The action of the story "Lefty" takes place in Russian Empire during the reign of Tsars Alexander the First 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 with the main character, the Tula master Leftsha, whose views are akin to the imperial ones. They are united by the belief that nothing is impossible for a Russian. The characterization of Lefty from Leskov’s story “Lefty” is an opportunity to understand the essence of a real simple Russian person.

Closeness to the people

With the main character of the work N.S. Leskov does not introduce us right away. Over the course of 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 this deliberately in order to emphasize the essence of the character of Lefty from the story “Lefty” - he comes from the people and he himself is their personification, with all his simplicity, naivety, indifference to wealth, great faith to Orthodoxy and devotion to the Fatherland. For the same purpose, the author does not give the hero a name. Lefty is one of three Tula craftsmen who were given the honor of making something like this to prove to Emperor Nikolai Pavlovich and the self-confident British what the Russian people are capable of.

The generality of the image of Lefty is emphasized not only by his namelessness, but also by a little information about him. As we read, we don't know anything about his age or family. Before us is only his laconic portrait: “Left-handed with an oblique face, a birthmark on his cheek, and the hair on his temples torn out during training.”

The great talent of a simple master

Despite his outward ugliness, Lefty has a great talent that amazed not only the Tsar himself, but also English craftsmen. Lefty, together with two other Tula craftsmen, managed to shoe a miniature flea without having special knowledge and devices. In this case, Lefty got the most difficult job - forging miniature nails for horseshoes.

The quality without which the characterization of Lefty from the story “Lefty” will 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 instructions 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 craftsmen's work 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 due to our poverty we do not have a small scope, but our eyes are so focused.”

Indifference to wealth and comfort

Lefty also showed modesty and indifference to wealth during his trip to England. He did not agree to study abroad; promises of neither money nor fame convinced him. Lefty asked for one thing - to go home as soon as possible. This simplicity and modesty became the reason for the hero’s inglorious death, 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 the deck, which is why he fell ill.

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

Lefty Character Traits

Love for the Motherland and a sense of responsibility to one’s state are the main character traits of Lefty. Master Lefty's last thought was the desire to convey to the Tsar at all costs that there is no need to clean guns with bricks. If he had been able to convey this, Russian military affairs would have been 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 first of all about the Fatherland, and not about himself.

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 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”.

Work test

Russian national character in the work of N.S. Leskova "Lefty"

creative work

3. Russian national character Lefty, the hero of the tale by N.S. Leskov

Leskov does not give a name to his hero, thereby emphasizing the collective meaning and significance of his character. The image of Lefty combines the main features of the Russian national character.

· Religiosity

The religiosity of the Russian people is manifested in the episode when Tula craftsmen, including Levsha, before starting work, went to bow to the icon of “Nikola of Mtsensk” - the patron of trade and military affairs. Also, Lefty’s religiosity is “intertwined” with his patriotism. Lefty's faith is one of the reasons he refuses to stay in England. “Because,” he answers, “our Russian faith is the most correct, and as our right-wingers believed, our descendants should believe in the same way.”

· Willpower, courage and bravery

Lefty, one of three gunsmiths, worked hard on the strange flea for two weeks. All this time they sat locked up, keeping their work secret. It is here that the strength of spirit is manifested, since they had to work in difficult conditions: with closed windows and doors, without rest, so that during work they would never leave their “crowded mansion”, in which “from restless work in the air such a sweaty spiral became “that an unaccustomed person with a fresh illness could not breathe even once.”

· Patience and perseverance

Many times, Lefty shows patience and perseverance: both when Platov “caught Lefty by the hair and began to toss him back and forth so that tufts flew,” and when Lefty, sailing home from England, despite bad weather, sits on the deck to quickly see his Motherland :

“As soon as we left the bay into the Solid Earth Sea, his desire for Russia became such that it was impossible to calm him down. The flooding has become terrible, but the left-hander still doesn’t go down to the cabins - he sits under the gift, pulls his cap down and looks towards the fatherland. Many times the British came to a warm place to call him down, but so as not to be bothered, he even began to lash out.”

· Patriotism

While in England, Lefty rejects lucrative offers from the British: to settle in London, study science, visit factories for practice, get a prestigious job, get married, start a family. (“Stay with us, we will give you great education, and you will become an amazing master”, “The British called themselves to send money to his parents”, “we will marry you”), because he loves his Motherland, loves its customs, its traditions. Lefty cannot imagine his life outside of Russia. “We,” he says, “are committed to our homeland, and my little brother is already an old man, and my parent is an old woman and is accustomed to going to church in her parish,” “but I would rather go to my native place, because otherwise I might insanity to get.”

Lefty - true patriot, a patriot at heart, gifted from birth, he is characterized by high morality and religiosity. He went through many trials, but even in his death hour he remembers that he must tell the British military secret, ignorance of which negatively affects the combat effectiveness of the Russian army.

· Kindness

Despite his strong attachment to the Motherland, Lefty refuses the British's request to stay very politely, trying not to offend them. He does this in such a way that his refusal not only does not upset the British, but even arouses respect from them. And he forgives Ataman Platov for his rude treatment of himself. “Even though he has Ovechkin’s fur coat, he has the soul of a man,” says the “Aglitsky half-skipper” about his Russian comrade.

· Hard work and talent

One of the main themes in the story is the theme of the creative talent of the Russian person. Talent, according to Leskov, cannot exist independently; it must necessarily be based on the moral and spiritual strength of a person. The plot itself, the very history of this tale tells how Lefty, together with his comrades, was able to “outdo” the English masters without any acquired knowledge, only thanks to talent and hard work. Extraordinary, wonderful skill is the main property of Lefty. He wiped the noses of the “Aglitsky masters” and shod the flea with such small nails that you couldn’t see it even with the strongest microscope. In the image of Lefty, Leskov proved that the opinion put into the mouth of Emperor Alexander Pavlovich was incorrect: foreigners “have such a nature of perfection that once you look at it, you will no longer argue that we, Russians, are no good for our importance.”

The proper name of Lefty, like the names of many greatest geniuses, is forever lost to posterity, but his adventures can serve as a memory of an era, the general spirit of which is accurately and accurately captured. The image of Lefty, according to the writer, recalls those times when “inequality of talents and talents” mattered, and makes us look with sadness at the present, when, “while favoring the rise of earnings, machines do not favor artistic prowess, which sometimes exceeded the limit, inspiring folk imagination to compose fabulous legends similar to the current ones.”

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