Russian national character embodied in the image of a left-hander. Russian national character in the story "Lefty

In N. S. Leskov's story "Lefty", the main character is an oblique Tula master, a self-taught left-hander. However, the hero does not appear immediately, but in the middle of the story. Lefty is the favorite hero of N. S. Leskov, the author is proud of his hero, respects him. But, despite his positive assessment, during the acquaintance, the author does not single out this person: “the gunsmiths are three people, the most skilled of them, one is left-handed obliquely, there is a birthmark on the cheek, and the hair on the temples was torn out during training.” N. S. Leskov shows that this Tula master has a truly Russian national character. This is evidenced by the descriptions of his work and leisure, and the expression of passionate love for the Motherland. The left-hander, among the three gunsmiths, dutifully worked on an outlandish flea for two weeks. All this time they were locked up, keeping their work secret. It is here that strength of mind is manifested, since I had to work in difficult conditions: with windows and doors closed, without rest. However, Platov did not believe it when he saw the same flea in a diamond nut, as if the Tula masters were able to do something better than the British. He got angry, thought that they wanted to take him away, and, ironically, took a lefty with him to St. Petersburg, because if something goes wrong, then there will be someone to answer for everything.

Indeed, there is something to marvel at here - the craftsmen not only did not spoil the curiosity, but also bypassed the British in terms of skill: they shod a steel flea and wrote their names on the horseshoes. This is such a miniature work that you can see the result in a “melkoskop”, which magnifies several hundred times, and the craftsmen, in the absence of a “milkoscope”, due to poverty, did all the delicate work, because they “have shot their eyes like that”. However, the name of the left-hander was not on the horseshoes, as he considered himself unworthy of it. In his opinion, he did nothing special, because he worked with parts less than horseshoes: he forged carnations to nail them. The left-hander was thanked for such a service and sent to London to show the British that Russian masters are no worse than foreign ones, but, on the contrary, better.

It is in London that his truly Russian national character manifests itself. He loves Russia very much - his homeland - and he refuses invitations from the British to settle in London, learn science, visit factories in practice, get a prestigious job, marry, start a family. He also loves his already elderly parents, because they cannot do without him; loves the traditions of Russia. But this is not just love, the left-hander cannot imagine himself without the Motherland.

However, he agreed to stay abroad. He had seen enough of their life and work, paid special attention to how new and how old guns are made, and in what condition they are stored. However, such a boring life soon got tired of him, he yearned for his homeland, and the British had to let him go. On the ship, he met a half-skipper, with whom they began to bet who would outdrink whom. Nothing good came of this, of course. The half-skipper was taken to "treat" to the embassy's house on the embankment, and the left-hander was thrown drunk on the floor in a quarter. Not finding any documents, he was robbed, his gold watch and coat were shining. He ended up in the Obukhov hospital, where they take him to die. But, dying, the left-hander did not think about himself. The only thing he wanted; so it is to see the sovereign, to say that the guns are not cleaned with bricks. With these words on his lips, the Tula master died.

Leskov presents a truly great man: a talented master, with a broad soul, a warm loving heart, with deep patriotic feelings. This is a real Man with a capital letter, a man with a national Russian character. His shortcomings, like many Russian people, were a craving for alcohol and a passion for arguing, betting. These two qualities have killed a large number of talented people.

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The Russian people in the works of N. Leskov are a special type of character, high in moral principles, believing in God and their work.

The image of the Russian people in the tale "Levsha" is represented by the character of the main character Lefty and those who are next to him.

Patriotism and devotion to the motherland

The master gunsmith truly loves his country. A left-hander, once abroad, is not lost among the technical devices and perfections of overseas engineering. He behaves confidently, calmly. The master does not give out knowledge and talents. When getting acquainted with many devices, a resident of Tula is calm: the Russians can also do better. In the oblique master, the dignity of the Russian people, which he received with his mother's milk, is surprising. A simple peasant has confidence in his behavior, a certain condescension and modesty.

Good health

Lefty is one of the folk craftsmen. The description of their work is not just surprising. It is hard to imagine how a real work of art is created in a cramped hut with small windows. How much health is required to endure several days of painstaking work without rest and access to fresh air. Men from the people are strong and hardy, they prove respect for themselves and their skills.

The main vice of the Russian people

Drunkenness is a vice that has ruined many Russian peasants. It is surprising that centuries do not change a Russian person. And today drunkenness takes the lives of smart and kind Russian guys. Lefty drinks in England when overseas engineers try to split him. He drinks "to hell" on the ship, returning home. Lefty never once refused a drink offered to him. Drunkenness was one of the reasons for the death of a gunsmith. The Russian people drink a lot, pour their grief and problems into wine. The talents, wisdom and skill of the Russian people are drowning in wine. A difficult fate, hopeless everyday life - everything is filled with wine.

Medical assistance

The Russian people are poor. He dies from lack of medical attention. Doctors demand payment, where can a simple peasant get money for treatment. Perhaps this explains the large number of sorcerers. In almost every village there lived midwives and grandfathers-healers. The pages of the story, where Lefty is taken from hospital to hospital, practically undressed, are hard to read. It turns out that the master is on the floor in a medical institution for the sick, where they are brought to die. What a contradiction: a hospital where they do not treat, but await death. Around indifference, heartlessness and hopelessness. It is impossible to imagine what it is like for people who got there. But the narrator says that the hospital is overcrowded. No one cares how many of the people will die. It is terrible that talent, a brilliant master, is dying. It is impossible to calculate how many interesting things he could do, how he would help his country. How many people like Lefty spent their last days on the cold floor of an institution designed to treat people?

Patience of the Russian people

There are many pages where the patience of a man from the people is described:

creating horseshoes in a closed room;
beating of the master by the ataman;
the return of Platov (the inability to rest, fell asleep - a blow with a whip).

The Russian people are so downtrodden that it becomes scary. There are no openly expressed thoughts anywhere. The most talented Tula craftsmen do not say what they will do with the overseas curiosity, fearing that they will not be able to convey in words the essence of their idea.

Russian speech and soul

The author characterizes Lefty through the mouth of a half-skipper from England. The sailor, who has become a friend of the Russian peasant, says that he has a sheep's coat, but a human soul. He alone showed concern, but could not help the dying master. The speech of people from the people is special. They speak little, so they are precise and accurate. Words in speech are only native Russian. The sentences are clearly structured. A special quality of speech is melodiousness.

The amazing fate of the modest craftsman became the plot of the story. The author knows the Russian people well, he loves them. "Lefty" is a sad fairy tale, revealing Russian sincerity and talent.

And here is a left-hander in St. Petersburg. He obediently, as befits a subject, stood near the palace and waited for what would happen next. At first, Platov ruffled his hair because the masters allegedly ruined a rare thing, but then, when they figured it out, the left-hander was invited to the palace and personally listened to praise from the sovereign and was kissed by him. Indeed, there is something to marvel at here - the craftsmen not only did not spoil the curiosity, but also bypassed the British in terms of skill: they shod a steel flea and wrote their names on the horseshoes. This is such a miniature work that you can see the result in a “melkoskop”, which magnifies several hundred times, and the craftsmen, in the absence of a “milkoscope”, due to poverty, did all the delicate work, because they “have shot their eyes like that”. However, the name of the left-hander was not on the horseshoes, as he considered himself unworthy of it. In his opinion, he did nothing special, because he worked with parts less than horseshoes: he forged carnations to nail them. The left-hander was thanked for such a service and sent to London to show the British that Russian masters are no worse than foreign ones, but, on the contrary, better.

And now the Tula tramp “in shawls, one leg is in a boot, the other is dangling, and the ozyamchik is old, the hooks are not fastened, they are lost, and the scruff of the collar is torn”, which in this form appeared before the sovereign, without embarrassment and embarrassment, was now heading to England. He was drunk, fed, rewarded, dressed up. And here he is in London. It is in London that his truly Russian national character manifests itself. He loves Russia very much - his homeland - and he refuses invitations from the British to settle in London, learn science, visit factories in practice, get a prestigious job, marry, start a family. He also loves his already elderly parents, because they cannot do without him; loves the traditions of Russia. But this is not just love, the left-hander cannot imagine himself without the Motherland.

Works on literature: Tragic and comic in the tale of N. S. Leskov "Lefty"

One of the most interesting works of N. S. Leskov is the tale "Lefty", or "The Tale of the Tula oblique left-hander and the steel flea." Behind a veil of irony, even some unreality of the events described, the writer hides many questions, many problems of Russian life, which are often quite tragic in nature.

Perhaps the most serious problem posed by Leskov in "Lefty" is the problem of the lack of demand for Russian talents. In the final, twentieth, chapter, the author notes: "The left-hander's own name, like the names of many of the greatest geniuses, is forever lost to posterity." A lot of people with quite a lot of power (Platov, Sovereign Nikolai Pavlovich and others), "were very confident in their ... people and did not like to yield to any foreigner", but the matter did not go beyond words and pride in their people, education did not it was, and if it was, it was only for the rich; geniuses died in poverty, without using the talent bestowed upon them from above ... In other states, for example, in England, the opposite is true. There were not so many masters, but they were taken care of very diligently: both study, and work, and excellent conditions for creativity...

The left-hander - an unprepossessing little man, with his hair torn out "during his studies", dressed like a beggar - is not afraid to go to the sovereign, as he is sure that he is right, as his work. Once in England, he seeks to understand the military tricks of the British and serve the Fatherland. Lefty, who goes to England without documents, hastily dressed, hungry, to demonstrate Russian ingenuity and skill, is for the writer the embodiment of the idea of self-denial in the name of the glory of the Fatherland. It is no coincidence that the narrator conveys his conversations with the British, who are stubbornly trying to persuade Lefty to stay in England. The inflexibility of the hero commands the respect of the British.

Drawing a parallel with modern life, I want to note that this problem remains relevant in our time. Our problems were indirectly described by Leskov in his contemporary form. From time to time, there are still "English" virtues who try to use our talents for the good of their homeland, but this, of course, is only a sign of the unscrupulous attitude of the authorities towards their people, for which the state should be very ashamed.

Excessive love for everything foreign, respect and hospitality shown to foreigners, often divert the eyes of our politicians from their own people, which often has a detrimental effect on people. This can be traced very accurately in the eighteenth chapter of the tale, where "the Englishman ... was brought to the embassy's house, ... a doctor and a pharmacist were immediately called to him ...", while a simple Russian left-hander "until morning... they dragged him along all the remote crooked paths and transplanted everything, so that he was beaten all over ... ".

Despite the tragic fate of the protagonist, the work also describes quite a few situations of a comic nature. The originality of the work is given by the unusual style and manner of the author's narration: simplicity, brevity, swiftness of action. Here immediately comes to mind the dispute between Lefty and the sub-skipper about who will drink more, when, walking on an equal footing, both at the same time saw multi-colored devils crawling out of the water. Very interesting are the descriptions of the appearance of the Tula masters (“three people, ... one oblique left-hander, a birthmark on the cheek, and the hair on the temples was torn out during learning ...”), left-handers (“... in shawls, one trouser leg in a boot , the other is dangled, and the ozyamchik is old, the hooks do not fasten, they are lost, and the collar is torn; but nothing, it will not be embarrassing").

With humor, Leskov describes the "spiral" formed from the "breathless work" "by the masters in their close mansion", from which "an unusual person from a fresh fad and once could not breathe."

Also, the story is comical due to the invention and wit of the author, which consists in the use of new words - foreign words, altered in the Russian manner or mixed with native Russian expressions. Examples of such neologisms are the words: "tugoment" ("document"), "nymphosoria" ("ciliate"), "dolbitsa" ("table"), etc.

In his work, N. S. Leskov successfully synthesized many tragic and comic features, vividly and accurately expressing in them grief and joy, disadvantages and advantages, character traits and originality of the Russian people.

For me, Leskov N.S. has always been a special artist: in his work there are no superfluous words, no lengthy reasoning of the author. His prose is pictures, almost like photographs, but slightly embellished so that it would not be so sad to look at reality. In the first place, in my opinion, among all his works is "Lefty". This tale has amazing properties: it is completely sad in content, but bright impressions are preserved in the memory, moreover, this tale is surprisingly similar to our life (like other stories and stories of the author).

In my opinion, "Levsha" turned out to be so popular not without the influence of that old gunsmith from Sestroretsk, whom Leskov mentions in the preface to the first editions of this work.

In this tale, Leskov describes an incident that happened to the Tula master Lefty, talks about how Lefty met the sovereign, traveled abroad, where he did not succumb to the persuasion of the British to stay, and about the tragic death of the Tula master.

The first thing that immediately surprised me when I opened this book was the Tsar's conviction that "we Russians are worthless with our meaning." The sovereign is surprised at overseas innovations, admires the skill of English craftsmen, while not remembering the talent of his compatriots.

Take, for example, the case with the pistol, which Alexander Pavlovich admired so much. Platov immediately grabbed a weapon screwdriver, opened the lock on the pistol and showed the sovereign a dog, where "on the very fold" a Russian inscription was made: "Ivan Moskvin in the city of Tula." To which the sovereign sadly says to him: "Why did you embarrass them very much, I now feel very sorry for them."

It is clearly visible on the example of the emperor, Platov, a typical fairy-tale governor, how far the power is from its people, how dependent the working people are from those in power.

Leskov's critical attitude to the authorities largely determines the problematics of the story. It is in the depiction of Alexander, Nikolai, Platov that Leskov's irony becomes most obvious. Platov's attempt to convince Alexander of the superiority of Russian weapons "disappointed the emperor", and the reminder of the special sugar of the Bobrinsky factory upset the sovereign ("Please don't spoil my politics," he asks Platov).

The very image of Lefty is both comical and tragic at the same time: we laugh at his downtroddenness, but in fact it is not funny at all. Perhaps this is a feature of the national character - to laugh at yourself. In my opinion, someone, but Russians, has always been saved by the ability to evaluate all their troubles from a ridiculous side.

A lot of trials fall to the share of Lefty, but even in the dying hour the hero remembers only one thing - about a military secret, ignorance of which is disastrous for the Russian army. Leskov shows the tragic paradox of Russian life. The simple Tula master Lefty is more concerned with the problem of Russia's military power than the Minister of War, Count Chernyshev, or the emperor himself.

As for the design, in "Lefty" it is extremely excellent and organically combined with the content and the main character. The comedy is achieved through a play on words, a peculiar speech of the characters. Leskov used a lot of distorted words in the speech of the heroes, for example, "merbluz" (camel), "studding" (from pudding and jelly), Abolon polvedersky, Count Kiselvrod, etc.

The British, who live near the "Hardland Sea", are also comical, dressed "in lace waistcoats" and shod "in thick anklets with iron knobs." Their joy is unnatural and dreary: "A holiday will come, they will gather in pairs, take a stick in their hands and go for a walk decorously and nobly."

N. S. Leskov, showing the talent of Levsha and his comrades, bitterly asserts that the Russian government is not able to appreciate him. The forces of brilliant people were wasted on trifles, although admirable (a horseshoe for a flea). This was directly stated by Lefty and the British, when he told them that he did not know arithmetic, and Russian people went through all science "according to the Psalter and the Polusonnik".

In conclusion, I would like to tell a little about the history of the publication of Lefty. The image of a talented craftsman was not understood by modern criticism of Leskov. The journals Otechestvennyezapiski and Delo saw Slavophile sentiments in the tale. Leskov, according to the reviewer of Otechestvennye Zapiski, soars high above Europe, extolling Russian talents. The Novoye Vremya newspaper, on the contrary, stood up for the Russian people, who were allegedly belittled by the author of Levsha. The ingenious Lefty is transformed into a downtrodden, impersonal worker. Leskov had to respond to criticism and explain the true intention of the tale.

First of all, Leskov indignantly denied accusations of belittling the people. "That was not my intention, and I even wonder where such extreme conflicting conclusions could be drawn from?" he wrote. Leskov only agrees that Lefty is a symbol of the Russian people. Later, Leskov again repeats that his hero is "the spokesman for the Russian people."

In N. S. Leskov’s story “Lefty”, the main character is an oblique Tula master, a self-taught left-hander. However, the hero does not appear immediately, but in the middle of the story. Lefty is the favorite hero of N. S. Leskov, the author is proud of his hero, respects him. But, despite his positive assessment, during the acquaintance, the author does not single out this person: “the gunsmiths are three people, the most skilled of them, one is left-handed obliquely, there is a birthmark on the cheek, and the hair on the temples was torn out during training.” N. S. Leskov shows that this Tula master has a truly Russian national character. This is evidenced by the descriptions of his work and leisure, and the expression of passionate love for the Motherland. The left-hander, among the three gunsmiths, dutifully worked on an outlandish flea for two weeks. All this time they were locked up, keeping their work secret. It is here that strength of mind is manifested, since I had to work in difficult conditions: with windows and doors closed, without rest. However, Platov did not believe it when he saw the same flea in a diamond nut, as if the Tula masters were able to do something better than the British. He got angry, thought that they wanted to take him away, and, ironically, took a lefty with him to St. Petersburg, because if something goes wrong, then there will be someone to answer for everything.
And here is a left-hander in St. Petersburg. He obediently, as befits a subject, stood near the palace and waited for what would happen next. At first, Platov ruffled his hair because the masters allegedly ruined a rare thing, but then, when they figured it out, the left-hander was invited to the palace and personally listened to praise from the sovereign and was kissed by him.
Indeed, there is something to marvel at here - the craftsmen not only did not spoil the curiosity, but also bypassed the British in terms of skill: they shod a steel flea and wrote their names on the horseshoes. This is such a miniature work that you can see the result in a “fine scope” that magnifies several hundred times, and the craftsmen, in the absence of a “fine scope”, due to poverty, did all the delicate work, because they “have shot their eyes like that”. However, the name of the left-hander was not on the horseshoes, as he considered himself unworthy of it. In his opinion, he did nothing special, because he worked with parts less than horseshoes: he forged carnations to nail them. The left-hander was thanked for such a service and sent to London to show the British that Russian masters are no worse than foreign ones, but, on the contrary, better.
And now the Tula tramp “in shawls, one trouser leg in a boot, the other dangles, and the ozyamchik is old, the hooks are not fastened, they are lost, and the scruff of the collar is torn”, which in this form appeared before the sovereign, without embarrassment and embarrassment, was now heading to England. He was drunk, fed, rewarded, dressed up. And here he is in London.
It is in London that his truly Russian national character manifests itself. He loves Russia very much - his homeland - and he refuses invitations from the British to settle in London, learn science, visit factories in practice, get a prestigious job, marry, start a family. He also loves his already elderly parents, because they cannot do without him; loves the traditions of Russia. But this is not just love, the left-hander cannot imagine himself without the Motherland.
However, he agreed to stay abroad. He had seen enough of their life and work, paid special attention to how new and how old guns are made, and in what condition they are stored. However, such a boring life soon got tired of him, he yearned for his homeland, and the British had to let him go. On the ship, he met a half-skipper, with whom they began to bet who would outdrink whom. Nothing good came of this, of course. The half-skipper was taken to “treat” to the embassy’s house on the embankment, and the left-hander was thrown drunk on the floor in a quarter. Not finding any documents, he was robbed, his gold watch and coat were shining. He ended up in the Obukhov hospital, where they take him to die. But, dying, the left-hander did not think about himself. The only thing he wanted; so it is to see the sovereign, to say that the guns are not cleaned with bricks. With these words on his lips, the Tula master died.
Leskov presents a truly great man: a talented master, with a broad soul, a warm loving heart, with deep patriotic feelings. This is a real Man with a capital letter, a man with a national Russian character. His shortcomings, like many Russian people, were a craving for alcohol and a passion for arguing, betting. These two qualities have killed a large number of talented people.

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