Characteristic Nicholas from the story "Childhood" by L. N. Tolstoy

Nikolenka Irteniev is the main character of the story "Childhood", written by the brilliant writer Leo Tolstoy. The work returns readers to a distant childhood, and also reveals the spiritual and moral world of the child.

What is the characteristic of Nikolenka Irteneva? How did the author treat him? Did he idealize his hero? And what he wanted to convey to the hearts of readers, choosing the image of the child key and central in his work?

Let us briefly analyze the realistic, life story, written by L. N. Tolstoy, "Childhood," and try to find answers to the above questions.

The image of childhood

Character Nicholas from the story "Childhood" begins with the very first lines of the work. A sleeping boy appears before us, his dream is protected by his kind loving mentor.

From the brief remarks and reflections of the child it is clear that he is the son of a landlord who grew up in hothouse conditions, a little spoiled and voracious, but very kind and gentle.

The narrative is not a gift from the first person. This gives us the opportunity to better understand the thoughts and feelings of the boy, his childish spontaneity and childish seriousness.

Characteristic of Nikolenka Irten'eva is a characteristic of Tolstoy himself, since many events and events described in the story are taken directly from the author's memories.

What did Leo Tolstoy keep in his memory? "Childhood" opens before us its first years of life, it not only brightly and effectively characterizes the younger generation of wealthy landlords, but also criticizes, denounces the immorality and hypocrisy of the noble way of life of that time.

Appearance of the main character

Portrait of Nicholas from the story "Childhood" presents us a pretty ugly boy of ten years with a large nose, large lips and small eyes, with constantly protruding vichas on the vertex.

The boy is very worried about his external flaws. Because of this, it sometimes involves sadness and despair. He even asks God for outer beauty and is ready to give all the most valuable, just to have an ideal look.

And although it may sometimes seem that the main character intentionally describes himself as such a small freak, yet his ugly appearance is often spoken by the elders. This is noted even by the one who loves Nikolenka more than anyone else in the world - his mother. On the other hand, she more than once emphasized the spiritual attractiveness of her youngest son.

Contradictory feelings

What is Nicholas in the story "Childhood"?

This is an ordinary boy, a bit envious, a little nonsense, but very kind, gentle and conscientious.

Most likely, Irtenev's conscientiousness is his inner core, which attracts us in the main hero.

He can commit ugly acts, can have bad opinions, can think and feel that which is worthy of blame, but he always, always (!) Feels then shame and regret, repentance and some remorse. After that, I want to believe and hope that Nikolenka will change, improve and become better.

Relationship with the mentor

What are the contradictory feelings of Nicholas?

For example, in his relationship with a child's teacher, a German by birth, - Karl Ivanovich. In the distant homeland, this poor man did not have a life, and he came to Russia in search of happiness. Wealth and prosperity the German did not find, but, by nature kind and cordial, he was very attached to his pupils and in the simplicity of his soul gave them all himself.

Nicholas loves her poor teacher very much and pities him. For example, he wants to grow up and help his teacher, ease his grief and even sacrifice much for him.

His sincere love for Karl Ivanovich manifests itself in practice: often Nicholas goes to the tutor, gently takes his hand and affectionately calls "expensive" teacher.

However, in the boy's soul, there are multiple sharp changes. He can scold and get angry at the disadvantaged teacher, respond to him rudely and impertinently, wanting everything bad. And all this only because of strict suggestion, a short comment or a bad evaluation!

Of course, later, after analyzing his misconduct, little Irtenev begins to experience remorse and try to make amends.

Relations with Elenka

Characteristic Nicholas from the story "Childhood" brightly emerges in his relationship with Elenka Grapa, who accounted for the protagonist of the same age. Ilenka was a painful quiet child, hounded and pampered by rich comrades. His father had neither wealth nor title, but tried to maintain his acquaintance with the Irtenevs in the hope of further patronage. How difficult it was for him to communicate with inflated barchukas that offended him, humiliated him, insulted him and even beat him!

The children, already capable of showing cruelty, brought the unfortunate boy to tears, without even thinking that he was experiencing mental torment and torment.

Memories of the persecution of Elenka dark spot lie on the heart of Irten'ev for many years. He, so tender and sympathetic, with a subtle understanding soul, reproaches himself for walking around with the grown-up guys and not pleading for a defenseless, disadvantaged boy.

Baroque character

However, with regard to Nikolenka, a hint of arrogance and arrogance always slipped to his people below him. He considered himself much higher than Karl Ivanovich and Natalya Savishna, servants tied to him with all their heart. He treated the poor peers contemptuously and haughtily, considering himself better and smarter.

Where did this sense of arrogance and superiority come from in this glorious, sweet child? Characteristic Nicholas from the story "Childhood" fully reveals to us the causes and consequences of his actions and judgments.

A little boy was brought up in the house of a rich arrogant landowner. From infancy he was taught that he was a son of a son, worthy of veneration and reverence. With the milk of his mother Nicholas had absorbed a sense of superiority and desire to live in luxury and contentment, among servants, servile people.

So many noble children were brought up. And this was a common phenomenon of that time.

Heavy testing

But this does not mean that little Irtenev lived in an air castle, protected by fate from problems and worries. No, he was also touched by troubles and emotions, leaving an indelible tragic trace in the tender soul.

The image of Nikoleny Irtenyev in the story "Childhood" is the image of a rich boy who has learned a personal grief and feels the pain of others.

Despite the comfortable and passive existence, the protagonist experiences severe emotional traumas: misunderstanding of the elder brother, arrogance of a friend, self-love and immorality of the father, changing the mother and ruining the whole family.

However, the most painful memory of Nikolenka is the sudden death of her mother.

Relationship to maman

The image of the mother is the brightest, most beautiful image in the story, while the work does not have a specific description of the appearance or detailed description of the woman.

Mother for Nicholas is the most beloved creature on earth. He does not hesitate to show tenderness and affection towards her, likes to spend time with her and communicate with her. Most likely, it is thanks to the early influence of the mother that a boy grows up such a kind and sympathetic child, who knows how to feel compassion and feel guilty. Therefore, the description of Nicholas from the story "Childhood" would be incomplete and one-sided, if not for a description of his relationship with his mother.

The death of the most beloved person left an indelible wound in the boy's heart. He cried a lot and suffered, in his own way, experiencing a bitter loss. He did not understand how a blossoming and cheerful mother could turn into a yellow withered creature with closed eyes and an unrecognizable face.

And at the same time, the boy describes all his feelings and feelings with boundless sincerity and directness. He calls a minute of self-oblivion, held near the grave of his beloved parent, the most true manifestation of grief. In other cases, when Nikolenka cried and cried over his mother, he did it for a sense of self-esteem, pretentiousness and selfishness, honestly confessing this to himself and feeling deep shame and contempt for himself.

Influence of the image of Nicholas

As you can see, in his novel "Childhood" Tolstoy created a vivid original image of Nicholas Irteniev, who teaches us how to react properly to our misfortunes and failures. Also, the work shows that childhood is an important time for the emergence of the child's personality and outlook, which will leave an indelible mark on his mind and heart.