Stefan Zweig in one of his works singled out two kinds of compassion. One is cowardly and sentimental. Experiencing it, a person seeks rather to get rid of thoughts inspired by other people's misfortune. The Austrian author called this feeling “impatience of the heart”. But there is another, true. It is nothing more than mercy. This feeling fills with determination and desire to act. To do everything in human power and beyond. An example of mercy in the literature of Russian and foreign authors, as well as its real and imaginary forms, is the topic of this article.
What is mercy?
Charity is a Christian concept, which means caring and benevolent attitude towards another person. In the New Testament, it is a universal condition that every Christian must abide by. Only love for one's neighbor can bring one closer to God. “Make peace with your brother before,” the Bible says.
Examples of mercy in fiction are found in Russian art and works of foreign authors. Without them, perhaps prose would have lost its value. Real literature is intended to convey the spiritual experience of mankind. This cannot be accomplished without portraying the core Christian virtue.
Dmitry Nekhlyudov
An example of mercy in literature is Nekhlyudov’s actions after meeting with Katyusha Maslova in the courtroom and the realization that he was responsible for her moral death. There are several storylines in this novel. They interpreted Tolstoy's work of criticism at different times in its own way. But the actions of the protagonist after his spiritual resurrection confirm that he was guided by true compassion for the heroine - a woman who did not immediately believe in his good intentions. The ability to do good, despite distrust and ridicule, distinguishes real mercy from false.
The theme of mercy in Russian literature is widely disclosed. Examples are present in many novels and novels by Leo Tolstoy, and in the works of other Russian classics.
Sonya Marmeladova
The clearest example of mercy in literature is the image of Sonya Marmeladova. Portraying him, Dostoevsky created the antipode to the protagonist of the novel Crime and Punishment. Examining these two characters, we can identify the main difference between them.
Marmeladova is capable of true compassion. She makes a sacrifice for her family. Then for the sake of Raskolnikov. Rodion Romanovich himself knows how to sympathize. He helps the disadvantaged, humiliated and offended. But he does it as if on the way to his goal, which, however, he will never achieve, since he is not guided in his actions by important Christian laws. And this is the main idea of the work of Dostoevsky.
Student
Examples of mercy in Russian literature are the heroes of the stories of Anton Chekhov. In the work of this writer there is an unlimited faith in a person, in his ability to become better. The story “Student” makes a particularly strong impression. The meeting of the protagonist of this work with two women saves him from loneliness and despair. The action takes place on a cold evening, on the eve of Easter. Thoughts about human defenselessness in front of the harsh omnipotent elements overcome the young man. But here he meets ordinary women and, sitting down next to them by the fire, acts as a narrator. He tells of what happened nineteen centuries ago: the betrayal of Peter and how Jesus predicted the act of his disciple. One of the women begins to cry.
The biblical story makes a strong impression on them. And there is no more doubt in the student’s soul. The warmth melted them. Chekhov's story has a simple plot, but after reading it, the reader comprehends how important it is to love and respect people, to forgive each other's mistakes.
Lidia Mikhailovna
An example of mercy in literature is the relationship of the heroes of the story of Valentin Rasputin, "French Lessons." In his works, this author touched on the eternal themes of good, duty and justice. The fate of an individual is fundamental in his work. You need to live not according to strict laws and clear rules, but based on understanding, love and compassion.
And it is precisely this principle that Lidia Mikhailovna, the teacher from the story of Rasputin, is guided by. In the post-war famine, she seeks to help her student, violating all pedagogical norms. She not only works on his pronunciation. The teacher conducts interesting abstract conversations with her student, plays money with him. She is trying to support the boy financially, even in a hidden form.
Hero
The topic of mercy in literature is revealed differently at all stages of its development. But Russian classics spoke of compassion as penetratingly as, perhaps, no one in world culture. Their works have become a model for authors around the world. Darkness and light everywhere and always complement each other. As Bulgakova’s character said: “People love money, are frivolous, but sometimes mercy beats in their hearts.” In the works of literature of recent years, the theme of good and evil was not so often raised. The author of Black on White nevertheless did it like no one before.
The character of Ruben Gallego is himself. A paralyzed boy in a Soviet boarding school, who miraculously managed to survive and talk about what was happening there. “If you are an orphan and you have neither arms nor legs, you are doomed to be a hero. I am a hero, ”says Ruben. Where there live children who, like no one else, need compassion, there is no place for this feeling. Teachers lie, young trainees can not stand the "impatience of the heart." Only nannies are truly honest. Not all, of course, but only real ones.
Gallego tries in his book not to divide people into categories, but he does not succeed. Only believing nannies are caring and affectionate. There are few of them, and the author of the story remembers their names to this day.
"Sasha"
The stories are familiar with touching examples of mercy in war. There are a lot of them in the literature. But what to do when this feeling becomes inappropriate, and it is replaced by others - patriotism and hatred of the enemy? This is the story of Kondratiev's "Sashka".
The Russian soldier is not able to fulfill the commander’s order and kill the German prisoner. Before him is a man like him. To shoot him is to save his own life, but to act out of conscience. The plot unfolds in such a way that Sasha does not have to commit a crime either against the Motherland, or against her conscience. But the reader does not doubt for a minute what exactly the hero of Kondratyev’s novel would have done if the Soviet officer had not changed his mind.
"Scarecrow"
Examples of mercy in literature are indispensable for the development of the moral world of a child. The main character of Zheleznyakov’s novel “Scarecrow” is an outcast among her peers. She suffered as a result of the betrayal of her friend.
Despite this unseemly act and the cruelty of her classmates, the girl’s heart did not harden. She did not lose her composure and was above revenge and other base human feelings.
Mockingbird
Mercy in Russian literature is often associated with the image of a small person. He is weak and defenseless. People do not like weakness and at the sight of it for some reason they become even more hardened. The American writer Harper Lee also revealed this topic in her novel.
Mockingbird - a harmless bird. She only sings to people for joy. Killing her is a great sin. Mockingbird in Harper Lee's work symbolizes a black young man who is innocently convicted of a felony. Adults do not notice that they are participating in lawlessness. As the protagonist of the novel says, the lawyer of the convict: "They will do it more than once, and only the children will cry."
Impatience of the heart
Classical prose forms and corrects the spiritual world of a person. An important factor in the development of morality is charity in the works of literature. Examples that make up an insignificant part of the great heritage of Russian and foreign writers are presented in this article. Returning to the topic of “impatience of the heart”, which the Austrian author called imaginary compassion, it should be said about his character, officer Anton Goffmiller.
He is kind and inclined to sympathy. He is touched by the fate of a crippled girl. But his mercy is a combination of weakness, pity, and sentimentality. Realizing that the girl is in love with him, Goffmiller betrays her and thereby kills. Indelible guilt lies in his soul all his life and becomes decisive in his fate. War for him is salvation from remorse. He becomes a hero and receives the order of Maria Theresa. But only he alone knows the true value of his heroism.
Using the images of the novel “Impatience of the Heart,” Zweig expressed his opinion about false sensitivity and pity - feelings that have nothing to do with true mercy.