Tolstoy's story "Youth" is included inautobiographical trilogy and is the final book after the parts "Childhood" and "Adolescence." In it, the author continues to talk about the life of the Irtenev family. The focus of the writer is still Nicholas, already grown up, a 16-year-old boy.
Mutiny and storms of the young soul in the story "Youth"
Tolstoy begins "Youth" (a summary of herbefore us) a description of the state of mind of Nicholas. He is preparing to enter the university and dreams about the future and his high appointment. Having set himself the task of moral development, the hero writes down in his special notebook his reflections, committed deeds, duties, rules, which he must follow if he wants to become a truly spiritual person.
On Holy Week, confessing beforeconfessor, Irtenev feels a sense of deep purification, closeness to God and a special love for him, for people and for himself. Nikolenka is glad that he is so wonderful, enlightened, and he wants all home and family to know about it. And at night, remembering about another incident, is suffering for a long time, a little light jumps up and rushes to a new confession. After receiving forgiveness and forgiveness of sins again, he is extremely happy. It seems to him that in the world there is no one purer and more enlightened, but when in a spiritual impulse the young man shares his experiences and feelings with the cabman, he does not share his emotions. The joy of Nikolenka gradually fades, and his rush ceases to seem so important.
Nicholas becomes a student - this, herkind pass to the adult world. And the young man, of course, can not help stumbling. He is friends with Nekhlyudov, a youth more mature than himself, serious, sedate. Not lacking in observation, Irtenev understands that it is Dmitri who is the person he should be equal to, being in the midst of the "golden" youth: he does not drink, does not smoke, does not behave rudely and cheekily, does not boast of victories over women. And quite the opposite behavior of other friends of Nicholas - Volodya and Dubkov. However, they seem to Nicholas a model of "youth" and "komilfo": they behave naturally, do what they want, they chicken and shy, and they all get away with it. Nikolenka imitates friends, but nothing good does not end there.
Tolstoy continues "Youth", a summarywhich is quite possible to understand the essence of the work, the next "test" Nicholas: as an independent and an adult, he must make secular visits to friends of the family, to hold solidly, at ease, confidently, to conduct pleasant conversations, etc. Such visits are given to the hero with difficulty, he is bored in secular living rooms, and people seem to be mannered, unnatural, false. The hero does not understand so much, how much instinctively he feels the essence of people, that's why he is really easy and mentally only with Nekhlyudov. He can explain many things, avoiding moralizing tone, keeping himself and Nikolenko on an equal footing. Under the influence of Dmitry, Nicholas realizes that the stages of growing up, which he is now going through, are not just physiological changes in his body, but the formation of his soul.
In his last chapters "Youth" by Tolstoymakes you think about many things. Having started to study, having got into a new, student's environment of noble youth, Irtenev first begins to live by her laws, moving away from Nekhlyudov. However, soon enough the hero sees: in the light there is no place for sincere feelings, impulses, relations. Everything is replaced by conventions, secular decencies and restrictions. This torments Nicholas, he is disappointed in himself, his beautiful, naive dreams, and the people who surround him.
But when one day he takes out a notebook thatthe "Rules of life" was signed. Sobbing, the hero decides that he will write new rules of honest, clean life and will not change them. He is waiting for the second half of his youth, which must necessarily be much happier than the first.