A written description of a left-hander from the story of a left-hander. “Russian national character in the work of N.S. Leskov “Lefty”. Some interesting essays

Distinctive properties of N.S. Leskov - fairy tale motifs, the interweaving of the comic and the tragic, the ambiguity of the author's assessments of the characters - fully appeared in one of the most famous works writer "Lefty". Behind the protagonist, outwardly not distinguished by anything special (“a birthmark on the cheek, and hair on the temples was torn out during training”), is at the same time, according to the author himself, the most skillful among the Tula gunsmiths. However, Leskov does not idealize the hero, showing that, despite his excellent skill, he is not strong in the sciences “and instead of the four rules of addition from arithmetic, he takes everything according to the Psalter and the Half Dream Book.”

Lefty is a skilled artisan, one of those who participated in shoeing a flea, personifies the talent of the Russian people. But the savvy flea stops dancing: Russian craftsmen do not have the elementary technical knowledge that any English master has. Leskov does not give a name to his hero, thereby emphasizing the collective meaning and significance of his character (“Where “Levsha” stands, one must read the Russian people,” said Leskov). The left-hander, being in England, rejects the lucrative offers of the British and returns to Russia. He is disinterested and incorruptible, but he is “downtrodden”, feels his own insignificance next to officials and nobles. Lefty is used to constant threats and beatings.

One of the main themes in the story is the theme of the creative talent of a Russian person, which has already been depicted more than once in the work of Leskov (the stories “Dumb Artist”, “The Sealed Angel”). Talent, according to Leskov, cannot exist independently, it must necessarily be based on the moral, spiritual strength of a person. The left-hander, an unsightly little man, is not afraid to go to the sovereign, as he is confident in his rightness, in the quality of his work.

The image of the Lefty stands among other images of the righteous created by Leskov. He sacrifices himself for the sake of the Fatherland, in the name of the Cause. He travels to England without documents, hungry (on the road, “at each station, the belts were still tightened by one badge so that the intestines and lungs would not get mixed up”) to show Russian ingenuity and skill to foreigners, and earns the respect of the British with his unwillingness to stay in their country . The left-hander has a number of qualities inherent in the gallery of the righteous Leskov: he is a true patriot, a patriot at heart, gifted from birth, he is characterized by high morality and religiosity. He went through many trials, but even at the hour of his death, he remembers that he must tell the military secret of the British, ignorance of which negatively affects the combat capability of the Russian army.

According to Leskov, in the inattention of the authorities to the fate of national talents, in the denseness and lack of education of the Russian people themselves, they constitute the cause of Russia's backwardness. It is interesting to compare the conversation between Nikolai and Lefty, to whom the emperor condescends, and the meeting of the hero with the English, who respect the master in him, talk on equal terms. When Lefty returns to his homeland, he falls ill and dies, useless to anyone. Thrown on the floor in a "common" hospital, he personifies inhumanity, shortsightedness and ingratitude royal power- the reason for the disorder of Russia, according to the author.

From the whole story it becomes obvious that Leskov sympathizes with Lefty, pities him; the author's comments are filled with bitterness. The image of Lefty reflected Leskov's search for a positive hero, and, I think, this image is closest to this goal.

Lefty - the main character of the story of the same name by N. S. Leskov, a talented Russian artisan, gunsmith. He, along with two other craftsmen, was instructed to create some kind of masterpiece involving a steel dancing flea, so as not to be inferior in ingenuity to the British. After much deliberation, these three craftsmen decided to shoe the flea, keeping their plans a secret. Lefty himself created carnations for horseshoes. The external characterization of the hero is scarce. Their story is only known that Lefty was slanting, had a birthmark on his cheek and bald patches on his temples.

Particular attention is paid to the talent of the master. He is described as a skilled craftsman and craftsman. At the same time, the hero does not feel significant at all. When the British offer him to stay with them and promise a carefree life, he immediately rejects their offer. In his actions, one can see not only loyalty to the motherland, but also disbelief in better life in the best conditions. The left-hander is such a downtrodden creature that it doesn’t even occur to him to show even the slightest resistance to circumstances. And he even dies in a strange way. Returning to St. Petersburg, he ended up in a hospital for people of the lower class. Cabbers, carrying him on a stretcher, dropped him, as a result of which Lefty broke his head. So, a wonderful master died unknown and useless to anyone.

The tragic fate of Lefty is contrasted with the life of the English skipper who came with him. Immediately upon arrival, he was taken to the British Embassy, ​​where he was warmly and thoughtfully received. With this opposition, the author wanted to emphasize the indifference to human life that prevails in the country. In fact, a rare craftsman with an outstanding talent died, and no one cared before. There is a lot of comical in the description of this hero. For example, being an oblique left-hander, he was able to create the finest work, invisible to the human eye.

The action of the story "Lefty" takes place in Russian Empire during the reign of Tsars Alexander I and Nikolai Pavlovich. The work contrasts the attitude of the emperors towards the Motherland and the achievements of the Russian people. In the story, the author noticeably sympathizes with Tsar Nikolai Pavlovich, as well as the main character, the Tula master Levsha, whose views are akin to the imperial ones. They are united by the belief that nothing is impossible for a Russian. The characteristic of Lefty from Leskov's story "Lefty" is an opportunity to understand the essence of a real simple Russian person.

Proximity to the people

With the main character of the work N.S. Leskov does not introduce us right away. For several chapters, it seems that the main character of the story is the Cossack Platov. The true protagonist appears as if by chance. Perhaps the author did so intentionally in order to emphasize the essence of the character of Lefty from the story "Lefty" - he comes from the people and himself is his personification, with all his simplicity, naivety, indifference to wealth, great faith in Orthodoxy and devotion to the Fatherland. For the same purpose, the author does not give the hero a name. Lefty is one of the three Tula masters who were honored to make something of this kind in order to prove to Emperor Nikolai Pavlovich and self-confident English what the Russian people are capable of.

The generalization of the image of Lefty emphasizes not only his namelessness, but also a little information about him. Reading, we do not know anything about his age or family. Before us is only a laconic portrait of him: “a slanting left-hander, a birthmark on his cheek, and the hair on his temples was torn out during teaching.”

The great talent of a simple master

Despite his outward ugliness, Lefty has a great talent that amazed not only the king himself, but also English craftsmen. The left-hander, together with two other Tula masters, managed to shoe a miniature flea, without having any special knowledge and devices. In this case, Lefty got the most hard work- forge miniature carnations for horseshoes.

The quality without which the characterization of Lefty from the story "Lefty" would be incomplete is the modesty of a brilliant master. The folk craftsman did not boast of his achievement and did not consider himself a hero, but simply conscientiously carried out the orders of the sovereign, and also tried with all his heart to show what a Russian person was capable of. When Emperor Nicholas realized what the work of the masters was, which at first he could not see even through his small scope, he was surprised how they could do it without equipment. To which Lefty modestly replied: “We are poor people and because of our poverty we don’t have a small scope, but we have shot our eyes like that.”

Indifference to wealth and comfort

Lefty also showed modesty and indifference to wealth during his trip to England. He did not agree to overseas study, did not convince him of the promises of either money or fame. Lefty asked for one thing - to go home as soon as possible. This simplicity and modesty became the reason for the inglorious death of the hero, which no one knew about. He was embarrassed by a comfortable cabin and high society, so he spent the entire journey across the winter sea on deck, which is why he fell ill.

Arriving in St. Petersburg, he could not introduce himself and say that he was carrying out the order of the tsar. Therefore, he was robbed and was not accepted in any hospital, except for the simplest for the poor, where he died. The author contrasted the image of Lefty with an Englishman who sailed with him, who was settled in a good hotel and cured. And Lefty, because of his modesty and simplicity, tragically died.

Lefty traits

Love for the Motherland and a sense of responsibility to one's state are the main traits of Lefty's character. The last thought of the master Lefty was the desire to convey to the king at all costs that it was not necessary to clean the guns with bricks. If he could convey this, Russian military affairs would be even more successful, but his request never reached the sovereign. Even dying, this simple Tula master remained true to his character, the main feature of which was to think about the Motherland, and not about himself, first of all.

In the image of Lefty N.S. Leskov showed the full depth of the Russian person: naive, simple and even funny, but for whom there is nothing sweeter than the Orthodox faith and native side. Devotion to the Motherland, responsibility for its future and great natural skill - these are the qualities that underlie the characteristics of the hero of the tale "Lefty".

Artwork test

The theme of patriotism was often raised in the works of Russian literature late XIX century. But only in the story "Lefty" is it connected with the idea of ​​the need for careful attitude to the talents that ennoble the face of Russia in the eyes of other countries.

History of creation

The story "Lefty" first began to be published in the magazine "Rus" Nos. 49, 50 and 51 from October 1881 under the title "The Tale of the Tula Lefty and the Steel Flea (Shop Legend)". The idea for creating the work by Leskov was a well-known joke among the people that the British made a flea, and the Russians "shod it, but sent it back." According to the testimony of the writer's son, his father spent the summer of 1878 in Sestroretsk, visiting a gunsmith. There, in a conversation with Colonel N. E. Bolonin, one of the employees of the local arms factory, he found out the origin of the joke.

In the preface, the author wrote that he was only retelling a legend known among gunsmiths. This well-known technique, once used by Gogol and Pushkin to give special credibility to the narrative, in this case did Leskov a disservice. Critics and the reading public literally accepted the words of the writer, and subsequently he had to specifically explain that he was still the author, and not the reteller of the work.

Description of the artwork

Leskov's story in terms of genre would be most accurately called a story: it presents a large temporal layer of the narrative, there is a development of the plot, its beginning and end. The writer called his work a story, apparently in order to emphasize the special “narrative” form of narration used in it.

(The emperor with difficulty and interest examines a savvy flea)

The action of the story begins in 1815 with the trip of Emperor Alexander I with General Platov to England. There, the Russian tsar is presented with a gift from local craftsmen - a miniature steel flea that can “drive with its antennae” and “twist with its legs”. The gift was intended to show the superiority of English masters over Russian ones. After the death of Alexander I, his successor Nicholas I became interested in the gift and demanded to find craftsmen who would be "no worse than anyone". So in Tula, Platov called three craftsmen, among them Lefty, who managed to shoe a flea and put the name of the master on each horseshoe. The left-hander, however, did not leave his name, because he forged carnations, and “no small scope can take it there anymore.”

(But the guns at the court cleaned everything in the old fashioned way)

Lefty was sent to England with a "savvy nymphosoria" so that they would understand that "we are not surprised." The British were amazed by the jewelry work and invited the master to stay, showed him everything they had been taught. Lefty himself knew how to do everything. He was struck only by the condition of the gun barrels - they were not cleaned with crushed bricks, so the accuracy of firing from such guns was high. The left-hander began to get ready to go home, he had to urgently tell the Sovereign about the guns, otherwise "God forbid, they are not good for shooting." From longing, Lefty drank all the way with an English friend "half-skipper", fell ill and, upon arrival in Russia, was near death. But until the last minute of his life, he tried to convey to the generals the secret of cleaning guns. And if the words of Lefty were brought to the Sovereign, then, as he writes

main characters

Among the heroes of the story there are fictional and there are personalities that really existed in history, among which: two Russian emperor, Alexander I and Nicholas I, chieftain of the Don Army M.I. Platov, prince, agent of Russian intelligence A.I. Chernyshev, Doctor of Medicine M. D. Solsky (in the story - Martyn-Solsky), Count K. V. Nesselrode (in the story - Kiselvrode).

(Left-handed "nameless" master at work)

The main character is a gunsmith, left-handed. He has no name, only a craftsman's feature - he worked with his left hand. Leskovsky Lefty had a prototype - Alexei Mikhailovich Surnin, who worked as a gunsmith, was studying in England and passed on the secrets of the case to Russian masters after returning. It is no coincidence that the author did not give the hero his own name, leaving the common noun - Lefty, one of the types of the righteous depicted in various works, with their self-denial and sacrifice. The personality of the hero has pronounced national traits, but the type is shown to be universal, international.

It is not for nothing that the only friend of the hero, about whom it is told, is a representative of another nationality. This is a sailor from the English ship Polskipper, who served his "comrade" Levsha a bad service. In order to dispel the longing of a Russian friend for his homeland, Polskiper made a bet with him that he would outdrink Lefty. A large amount of vodka drunk became the cause of the illness, and then the death of the yearning hero.

Lefty's patriotism is opposed to the false commitment to the interests of the Fatherland of other heroes of the story. Emperor Alexander I is embarrassed in front of the British when Platov points out to him that Russian masters can do things no worse. Nicholas I's sense of patriotism is based on personal vanity. Yes, and the brightest "patriot" in Platov's story is such only abroad, and having arrived at home, he becomes a cruel and rude feudal lord. He does not trust Russian craftsmen and is afraid that they will spoil the English work and replace the diamond.

Analysis of the work

(Flea, savvy Lefty)

The work is distinguished by its genre and narrative originality. It resembles in genre a Russian tale based on a legend. It has a lot of fantasy and fabulousness. There are also direct references to the plots of Russian fairy tales. So, the emperor hides the gift first in a nut, which he then puts in golden snuffbox, and the latter, in turn, hides in a travel box, almost in the same way as the fabulous Kashchei hides the needle. In Russian fairy tales, tsars are traditionally described with irony, just as both emperors are presented in Leskov's story.

The idea of ​​the story is fate and place in the state talented master. The whole work is permeated with the idea that talent in Russia is defenseless and not in demand. It is in the interests of the state to support it, but it rudely destroys talent, as if it were a useless, ubiquitous weed.

Another ideological theme The work was the opposition of the real patriotism of the folk hero to the vanity of characters from the upper strata of society and the rulers of the country themselves. Lefty loves his fatherland selflessly and passionately. Representatives of the nobility are looking for a reason to be proud, but they do not bother to make the life of the country better. This consumer attitude leads to the fact that at the end of the work the state loses one more talent, which was thrown as a sacrifice to the vanity of the general, then the emperor.

The story "Lefty" gave literature the image of another righteous man, now on the martyr's path of serving the Russian state. The originality of the language of the work, its aphorism, brightness and accuracy of the wording made it possible to parse the story into quotations that were widely distributed among the people.