Can you believe it?An unintentional glimpse in the courtroom can change a person's life.
In the 19th century, under the rule of the Tsar**, a noble boy seduced his aunt's maid, causing the maid to become pregnant and kicked out of the house, and reduced to a brothel to survive.
He ruined the maid's life, but was eventually redeemed by her.
The love entanglement in the story was written by Tolstoy as a masterpiece of the highest peak of critical realism"Resurrection".
The translator Ligang once commented that "Resurrection" is the pinnacle of Tolstoy's creation. The humanity and criticism of it are like a testament left by Tolstoy to the world.
Every rereading is a baptism of one's own soul.
What is the resurrection?Why the resurrection?
The answer to all this must be explored from the human nature game of the aristocratic boy.
The first appearance of the male protagonist Nekhlyudov was as a juror in the criminal court.
The title is - "Lieutenant of the Guards, Duke Nekhlyudov". After the official shouted his name, he bowed very respectfully, which was a special treatment for nobles.
Before this day, Nekhlyudov was a typical rich boy.
Life is very dissolute, while talking about marriage with Miss Kochakin, who is also a nobleman, and at the same time entangled with a married woman.
The main work of the day is to put on the most expensive shirt, drink high-end foreign wine, and eat expensive caviar.
For all this, Nekhlyudov was Xi, he was just one of the thousands of rotten nobles of Tsarist Russia at that time, and the nobles should live such a life, there is nothing surprising.
It's just that Nekhlyudov could never have imagined that from this day on, his life would be turned upside down.
As he glanced at the dock, a gaze inadvertently crossed over him, and at that moment, Nekhlyudov seemed to have been struck by a bolt of lightning.
What caught my eye was a woman who was about to be tried, the woman had a white and tender face and a pair of big watery eyes, as well as a graceful body, even under the prison uniform.
Her appearance made Nekhlyudov instantly fall into a torrent of fear, he trembled all over, and tears welled up uncontrollably in his eyes.
No one knows what exactly happened, and what is the relationship between a noble son and a female prisoner.
Only Nekhlyudov knew it.
12 years ago, at that time, Maslova was the adopted daughter and maid of Nekhlyudov's two aunts, she had an excellent upbringing, always with a smile in her eyes, and a girlish innocence.
Nekhlyudov vividly remembers that the first time he met Maslova was when he was a junior in college, and that they used to play hide and seek together, and by chance, he fell into a pit, and Maslova giggled and ran to him, and the moment her hands were clasped, her pure and charming appearance broke into his heart.
Originally, this was a story of a boy and a girl, and then it should belong to each other and be in love for life.
But the story between the two did not develop this way, after which Nekhlyudov left his aunt's house after his vacation, and Maslova continued her career as a servant.
When the two met again, it was three years later, when Nekhlyudov returned from the army, he thought about Maslova in his heart, and went to live at his aunt's house for two days.
The two are still childhood sweethearts, but at this time, their mentality has changed.
Maslova is still a simple Maslova, but Nekhlyudov was in the Tsarist army, contaminated with a lot of bad Xi, he began to awaken the "aristocratic consciousness", thinking that "inferior girls" like Maslova should be for the pleasure of the aristocracy, not to mention that he is still a merry and mature son.
From here, things began to slide towards **.
What pursuit, what true love, what confession of heart, there is no need at all, at this moment, Nekhlyudov's mind is how to quickly possess Maslova.
He couldn't wait any longer.
On the second day after Easter, in the face of his original lover Maslova, Nekhlyudov forcibly put his arms around her waist in the corridor, and after being pushed away, he caught up with her again and kissed her, and after being pushed away, he still did not give up.
From this moment on, this is no longer a fight between childhood sweethearts, but has evolved into a huntsman's chase of prey. A poor child like Maslova, who lived in a noble family, could not have escaped.
In the evening, Nekhlyudov came to the window of Maslova's room, knocked on the window as if teasing the inescapable prey, and watched the frightened face of the other force a submissive smile, and the desire in his heart became stronger.
Finally, the bestiality took possession of his soul, and he rushed into the room and picked Maslova up, committing the unforgivable crime.
The next day, Nekhlyudov's friend came to visit, and when he found out all this, Nekhlyudov's heart was filled with no guilt, but was filled with inflated vanity.
Before leaving, Nekhlyudov still stuffed a hundred roubles into Maslova's hand according to the custom of the nobles, and made a conclusion about the love between the two of them.
After that, Nekhlyudov was unaffected and continued to live a life of pleasure on his own.
Maslova lost her virginity, became pregnant, and was kicked out of the house by her two old masters.
For 12 years, the two have no intersection, and when they meet again, they are actually in the courtroom, with such a huge disparity in identity, the perpetrator is a guest, and the victim is a prisoner.
From this moment on, Nekhlyudov sat on pins and needles.
But soon, Nekhlyudov began to extricate himself.
His friends and uncles had done this, and even his father, when he had lived in the country, had taken a peasant woman for himself and had an illegitimate child.
Since everyone is doing this, this is clearly the tradition of the aristocracy, and guilt is completely unnecessary, and even ridiculous.
But soon, as Maslova's years of experience were revealed, Nekhlyudov realized how much of an impact his bestiality had on the girl.
After being kicked out of her home while pregnant, Maslova went to work as a maid in the home of a police chief. But the other party coveted her beauty and harassed her repeatedly. She couldn't bear it anymore and pushed the director to the ground with her backhand.
This act defended her chastity, but it also cost her her job again.
Seeing that her belly was getting bigger and bigger, Maslova had to stay in a widow's house, and on the day of delivery, everything was going well, but the midwife accidentally used a sick mattress for her, and not only did she become seriously ill, but the child died not long after birth.
By the time she recovers, the money on her body has already been spent.
Fortunately, she soon became a maid in a ** family, and unfortunately, she did not escape the fate of being toyed with this time.
Since then, Maslova's life has continued to play out the same drama, gradually sliding into the abyss of depravity.
During this time, she was given hope that a clerk she loved promised to get married, but only to say goodbye.
Again and again, the bullying from men pushed her into a brothel.
From then on, she ceased to be a well-bred maid Maslova, she became a prostitute "Lyubov" who sought money by pleasing men.
Indulge in sensuality every night, linger among all kinds of guests, sleep until two or three o'clock in the afternoon during the day, get up again to wash up and dress up, and indulge in the next round of indulgence.
In her seventh year, 26-year-old Maslova had an accident.
One of her guests was poisoned and died, and the money she was carrying with her was gone, and Maslova was taken to court for trial as a major suspect.
However, the evidence of the conviction provided by the court was not a fact. Maslova did accompany her guests for one night, but received only forty roubles, and as for the poison in the glass, it was given to her by the maid of the tea room of the hotel, and told that it was sleeping pills.
No one in the court wanted to find out all this, the president was anxious to meet his lover, and the jurors were in a hurry to close the case, and hurriedly concluded that Maslova had indeed committed a crime, and just like that, the innocent Maslova was finally sentenced to four years of hard labor.
Hearing this, Maslova burst into tears.
The despair, the sorrow in the cry, struck Nekhlyudov's heart and woke him up.
It was only then that Nekhlyudov realized that no matter how much he ignored the sins he had committed 12 years ago, he could not escape the fact that he ruined Maslova's life.
From that moment on, Nekhlyudov realized that it was he who regarded Maslova as a plaything in the first place, and it was the disgusting "aristocratic consciousness" that completely ruined the life of the girl in front of him.
He was in agony, and he began to dislike his old aristocratic life, and he felt that he had to do something.
As soon as the trial was over, he first found a lawyer and asked to help Maslova appeal, and then to the prosecutor and asked to meet with Maslova.
After a few rounds, he finally got his permit.
Nekhlyudov immediately went to the prison and made an appointment with Maslova, who was choked up and unable to speak before she recognized herself.
He was immersed in his remorse and tried desperately to make up for something, but in Maslova's eyes, he was nothing more than a rich man, a rich man who needed her flattery.
This made Nekhlyudov feel that he not only had to repent, but also to help her regain her true nature.
The second time he came to the prison, he told Maslova that he had decided to marry her, and that the rich man would marry the woman of Fengyue and use marriage to atone for his sins with a lifetime of glory and wealth, which Nekhlyudov thought must be sincere enough.
didn't think about it, but was ridiculed by Maslova-
My price is a red ticket. ”
That's what you're paying for. ”
Hearing these words, Nekhlyudov realized that what he had done could not be bridged by a declaration or a promise, and there was no way but he could only shut up and put himself in Maslova's shoes.
He used his aristocratic connections to transfer her to the hospital as a **, and also kept his promise to help other wronged people in prison to avenge their grievances.
The third time he saw Maslova, Nekhlyudov firmly told her that even if she was exiled, he would accompany her.
Maslova refused again, but her tone softened, promising that she would no longer drink heavily.
At that moment, Nekhlyudov seemed to see the pure Maslova again, and he also seemed to see the clean self of the year.
As a teenager, Nekhlyudov cared about poverty, loved to think about the truth, and once gave up the farmland in his father's name and gave it to the peasants for free. On weekdays, he also does not like luxury, and often wears an old military coat.
He used to have great respect for women, and even decided at one point that he could not take the last step until the day of marriage.
It's a pity that Nekhlyudov didn't hold out. What he thought was right was ridiculous and outlandish in the eyes of his fellow nobles, and he was often teased and ridiculed.
It wasn't until he spent extravagantly, ** people, and told lewd jokes that he was recognized as a qualified nobleman.
Now, Nekhlyudov intends to be himself again.
Back in the countryside, Nekhlyudov gave all the land in his hands to the peasants and distributed a lot of money to them. Before leaving, he even sold the house he lived in.
This behavior of his spread to aristocratic circles, where he was once again ridiculed. But Nekhlyudov paid no heed, and this time, he decided to do it firmly.
This insistence quietly separated Nekhlyudov from high society.
His pity for Maslova broke through the floodgates of his heart and rolled towards everyone he met, and he loved the feeling of doing things for others.
This aristocratic young master, who once only stayed in fantasy, has finally stepped towards the step of bidding farewell to his old self.
He awakened himself and Maslova's nature.
She restrained her old flirtatious style, preferring to go back to prison rather than become a doctor's plaything. She took the first step and slowly regained her long-lost dignity.
The ** prostitute gradually disappeared, and the once clean girl returned.
At the end of the story, Nekhlyudov and Maslova go to the bitter cold of Siberia to serve in labor, and he keeps his promise and proposes to Maslova, but Maslova falls in love with another revolutionary, and the two do not end up married.
But Nekhlyudov found herself, and Maslova was given a new lease of life.
The redemption of one another has been accomplished.
At this point in the story, I want to go back to the problem at the beginning.
The title of the book is "Resurrection", so what exactly is resurrection?
At this point, the answer is about to come out, which is two words-Conscience.
The degeneration of Nekhlyudov and Maslova is, in fact, the evil fruit of the old society.
In that era of cannibalism, the privileges enjoyed by the nobles and ** stepped on the wooden floor;Tableware and meals on the table;Squandering money ......It's all the income from the exploitation of tens of millions of people.
The lives of the poor are not their lives, children die young, the elderly cannot eat, and the prime of life is wrongfully accused of being criminals and whipped at will.
And a peasant girl like Maslova, who has a little beauty, will be defaulted to the playthings of the nobility, just for pleasure.
It's not the people who are scary, it's the ethos of that era.
When Nekhlyudov was in college, he was a pure teenager with upheld beliefs and principles, but in the immersion of high society, he was transformed into a violent superior.
Maslova is even more so, from a pure peasant girl, pushed by society to become a lowly masochist.
They don't seem to have any choice, their origins decide everything, and they have to follow the established track.
This seems to be an incomprehensible reality, and Tolstoy prescribes a prescription in the book, that is, the resurrection of conscience
Resurrection of mercy for the weak;
Resurrection of repentance for wrongs;
Resurrect the altruistic heart of others.
It only takes an awakening of conscience to change one person, then a group of people, and then an entire age.
This is a kind of expectation, but also a kind of idealism.
Even if the clouds are obscured, you have to believe that the sun will eventually reach the land through the haze.
No matter how many shadows you have seen, or if you are in the shadows, believe in those kindness, fraternity, equality, tolerance, those good qualities about human beings
He will be resurrected.