Ideological and Literary Distinctions in the Representation of the Image of a Righteous Man in the Story “Father Sergius” by L.N. Tolstoy and E.G. Vodolazkin’s Novel “Laurus”

Abstract

This article describes the distinctions in the representation of the heroes’ spiritual evolution in the works, written by L. N. Tolstoy and E. G. Vodolazkin, whose path of moral self-improvement lies within the framework of the Christian concept of human salvation, characteristic of all Russian literature. Examining the content components of the artistic model of the world represented in Tolstoy's novella "Father Sergius" and Vodolazkin's novel "Laurus", we come to the conclusion that the specificity of the religious type of the writer's artistic consciousness affects the construction of the artistic model of the world in the work and determines the choice of one or another way of depicting the righteous. The analysis of the hagiographic scheme "sin-repentance – redemption − salvation", implemented in each of the works in its own way, showed the priority role of the Christian tradition uniting these texts, the main component and driving force of which is love for one's neighbor