Tolstoy than people are alive analysis. Leo Tolstoy - how people live. An elderly merchant's wife talks about herself

Tolstoy Lev Nikolaevich

How people live

L.N. Tolstoy

WHAT MAKES PEOPLE ALIVE

We know that we have passed from death to life because we love our brothers: he who does not love his brother remains in death. (I last John III, 14)

And whoever has wealth in the world, but, seeing his brother in need, closes his heart from him: how does the love of God abide in him? (III, 17)

My children! Let us begin to love not in word or tongue, but in deed and truth. (III, 18)

Love is from God, and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. (IV, 7)

He who does not love has not known God, because God is love. (IV, 8)

No one has ever seen God. If we love each other, then God abides in us. (IV, 12)

God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. (IV, 16)

Whoever says: I love God, but hates his brother, is a liar, for he who does not love his brother whom he sees, how can he love God whom he does not see? (IV, 20).

A shoemaker lived with his wife and children in a man’s apartment. He had neither his own house nor land, and he and his family supported themselves by shoemaking. Bread was expensive, but work was cheap, and what he earned was what he would eat. The shoemaker had one fur coat with his wife, and even that one was worn out into rags; and for the second year the shoemaker was going to buy sheepskin for a new fur coat.

By autumn, the shoemaker had collected some money: a three-ruble note was in the woman’s chest, and another five rubles and twenty kopecks were in the hands of the peasants in the village.

And in the morning the shoemaker got ready to go to the village to buy a fur coat. He put on a woman's nankeen jacket with cotton wool over his shirt, a cloth caftan on top, took a three-ruble note in his pocket, broke out the stick and left after breakfast. I thought: “I’ll get five rubles from the men, I’ll add three of my own, and I’ll buy sheepskins for a fur coat.”

A shoemaker came to the village, went to see one peasant - there was no home, the woman promised to send her husband with money this week, but she didn’t give the money; I went to another one, - the man became arrogant that he had no money, he only gave twenty kopecks for repairing his boots. The shoemaker thought of borrowing sheepskins, but the sheepskin man did not believe in the debt.

“Bring me the money,” he says, “then choose any, otherwise we know how to choose debts.”

So the shoemaker didn’t do anything, he just received twenty kopecks for repairs and took the peasant’s old felt boots to cover with leather.

The shoemaker sighed, drank all twenty kopecks worth of vodka and went home without a fur coat. In the morning the shoemaker felt frosty, but after drinking he felt warm even without a fur coat. The shoemaker walks along the road, taps the frozen Kalmyk boots with one hand with a stick, and waves his felt boots with the other hand, talking to himself.

“I,” he says, “was warm even without a fur coat.” I drank a glass; it plays in all veins. And you don't need a sheepskin coat. I go, forgetting grief. This is the kind of person I am! Me, what? I can live without a fur coat. I don't need her eyelids. One thing - the woman will get bored. And it’s a shame - you work for him, and he takes you on. Just wait now: if you don’t bring the money, I’ll take your hat off, by God, I’ll take it off. So what is this? He gives two kopecks! Well, what can you do with two kopecks? Drinking is one thing. He says: need. You need it, but I don’t need it? You have a house, and cattle, and everything, and I’m all here; You have your own bread, and I buy it from a store-bought one, wherever you want, and give me three rubles a week for one bread. I come home and the bread has arrived; pay me a ruble and a half again. So give me what's mine.

So the shoemaker approaches the chapel at the turntable and looks - behind the chapel itself there is something white. It was already getting dark. The shoemaker looks closely, but cannot see what it is. “He thinks there was no such stone here. Cattle? It doesn’t look like cattle. From the head it looks like a man, but there’s something white. And why would a man be here?”

I came closer and it became completely visible. What a miracle: exactly, a man, is he alive, measures 1000 of you, sits naked, leans against the chapel and does not move. The shoemaker became afraid; thinks to himself: “Some man was killed, stripped, and thrown here. Just come closer and you won’t be able to get rid of it later.”

And the shoemaker walked past. I went behind the chapel and the man was no longer visible. He passed the chapel, looked back, and saw a man leaning away from the chapel, moving as if he was taking a closer look. The shoemaker became even more timid, thinking to himself: “Should I approach or should I pass by? To approach - no matter how bad it is: who knows what he is like? He didn’t come here for good deeds. If you approach, he’ll jump up and strangle you, and you won’t get away from him. If he doesn't strangle you, then go and have fun with him. What should you do with him, naked? You can't take him off, give him the last of him. God bless him!"

And the shoemaker quickened his pace. He began to pass the chapel, but his conscience began to grow.

And the shoemaker stopped on the road.

“What are you doing,” he says to himself, “Semyon?” A man in trouble dies, and you become afraid as you walk by. Did Ali get very rich? you're afraid they'll rob you your wealth? Hey, Sema, something’s wrong!

Semyon turned and walked towards the man.

Semyon approaches the man, looks at him and sees: the man is young, strong, there are no signs of beatings on his body, you can only see that the man is frozen and scared; he sits leaning and doesn’t look at Semyon, as if he’s weak and can’t raise his eyes. Semyon came close, and suddenly the man seemed to wake up, turn his head, open his eyes and look at Semyon. And from this glance Semyon fell in love with the man. He threw his felt boots to the ground, unfastened his belt, put the belt on his felt boots, and took off his caftan.

“He will,” he says, “interpret!” Put some clothes on, or something! Come on!

Semyon took the man by the elbow and began to lift him up. A man stood up. And Semyon sees a thin, clean body, unbroken arms and legs, and a touching face. Semyon threw the caftan over his shoulders - it wouldn’t get into his sleeves. Semyon tucked his hands, pulled on and wrapped his caftan and pulled it up with a belt.

Semyon took off his torn cap and wanted to put it on the naked man, but his head felt cold, he thought: “I’m bald all over my head, but his temples are curly and long.” Put it on again. “It’s better to put boots on him.”

He sat him down and put felt boots on him.

The shoemaker dressed him and said:

That's it, brother. Come on, warm up and warm up. And these cases will all be sorted out without us. Can you go?

Arts and entertainment

How does a person live? Leo Tolstoy, “How people live”: summary and analysis

March 7, 2015

Let's try to answer the question of what makes a person alive. Leo Tolstoy thought a lot about this topic. It is touched upon in one way or another in all his works. But the most immediate result of the author’s thoughts was the story “How People Live.” This work tells the story of how an angel of God descended to earth in search of the meaning of human existence. He is trying to find out what makes a person alive. Leo Tolstoy conveys his ideas through this hero. Let us first describe the brief content of the work, and then analyze it.

The story of the shoemaker

The story begins with the fact that a poor shoemaker living with his wife in a rented house, having earned money for his work, went to the village to buy sheepskin for a fur coat. He really needed this fur coat, since the winter was harsh, and the couple only had one padded jacket between them. However, the circumstances were such that he did not buy the sheepskin, but only drank 20 kopecks worth of vodka and went back. On the way, the shoemaker reasoned that he needed booze to keep warm, and his wife would now scold him for returning drunk, without money and a sheepskin. Near the church, he noticed a naked man sitting crouched, but passed by, fearing that he had died. However, the shoemaker’s conscience tormented him for leaving the unfortunate man to freeze on the street. He returned and noticed that this man was alive, had a pleasant face, without abrasions or beatings. Semyon (that was the name of the main character) asked the stranger what he was doing here and where he was coming from. He said that he was not from here, God punished him. Semyon then gave the unfortunate man his felt boots and padded jacket and took this man to his home.

Matryona's behavior

The shoemaker's wife (Matryona) was thinking, after finishing her household chores, that it was not worth serving the last piece of bread to the table, it was better to leave it for later. Meanwhile, the travelers returned. Matryona, seeing her husband without a sheepskin and drunk, began to scold him for everything she could remember, in particular for the fact that he had brought a stranger when they themselves had nothing to eat.

She wanted to leave the house, tearing off her husband's padded jacket, but he reproached the woman for forgetting God. Matryona came to her senses and looked at Semyon’s companion, sitting silently on the edge of the bench.

The woman became ashamed, began to set the table, and even served the men bread. The woman fed the wanderer, after which she sheltered him for the night and gave him clothes. He smiled and looked at her in such a way that the woman’s heart leaped. Subsequently, she regretted both the clothes she gave away and the last bread, but she remembered that bright look, and Matryona let go of greed.

Mikhaila remains an apprentice in the house

Mikhaila, a wanderer, began to live in a man’s house, learned to work and became an apprentice. He was very quiet, joyless and wordless, he kept looking up and working. He smiled only once, when the woman brought it to the table for the first time. The craftsmen worked together so well that the house became wealthy.

The story with the master

We continue to describe the work “How People Live” (Tolstoy). This essay consists of the following further events. One day a rich gentleman came to the shoemaker in a troika and brought very expensive leather for boots. He told me everything that needed to be sewn so that there would be no demolition, and also so that they would certainly be ready on time. Mikhail looked carefully behind the master, as if peering into something, and then suddenly smiled, brightened his face and said that they would be there just in time. The master left, and Mikhail sewed and cut barefoot shoes from his material, not boots. When Semyon saw this, he almost fainted from horror, and was about to scold the master, when suddenly there was a knock on the door. It was the master's servants who came running to tell him that he had died the day before, and now he needed barefoot shoes, not boots. Mikhail served them right away.

An elderly merchant's wife talks about herself

He lived in care and labor for six years in the house of a shoemaker. One day a merchant's wife came to them with two daughters, one of whom was lame. The woman told her story that these girls were not her own, but adopted ones. They lived with their husband for 6 years in the peasantry, and they had a small son. At the same time, two girls were born to neighbors, but soon their father died, and then their mother was buried, so the woman decided to take the orphans to her place. Her boy died, and only these two girls remained. Mikhail looked at them and smiled.

Angel talks about who he really is

One day this worker took off his apron and explained why he smiled only three times in 6 years. He told Semyon that he was an angel in heaven, and one day God sent him to take the soul of a young woman. Mikhail flew to her and saw that she had two newborn girls. The woman asked to be left alive to take care of the children. The angel took pity and returned without a soul to heaven. The Lord became angry with him, ordered him to take away the soul from this woman, and ordered the angel to go to earth to understand what is in people, what is not given to them, and how a person lives.

Leo Tolstoy continues Mikhail's story. The hero says that this is how he ended up at the church, where the shoemaker found him. When Matryona began to swear, Mikhail felt that now this woman would die of anger, but she came to her senses, and the angel smiled, because he saw God in her and realized that there is love in people.

When he looked at the rich master, he saw a mortal angel behind him and realized what people were not given to know. And when he saw a woman who raised orphans, he understood the third truth - people live by love. God forgave the angel, his wings grew, and he ascended to heaven.

Brief Analysis

So, how does a person live? Leo Tolstoy believes that people live by love. This story primarily depicts this feeling. A shoemaker takes in a beggar, a woman takes in two orphans. This beggar turns out to be an angel, and the girls are the best daughters for this woman. Not only external actions are depicted in the story “How People Live” by Tolstoy; the souls of people are also analyzed - what happens in them. Extreme feats and sacrifices are not performed in the work. And the characters in the story “How People Live” (Tolstoy), a summary of which is presented in this article, have nothing heroic. Semyon is a simple guy, although kind, who sometimes likes to drink, like all representatives of his profession. Matryona is a talkative, economical, slightly grumpy, curious woman - like everyone else. The merchant's wife also differs only in her gentleness and good nature from the other heroes of the story "How People Live" (Tolstoy).

Summary works, its analysis allow us to say that it makes us a little better. It opens our eyes to a lot of things. Makes you think, carries eternal ideas - kindness, love for one's neighbor, compassion - the story "How people live" (Tolstoy). We carried out a brief analysis of the work - we highlighted only the main points. You can expand it yourself by including quotes and your own thoughts.

The story of the work tells about one interesting case when an angel descended from heaven to help an ordinary person.

The main character named Semyon is a poor old man who works as a shoemaker. All his income goes to pay for his needs. Because of poverty, he is not able to buy him and his wife one fur coat for two.

Returning home from work, Semyon noticed a naked man who doesn’t even know how he ended up near the chapel. The shoemaker does not pass by, but gives the strange traveler his last clothes so that he does not freeze. After which he took him home. At home, Semyon's wife prepared food for her husband and guest. At first, Matryona felt sorry to give her last meal to her guest, but the hostess’s kind heart took pity on the unusual and strange traveler.

The traveler's name is Mikhail. He began to help Semyon with his work. He coped with his duties very well, and rumors began to spread throughout the city about the two craftsmen. One day a rich merchant came to them, placed an order for very good boots, bringing excellent leather prematurely. Mikhail made ordinary sharkuns, and Semyon soon noticed this and was very upset. The next day the master dies and his servant comes and says that the boots are no longer needed since his master has died. Mikhail turned out to be right that he made the shufflers.

The next time a single mother came, raising two adopted girls; her own son had died. After talking with her, Mikhail discovered the truth about himself, it turns out that he is an angel who angered God and he instructed him to find out how ordinary mortals live. Michael lived on earth for six whole years on earth in human form, the angel understood one very important thing. The most important thing for people is love. At the same time, not knowing how fate will deal with them, they care and love their neighbors. It is only because of this that the human race continues to live.

Having completed his important mission, he can finally return to heaven.

Picture or drawing How people live

“How people live”: introduction

Once upon a time there lived a Russian shoemaker. He had a wife and a house full of children. He lived with a peasant in an apartment, because he had neither his own house nor land. He earned his bread only by working as a shoemaker. But bread in those days was expensive, and work was cheap. It turned out that if a man earned money, he would eat.

He and his wife had a fur coat between them, and even that became unusable. What to do? By autumn, “money” had accumulated: three rubles were kept in a chest at home, and another five were kept by the peasants in the village. With nothing to do, he went to the village. He walks along the road and thinks: “When I get my five rubles, I’ll add three more, and then I’ll definitely have my sheepskin for a fur coat...”

But that was not the case. When the man came to the village, he left with nothing - from all the money, only twenty kopecks were returned, and they did not lend sheepskins. The shoemaker became sad, drank all the vodka he had collected, and wandered back home. He walks and talks to himself. Either he consoles himself, or he regrets it, he thinks about how to continue to live. After a while, he became completely angry with the whole world: they need it, but I don’t need it, because they have a house, their own cattle, and bread, and I’m all here - what I earn is how I live...

Old Chapel

How does the plot of the work “How People Live” unfold further? The summary doesn't end there. For all these thoughts, I didn’t even notice how I approached the chapel. She sees something white behind her. He looks closely, but can’t make it out. Not a stone, not a beast... It looks like a person, but it’s very white. He comes closer, and so it is - a man, completely naked, sits quietly, leaning against the wall. Should I come help or pass by? If you come up, who knows what he is like? It’s obvious that he didn’t end up here for commendable deeds, and what should he do with him, naked, not to take off his last “clothes”... A shoemaker walked past, and suddenly his conscience spoke to him, “screamed” more than his previous thoughts: What are you doing, Semyon? A person is in trouble, he may die, and you pass by, shaking for your wealth: “Has Ali gotten very rich?”

Semyon returned, came closer and saw: a very young man, in strength, not crippled, only one thing - he was very cold and scared to death, sitting quietly, leaning against him, seemingly weak, unable to raise his eyes... Suddenly he woke up, turned and looked at Semyon . This look touched and touched Semyon. He took off his caftan and boots and put them on: here, walk around, warm up, take my stick, lean on me if you’re weak, and let’s go to my house, “and all this business will be sorted out without us.”

In the shoemaker's house

They walk easily and say little. How the man got here - he cannot say, he only repeats one thing - he is not from here, no one has offended him, he has nowhere to go, and it doesn’t matter, because God punished him. Semyon was amazed: he is soft in speeches, but says little to himself - he is hiding something, on the other side - but you never know what kind of things happen...

The shoemaker and the wanderer came to the first home. As soon as they crossed the threshold, Matryona, Semyon’s wife, immediately smelled the spirit of wine from her husband. She went out into the hallway, and that’s it: a husband without a caftan, without a sheepskin for a new fur coat, and with him some kind of unlucky guy without a hat and wearing felt boots. What to do? Her heart sank, she thinks she drank it all away, and even got involved with some unlucky guy. You can see that as soon as he entered, he froze and lowered his head - which means he was afraid of something. Oh, this is not good...

Semyon realized that his woman was very angry, but there was nothing to do: as soon as he remembered his look at the chapel, “his heart would leap in him.” He began to talk about how the peasants in the village had no money, they promised to return it later, but he kept the rest of the “money”, didn’t drink it, only twenty kopecks... He continued to talk about the chapel, about how he met a naked man there, how he felt sorry for him, but Matryona didn’t listen, she screams, swears, can’t stop... She wanted to leave - to lash out, but she stopped - she sees this wanderer sitting silently on the edge of the bench, his hands on his knees, his head down, he’s still wincing, as if someone is squeezing his throat. Semyon says to her: “Is there no God in you?” I heard his words and felt even more compassionate. She took out kvass, the last edge of bread, gave her a knife and spoons, and they began to have dinner. Suddenly the wanderer became cheerful, raised his eyes, looked at Matryona, looked intently, looked well, and smiled, for the first time in all the time.

They ate and went to bed, but they couldn’t sleep. As soon as the woman remembers that there is no bread for tomorrow, that she gave away her last “clothes”, her heart sank. And if he remembers his smile, it becomes more fun: well, if we’re alive, we’ll be well-fed... And on the other side, we give, we don’t skimp, but it doesn’t return good to us. So they fell asleep in these thoughts. We read further the work that L. Tolstoy created - “How people live.” The main events of the story are yet to come.

Shoemaking

Day after day, week after week - and so the year passed. The wanderer Mikhail still lives with Semyon. Whatever work he takes on, every one comes out of him as if he had done it for centuries: he repairs boots and sews them himself. Fame spread around the area that no one could make boots as strong as Mikhail. It became to Semyon more people came, and wealth began to increase. And Mikhaila, as soon as the work is over, sits down, doesn’t say a word, doesn’t say a word, and keeps looking up. He never goes outside, eats little, talks little and doesn’t laugh.

The master's arrival

One winter, a gentleman came to the shoemaker in a fur coat, his face was red and plump, his neck was like that of a bull - as if a man from another world. He came for a reason - he brought “shoe goods”, expensive, of German quality, and asks them to make boots from it so that they can be worn for a year, not torn or worn out. If Semyon does the job well, he will receive ten rubles, and if his boots “rip” before a year, he will sit in prison. The shoemaker was scared, and Mikhaila nodded his head to him, saying, take the job and don’t be timid. Semyon began to take measurements from the master’s leg, suddenly he saw that his wanderer was looking into the empty corner behind the master, he could not take his eyes off, then he suddenly smiled, for the second time in all this time, and he brightened up all over.

The master stood up, straightened his fur coat, once again warned the shoemaker not to get him into trouble, and headed towards the exit. Yes, I forgot to bend down and hit my head on the doorframe. After his departure, Mikhail began new work.

Time passes. A shoemaker comes up to him to see what happened, looks - and his “goods” are not made from German boots, but barefoot shoes. He gasped and had just begun to scold him when someone knocked on the door. They opened it: a boy came in from that same master and said that the owner didn’t make it to the house - he died halfway, and the lady asks to urgently sew some barefoot boots “for the dead man.”

Merchant's wife with two girls

Two more years passed. They live as before, and the shoemaker is not overjoyed at his worker. They are sitting at home. The boy, Semyon’s son, ran to the window and looked out into the yard. Lo and behold, a merchant’s wife with two girls in fur coats and headscarves is coming to their house. One has a lame leg. Mikhail also ran to the window. The shoemaker was surprised - after all, he had never looked outside before.

He went into a shoemaker’s house and asked the woman to sew boots for the girls. They took measurements, got to talking, and learned that the babies were not their own, but adopted ones. Six years ago, disaster happened: a tree fell on my father in the grove. As soon as they got there, he died. They buried him on Tuesday. And at the same time the mother gave birth to twins, these same girls, but she did not live and three days- gave my soul to God. Yes, as she was dying, she crushed one of them. So her leg was twisted. The orphans were left alone. She and her husband then lived next door to him, so they took the babies. She breastfed them, because she herself had just given birth. A year later, my own son died, and God did not give any more children. And wealth began to grow, life improved. And what could have happened if it weren’t for these girls - “it’s only me and the wax in the candle” that they are - the dearest of relatives. As they say, you can live without your father and mother, but you cannot live without God... L. Tolstoy (“How People Live”) imperceptibly leads the reader to the main idea of the work.

Confession of Mikhail

L. Tolstoy, “How People Live” - the summary of the work further tells that throughout the conversation Mikhail did not take his eyes off the girls. He folds his hands on his knees, as before, looks up and smiles, for the third time in all this time. Suddenly he stood up, took off his apron, bowed to Semyon and Matryona, and asked them to forgive him, just as God had forgiven him. And the husband and wife saw that light began to come from him. They fell to their knees in front of him and asked him to explain everything: who he was, why he smiled three times, and why God forgave him...

And he told them his story. He is an angel. One day God sent him to a woman to take her soul. He arrived and saw that she had given birth to twins. They swarm around her, but she can’t get up, and she can’t put them to her chest. She saw an angel and immediately understood why he had come to her. She prayed to him, saying that her husband was crushed by a tree, and she had no one left, who would feed her children and put her on her feet? Mikhail took pity on the woman, put one baby to her chest, and handed the other into her hands. But the Lord returned the angel to earth, saying that after he takes the woman’s soul, he will learn three truths: “what is in people, what is not given to people, and how people live.” The summary of the work does not end there.

The angel understood that when he knew them, then he would return to heaven. He took out the mother’s soul, a lifeless body fell in and crushed one of the twins. The leg turned out to be twisted. An angel rose above the village, but his wings fell off. The soul rushed alone to God, and Mikhail fell to the ground.

L. Tolstoy, “How people live”: three main words

The chapel was closed. Until now he had not known that there was human life, that there was cold and hunger. Now he has experienced all human hardships at once. Then he met Semyon, and realized that he would not help him, because he himself did not know how to feed and warm himself, his wife and children. He was in despair, but he saw that Semyon was returning, and he did not recognize him: then death lived in his face, and now he recognized God in him. Then he met Matryona, Semyon’s wife, and she seemed worse than her husband - “she breathed a dead spirit.” But the shoemaker reminded her of God, and suddenly she changed: she became alive, and he recognized God in her. At that moment the angel recognized the first truth - that there is love in people, and then smiled for the first time.

Then a gentleman in a fur coat arrived at the shoemaker’s house. As soon as he crossed the threshold, he saw Mikhail with the angel of death behind him, and realized that the master would die before sunset. This means that people are not allowed to know what they need for their body. This was the second truth. He was delighted at the second word and smiled.

Several more years passed, and God still had not revealed the final truth to him. But here the merchant's wife came with the girls. He recognized them immediately and was incredibly surprised. After all, he thought that his children could not live without their own parents, but it turns out that they were raised and loved immensely by a stranger’s woman. Then he saw the living God in her face, and accepted the third truth - a person lives not by caring for himself, but by love. So he smiled for the third time.

The story “How People Live” ends with the miraculous ascension of Michael to heaven to God. The angel sang a song of praise to God, the whole house shook, the ceiling parted, the angel’s wings blossomed behind his back, and he rose to heaven...

Once again I would like to remind you that the article was about L. Tolstoy’s work “How People Live.” A summary cannot so convey that “gospel spirit” that is invisibly present in every line, in every letter of the story, which strikes unexpectedly and irresistibly. Therefore, reading the work in in full simply necessary.