Tolstoy L.N. is the greatest figure in Russian and world classical literature. His work is multifaceted, but there is one common feature that unites almost all of his works. This is a measure of a personâs moral responsibility for all actions that he performs in his life.
History of creation
The work âAfter the Ballâ was not accidentally written by Tolstoy. Once his brother fell in love with the daughter of the Kazan military commander and even wanted to marry her. But once he witnessed how the soldier was punished, and it was to the horror of Sergei Nikolaevich that his beloved father led him. The shock was so strong that no wedding was out of the question.
This story was also remembered by Lev Nikolaevich. And after several decades, being already recognized as a writer, he created on its basis an artwork about the orders prevailing in the Russian army. At the same time, the author changed the title three times: âDaughter and fatherâ, âAnd you sayâ and, finally, chose the option under which it entered the literature.
Let's try to figure out why the story is called "After the Ball."
Composition and artistic techniques
The work is built on the principle of "story in story", which gives the story more credibility. Ivan Vasilievich, the storyteller, is trying to explain to his interlocutors that if not everything, then much in life depends on the case. And he recalls how one single night changed his fate: he broke off his relationship with the girl he was in love with and forever abandoned the idea of ââbecoming a military man. This is the key to understanding why the story is called "After the Ball."
Compositionally, the monologue of Ivan Vasilievich is divided into two contrasting parts: a description of the ball and what happened in the early morning after its end. They are united by common heroes: young Ivan Vasilyevich and already an elderly colonel B., father of Varenka.
Summary of the story "After the Ball"
Tolstoy describes in detail everything that happens at a ball in the governor's house. The hero is in love, so everything around him seems wonderful: both guests, and sounding music, and beloved Varenka, and her gray-haired, but still peppy and full of strength father, colonel. What is happening is spinning his head and filling his soul with immense happiness.
The culmination of the ball becomes a dance that the colonel performs in tandem with his daughter. Ivan Vasilievich is most touched by the old manâs boots: old-fashioned, watered, with square socks. Such a long time no one wore, from which the hero concludes that he lives only for his daughter. But Tolstoy probably wanted to emphasize another detail: the colonelâs commitment to the old rules and foundations. This will to some extent explain how one and the same person could be (not play a role, just be!) A loving father, and a few hours later lead a brutal beating of a guilty soldier.
But back to the plot. Ivan Vasilievich, seized with a sense of delight, could not sit at home after returning from the ball. He went to the street, where he witnessed a terrible picture. She will explain why the story is called "After the Ball."
At first the hero heard strange sounds, then he saw something black ahead. It turned out that in the early morning there was a punishment for a fugitive soldier. He was led along the line, and with every step sticks fell on his mutilated back from two sides. And he directed this process, to the great horror of the young man, the father of his beloved. At some point, the colonel's gaze stopped at Ivan Vasilievich, but he immediately hastened to turn away, as if he was ashamed of something.
Why the story is called "After the Ball"
And Ivan Vasilievich could no longer see Varenka. Now there was an insurmountable barrier between them - the colonel and the Tartar punished by him. The narrator tried to understand his act, but the main idea that he came to as a result determined his future life. âMay I not be able to change the world and destroy the evil existing in it, but only I can decide for myself whether or not to participate in this evilâ, - this is how the result of his thoughts can be determined. So the story after the ball identified several important problems for Russian society. What is the destructive power of the current regime in Russia? What makes one person go to destroy another? What is the proportion of people's moral responsibility for their actions?
The meaning of the story
Written in 1903, shortly before the war with Japan, the work showed the flaws of the country's state system , in which the bureaucracy and the strict reactionary regime prevailing not only in the army, but also in other areas of life prevail over moral laws. And then humanity and a sense of responsibility for their own actions fade into the background. However, a person has the right to decide for himself what his fate should be, and the main topic âAfter the Ballâ proves this.