Pierre Bezukhov in captivity (based on the novel "War and Peace"). The life path of Pierre Bezukhov in the novel "War and Peace": the spiritual path of quest, life history, stages of the biography of Pierre in the company of kuragin analysis

Creating the image of Pierre Bezukhov, L. N. Tolstoy started from specific life observations. People like Pierre were often encountered in the Russian life of that time. This is Alexander Muravyov, and Wilhelm Küchelbecker, to whom Pierre is close with his eccentricity and absent-mindedness and directness. Contemporaries believed that Tolstoy endowed Pierre with the features of his own personality. One of the features of the depiction of Pierre in the novel is his opposition to the environment of the nobility. It is no coincidence that he is the illegitimate son of Count Bezukhov; it is no coincidence that his bulky, clumsy figure stands out sharply against the general background. When Pierre finds himself in the salon of Anna Pavlovna Scherer, he causes her anxiety by the inconsistency of his manners with the etiquette of the living room. He is significantly different from all visitors to the salon and with his smart, natural look. By contrast, the author presents Pierre's judgments and Hippolyte's vulgar chatter. Contrasting his hero with the environment, Tolstoy reveals his high spiritual qualities: sincerity, spontaneity, high conviction and noticeable gentleness. Anna Pavlovna's evening ends with Pierre, to the displeasure of the audience, defending the ideas of the French Revolution, admiring Napoleon as the head of revolutionary France, defending the ideas of the republic and freedom, showing the independence of his views.

Leo Tolstoy draws the appearance of his hero: this is "a massive, fat young man, with a cropped head, glasses, light trousers, a high frill and a brown tailcoat." The writer pays special attention to Pierre's smile, which makes his face childish, kind, stupid and as if asking for forgiveness. She seems to say: "Opinions are opinions, and you see what a kind and nice fellow I am."

Pierre is sharply opposed to those around him in the episode of the death of the old man Bezukhov. Here he is very different from the careerist Boris Drubetskoy, who, at the instigation of his mother, is playing a game, trying to get his share in the inheritance. Pierre, on the other hand, is embarrassed and ashamed of Boris.

And now he is the heir to an immensely rich father. Having received the title of count, Pierre immediately finds himself in the center of attention of secular society, where he was pleased, caressed and, as it seemed to him, loved. And he plunges into the stream of new life, obeying the atmosphere of great light. So he finds himself in the company of "golden youth" - Anatole Kuragin and Dolokhov. Under the influence of Anatole, he spends his days in revelry, unable to break out of this cycle. Pierre wastes his vitality, showing his characteristic lack of will. Prince Andrei tries to convince him that this dissolute life does not suit him very much. But it is not so easy to pull him out of this "whirlpool". However, I note that Pierre is immersed in him more in body than in soul.

Pierre's marriage to Helen Kuragina dates back to this time. He perfectly understands her insignificance, outright stupidity. "There is something nasty in that feeling," he thought, "that she aroused in me, something forbidden." However, Pierre's feelings are influenced by her beauty and unconditional feminine charm, although Tolstoy's hero does not experience true, deep love. Time will pass, and the "twisted" Pierre will hate Helen and feel her depravity with all his heart.

In this regard, an important moment was the duel with Dolokhov, which took place after Pierre received an anonymous letter at a dinner in honor of Bagration that his wife was cheating on him with his former friend. Pierre does not want to believe this because of the purity and nobility of his nature, but at the same time he believes the letter, because he knows Helen and her lover well. Dolokhov's brazen trick at the table unbalances Pierre and leads to a duel. It is quite obvious to him that now he hates Helen and is ready to break with her forever, and at the same time break with the world in which she lived.

The attitude of Dolokhov and Pierre to the duel is different. The first goes to the duel with the firm intention of killing, and the second suffers from the fact that he needs to shoot a person. In addition, Pierre never held a pistol in his hands and, in order to quickly end this heinous deed, somehow pulls the trigger, and when he injures the enemy, barely holding back his sobs, rushes to him. "Stupid!.. Death... Lies..." he repeated, walking through the snow into the forest. So a separate episode, a quarrel with Dolokhov, becomes a frontier for Pierre, opening up a world of lies in front of him, in which he was destined to be for some time.

A new stage of Pierre's spiritual quest begins when, in a state of deep moral crisis, he meets the freemason Bazdeev on his way from Moscow. Striving for the high meaning of life, believing in the possibility of achieving brotherly love, Pierre enters the religious and philosophical society of Masons. Here he seeks spiritual and moral renewal, hopes for a rebirth to a new life, longs for personal improvement. He also wants to correct the imperfection of life, and this matter seems to him not at all difficult. “How easy, how little effort is needed to do so much Good,” thought Pierre, “and how little we care about it!”

And so, under the influence of Masonic ideas, Pierre decides to free the peasants belonging to him from serfdom. He follows the same path that Onegin walked, although he also takes new steps in this direction. But unlike Pushkin's hero, he has huge estates in the Kyiv province, which is why he has to act through the chief manager.

Possessing childish purity and gullibility, Pierre does not assume that he will have to face the meanness, deceit and devilish resourcefulness of businessmen. He takes the construction of schools, hospitals, shelters for a radical improvement in the life of the peasants, while all this was ostentatious and burdensome for them. Pierre's undertakings not only did not alleviate the hard fate of the peasants, but also worsened their situation, because the predation of the rich from the trading village and the robbery of the peasants, hidden from Pierre, were connected here.

Neither the transformations in the countryside nor Freemasonry justified the hopes that Pierre had placed on them. He is disappointed in the goals of the Masonic organization, which now seems to him deceitful, vicious and hypocritical, where everyone is primarily concerned with a career. In addition, the ritual procedures characteristic of Masons now seem to him an absurd and ridiculous performance. "Where am I?" he thinks, "what am I doing? Are they laughing at me? Won't I be ashamed to remember this?" Feeling the futility of Masonic ideas, which did not change his own life at all, Pierre "suddenly felt the impossibility of continuing his former life."

Tolstoy's hero goes through a new moral test. They became a real, great love for Natasha Rostova. At first, Pierre did not think about his new feeling, but it grew and became more and more powerful; a special sensitivity arose, intense attention to everything that concerned Natasha. And he leaves for a while from public interests to the world of personal, intimate experiences that Natasha opened for him.

Pierre is convinced that Natasha loves Andrei Bolkonsky. She is animated only because Prince Andrei enters, that he hears his voice. "Something very important is going on between them," Pierre thinks. The difficult feeling does not leave him. He carefully and tenderly loves Natasha, but at the same time he is faithfully and devotedly friends with Andrei. Pierre sincerely wishes them happiness, and at the same time their love becomes a great grief for him.

The aggravation of spiritual loneliness chains Pierre to the most important issues of our time. He sees before him "a tangled, terrible knot of life." On the one hand, he reflects, people erected forty forty churches in Moscow, confessing the Christian law of love and forgiveness, and on the other hand, yesterday they whipped a soldier and the priest let him kiss the cross before execution. Thus grows a crisis in Pierre's soul.

Natasha, refusing Prince Andrei, showed friendly spiritual sympathy for Pierre. And a huge, disinterested happiness swept over him. Natasha, overwhelmed with grief and remorse, evokes such a flash of ardent love in Pierre’s soul that, unexpectedly for himself, he makes a kind of confession to her: “If I were not me, but the most beautiful, smartest and best person in the world ... I would this minute on my knees I asked for your hand and your love. In this new enthusiastic state, Pierre forgets about the social and other issues that bothered him so much. Personal happiness and boundless feeling overwhelms him, gradually letting him feel some kind of incompleteness of life, deeply and broadly understood by him.

The events of the war of 1812 produce a sharp change in Pierre's worldview. They gave him the opportunity to get out of the state of egoistic isolation. He begins to be seized by a restlessness that is incomprehensible to him, and although he does not know how to understand the events that are taking place, he inevitably joins the stream of reality and thinks about his participation in the fate of the Fatherland. And it's not just thinking. He prepares the militia, and then goes to Mozhaisk, on the field of the Battle of Borodino, where a new, unfamiliar world of ordinary people opens before him.

Borodino becomes a new stage in the development of Pierre. Seeing for the first time the militia men dressed in white shirts, Pierre caught the spirit of spontaneous patriotism emanating from them, expressed in a clear determination to steadfastly defend their native land. Pierre realized that this is the force that drives events - the people. With all his heart he understood the secret meaning of the soldier's words: "They want to pile on all the people, one word - Moscow."

Pierre now not only observes what is happening, but reflects, analyzes. Here he managed to feel that "hidden warmth of patriotism" that made the Russian people invincible. True, in battle, on the Raevsky battery, Pierre experiences a moment of panic fear, but it was this horror "that allowed him to especially deeply understand the power of national courage. After all, these gunners all the time, until the very end, were firm and calm, and now I want to Pierre to be a soldier, just a soldier, in order to "enter this common life" with his whole being.

Under the influence of people from the people, Pierre decides to participate in the defense of Moscow, for which it is necessary to stay in the city. Wanting to accomplish a feat, he intends to kill Napoleon in order to save the peoples of Europe from the one who brought them so much suffering and evil. Naturally, he dramatically changes his attitude towards the personality of Napoleon, the former sympathy is replaced by hatred for the despot. However, many obstacles, as well as a meeting with the French captain Rumbel, change his plans, and he abandons the plan to assassinate the French emperor.

A new stage in Pierre's quest was his stay in French captivity, where he ends up after a fight with French soldiers. This new period of the hero's life becomes a further step towards rapprochement with the people. Here, in captivity, Pierre had a chance to see the true bearers of evil, the creators of the new "order", to feel the inhumanity of the morals of Napoleonic France, relations built on domination and submission. He saw the massacres and tried to get to the bottom of their causes.

He experiences an unusual shock when he is present at the execution of people accused of arson. “In his soul,” writes Tolstoy, “it is as if the spring on which everything was held up has suddenly been pulled out.” And only a meeting with Platon Karataev in captivity allowed Pierre to find peace of mind. Pierre became close to Karataev, fell under his influence and began to look at life as a spontaneous and natural process. Faith in goodness and truth arises again, inner independence and freedom was born. Under the influence of Karataev, Pierre's spiritual revival takes place. Like this simple peasant, Pierre begins to love life in all its manifestations, despite all the vicissitudes of fate.

Close rapprochement with the people after his release from captivity leads Pierre to Decembristism. Tolstoy talks about this in the epilogue of his novel. Over the past seven years, the old mood of passivity, contemplation has been replaced by a thirst for action and active participation in public life. Now, in 1820, Pierre's wrath and indignation are causing social orders and political oppression in his native Russia. He says to Nikolai Rostov: "There is theft in the courts, in the army there is only one stick, shagistika, settlements - they torment the people, they stifle enlightenment. What is young, honestly, is ruined!"

Pierre is convinced that the duty of all honest people is to to counteract this. It is no coincidence that Pierre becomes a member of a secret organization and even one of the main organizers of a secret political society. The association of "honest people," he believes, should play a significant role in eliminating social evil.

Personal happiness now enters Pierre's life. Now he is married to Natasha, experiences a deep love for her and his children. Happiness with an even and calm light illuminates his whole life. The main conviction that Pierre took out of his long life searches and which is close to Tolstoy himself is: "As long as there is life, there is happiness."

One of the main characters of the epic "Warrior and Peace" is Pierre Bezukhov. Characteristics of the character of the work is revealed through his actions. And also through the thoughts, spiritual searches of the main characters. The image of Pierre Bezukhov allowed Tolstoy to convey to the reader an understanding of the meaning of the era of that time, the whole life of a person.

Acquaintance of the reader with Pierre

The image of Pierre Bezukhov is very difficult to briefly describe and understand. The reader must go through with the hero all of his

Acquaintance with Pierre is referred in the novel to 1805. He appears at a secular reception with Anna Pavlovna Sherer, a Moscow high-ranking lady. By that time, the young man did not represent anything interesting for the secular public. He was the illegitimate son of one of the Moscow nobles. He received a good education abroad, but when he returned to Russia, he did not find a use for himself. An idle lifestyle, revelry, idleness, dubious companies led to the fact that Pierre was expelled from the capital. With this life baggage, he appears in Moscow. In turn, the high society also does not attract a young man. He does not share the pettiness of interests, selfishness, hypocrisy of his representatives. “Life is something deeper, more significant, but unknown to him,” Pierre Bezukhov reflects. "War and Peace" by Leo Tolstoy helps the reader to understand this.

Moscow life

The change of residence did not affect the image of Pierre Bezukhov. By nature, he is a very gentle person, easily falls under the influence of others, doubts about the correctness of his actions constantly haunt him. Unbeknownst to himself, he finds himself in captivity of the idle with her temptations, feasts and revelry.

After the death of Count Bezukhov, Pierre becomes the heir to the title and the entire fortune of his father. The attitude of society towards young people is changing dramatically. The eminent Moscow nobleman, in pursuit of the fortune of the young count, marries his beautiful daughter Helen to him. This marriage did not portend a happy family life. Very soon, Pierre understands the deceit, deceit of his wife, her debauchery becomes obvious to him. Thoughts of desecrated honor haunt him. In a state of rage, he commits an act that could be fatal. Fortunately, the duel with Dolokhov ended with the injury of the offender, and Pierre's life was out of danger.

The path of searching for Pierre Bezukhov

After the tragic events, the young count thinks more and more about how he spends the days of his life. Everything around is confusing, disgusting and meaningless. He understands that all secular rules and norms of behavior are insignificant in comparison with something great, mysterious, unknown to him. But Pierre does not have sufficient fortitude and knowledge to discover this great, to find the true purpose of human life. Thoughts did not leave the young man, making his life unbearable. A brief description of Pierre Bezukhov gives the right to say that he was a deep, thinking person.

Fascination with Freemasonry

After parting with Helen and giving her a large share of the fortune, Pierre decides to return to the capital. On the way from Moscow to St. Petersburg, during a short stop, he meets a man who talks about the existence of a brotherhood of Masons. Only they know the true path, they are subject to the laws of life. For Pierre's tormented soul and consciousness, this meeting, as he believed, was salvation.

Arriving in the capital, he, without hesitation, takes the rite and becomes a member of the Masonic lodge. The rules of another world, its symbolism, views on life captivate Pierre. He unconditionally believes everything he hears at the meetings, although much of his new life seems gloomy and incomprehensible to him. The path of searching for Pierre Bezukhov continues. The soul is still rushing about and does not find peace.

How to make people's lives easier

New experiences and searches for the meaning of being lead Pierre Bezukhov to the understanding that the life of an individual cannot be happy when there are many destitute, deprived of any right people around.

He decides to take action to improve the lives of the peasants on his estates. Many do not understand Pierre. Even among the peasants, for whose sake all this was started, there is a misunderstanding, a rejection of the new way of life. This discourages Bezukhov, he is depressed, disappointed.

The disappointment was final when Pierre Bezukhov (whose characterization describes him as a gentle, trusting person) realized that he had been cruelly deceived by the manager, funds and efforts were wasted.

Napoleon

The disturbing events taking place in France at that time occupied the minds of the entire high society. stirred the minds of the young and the old. For many young people, the image of the great emperor has become an ideal. Pierre Bezukhov admired his successes, victories, he idolized the personality of Napoleon. I did not understand people who dared to resist the talented commander, the great revolution. There was a moment in Pierre's life when he was ready to swear allegiance to Napoleon and defend the gains of the revolution. But this was not destined to happen. Feats, achievements for the glory of the French Revolution remained only dreams.

And the events of 1812 will destroy all ideals. The adoration of Napoleon's personality will be replaced in Pierre's soul with contempt and hatred. There will be an irresistible desire to kill the tyrant, avenging all the troubles that he brought to his native land. Pierre was simply obsessed with the idea of ​​​​reprisal against Napoleon, he believed that this was a destiny, the mission of his life.

battle of Borodino

The Patriotic War of 1812 broke the established foundation, becoming a real test for the country and its citizens. This tragic event directly affected Pierre. The aimless life of wealth and convenience was left without hesitation by the count for the sake of serving the fatherland.

It is in the war that Pierre Bezukhov, whose characterization has not yet been flattering, begins to look at life differently, to understand what was unknown. Rapprochement with soldiers, representatives of the common people, helps to re-evaluate life.

The great Battle of Borodino played a special role in this. Pierre Bezukhov, being in the same ranks with the soldiers, saw their real patriotism without falsehood and pretense, their readiness to give their lives without hesitation for the sake of their homeland.

Destruction, blood, and related experiences give rise to the spiritual rebirth of the hero. Suddenly, unexpectedly for himself, Pierre begins to find answers to questions that have tormented him for so many years. Everything becomes extremely clear and simple. He begins to live not formally, but with all his heart, experiencing a feeling unfamiliar to him, an explanation for which at this moment he cannot yet give.

Captivity

Further events unfold in such a way that the trials that befell Pierre should temper and finally form his views.

Once in captivity, he goes through an interrogation procedure, after which he remains alive, but before his eyes, several Russian soldiers are executed, who along with him fell to the French. The spectacle of the execution does not leave Pierre's imagination, bringing him to the brink of insanity.

And only a meeting and conversations with Platon Karataev again awaken a harmonious beginning in his soul. Being in a cramped barracks, experiencing physical pain and suffering, the hero begins to feel truly. The life path of Pierre Bezukhov helps to understand that being on earth is a great happiness.

However, the hero will have to reconsider his own and look for his place in it more than once.

Fate disposes so that Platon Karataev, who gave Pierre an understanding of life, was killed by the French, as he fell ill and could not move. The death of Karataev brings new suffering to the hero. Pierre himself was released from captivity by the partisans.

Native

Freed from captivity, Pierre, one after another, receives news from his relatives, about whom he knew nothing for a long time. He becomes aware of the death of his wife Helen. Best friend, Andrei Bolkonsky, is seriously wounded.

The death of Karataev, disturbing news from relatives again excite the soul of the hero. He begins to think that all the misfortunes that have occurred were his fault. He is the cause of the death of his loved ones.

And suddenly Pierre catches himself thinking that in difficult moments of spiritual experiences, the image of Natasha Rostova suddenly comes. She instills in him peace, gives strength and confidence.

Natasha Rostova

At subsequent meetings with her, he realizes that he has a feeling for this sincere, intelligent, spiritually rich woman. Natasha has a reciprocal feeling for Pierre. In 1813 they got married.

Rostova is capable of sincere love, she is ready to live in the interests of her husband, to understand, to feel him - this is the main advantage of a woman. Tolstoy showed the family as a way to save a person. The family is a small model of the world. The state of the whole society depends on the health of this cell.

Life goes on

The hero gained an understanding of life, happiness, harmony within himself. But the path to this was very difficult. The work of the inner development of the soul accompanied the hero all his life, and it gave its results.

But life does not stop, and Pierre Bezukhov, whose characterization as a seeker is given here, is again ready to move forward. In 1820, he informs his wife that he intends to become a member of a secret society.

Favorite hero

Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy describes in detail the path of Pierre Bezukhov's searches in the novel "War and Peace". Pierre Bezukhov is one of the main characters of the work. He belongs to the favorite characters of the author and is therefore described in more detail. The reader is given the opportunity to trace how a young naive young man is formed into a man wise by life experience. We are witnessing the mistakes and delusions of the hero, his painful search for the meaning of life, the gradual change in his worldview. Tolstoy does not idealize Pierre. He honestly displays his positive traits and weaknesses of character. Thanks to this, the young man seems closer and more understandable. He seems to come alive on the pages of the work.

Pierre's spiritual quest in the novel is devoted to many pages. Pierre Bezukhov is the illegitimate son of a wealthy St. Petersburg nobleman, one of the main contenders for a million-dollar inheritance. Having recently arrived from abroad, where he received his education, Pierre cannot decide on the choice of a further life path. An unexpected inheritance and a high county title greatly complicates the position of the young man and gives him a lot of trouble.

strange appearance

The remarkable appearance of the hero causes a smile and bewilderment. Before us is “a massive, fat young man with a cropped head, glasses, light trousers in the fashion of the time ...”. He does not know how to communicate with ladies, behave correctly in a secular society, be polite and tactful. His awkward appearance and lack of good manners are compensated by a kind smile and a naive guilty look: "smart and at the same time timid, observant and natural." Behind the massive figure, a pure, honest and noble soul breaks down.

Pierre's delusions

Fun secular youth

Arriving in the capital, the main character finds himself in the company of frivolous golden youth, who thoughtlessly indulge in empty entertainment and amusements. Noisy revels, hooligan antics, drunkenness, debauchery occupy all of Pierre's free time, but do not bring satisfaction. Only in communication with his only friend Andrei Bolkonsky does he become sincere and open his soul. The older friend is trying to save the gullible young man from fatal mistakes, but Pierre stubbornly follows his own path.

fatal love

One of the main misconceptions in the life of the hero is the passion for the empty and depraved beauty Helen. The gullible Pierre is easy prey for the members of the greedy family of Prince Kuragin. He is unarmed against the seductive tricks of a secular beauty and the pressure of an unceremonious prince. Tormented by doubts, Pierre is forced to make an offer and become the spouse of the first beauty of St. Petersburg. Pretty soon, he realizes that for his wife and her father, he is only a money bag. Disappointed in love, Pierre breaks off relations with his wife.

Fascination with Freemasonry

The ideological search of Pierre Bezukhov continues in the spiritual sphere. He is fond of the ideas of the Masonic brotherhood. The desire to do good, to work for the good of society, to improve themselves makes the hero go the wrong way. He is trying to alleviate the fate of his serfs, begins to build free schools and hospitals. But disappointment awaits him again. Money is stolen, brothers Masons pursue their own selfish goals. Pierre finds himself at an impasse in life. No family, no love, no worthwhile occupation, no purpose in life.

Heroic impulse

The state of gloomy apathy is replaced by a noble patriotic impulse. The Patriotic War of 1812 pushed into the background all the personal problems of the hero. His honest and noble nature is concerned about the fate of the Fatherland. Unable to join the ranks of the defenders of his country, he invests in the formation and uniforms of the regiment. During the battle of Borodino, he is in the thick of things, trying to provide all possible assistance to the military. Hatred for the invaders pushes Pierre to crime. He decides to kill the main culprit of what is happening, Emperor Napoleon. The heroic impulse of the young man ended with a sudden arrest and long months of captivity.

Life experience

One of the most important stages in the life of Pierre Bezukhov is the time spent in captivity. Deprived of the usual comfort, a well-fed life, freedom of movement, Pierre does not feel unhappy. He enjoys the satisfaction of natural human needs, "finds that calmness and self-satisfaction, which he vainly sought before." Once in the power of the enemy, he does not solve the complex philosophical issues of being, does not think about his wife's betrayal, does not understand the intrigues of others. Pierre lives a simple and understandable life, which Platon Karataev taught him. The worldview of this man turned out to be close and understandable to our hero. Communication with Platon Karataev made Pierre wiser and more experienced, suggested the right path in later life. He learned “not with his mind, but with his whole being, with his life, that man was created for happiness, that happiness is in himself.”

Real life

Freed from captivity, Pierre Bezukhov feels like a different person. He is not tormented by doubts, he is well versed in people and now knows what he needs for a happy life. An insecure confused person becomes strong and wise. Pierre is rebuilding the house and proposes to Natasha Rostova. He clearly understands that it was her that he truly loved all his life and it is with her that he will be happy and calm.

happy outcome

At the end of the novel, we see the beloved hero of Leo Tolstoy as an exemplary family man, a passionate person who has found himself. He is engaged in social activities, meets interesting people. His mind, decency, honesty and kindness are now in demand and useful to society. Beloved and devoted wife, healthy children, close friends, interesting work are the components of a happy and meaningful life for Pierre Bezukhov. The essay on the topic “The Way of Searching by Pierre Bezukhov” gives a detailed analysis of the moral and spiritual searches of an honest and noble person who, through trial and error, finds his meaning of existence. The hero finally achieved "calmness, agreement with himself."

Artwork test

Pierre after captivity feels the joy of freedom from the search for purpose and meaning in life. In this state, Pierre also recalls Natasha in the long past tense, for "he felt not only free from everyday conditions, but also from this feeling, which he, as it seemed to him, deliberately let on himself." This feeling was part of the mental complexity from which Pierre now feels free.

However, here he meets Natasha again: “Pierre's embarrassment has now almost disappeared; but at the same time he felt that all his former freedom had disappeared,” such freedom as is possible only in the absence of personal attachments, in too equal relations with all other people. Natasha bound Pierre with a renewed feeling for her, just as, we remember, she tied the wounded Prince Andrei, appearing to him and violating his indifferent "divine" love.

The awakening of the former feeling in Pierre, depriving him of freedom, similar to indifference, is the beginning of the restoration of the former Pierre, “pre-Karataev”. When meeting with Natasha and Marya Bolkonskaya after a long separation, Pierre recalls Petya Rostov: “Why did such a glorious, full of life boy die?” The question does not sound as probing, analytical, as it sounded to Pierre before, but more conciliatory, melancholy - but this is the same question: why? - addressed to life, the order of things, the course of events, directing life and events, is ineradicable, and Pierre's new acquired goodness, although it softens, cannot cancel it. This is the key to how Pierre will appear in the epilogue of War and Peace.

It seems that this is how it is in the epilogue: the struggle of life is harmoniously completed, the relations of people are fairly resolved, the contradictions are rounded off. The heroes of the novel live as one large, newly formed family, which includes the former Rostovs, Bolkonskys, Pierre Bezukhov; moreover, within this “world” the independence of its constituent groups and individuals is preserved