(423 words) “War and Peace” is one of the most important novels of L.N. Tolstoy. This is a novel describing the era of wars against Napoleon. One of the most striking families of this epic is the Bolkonski family. It is she who is the most patriotic in the novel.
The father of the family is Nikolai Andreevich Bolkonsky. According to the author’s description, you can see that this is an elderly person with certain oddities in behavior. Nikolay is very smart and rich, but at the same time he shows his anger and stinginess. The hero has two children: Maria and Andrey. And in order to somehow get rid of his anger, Nikolai constantly breaks down on his daughter Mary. But in the end, before his death, he realizes all the mistakes and apologizes to his daughter.
Daughter Maria Bolkonskaya appears in the novel as a kind, sympathetic girl with beautiful eyes. But the author did not endow this heroine with external beauty, and therefore she is described in the novel as a girl with an ugly face and a strange gait. This young lady is ready to take care of others and sacrifice personal happiness for the sake of those around her.
The son, Andrei Bolkonsky, unlike his father, has good qualities. This hero strives for his goal and wants to succeed in military service. Andrew, over time, growing up, from a serious and strict person turns into a restrained mature man. It was the war that influenced this hero from a positive side. He changed his views on many things after the battle of Borodino. He realized how much he loves and values his family.
Mademoiselle Bourienne, Marya’s companion, leads Nikolai into the house, learning that she was left an orphan, and pity defeated him dislike for strangers in the house. This is a frivolous, windy, but loyal and kind girl who shared with Mary a difficult life with a house with an autocratic father.
The wife of Andrei Bolkonsky is the little Princess Lisa Bolkonskaya. This is a sweet, cheerful girl, but Andrei is unhappy with this heroine, because she absorbed all the prejudices and vices of secular society, and therefore could not understand her thoughtful and serious husband. During the birth of her only son, Nikolenka, Princess Lisa dies. Andrew, having learned that he had a son, regrets the loss of his wife and begins to appreciate everything that he did not appreciate before. The son becomes for him the most important task in life.
After the death of Andrei Bolkonsky, the boy is fully raised by Princess Mary. She loves him as her own son, and gives him all her care and love. Mary taught him music, the Russian language and raised him as a decent person. In the finale we see a hint that Nikolai became a copy of his father and intends to continue his work.
The Bolkonski family in the novel occupies a special place. This is the pillar of the Russian state, the color of the nation. Despite all the difficulties, reasonable virtue always prevails in them. This family teaches us active love for their homeland.
