Childhood – TOLSTOI

1. Summary
A ten-year old Nikolenka tells of the best time of his life – his childhood. The story
starts with the introduction of his tutor Karl Ivanich, who is a teacher of German. Old and
sometimes funny, Karl Ivanich is portrayed with love and appreciation, and young Nikolenka
remembers him with thoughts of gratitude and thankfulness. When Nikolenka’s father says
they will move to Moscow, Karl Ivanich is deeply saddened by the news, as it means for him
that his services are not required any more, but the father decides to take the old tutor with
them to Moscow, which brings the old a lot of joy.
The greatest love and the most sincere feelings of the protagonist are addressed to his
mother. An angel-like image of Nikolenka’s mother is traced within the entire story. She was
a good-natured, sincere and loving person.
Nikolenka’s father is not such a person as his wife, and as concluded by the narrator,
he was not completely faithful to her, as often plunged into gambling and led a depraved life.
In Moscow, Nikolenka has overheard a conversation of his grandmother and some of their
relatives of how miserable and poor Nikolenka’s mother must have been all these years, but
she probably just does not suspect of all the deeds of her husband; that’s why does not show
any agitation. But later, from her last letter to Nikolenka’s father, it becomes obvious that she
knew everything concerning her husband’s gambling, and showed deep regret - not in the fact
of his losses or wins, but in his addiction to such a sin.
Living in Moscow does not bring Nikolenka much pleasure, as he is constantly missing
his mother. But his spirits rise when time of balls starts. During one of such evenings he fell in
love with beautiful Sonechka. Lying late in his bed, Nikolenka is dreaming of how he will
spend all his life with Sonechka.
After six months in Moscow, they receive a letter from the village, which informs them
that the mother is very sick and there is no hope. The day they come to the village, Nikolenka’s
mother dies. Sorrow and grief settle in their house. Few days after the funeral all the family
moves to Moscow.
With his mother’s death, Nikolenka’s happy days of childhood are over, and his
boyhood starts.

2. Analysis
The first work with which the literary activity of Leo Tolstoy began is a short story
Childhood, which is the first part of the trilogy Childhood. Boyhood. Youth. Tolstoy wanted
to write the fourth part and name his work The History of the Four Eras, but he did not write
this final fourth chapter, which obviously would speak of the “maturity” of the hero.
The main interest in the story Childhood focuses on the personality of its protagonist -
Nikolenka Irteniev. The author follows, step by step, the development of his child's soul - for
every, even small, but characteristic, manifestations of it. Thus, the work is primarily
psychological. But, in addition, it can be called “moral” to the same extent — since the author
judges his character from an ethical point of view — he tries, using psychological analysis, to
determine in him the moral side of his rich, developing nature.
 No other work of Russian literature has made such observations of the soul of a growing
person. Tolstoy leads his character day after day, from his nursery to the university, and
everything characteristic is gradually determined and clarified in his soul.
The time period with which the action of the story Childhood is connected are 1830 -
1840s. The environment in which its content unfolds is a rich noble, landowner. It was a time
when in Russian life, after the events of December 14, 1825, those few glimpses of public self-
consciousness, which in some places flickered in the provincial noble environment in the hearts
of the best Russian people of that time, with few exceptions, almost completely disappeared.
At such time and in such an environment there were no serious, spiritual interests, the thought
subsided, and therefore there was no any need for spiritual food. Time was filled with a strictly
measured order of life, established by etiquette, which was erected almost to the degree of
unshakable laws - so even a dinner in the Irteniev family was some kind of “daily family joyous
celebration”.
Life in the story invariably flows along the direction that has been perceived by the
parents — it is all built in such a way as to fill the idle time of the provincial rich nobility with
its little things. In the upbringing of children, exceptional attention was focused on appearance,
on manners; attention was not paid to the development of the mind and heart. There was never
talk about books here, and education was not taken seriously: if children were sent to
universities. Believing the whole purpose of bringing up and preparing a child for an idle, social
life, parents considered their task accomplished if caring for external education was crowned
with success. It never occurred to them that it was their responsibility to develop a healthy
moral feeling in a child, a strong will, energy, love and ability to work, and many other positive
qualities necessary for a good and happy life.
Many Russian adults were the results of such education. But this was not the way
Nikolenka Irteniev came out, thanks to his strong and rich nature, which freed himself from
environmental influences. This is explained by the fact that Tolstoy, in Nikolenka, did not at
all want to portray the type of a young barin, but an individual. This is precisely the
fundamental difference between Tolstoy and other portrayers of childhood. He understood and
painted Nikolenka quite individually and introduces to the smallest details of his inner world,
in which there are a lot of features that are completely independent of any environment.
There are two main characters in the story: Nikolenka Irteniev and an adult who recalls
his childhood. The conflict is the very comparison of the views of the child and the adult author.
This distancing allows Tolstoy to make events significant and important for modern life, to
analyze Russian life as a whole.
Tolstoy’s prose instantly became part of Russian culture because it was, on the one
hand, innovative, and on the other, absorbed the best of Russian literature: masterfully created
portraits of characters, landscapes painted to the smallest details, descriptions of the
atmosphere of an old manor estate, and its life.