“Great Sinners” and Righteous People of L. N. Tolstoy and F. M. Dostoevsky in the Light of A. A. Ukhtomsky’s Ethical Teaching

Abstract

The article proposes a typology of righteous heroes on the material of L. N. Tolstoy’s stories “Father Sergius,” “False Coupon,” “Alyosha the Pot,” and F. M. Dostoevsky’s novels “Teenager,” “The Brothers Karamazov.” The “great sinners” Dostoevsky and Tolstoy have gospel prototypes — the prodigal son and the “prudent thief.” At the same time, both writers have static characters — righteous people carrying Christian ideals. In the later stories of Tolstoy and the novels of Dostoevsky, there is a teleological plot, which includes the plot motifs of the test, the choice of the hero, and his movement toward salvation. Turning to the ethical teaching of A. A. Ukhtomsky, created based on the works of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, allows us to highlight the dominant character of the hero, which involves the rejection of egocentrism and determines his salvation, as well as the hero’s “doubles” and “interlocutors” who are capable of awakening his selfawareness. A comparison of the reading range of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky shows their attention to the works of John Climacus, Isaac the Syrian, and Tikhon of Zadonsk.

Keywords

• f. m. dostoevsky
• l. n. tolstoy
• a. a. ukhtomsky
• righteous people
• gospel parables
• teleological plot
• motifs
• dominant