A Look at War and Peace: Volume Three

From my kindle edition.

Read my looks for [Volume One] [Volume Two]

The third volume of War and Peace begins with Napoleon's vast armies deploying in eastern Europe on the verge of his invasion of Russia.  Here the reader runs headlong into Tolstoy's first full exposition of his philosophy of history.  He argues that the course of history is shaped by a multitude of interconnected factors, including the social, economic, and cultural conditions of a given time and place. He rejects the notion that individual heroes, leaders, or military commanders have the power to determine the outcome of historical events, and instead emphasizes the role of chance and contingency.

Tolstoy also critiques the traditional approach to history, which focuses on political and military events and tends to ignore the lives and experiences of ordinary people. He argues that history should be seen as a product of the collective actions of all individuals, rather than the result of the decisions of a few powerful figures.  

Fatalism is Tolstoy's philosophy.  As the largest army Napoleon would ever assemble gathers to invade, Tolstoy writes: “This could not be otherwise, because for the will of Napoleon and Alexander (the men on whom the event seemed to depend) to be fulfilled, the coincidence of countless circumstances was necessary, without any one of which the event could not have taken place. It was necessary that millions of men, in whose hands the actual power lay, the soldiers who shot, transported provisions and cannon—it was necessary that they agree to fulfill this will of isolated and weak men and be brought to that by a countless number of complex, diverse causes.

“Fatalism in history is inevitable for the explanation of senseless phenomena (that is, those whose sense we do not understand). The more we try to explain sensibly these phenomena of history, the more senseless and incomprehensible they become for us.”  (p. 605)

And later, a rather famous quote: “Kings are the slaves of history. History, that is, the unconscious, swarmlike life of mankind, uses every moment of a king’s life as an instrument for its purposes. (p. 605)

Meanwhile, Alexander is treated to a ball by his adjutant generals.  Obviously, Tolstoy portrays a time when elegance and chivalry were as important as battle itself.  Alexander writes a lengthy letter (in French) to Napoleon asking that he kindly withdraw his forces from the Russian border.  The letter is sent by courier.  The first French commander of note that the courier meets is Marshal Davout, who has “deliberately set himself up in the most gloomy conditions, so as to have the right to be gloomy.”

We will meet Davout, Napoleon's greatest Marshall, again in due course.  The courier is directed to Napoleon himself.  Napoleon listens to Alexander's terms to begin peace negotiations.  We are then treated to a litany of reasons why matters have come to war according to French Emperor.  There is an extended section of dialog between the courier and the Emperor which allows the reader to receive a fair overview of the opposing perspectives prior to the invasion and reasons for Napoleon's Russian Campaign.

Meanwhile, Prince Andrei, who feels betrayed by Natasha, finds his immersion in the emerging military situation to be a perfect escape from all his existential troubles.  On his way to the front, he revisits his father's estate at Bald Hills for the first time in three years.  He is glad to see his sister again, but Marya is living out her best years as a maiden “uselessly and joylessly.”  Since he has been away, Andrei's family has become divided and interacting with them is awkward.  He visits his son and starts to tell him a story but falls into private reflection before he can finish the tale.  He thought being with his son again would bring him some measure of joy, but it does not.

Before leaving, Marya tells Andrei that she understands him and his troubles.  She urges him not to think that grief comes from people.  It is sent by God using people as His instruments.  But her words only cause anger to grow in his heart as, for the first time in awhile, he reflects upon Anatole and Natasha.  Even though their relationship was never anything more than superficial and is now over, and furthermore, even though he had granted Natasha freedom until his return, he cannot bring himself to “forgive and forget.”  Andrei's bitterness is more entrenched than ever.

Nikolai is now a seasoned cavalryman.  He has learned that when soldiers speak of war they usually are lying, playing up their role in whatever may have happened.  He becomes a sort of mentor to Ilyin, a young man just getting his first taste of army life.  Rostov receives the St. George Cross for gallantry in a minor skirmish.  But it does not please him as much as he expected.  He feels that the only reason he received it is because all the others were more afraid than he was when facing the French.

Natasha, his sister, is by now very ill from the manner in which she botched her relationship with Prince Andrei.  She feels that she has disgraced no only herself but her entire family.  Doctors are called in to treat her but they disagree about her affliction.  Tolstoy uses this to state that doctors really don't know very much, especially when the condition is fundamentally moral in nature.  For her part, Natasha is appreciative of everyone's efforts but finds the whole thing “stupid” because nothing can change what she has done.  (I might add that this connection of emotional trauma with physical illness is rather widespread throughout classic literature.)

Natasha withdraws into herself, avoiding society and minimizing her interactions with her family.  She is rarely bothered with visitors with the exception of Pierre who checks in with her frequently, always treating her with great tenderness that sometimes seems awkward to him.  She prays daily for repentance and, after a long time, her first longing to reenter society is one of taking communion on Sundays.

Pierre is changed by his visits with the Rostovs and Natasha particularly.  His former questions of “Why? What for?” are replaced by the image of Natasha.  He has fallen in love with her, probably loving her for a long time without acknowledging it. But he is a married man, after all.  He believes that no one will ever know how he feels about this grieving young woman.  Soon thereafter, without explanation, he stops going to the Rostovs.  It becomes too painful to be in Natasha's presence.  In the meantime, he comes to believe that Napoleon, far from being the person he so admired at the beginning of the novel, is now, in fact, the anti-Christ.  He secretly makes plans to deal with this “beast” if the opportunity presents itself.

Napoleon's army marches deeper into Russia and Tolstoy uses this to further sketch his philosophy of history.  “The drawing of Napoleon into the depths of the country occurred not according to someone’s plan (no one even believed in such a possibility), but occurred as the result of the most complex interplay of intrigues, aims, and desires of the people participating in the war, who did not perceive what was to happen and what would be the only salvation of Russia. It all occurs by chance.”  (p. 684)  Smolensk falls after a brief battle.  Napoleon is halfway to Moscow by August 1812.

Though his family has abandoned it by now, Prince Andrei takes the opportunity during the retreat to visit Bald Hills, which is conveniently nearby.  His gloom is only heightened to see the estate deserted and to know that soon French soldiers will be pillaging it.  Coincidentally, his family has not gone all the way to Moscow.  Instead, without him knowing it, they have stopped at Prince Andrei's country estate, which is nearer Moscow.  Shortly after arriving there, Andrei's father, who has been ill for some time, has a stroke and dies.  Marya is at his side to comfort him in the end.  Her father apologizes for treating her and her brother so harshly throughout his life.  After he is gone, she realizes how much of herself she invested in her father and the void that now remains.  She feels aimless, without purpose, though remains devote to her faith.  

Andrei's country estate is soon near the ever eastward moving front lines.  This is how Nikolai (with his cavalry squadron) happens upon Marya.  Rostov and Marya have an immediate (though unspoken, of course) attraction to one another.  Nikolai sees himself romantically as a cavalryman riding literally to the rescue of a fair maiden in distress.  She does not know what to make of her feelings for him.  Just as romantically, she feels that she has possibly seen her true love for first and only time.  She makes for Moscow to be with the rest of the family who are already there.

One major character I have not mentioned so far, but who provides both comic relief and serious soldiering, is Denisov.  He has a speech impediment that makes a lot of his dialog humorous to read.  On top of this, he possesses quite a sense of humor himself.  He is also a seasoned veteran, intelligent, patriotic and brave.  During the course of the novel he has risen through the ranks and is now a capable adviser to Kutuzov along with Prince Andrei and others.  He advocates an attack to break Napoleon's line of communications or “bghreak” as Tolstoy writes it.  Denisov puts a “gh” in the middle of a lot of words when speaking.

For his part, Kutuzov listens attentively to all the advice that is given to him by Denisov and another general.  But he does little or nothing.  He orders the reports burned in the fireplace and retires.  Tolstoy indicates that Kutuzov has little respect for the “knowledge and intelligence” he is receiving.  Instead he values his personal experience and intuitive inclinations above all else, as if to confirm Tolstoy's larger theory of history.

The population of Moscow begins to flee the city at word of Napoleon's approach.  Pierre remains, however, and is determined to go out to meet the army in order to witness whatever battle is about to be fought.  He finds his status and his possessions to mean nothing anymore.  Instead, he takes a strange joyous delight at the idea of sacrificing everything.  It is a kind of freedom for him.

The battle that Pierre ultimately witnesses is the Battle of Borodino, the bloodiest of the Napoleonic Wars.  As Tolstoy puts it: “In offering and accepting battle at Borodino, Kutuzov and Napoleon acted involuntarily and senselessly. And only later did historians furnish the already accomplished facts with ingenious arguments for the foresight and genius of the commanders, who, of all the involuntary instruments of world events, were the most enslaved and involuntary agents.”

“[...] during their retreat they passed many positions that were better than Borodino. They did not stop at any of those positions, because because Kutuzov did not want to accept a position that he had not chosen, and because the people’s call for battle had not yet expressed itself strongly enough, and because Miloradovich had not yet arrived with the militia, and for countless other reasons. The fact is that the former positions were stronger, and the position at Borodino (the one on which the battle was fought) not only was not strong, but could no more be considered a position than any other place in the Russian empire on which, by guesswork, one might randomly stick a pin in a map.”  (p. 754)

When Pierre first arrives at a high point to witness the battle he does not understand what he is seeing.  It looks so differently from what he was expecting.  He finds an officer to interpret for him what is happening and the disposition of the troops.  It is interesting to note that a Russian nobelman interrupting a military officer so her can explain the battle deployment to him is rather ridiculous, it would never happen today.  Today Pierre would be arrested and hauled away but not in War and Peace.  This is indicative of a fundamental change of the present world to the world Tolstoy so intimately and accurately depicts.

In this way, the reader is introduced to the Russian positions.  Pierre stumbles across Kutuzov, who is making his rounds upon the field in preparation for battle and absurdly offers his services as an aide but Kutuzov is quietly dismissive.  Finally, he meets up with Prince Andrei.  They have tea together and discuss war in general and the upcoming battle specifically.  Andrei believes the Russians will win and astonishes Pierre by claiming that most of the commanders will have very little effect on whatever happens tomorrow (again, Tolstoy believes the world turns upon the masses of men not the leadership of individuals).

The focus shifts to Napoleon and his preparations.  Tolstoy describes the meticulous nature of the French Emperor, then scoffs: “To the question of what constitutes the cause of historical events, a different answer presents itself, which is that the course of world events is predestined from on high, depends on the coincidence of all the wills of the people participating in those events, and that Napoleon’s influence on the course of those events is only external and fictitious.”

“[...] The soldiers of the French army went to kill Russian soldiers in the battle of Borodino not as the result of Napoleon’s orders but by their own will. The whole army—the French, the Italians, the Germans, the Poles, hungry, ragged, and exhausted by the campaign—on seeing the army that blocked their way to Moscow, felt that “le vin est tiré et qu’il faut le boire.” If Napoleon had now forbidden them to fight the Russians, they would have killed him and gone to fight the Russians, because it was necessary for them.” (p. 784)

“And it was not Napoleon who ordained the course of the battle, because nothing of his disposition was carried out and during the battle he did not know what was happening in front of him. Which meant also that the way these people were killing each other occurred not by the will of Napoleon, but went on independently of him, by the will of the hundreds of thousands of people who took part in the common action. To Napoleon it only seemed that the whole thing happened by his will.” (p. 785)  I might note that I strongly disagree with Tolstoy's perspective, but it is well thought out and entertaining nonetheless.

The next day the battle begins.  Pierre roams the battlefield in amazement.  Through his eyes, Tolstoy offers a lengthy, detailed description of the battle with all its chaos and confusion, the bravery and terror.  All around him Pierre sees fear and agony but for him it is fascinating.  He is drawn, almost without a sense of self, toward the artillery and gun fire.  He can't seem to get close enough to the danger even though he has no idea where he is going or, indeed, what is happening all around him.  In this way, the reader is treated to one of the highlights of the novel in this detailed grunt-level description of Borodino.

Similarly to Prince Andrei earlier in the novel, Pierre ends up at an artillery battery and experiences the battle up close.  Amidst the horrible disarray, he volunteers to go for more ammunition when another soldier is so ordered.  Without thinking to two run in to one another attempting to fulfill the order.  In the process Pierre is knocked flat by a nearby cannonball explosion.  He is disoriented as he hears the shrieks of a nearby wounded horse lying on the ground next to him.  

From this small incident Tolstoy reverts to Napoleon and what he senses as the battle unfolds.  Tolstoy deftly shifts from the intimate personal struggle of battle to the ultimate strategic overview.  The French Emperor is depressed.  He understands that the cost has been horrific on both sides “but the terrible swing of the arm fell magically strengthless.”  It is a rare moment when he feels that defeat is closer than victory.  Even after wiping out half the Russian army, according the Tolstoy, Napoleon feels a strange incompleteness.

While leading a regiment countercharge, Andrei is badly wounded in the stomach, an often fatal wound.  He is taken to be tended to by the battle surgeons.  While lying there a man's leg is amputated next to him.  Then he recognizes the man is Anatole, the very person who ruined his relationship with Natasha.  Andrei has another Proustian moment.  “And suddenly a new and unexpected memory from the world of childhood, purity, and love came to Prince Andrei.”  He remembers how Natasha looked two years earlier and how he fell in love.  This flood of memory sends Andrei into tears of compassion for Anatole and all the sea of wounded and despair around him.  For me, this is one of the most powerful moments in the novel.

From my old paperback.

Each Volume of War and Peace is divided into Parts and each Part into chapters.  The last few chapters of Volume Three, Part Two and the entirety of Part Three is my favorite section of the narrative.  Kutuzov holds a council of war with his commanders.  General Bennigsen is the last to enter.  Kutuzov was waiting for him before he began the council.

Here is a great example of the little touches that Tolstoy makes throughout the novel to render it so intimate and entertaining.  The council is being held in a nearby wealthy person's home.  All of the family have shifted to another part of the house except for a six year old girl toward whom Kutuzov has taken a grandfatherly fancy.  She sits on the stove and watches everything with childlike wonder.  The council is told in detail but always coming back to what the child observes, delightfully including her innocent perspective.

Bennigsen and a few others want the battle to continue the next day.  He proposes shifting the troops to make a flanking attack.  Kutuzov, all-knowing with regard to how history works from Tolstoy's perspective, hears from everyone, most of whom recommend various routes for retreat.  The little girl observes how the chief conflict seems to be between “Grand pa” (Kutuzov) and “Longskirts” (Bennigsen).  She notes the pacing agitation of Longskirts after Grandpa is stern with him.  Reluctantly, Kutuzov orders retreat.

Our gaze shifts momentarily to Petersburg where Hélène's overactive libido has gotten her into trouble.  She is having an affair with two wealthy, powerful men and attempting to navigate things so that both are satisfied and neither finds out about the other.  Into this tangled mess emerges a third man, a deeply religious man.  She soon becomes a Catholic, consults a priest about obtaining a divorce but cannot choose which of the two suitors she wants to marry.  The world obviously keeps turning even though there is a war in Russia.

Pierre returns to Moscow as the city is being deserted and is taking on the wounded and stragglers of Borodino.  He learns that both Anatole, his brother-in-law, and Prince Andrei have died of their wounds.  He collapses in his room from exhaustion with all kinds of thoughts racing through his mind.  This is Tolstoy's method of heightening suspense over Andrei's fate.

The Rostovs have gathered their considerable belongings onto four wagons and are about to leave the city as the wounded flood onto their property.  Natasha's mother wants them to hurry away but her father prefers to lend the wagons to the soldiers.  Natasha intervenes and becomes the forceful person we have witnessed budding inside her since she was a child.  She takes charge of the situation, has the shocked servants unload the family's belongings from the wagons and allows them to be filled with as many of the wounded as possible.

The Rostovs accompany the wounded out of Moscow, Natasha assisting as she can.  Sonya is in another part of the procession and notices that other carriages have joined them on the way out of the city.  She learns that one of them contains Prince Andrei and the reader realizes for the first time that he has not died after all.

As they make their exit Natasha happens to see Pierre in odd looking clothes bizarrely walking the other way through the chaotic streets.  Natasha calls to him and he finally sees her, though he is completely distracted by his inner schemes and thoughts.  Pierre has been roaming Moscow somewhat aimlessly for the past two days.  At his request, one of his servants found him some peasant's clothes and a pistol.  It is his intention to murder Napoleon, who he has come to consider “the beast” of the Book of Revelations.  This is not revealed to the reader until after this brief encounter with Natasha so the disorientation that she feels in his sudden appearance is initially shared by the reader.

They hurriedly acknowledge one another, Natasha is joyful but puzzled to see him, Pierre almost dismissive of her by simply proclaiming: “I know nothing myself.”  (I prefer Dunnigan's translation here, where he says “I don't know myself.”  And example of the many differences between the two translations.)  Natasha leans out of the window of her carriage peering a long time until Pierre vanishes in the crowd.

Napoleon waits for some representative of Moscow to greet him before he enters the city.  But it is by now almost completely abandoned and no one comes.  Napoleon enters without any official fanfare and in disbelief that the Russians have deserted their cherished city.  His army, reduced to but one-third of its original size, is more or less devoured by the void of the empty streets and wealthy houses.  Discipline starts to break down and looting becomes rampant despite Napoleon's attempts to keep his men in order (another nod to Tolstoy's theory of the mechanics of history).  Somehow fires break out and most of the city burns to the ground while Napoleon attempts to consider himself its conqueror.  

Because Pierre is fluent in their language, the French soldiers do not consider him Russian.  A French captain invites him to dinner and they get drunk on wine together.  Pierre tells the captain about his life and his love for Natasha despite his miserable marriage.  That evening he notices the small glow of fires in the distance as he stumbles homeward.  Natasha and Sonya watch the city begin to burn from a distance at this same time from the vantage point of the escaped wagons.  Later, as Pierre is on his way to murder Napoleon, he is sidetracked by rescuing a small child trapped in a burning building.  Soon thereafter he sees a French solider attempting to rape a woman and he beats up the soldier.  Upon seeing this, Pierre is arrested by other soldiers.  It does not help his cause that he is carrying a pistol.

Prince Andrei is unconscious for seven days following his grievous wound.  When he awakens he wavers between delirium and wisdom.  This reflects of the power of human love.  Not the love for something but love itself, universal, aimless love.  Through Sonya, Natasha learns that Andrei is part of train of the wounded.  She goes to him and they declare their love for one another.  She tearfully begs his forgiveness but he simply tells her that he loves her more than ever.  He is very weak as he fights for his life against the infection of his wound.

What happens to Pierre, Natasha, and Prince Andrei during this section of the novel is incredible to read.  It represents some of the finest writing in all of western literature.  The three are mostly separated, thinking of one another, with each responding to crisis in a courageous, if sometimes absurd, manner.  Of the three, Natasha has changed the most, through the simple fact of maturity, of course, but also through becoming who she truly is.  Pierre remains in search of himself, still trying to find himself through deeds such as the half-cocked idea of killing Napoleon.  Prince Andrei remains fixed with his own existential struggle but, strangely, his severe wound has brought him the feeling of universal love. This sets up the final volume of War and Peace.