The main characters of "Lefty" Leskov. Who are they?

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Of course, many will agree that the prose of the talented Russian writer Nikolai Leskov is unusual: it contains elements of a fairy tale, in which the tragic and the comic are simultaneously intertwined. All this is largely manifested in the most famous work of the above-mentioned master of the word called "Lefty".

It should be emphasized that the main characters of Leskov's "Lefty" received mixed reviews from the writer.

The image of the Tula "craftsman"

The author emphasizes that his main character had a completely ordinary appearance: he has a birthmark on his cheek, and there are no hairs on his temples that his teacher pulled out in the past.

So, the main characters of "Lefty" Leskov. In their chain, the Tula peasant plays a key role. The writer in the work emphasizes his unique skill that he possesses. The left-hander is not just an ordinary gunsmith, he is a “talent”. At the same time, the author does not try to create an ideal image of him, sayingthat science was given to the Tula peasant “with difficulty.”

So what did he do that was so unique that the other main characters of Leskov's "Lefty" couldn't? He goes abroad at the request of officials, namely to England, where he manages to shoe a flea. And here the writer wants to emphasize how skillful and talented a Russian person can be. And to possess the above qualities, it is not at all necessary to know technical sciences perfectly.

Of course, against the background of the "Tula" craftsman, the other main characters of Leskov's "Lefty" are perceived by the reader as "unremarkable", since the writer endows them with negative qualities.

At the same time, the gunsmith from Tula, despite the persuasion of the British, no longer wants to visit foreigners and returns home. He cannot be bribed with any money, he feels like a “small” person compared to “statesmen”. Confident in the quality of his work, he is not afraid to go to see the Russian sovereign.

Lefty is a collective character

Nikolai Leskov wants to demonstrate to the reader that a Russian person can do anything to show his devotion to the cause, if the interests of the Fatherland are “at stake”. He goes to foreigners hungry, without any documents - and all this in order to show his ingenuity and talent to the British.

Nicholas Leskov endowed his character with such amazing qualities. Lefty, the main characters of this wonderful story are taken from the nationalhistory to give the work credibility.

Other characters in the story

Here are images of Tsar Alexander Pavlovich, who believed that there were simply no equals to the British in technical sciences, Emperor Nicholas I, who, on the contrary, liked to declare that a Russian person is the most talented in the world. The writer also introduces the reader to Matvey Ivanovich Platov, who heads the Don Cossacks, he accompanies the tsar on a trip to the British and is also supportive of Lefty. Skobelev and Kleinmikhel are also historical figures that almost everyone who is interested in Russia's past knows about.

It should be noted that representatives of the bureaucracy and noble persons, who are the main characters of the story "Lefty", Leskov presented people with a set of negative qualities. They are swaggering, sometimes cruel and short-sighted, which once again indicates that the Russian peasant is capable of much to prove his devotion to the Fatherland.