The Narrative Style of Hadji Murat: Contrast through Contrapuntal Juxtaposition

Abstract

Tolstoy’s last novel, Hadji Murat, is quite different from his most famous literary works. Tolstoy, who valued the process of approaching the truth over the reality of truth, sought to densely describe the changes in the inner world experienced by an entity through a long flow of time. Characteristic of this change is that the narrative proceeds not by a trajectory of linear progression, but by a spiral trajectory of ascent and descent. However, in Hadji Murat, Tolstoy departs from this traditional narrative style to follow a new narrative strategy. That is, rather than focusing on the inner changes experienced by the protagonists in the horizontal flow of time, it is intended to embody the nature of human beings in multiple layers from a vertical perspective. In particular, this author-specific composition is concretized through the composition of the plot. Most prior research has evaluated Hadji Murat as possessing a collage structure in which independent motifs are intricately arranged, thus lacking intrinsic rules and unity. However, in Haji Murat, which consists of a total of 25 chapters, the individual chapters are organically connected through contrast and contrapuntal juxtaposition, and through this composition, it presents the multiple layers of overlapping human nature. Therefore, this thesis examines the characteristics of the narrative style and plot structure of Hadji Murat.