From the time of Homer to this day, there is no literary creation that would describe life with such comprehensive simplicity as Leo Tolstoy did in the epic War and Peace.
Novel deep as life
In the work there are no main characters in the usual sense of the word. The Russian genius let a stream of life flow into the pages of the book, which either rumbles through the war or then subsides with the world. And in this stream ordinary people live, which are its organic particles. They sometimes affect him, but more often rush along with him, solving their daily problems and conflicts. And even the war in the novel "War and Peace" is portrayed truthfully and vitally. There is no heroization in the novel, but there is no escalation of passions. Ordinary people live in conditions of war and peace, and manifest themselves exactly as it is in tune with their internal state.
No artistic simplification
The theme of war in the novel "War and Peace" is not artificially bulged by the author. It occupies just as much space in a work as it occupied in real life of the Russian people at the beginning of the 19th century. But Russia for 12 years waged constant wars, and thousands of people were involved in them. Europe is in turmoil, the essence of the European soul is looking for new forms of being. Many slide down to the "two-legged creatures", which are millions, but which "mark Napoleons."
For the first time, Prince Kutuzov appears on the pages of the novel before the battle of Austerlitz. His conversation, deep and significant, with Andrei Bolkonsky, reveals to us the key to the mystery of the role that Kutuzov played in the fate of his people. The image of Kutuzov in War and Peace is strange at first glance. This is a commander, but the writer, as it were, does not notice his commander talents. Yes, they were in it, when compared with Napoleon and Bagration, not too outstanding. So how did he surpass the military genius? And with those feelings, the love that broke out of his heart near Austerlitz, when the Russian troops fled: “That's what hurts!”
Leo Tolstoy mercilessly draws the logic of war. In 1805, the unknown army was saved from complete destruction by the unknown Tushin, and not the general talents of Bagration and Kutuzov. There is no doubt, the queen is a powerful figure, but her strength turns into the power of a horse without a rider, when the pawns refuse to die for him: he kicks, bites, that's all.
A separate topic - battles
For writers before Leo Tolstoy, this was a fertile topic that helped to reveal to the readers the best spiritual qualities of the heroes of works. But the count was not a writer and “spoiled” everything. He caught the sound of human souls. His heroes act in accordance with the sound of their souls, be it war or peace in the yard. The image of Napoleon in "War and Peace" is shown from the right side, namely, in human tonality. He is no more significant than the same Natasha Rostova. They are both equal in life. And both go from battle to battle.
Only Napoleon’s path went through the blood, and Natasha through love. Napoleon does not doubt for a moment that he leads the fate of nations. That’s how his soul sounds. But Napoleon was only chosen by that incredible combination of circumstances when a terrible idea came to the minds of all the peoples of Europe - to kill each other. And who could be more consistent with this idea, if not Napoleon - an underdeveloped dwarf with an overdeveloped mind?
Battles big and small
Descriptions of the battles in the novel "War and Peace" are present in full, large and small, during the war and during peace. The retreat of the Russian troops from the border was also a battle. “When will we stop?” - impatiently ask Kutuzov young commanders. “And then, when everyone wants to fight,” replied the wise old Russian man. For them, war is a game and a service where they receive awards and career advancements. And for a one-eyed veteran and people - this is life, which is one and only.
The battle of Borodino is the apogee of the struggle between the two great nations, but only an episode in the life of everyone who has remained in the world after her. Just a day the battle thundered. And something changed in the world after him. Europe has come to its senses. She chose the wrong path of development. And Napoleon ceased to be necessary for her. Further only wilting. And neither the military genius, nor the political mind could save him from this, because the whole people on the Borodino field said that he longs with all his heart to remain himself.
Knights of war
Describes the war in the novel "War and Peace" from the point of view of various people. Among them, there are those for whom war is a native element. Tikhon Shcherbaty, who owned an ax like a wolf’s teeth; Dolokhov, Breter and player; Nikolai Rostov, a balanced and infinitely brave man; Denisov, poet of drinking bouts and war; the great Kutuzov; Andrey Bolkonsky is a philosopher and charismatic personality. What do they have in common? And the fact that, except for war, for them there is no other life. The image of Kutuzov in “War and Peace” in this regard is simply perfectly drawn. He, even as Ilya Muromets, was pulled from the stove to save the Fatherland.
These are all knights of the war, in whose heads not a worldview or imagination, but an animalistic sense of danger. Kutuzov is not much different from Tikhon Shcherbaty. They both do not think, do not represent, but feel in the bestial way that there is danger and where it threatens. It’s not hard to imagine a drunk Tikhon who beats near the church. Nikolai Rostov at the end of the novel talks about something with Bezukhov, but in all the conversations he sees only battle scenes.
In the novel "War and Peace" there is no lie either ordinary or one that is said for the sake of a red word. Leo Tolstoy is ruthlessly fair in the image of his heroes. He never condemns them, but he also does not praise them. Even Andrei Bolkonsky, it would seem, his beloved hero, he does not make a role model. Living with him is a torment, because he is also a knight of war, even in peacetime. Natasha’s death and dying love were a reward to him, because he was essentially Napoleon, who was worse than the real Napoleon. Everyone loved him, and he loved nobody. The spiritual power of this knight of the war was manifested even when peace came to him before his death. Even the kindest man, Pierre Bezukhov with an unlimited heart, fell under his influence, and this is such a danger to the world that is worse than the bloody war itself.
Split in heaven
Andrei Bolkonsky was lying on a field under Austerlitz and saw heaven. Infinity opened over him. And suddenly Napoleon with his retinue approaches. “Here is a beautiful death!” Said the one who understood nothing neither in death, nor, moreover, in life. And what can one understand in this matter that does not feel life in another person? The question is rhetorical. And the scenes of war in the novel "War and Peace" are all rhetorical.
People rush about on the ground, shoot at each other, tear out pieces of bread from other people's mouths, humiliate and deceive their loved ones. Why all this when the heavens are bottomlessly calm? Heaven is split because in human souls there is also a split. Everyone wants to live next to a good neighbor, but at the same time inflicts mental wounds on a good person.
Why is war and peace in life nearby?
The Tolstoyan depiction of war in the novel War and Peace is inseparable from the depiction of the world, because in real life they are consubstantial. And the Russian genius draws precisely real life, and not what he would like to see around him. His philosophical reasoning in the work is rather primitive, but there is more truth in them than in the thoughts of highbrow scientists. After all, man is not a formula on paper.
Passion speaks more often than reason. Karataev is not so wise that he is smart, but because life is absorbed by every particle of his body: from the brain to the tips of the nails. The novel reflects the consubstantiality of the endless process of life, in which - the immortality of the human race, and, therefore, of each person individually.
And cracked the world in half - smoke break
Bolkonsky on the operating table, and next to him they saw Anatoly Kuragin's leg. And the first thought in Andrei’s head: “Why is he here?” With such thoughts, any scene in human life is ready to turn into a battle scene in an instant. The war in the novel "War and Peace" is not only portrayed there, where guns shoot and people flee in a bayonet attack. When a mother screams about her youngest son killed, is this not a battle scene? And what could be more battle-like than when two people talk about the lives and deaths of millions of people that both have never seen? The light of heaven is split into war and peace, split.
The beauty of life in the novel "War and Peace"
Leo Tolstoy is ruthless in the image of human images, ruthless in the image of human life itself. But her beauty is seen in every word of a great novel. Bezukhov pulls a child out of the fire, looking for a mother. Someone sleepily answers questions, petrified from trouble. But Bezukhov himself and his thoughtless actions are perceived by readers as the extraordinary beauty of the human soul.
And overheard Bolkonsky enthusiasm of Natasha Rostova in the silence of the night! And even the unhappy Sonya, with her childless-soap soul, also has her dreary, aching beauty. She fought for her happiness and lost the war to an inexorable fate. War in the novel "War and Peace" has thousands of shades, as well as beauty.
The nondescript Tushin, which throws the nucleus with his hands at the enemy, grows into a mythical beautiful giant, not only in his imagination. It becomes akin to the oak with which Andrei Bolkonsky spoke. The scene of the meeting of generals after the battle of Borodino is cast in the novel through the perception of a child. And how beautiful it looks like the child saw and remembered the meeting: “Grandfather woke up, and everyone obeyed him!”
Reach for heaven
After writing the novel War and Peace, according to many critics, Leo Tolstoy only managed to rise to the top of super-true literary art twice - in The Devil and Confession, but not for long.