Leo Tolstoy, as a recognized classic, is studied in detail in the school curriculum of literature.
Among the works written by him and taught now, the “Prisoner of the Caucasus” stands somewhat separately. We plan the story a little further. But first you need to find out the context of the appearance of this work.
ABC
As you know, the story was written specifically for his famous "ABC", on which Tolstoy worked for many years. He wanted to give the children of the younger generation the most effective tools for learning their native language, including using his writing talent to arouse a thirst for knowledge in them.
Indeed, if we consider the quotation plan of the story “Prisoner of the Caucasus”, you can see the maximum simplicity of the plot and a very concise and accessible language. At the same time, the emphasis on morality, for which contemporaries did not like the writer, is used very rationally here. Children, reading a story, discover a simple story about friendship, trust, compassion and mutual assistance. It was this approach that made it possible to kill not even two birds with one stone at once.
As for the language, this is a separate conversation. Tolstoy himself noted the novelty of the style used by him when writing stories for the ABC. And according to contemporaries, he was very proud of what happened in this series. Consider it and we are a little more closely.
Background
Again, according to contemporaries, the reason for starting the story “Prisoner of the Caucasus,” whose plan is straightforward and straightforward, was the event that happened to the writer as a young man during his service in those places. He and a Chechen friend ran into hostile local highlanders, the clash with which ended much more harmlessly than Tolstoy then developed in his story. Be that as it may, the precedent remained with the writer in reserve, and, like any respected professional in this field, resulted in a good story, which children now study in order to better learn Russian.
Story plan
A good quotation plan of the story “Prisoner of the Caucasus” is walking on the Internet. However, we will consider it a little more in our own words. He served as the main character in the Caucasus. Once he happened to be captured by the local highlanders, against whom he had to fight on duty. The captivity was shared by a comrade who let him down at the time of the skirmish and capture. The first prison prison turned out to be an ordinary barn, where they were quite comfortable, so an attempt to escape was made quite quickly.
They organized the escape rather ineptly, as a result of which, again, through the fault of the second prisoner, they got caught and were seated in a hole, from which there was nothing to dream of, if not for the great will for freedom of the protagonist of the story "Prisoner of the Caucasus." He managed to implement the plan of the second escape, thanks to the help of the daughter of the mountaineer, who kept the captives in the pit. The second prisoner by that time was in deep apathy and did not flee, which, by and large, saved the main character. Since all his previous failures were caused by the apparent cowardice of an unlucky captive.
Impressions
The story "Prisoner of the Caucasus", the plan of which we briefly reviewed, is filled with wonderful images given literally in one or two strokes. The language of the work is really unusual. Also written with strokes, smooth and soulful. One feels not only the hand of the master, but also a clear desire to show what the Russian language is capable of in skillful use.
This was noted by many critics immediately after the publication of the story. Stylistic simplicity, syllabism, clear language, clearly stated theme. The "Prisoner of the Caucasus" is a model of obscurity, which can only be issued by a true professional and master of his craft. A vivid example of pure prose without a single hint of floridity and even more so any psychological overtones. The thing is that Tolstoy was sure that you won’t fool the children, they only need the truth. Which he gave out easily and naturally.
Conclusion
Whatever you say, a wonderful writer is L. Tolstoy. The “Caucasian Captive” is far from the only masterpiece of the famous Russian classic. You can spend hours talking about the great heritage of this world famous moralist. However, here he is all, in his uncomplicated purity and love for the Russian language, for the Russian man.
Many contemporaries did not like him, someone out of envy, someone out of selfish considerations. However, for many years he remained an advocate of truth in literature, a man who always sought the ideal. For this, he probably got it from critics. Be that as it may, the measure of the quality of a printed word is always the number of reprints. As for the "Prisoner of the Caucasus", then this number can not be counted. Therefore, both the younger generation and the younger writers should know how the great worked to exalt the Russian word even higher.