gloves and was late. So I danced the mazurka not with her, but with a German woman, whom I had courted a little before. But, I'm afraid, that evening I was very disrespectful to her, did not speak to her, did not look at her, but saw only a tall, slender figure in a white dress with a pink belt, her radiant, reddened face with dimples and tender, sweet eyes. I'm not the only one, everyone looked at her and admired her, both men and women admired her, despite the fact that she eclipsed them all. It was impossible not to admire.

By law, so to speak, I did not dance the mazurka with her, but in reality I danced with her almost all the time. She, not embarrassed, walked straight to me across the hall, and I jumped up without waiting for an invitation, and she thanked me with a smile for my ingenuity. When we were brought up to her and she did not guess my quality, she, offering her hand not to me, shrugged her thin shoulders and smiled at me as a token of pity and consolation. When the figures of the mazurka were being made by the waltz, I waltzed with her for a long time, and she, breathing often, smiled and said to me: "Encore."

And I waltzed again and again and did not feel my body.

“Well, they didn’t feel it, I think they really felt it when they hugged her around the waist, not only their own, but also her body,” said one of the guests.

Ivan Vasilyevich suddenly blushed and almost shouted angrily:

- Yes, that's you, today's youth. You see nothing but the body. It wasn't like that in our time. The more I was in love, the more incorporeal she became for me. Now you see legs, ankles and something else, you undress the women you are in love with, but for me, as Alphonse Karr said - he was a good writer - there were always bronze clothes on the subject of my love. We not only undressed, but tried to cover up our nakedness, like the good son of Noah. Well, you won't understand...

- Yes. So I danced more with her and did not see how time passed. The musicians, with a kind of despair of weariness, you know, as it happens at the end of a ball, picked up the same mazurka motif, rose from the drawing rooms already from the card tables of papa and mama, waiting for supper, the lackeys more often ran in, carrying something. It was the third hour. It was necessary to use the last minutes. I chose her again, and for the hundredth time we walked along the hall.

- So after dinner, my quadrille? I told her as I led her to her seat.

“Of course, if they don’t take me away,” she said, smiling.

“I won’t,” I said.

“Give me the fan,” she said.

"It's a pity to give it away," I said, handing her a cheap white fan.

“So here you are, so that you don’t regret it,” she said, tearing off a feather from her fan and giving it to me.

I took the feather and only with a glance could I express all my delight and gratitude. I was not only cheerful and contented, I was happy, blissful, I was kind, I was not me, but some kind of unearthly being, knowing no evil and capable of good alone. I hid the feather in my glove and stood there, unable to move away from her.

“Look, dad is asked to dance,” she said to me, pointing to the tall, stately figure of her father, a colonel with silver epaulettes, who was standing in the doorway with the hostess and other ladies.

“Varenka, come here,” we heard the loud voice of the hostess in a diamond ferroniere and with Elizabethan shoulders.

Varenka went to the door, and I followed her.

- Persuade, ma chere, your father to walk with you. Well, please, Pyotr Vladislavich, - the hostess turned to the colonel.

Varenka's father was a very handsome, stately, tall and fresh old man. His face was very ruddy, with white curled mustaches à la Nicolas I, white sideburns drawn up to the moustache and with sideburns combed forward, and the same kind, joyful smile, like that of his daughter, was in his shining eyes and lips. He was beautifully built, with a broad, sparsely decorated chest, protruding in a military manner, with strong shoulders and long, slender legs. He was a military leader of the type of an old campaigner of the Nikolaev bearing.

When we approached the door, the colonel refused, saying that he had forgotten how to dance, but nevertheless, smiling, throwing his hand to his left side, he took out his sword from the harness, gave it to the obliging young man and, pulling on a suede glove on his right hand, “everything is necessary according to the law,” he said smiling, took his daughter’s hand and stood in a quarter turn, waiting for the beat.

Waiting for the beginning of the mazurka motif, he briskly stamped one foot, threw out the other, and his tall, heavy figure, now softly and smoothly, now noisily and stormily, with the clatter of soles and foot to foot, moved around the hall. The graceful figure of Varenka floated beside him, imperceptibly, shortening or lengthening the steps of her little white satin legs in time. The whole room watched every movement of the couple. I not only admired, but looked at them with enthusiastic tenderness. I was especially touched by his boots, covered with stilettos - good calf boots, but not fashionable, with sharp, but antique ones, with square toes and without heels. Obviously, the boots were built by the battalion shoemaker. “In order to take out and dress his beloved daughter, he does not buy fashionable boots, but wears homemade ones,” I thought, and these square toes of boots especially touched me. It was evident that he had once danced beautifully, but now he was heavy, and his legs were no longer elastic enough for all those beautiful and fast steps that he tried to do. But he still deftly passed two laps. When, quickly spreading his legs, he again connected them and, although somewhat heavily, fell on one knee, and she, smiling and straightening the skirt that he caught, smoothly walked around him, everyone applauded loudly. With some effort, he got up, vaguely, sweetly wrapped his arms around his daughter's ears and, kissing her on the forehead, led her to me, thinking that I was dancing with her. I said that I'm not her boyfriend.

“Well, it doesn’t matter, now you go for a walk with her,” he said, smiling affectionately and putting his sword into his belt.

As it happens that after one drop poured out of a bottle, its contents pour out in large jets, so in my soul love for Varenka freed all the ability of love hidden in my soul. At that time I embraced the whole world with my love. I loved the hostess in the feronniere, with her Elizabethan bust, and her husband, and her guests, and her lackeys, and even the engineer Anisimov, who was sulking at me. To her father, with his slippers and his gentle smile, like hers, I felt at that time some kind of enthusiastic tender feeling.

The mazurka was over, the hosts asked the guests for dinner, but Colonel B. refused, saying that he had to get up early tomorrow, and said goodbye to the hosts. I was afraid that they would take her away, but she stayed with her mother.

After supper, I danced the promised quadrille with her, and, despite the fact that I seemed to be infinitely happy, my happiness grew and grew. We didn't talk about love. I didn't even ask her or myself if she loved me. It was enough for me that I loved her. And I was afraid of only one thing, so that something would not spoil my happiness.

When I got home, undressed and thought about sleep, I saw that it was absolutely impossible. I had in my hand a feather from her fan and her whole glove, which she gave me when she left, when she got into the carriage and I helped her mother and then her. I looked at these things and, without closing my eyes, I saw her in front of me at that moment when she, choosing from two gentlemen, guesses my quality, and I hear her sweet voice when she says: “Pride? Yes?" - and happily gives me his hand, or when at dinner he sips a glass of champagne and looks at me with caressing eyes from under his brows. But most of all I see her in a pair with her father, when she moves smoothly around him and with pride and joy, both for herself and for him, looks at the admiring spectators. And I involuntarily unite him and her in one tender, tender feeling.

We lived then alone with the late brother. My brother did not like the world at all and did not go to balls, but now he was preparing for the candidate's examination and was leading the most correct life. He slept. I looked at his head buried in a pillow and half covered with a flannel blanket, and I felt lovingly sorry for him, sorry for the fact that he did not know and did not share the happiness that I experienced. Our serf footman Petrusha met me with a candle and wanted to help me undress, but I let him go. The sight of his sleepy face with matted hair seemed touchingly touching to me. Trying not to make any noise, I tiptoed into my room and sat on the bed. No, I was too happy, I couldn't sleep. Moreover, it was hot in the heated rooms, and without taking off my uniform, I quietly went out into the hall, put on my overcoat, opened the outer door and went out into the street.

I left the ball at five o'clock, until I got home, sat at home, another two hours passed, so that when I left it was already light. It was the most Maslenitsa weather, there was fog, snow saturated with water was melting on the roads, and it was dripping from all the roofs. B. then lived at the end of the city, near a large field, at one end of which there was a walk, and at the other - a girls' institute. I passed our deserted lane and went out into the main street, where both pedestrians and carts with firewood on sledges began to meet, runners reaching the pavement. And the horses, evenly swaying their wet heads under the glossy arches, and the cabbies covered with matting, splashing in huge boots near the carts, and the houses of the street, which seemed very high in the fog, everything was especially sweet and significant to me.

When I went out into the field where their house was, I saw at the end of it, in the direction of the festivities, something big, black, and heard the sounds of a flute and a drum coming from there. In my soul I sang all the time and occasionally heard the tune of the mazurka. But it was some other, tough, bad music.

"What it is?" - I thought, and along the slippery road passed through the middle of the field, I went in the direction of the sounds. After walking a hundred paces, I began to distinguish many black people because of the fog. Obviously soldiers. “That’s right, learning,” I thought, and together with the blacksmith in a greasy short fur coat and apron, who was carrying something and walking in front of me, came closer. Soldiers in black uniforms stood in two rows opposite each other, holding their guns to their feet, and did not move. Behind them stood a drummer and a flute player, repeating the same unpleasant, shrill melody without ceasing.

– What are they doing? I asked the blacksmith who had stopped next to me.

“The Tartar is being chased for escape,” the blacksmith said angrily, looking at the far end of the rows.

I began to look in the same direction and saw in the middle of the rows something terrible approaching me. Approaching me was a man, stripped to the waist, tied to the guns of the two soldiers who were leading him. Next to him was a tall military man in an overcoat and cap, whose figure seemed familiar to me. Twitching with his whole body, slapping his feet in the melting snow, the punished man, falling on him from both sides with blows, moved towards me, then tipping back - and then the non-commissioned officers who led him by the guns pushed him forward, then falling forward - and then non-commissioned officers, keeping him from falling, pulled him back. And not lagging behind him, a tall military man walked with a firm, trembling gait. It was her father, with his ruddy face and white mustache and sideburns.

At each blow, the punished, as if surprised, turned his face wrinkled with suffering in the direction from which the blow fell, and, baring his white teeth, repeated some of the same words. It was only when he was very close that I heard these words. He did not speak, but sobbed: “Brothers, have mercy. Brothers, have mercy." But the brothers did not have mercy, and when the procession completely caught up with me, I saw how the soldier who was standing opposite me took a decisive step forward and, with a whistling wave of his stick, slapped it hard on the back of the Tatar. The Tatar jerked forward, but the non-commissioned officers held him back, and the same blow fell on him from the other side, and again from this, and again from that. The colonel walked beside him and, looking now at his feet, now at the man being punished, drew in the air, puffing out his cheeks, and slowly let it out through his protruding lip. When the procession passed the place where I was standing, I caught a glimpse between the rows of the back of the punished. It was something so variegated, wet, red, unnatural, that I could not believe that it was a human body.

“Oh my God,” said the blacksmith beside me.

The procession began to move away, blows still fell from both sides on the stumbling, writhing man, and the drums still beat and the flute whistled, and the tall, stately figure of the colonel next to the punished moved with the same firm step. Suddenly the colonel stopped and quickly approached one of the soldiers.

“I will anoint you,” I heard his angry voice. - Will you rub? Will you?

And I saw how, with his strong hand in a suede glove, he hit the face of a frightened, short, weak soldier because he did not put his stick on the red back of the Tatar enough.

- Serve fresh scallops! he shouted, looking round and saw me. Pretending that he did not know me, he, frowning menacingly and angrily, hastily turned away. 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. All the way I had a drum roll in my ears and a flute whistled, then I heard the words: “Brothers, have mercy,” then I heard the self-confident, angry voice of the colonel, shouting: “Are you going to smear? Will you?" Meanwhile, my heart was almost physical, reaching nausea, melancholy, such that I stopped several times, and it seemed to me that I was about to vomit with all the horror that entered me from this spectacle. I don't remember how I got home and lay down. But as soon as he began to fall asleep, he heard and saw everything again and jumped up.

“Obviously, he knows something that I do not know,” I thought about the colonel. “If I knew what he knows, I would understand what I saw, and it would not torment me.” But no matter how much I thought, I could not understand what the colonel knew, and I fell asleep only in the evening, and then after I went to a friend and got drunk with him completely drunk.

Well, do you think that I then decided that what I saw was a bad thing? Not at all. “If this was done with such confidence and recognized by everyone as necessary, then they must have known something that I did not know,” I thought, and tried to find out. But no matter how hard he tried - and then he could not find out. And without knowing it, he could not enter the military service, as he wanted before, and not only did not serve in the military, but he did not serve anywhere and, as you see, he was no good.

“Well, we know how bad you were,” one of us said. - Tell me better: how many people would be good for nothing, if you were not there.

“Well, this is absolutely nonsense,” Ivan Vasilyevich said with sincere annoyance.

- Well, what about love? we asked.

- Love? Since that day, love has waned. When she thought, as she often did with her, with a smile on her face, I immediately remembered the colonel in the square, and I felt somehow awkward and unpleasant, and I began to see her less often. And love faded away. So these are the things that happen and from what changes and directs the whole life of a person. And you say…” he finished.

___________________________________________________
Notes
1. More (French).
2. Alphonse Carr (French).
3. Dear (French).
4. Like Nicholas I (French).

After the ball. Tolstoy L.N.

There was a conversation among friends that “for personal perfection, it is necessary first to change the conditions among which people live.” Everyone respected Ivan Vasilyevich told a story that radically changed his life.

Then he was young and deeply in love with the eighteen-year-old Varenka, a beautiful, tall and graceful girl. This was at a time when the narrator was studying at a provincial university, and his main pleasure was balls and evenings.

On the last day of Shrovetide, the provincial marshal gave a ball. Ivan Vasilievich "was drunk with love" and danced only with Varenka. Her father, Colonel Pyotr Vladislavich, “a handsome, stately and fresh old man” was also there. After dinner, the hostess persuaded him to go through one round of the mazurka with her daughter. The whole hall was delighted with this couple, and Ivan Vasilyevich was imbued with an enthusiastic tender feeling for Varenka's father.

That night, Ivan Vasilievich could not sleep, and he went to wander around the city. His feet themselves brought him to Varenka's house. At the end of the field, where her house stood, he saw some kind of crowd, but, coming closer, he saw that they were driving a Tatar deserter through the formation. Pyotr Vladislavich walked alongside and vigilantly watched that the soldiers properly lowered the stick on the red back of the punished, and when he saw Ivan Vasilyevich, he pretended that they did not know each other.

The narrator could not understand in any way whether what he saw was good or bad: “If this was done with such confidence and recognized by everyone as necessary, then they knew something that I did not know.” But without knowing this, he could not enter either the military or any other service.

Since then, every time he saw Varenka's pretty face, he remembered that morning, and "love just disappeared."

Option 2

Friends were arguing about the need to change the conditions so that a person can strive to achieve personal perfection. Ivan Vasilyevich described to those present an incident that, in his opinion, changed his life.

He was young and in love with Varenka, a beautiful, tall and graceful eighteen-year-old girl. He studied at the university of a provincial town, and his main pleasure was balls and evenings. On Shrove Tuesday, the provincial leader had a ball. Ivan Vasilyevich, drunk with love, danced with only Varenka. The girl's father, Colonel Pyotr Vladislavich, was also present at the ball. He was handsome, stately and fresh, although an old man. He was persuaded to go on a mazurka tour with his daughter. Everyone was delighted with the dance of this couple. Ivan Vasilievich felt enthusiastic tender feelings for Varenka's father.

At night, Ivan Vasilievich could not sleep and wandered around the city. His feet brought him to Varenka's house. It was early morning - and at the end of the field the hero of the crowd, busy with something. Coming closer, he saw that they were chasing a deserter, a Tatar, through the ranks. Pyotr Vladislavich walks along the line and carefully monitors that all the soldiers act with sufficient force, lowering sticks on the soldier's bloody back. He even whipped with his glove a soldier who didn't hit hard enough. At the same time, the colonel said: “You will smear!”. Noticing Ivan Vasilyevich, the colonel pretended not to know him.

The narrator could not figure out whether what he witnessed was good or bad. After all, this was done with confidence in the necessity and rightness, it was recognized by everyone as correct. He decided that he could not answer himself what he personally did not know about the structure of this society. And so he did not enter the service - neither for the military, nor for any other. And after this incident, every time he saw the face of Varenka, so beloved earlier, he remembered her father. Love somehow ended by itself.

Essay on literature on the topic: Summary After the ball Tolstoy L. N

Other writings:

1. The story “After the Ball” is based on a real event, which 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. Koreish and was going to marry her. But after Read More ......
2. Colonel B. Characteristics of the literary hero Pyotr Vladislavovich (Colonel B.) - the father of Varenka, Ivan Vasilyevich's lover. He is "a military commander like an old Nikolaev-style campaigner." P.V. is handsome, stately, tall. He has a ruddy face, a white mustache and sideburns, “an affectionate joyful smile…in brilliant Read More ......
3. The prototype of the protagonist of the story “After the Ball” was the brother of L. N. Tolstoy Sergey Nikolaevich. Only after 50 years Lev Nikolaevich will write this story. In it, he talks about how a person's life can change in just one morning. First part Read More ......
4. In the image of Ivan Vasilievich, the hero of the story “After the Ball,” L. N. Tolstoy showed us a typical person of that time, a student, one might say, an inhabitant, standing aloof from big things, living modestly and no different from others outwardly. Together with Read More ......
5. “My whole life has changed from one night, or rather morning,” Ivan Vasilyevich began his story, convinced that everyone’s life develops in the way that an unexpected event will change it. The listeners knew that Ivan Vasilievich sometimes answered his own thoughts aloud and usually Read More ......
6. The story “After the Ball” is one of the last works of Leo Tolstoy. He tells about a dramatic event - the punishment of a soldier with gauntlets. Using the well-known "story within a story" technique, the writer achieves the utmost reliability of the story. We see the event through the eyes of an eyewitness - Ivan Vasilyevich. He Read More ......
7. The story “After the Ball” L. N. Tolstoy wrote at the end of his life, in 1903. The work was based on a real case that happened to the brother of Lev Nikolaevich Sergey Nikolaevich. The story is told on behalf of Ivan Vasilievich, a respected person. Ivan Vasilyevich Read More ......
8. Reading the story of L. N. Tolstoy “After the Ball”, we become witnesses of how the events of just one morning can completely change the fate of a person. The hero, on behalf of whom the story is being told, is “everyone respected Ivan Vasilyevich”, in whose fate the case played a decisive role. Read More ......

Summary After the ball Tolstoy L. N

Full version 1-1.5 hours (≈25 A4 pages), summary 5 minutes.

main characters

Ivan Vasilyevich (the main character, narrator), Varenka (the girl whom Ivan Vasilyevich loved), Pyotr Vladislavovich (the girl's father, colonel).

Friends said that in order to personally improve, it was first necessary to change the conditions in which people existed. Ivan Vasilievich was respected by everyone. He told a story that changed his life completely.

At that time he was young and fell deeply in love with Varenka. The girl was eighteen years old, she was beautiful, tall and graceful. This happened during the training of the storyteller in the province. His main pleasure then were evenings and balls.

On the day of the completion of Maslenitsa, a ball was held at the provincial leader. Ivan Vasilyevich was intoxicated with love. Therefore, he danced only with Varenka. The girl's father was also present. Although he was old, he had beauty, stateliness and freshness. The hostess persuaded Peter Vladislavovich to dance the mazurka with his daughter. Everyone in the hall admired this couple. Ivan Vasilyevich felt an enthusiastic tender feeling towards his beloved father.

That night Ivan Vasilyevich could not sleep. So he went for a walk around the city. He was near the house of his beloved. On the edge of the field. Where the girl's house was, he noticed a crowd. Approaching, he discovered that it was the Tatar who was chasing him through the line. who was a deserter. The girl's father walked by and carefully observed that the soldiers, as expected, beat with a stick on the back of the punished. Noticing Ivan Vasilyevich. The colonel pretended not to know him.

The narrator was trying to figure out whether what he saw was good or bad. He thought that if they did it with absolute certainty and everyone recognized the need for it, then they knew something that he did not know. He never found out. Therefore, he could not become a military man or any other employee.