Leo Tolstoy and his great epic War and Peace
Dr Ruwan M Jayatunge - MD
At the approach of danger there are always two voices that speak with
equal force in the heart of man: one very reasonably tells the man to
consider the nature of the danger and the means of avoiding it; the
other even more reasonable says that it is too painful and harassing to
think of the danger, since it is not a man’s power to provide for
everything and escape from the general march of events; and that it is
therefore better to turn aside from the painful subject till it has
come, and to think of what is pleasant. In solitude a man generally
yields to the first voice; in society to the second.
Leo Tolstoy (War and Peace) According to E.M Forster, Leo Tolstoy’s
War and Peace” (Voyna I Mir) has been the greatest novel ever written.
It’s a novel that runs through time and space.
Over four hundred fictional and historical characters are illustrated
in this unique novel. War and Peace narrates Napoleon’s invasion of
Russia and the post war period. In War and Peace
Tolstoy argued his own idiosyncratic theory of life. He was
struggling between with his Christian ideals and his conflicts with lust
and the hypocrisies.
War and Peace is a question paper submitted to the reader.
Tolstoy puts a question how to lead a perfect life in an imperfect
world. His struggles with his passions and his spiritual conflicts made
him to write the greatest book in the history of literature.
Character analysis is exceptional in this great novel. There are
several central characters that keep the narrative live and distinctive.
Pierre Bezukhov and Prince Andrey Bolkonsky two fictional characters
appear throughout the novel are remarkable for their static nature. They
often regarded as being reflections of Tolstoy himself.
Leo Tolstoy’s life was full of contradictions. He wanted to renounce
wealth but until his old age he could not make a precise decision. He
preached that the money was evil yet he enjoyed luxuries, he said people
should detach from their wealth and look after the poor.
However in real life he had to arrest three poor peasants who
illegally cut timber in his state and later to prosecute them. He was
trapped in an unhappy marriage for a long time. At a time he was an
egoless lover and the next time he was jealous of his wife. Leo
Tolstoy’s shifting emotions are well documented in his novels and many
are reflected in his masterpiece War and Peace.
Tolstoy lost both of his parents at the small age. But their warmth
and spiritual touch lived with him. He immortalised their memory by
creating two fictional characters in War and Peace.
Nikolai Rostov (young brave Army officer who is a passionate lover
fond of gambling and leads a reckless life later turns in to a
responsible man) and Maria Bolkonskaya (who is a loving and a religious
woman) were based on Tolstoy’s own memories of his father and mother.
Pierre and Prince Andrei bear much resemblance to Tolstoy himself.
Tolstoy was struggling with his passions and his spiritual conflicts
were expressed via Pierre Bezukhov’s character. According to the novel
Pierre Bezukhov is an illegitimate son of Count Kirill Bezukhov. Pierre
is described as an ill-mannered non attractive socially awkward man who
is fond of women, wine and gambling. This portrait is much similar to
young Tolstoy.
Young Tolstoy had a passion for gambling and had exhausted the family
wealth. Like Pierre Bezukhov he found it difficult to integrate into the
Petersburg high society. Tolstoy admitted himself as a non attractive
ugly man.
Likewise Pierre Bezukhov is narrated as a huge bear like person.
Pierre was ignored and rejected by the high society until he inherits
his father’s fortune. Once he becomes rich and famous Pierre was forced
to get married to a woman named Helen. Consequently he was trapped in an
unhappy marriage and searching for meaning in his life. One time debauch
now becomes a philosopher. Pierre Bezuhov represents much of Tolstoy’s
philosophy.
The character of Platòn Karataev is relatively small but very
inspiring. As the book describes Platòn Karataev is a peasant with
simple and true qualities which Tolstoy admired most. The author becomes
a prophet and a moral reformer who speaks to the reader directly.
Platòn Karatheave becomes his mouthpiece. One time Leo Tolstoy was an
ambitious young officer who served in the Crimean War. There he
witnessed horror and despair and as a result of battle stress he
gradually experienced a personality change.
The climax of this personality change occurred many years after the
war when he was travelling to buy an estate. He had to stay in a motel
and in the middle of the night he walked up with a mortal fear.
This could have been a sever anxiety attack and this incident made
distinct changes in him.
He experienced persistent sorrow and emptiness which he described in
his autobiographical book Confession.
I cannot recall those years without horror, loathing, and
heart-rending pain.
I killed people in war, challenged men to duels with the purpose of
killing them, and lost at cards; I squandered the fruits of the
peasants’ toil and then had them executed; I was a fornicator and a
cheat.
Lying, stealing, promiscuity of every kind, drunkenness, violence,
murder - there was not a crime I did not commit...Thus I lived for ten
years.”
Prince Andrei Bolkonsky mostly represent Tolstoy’s military period.
Prince Andrei was a cynical man tired of his wealth and family glory
goes in search of a new life adventure. He wants to make history and to
be a large part of it. He was looking forward to find his
greatness in the Battle of Austerlitz. When Andrei was wounded in the
battle he sees the blue sky which implies the emptiness. Andrei’s NDE
(Near Death Experience) makes him more matured and finally he realizes
military glory, encounter with his former hero Napoleon, making history
etc all were insignificant empty attempts. He realized the true meaning
of human suffering. But he becomes more syndical and alienated.
Later in life Count Tolstoy formulated a stereotype unique
philosophy. Although he was criticised by the clergy and even
excommunicated by the Russian Orthodox Church Tolstoy believed that
philosophic principles can only be understood in their concrete
expression in history.
Tolstoy discussed the free will in War and Peace. War and Peace
reflects Tolstoy’s view that all is predestined.. He writes no one
controls events not even Napoleon or Kutuzov Commander-in-chief of the
Russian forces or the Tsar Alexander I.
In his own words Leo Tolstoy states
“In historical events great men - so-called - are but labels serving
to give a name to the event, and like labels they have the least
possible connection with the event itself.
Every action of theirs, that seems to them an act of their own free
will, is in an historical sense not free at all, but in bondage to the
whole course of previous history, and predestined from all eternity.”
This philosophy was later grasped by many novelists and film
directors. For instance in the movie Wind and the Lion (Starring Sean
Connery) the nomad leader of the desert Raisuli compares his place in
the universe as a pawn in the chess board which he has no control .
Tolstoy once said man lives consciously for himself, but is an
unconscious instrument in the attainment of the historic, universal,
aims of humanity. |