In the vast world of literature, few characters are looked upon with as much confusion, admiration, and respect as Natasha Rostova in Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace. Considering the novel’s impressive cast of nearly 600 characters, Natasha’s notoriety becomes even more striking. Natasha manages to confound both readers and the novel’s many characters with her unpredictable nature and unfaltering vitality. Pierre Bezukhov, one of the piece’s primary characters, attempts to describe Natasha to her future sister-in-law but fails, saying “‘I decidedly don’t know what kind of girl she is; I simply cannot analyze her. She is enchanting. But why, I don’t know: that’s all one can say about her’” (Tolstoy 548). Even the most intelligent of characters like …show more content…
Though many would regard Andrei as a contender for main character, without Natasha he would have been unable to complete his quest to find perfection. Consequently, readers would never have experienced divine love -- Andrei’s ultimate contribution to the novel. To understand Natasha’s significance in Andrei’s fate, the essence of his quest must first be established. Throughout War and Peace, Andrei attempts to use his career, titles, and battle glory to discover perfection. Perfection, he presumes, will allow him to escape his constant intellectualizing and overcome the cold, disinterested approach to life he maintains. Certainly, Andrei cannot intellectualize perfection as it is beyond reproach and so he seeks it above all else. He constantly moves from one quest to another, repeatedly abandoning his endeavours when he has inevitably discovered a flaw. Andrei's largest disappointment came after the Battle of Austerlitz upon suffering a wound in an attempt to turn the tide of the battle. Seeing an opportunity for glory, Andrei grabs a fallen Russian standard thinking “Here it is!” (280) which refers both to the standard itself and the situation’s potential for glory. Andrei runs towards French forces, inspires hundreds of men to follow him, and soon after suffers a nearly fatal wound. As he lays dying on the battlefield, he looks into the sky and …show more content…
He tells Pierre during an unexpected encounter in 1807 “I lived for others and ruined my life — and not almost, but completely” (Tolstoy 384). Only when he meets Natasha does his spirit reawaken. On Andrei’s way to her family’s estate for business, he sees “An enormous oak, twice the span of a man’s arms in girth, with some limbs broken off long ago, and broken bark covering old scars… it stood, old, angry, scornful, and ugly, amidst the smiling birches… It alone did not want to submit to the charm of spring and did not want to see either the springtime or the sun” (Tolstoy 420). This oak tree represents Andrei himself; just as the oak tree refuses to embrace life despite being surrounded by its beauty, so does Andrei. Similarly, Andrei’s pessimistic worldview warps his interpretation of the tree. Instead of seeing an impressively weathered giant, he sees a beaten down reflection of himself. Mere hours later, though, he becomes enchanted with Natasha after seeing her running through a meadow and hearing her sing out her bedroom window under the moonlight. Andrei is captivated by her and simultaneously irked by her happiness and his exclusion: “She doesn’t care at all about my existence!” (422). Natasha’s presences deeply affects Andrei and “In his soul there suddenly
He abandons omniscience, the story’s main narration style, and writes in the first-person: “The hero of my story, whom I love with all my heart and soul, whom I have attempted to portray in all his beauty and who has always been, is now and always will be supremely magnificent, is truth” (Tolstoy 109 [1986]). Unlike many literary works, there is no analysis needed in order to uncover Tolstoy’s primary message — he directly expresses to readers that truth is the center of the text. Essentially, the story’s characters, settings, and plot are merely vehicles Tolstoy manipulates to bring him to this final sentence where the central theme is revealed; everything in the piece ties back to the concept and central theme of truth. Some might say this ending degrades the story’s literary appeal because it does not allow for a clean resolution, but in many ways, this proclamation serves as the story’s climax. In this moment, the veil of fiction is lifted away from the reader’s eyes and only then can they see the story clearly.
Hadji Murat, Tolstoy’s second book with the Caucasus as its setting can be considered a work of historical fiction that is a beautiful tale of resistance, and a window into not only the Caucasian War of the mid-nineteenth century, but also the culture of the Russian Empire during this period. As a work of fiction the reader must be wary of depictions of actual persons such as Tsar Nicholas I, whom Tolstoy was not enamored with, to say the least, but many insights about the period and its people can be gleaned from the story. The novel is one of great contrasts between Chechens and Russians and also of what life was like during this time.
Few authors can convey the raw emotion of world changing events in such a moving and simplistic fashion. Anna Ahkmatova is able to capture this through her almost tangible use of imagery. Her words can transport the reader through time, allowing them to feel the same pain and fear she survived in Russia during Stalin’s reign of terror. Ahkmatova’s writing is known for its abrupt changes in point of view, and quickly shifting stanzas. Her unique style and poetic form can be attributed to the emotional turmoil of the world changing events she and her nation suffered through; and her innate love for music, as found in Mussorgsky’s Russian Opera, Boris Godunov.
When comparing Chekov’s elements that construct a love story to those in Leigh Michaels’ “The Essential Elements of Writing a Romance Novel”, readers must make their own judgments with what little Chekov provides. Chekov accomplishes this task by portraying Anna's and Gurov's relationship through using a lens of representative true human behavior. Unlike a traditional romantic story, Chekov fails to provide the reader with a concrete answer to how or if the lover’s will endeavor. Furthermore, the expectations of the romantic hero and heroine are skewed when analyzing Gurov and Anna. Readers are forced use their own judgments to fill in the blanks that Chekov provides because of the vast uncertainty due to human nature in the short
Tolstoy wrote what is considered the greatest Russian literature – Anna Karenina and War and Peace. However, his writing shifted away from worldly concerns when he suffered from a midlife crisis, and
Our aim is to portrait the character of Dmitry Dmitrich Gurov, in the context of the story, extracting those elements that are characteristic of the period in which Chekhov wrote the story. True love is a reason for everything, even deleting the laws of life. People's mistakes and weaknesses are part of life and, without contradictions, the world would not have evolved.... ... middle of paper ...
Dostoyevsky's writing in this book is such that the characters and setting around the main subject, Raskolnikov, are used with powerful consequences. The setting is both symbolic and has a power that affects all whom reside there, most notably Raskolnikov. An effective Structure is also used to show changes to the plot's direction and Raskolnikov's character. To add to this, the author's word choice and imagery are often extremely descriptive, and enhance the impact at every stage of Raskolnikov's changing fortunes and character. All of these features aid in the portrayal of Raskolnikov's downfall and subsequent rise.
The ominous and tragic atmosphere infusing the consummation of their relationship gives a foresight into what is going to happen in the rest of this relationship which is ill-fated. Their love fails to give them the perfect happiness that they envisioned and therefore they begin blaming the social circumstances for their dissatisfaction. The social and familial disapproval that Vronsky encounters angers him. "They have no conception of what happiness is, and they do not know that without love there is no happiness or unhappiness for us, for there would be no life" (Tolstoy, 167). After the fulfilment of their initial desire for each other, they strive to satisfy another desire, a further one. They need to be set free from the need for dissembling and lies, "it was necessary to put an end to all this falsehood, and the sooner the better" (Tolstoy, 168). Vronsky puts it, "throw up everything and let us two conceal ourselves somewhere alone with our love" (Tolstoy, 168). The two lovers eventually achieve
Tolstoy immediately absorbs you into the novel by beginning with Ivan’s death. The actual death scene is saved until the end of the novel, but he shows you the reaction of some of Ivan’s colleagues as they hear the news of Ivan’s death. You are almost disgusted at the nonchalant manner that Ivan’s “friends” take his death. They are surprised by his death, but immediately think of how his death will affect their own lives, but more importantly, their careers. “The first though that occurred to each of the gentlemen in the office, learning of Ivan Ilyich’s death, was what effect it would have on their own transfers and promotions.” (pg 32) As a reader, you have to wonder how Ivan must have had to live in order for people close to him to feel no sadness towards the loss or even pity for his wife. In fact, these gentlemen are exactly like Ivan. The purpose of their lives was to gain as much power as possible with n...
Ivan has a strong disconnect with his family and begins feel like he is always suffering, while beginning to question if his life has been a lie. An example of this for prompt number three is when we are giving the quote "Ivan Ilych's life had been most simple and most ordinary and therefore most terrible." Leo Tolstoy implies through the quote that even though he lives an ordinary
Dostoevsky’s St. Petersburg is a large, uncaring city which fosters a western style of individualism. As Peter Lowe notes, “The city is crowded, but there is no communality in its crowds, no sense of being part of some greater ‘whole.’” Mrs. Raskolnikov initially notices a change in her son marked by his current state of desperate depression, but she fails to realize the full extent of these changes, even after he is convicted for the murder. The conditions and influences are also noticed by Raskolnikov’s mother who comments on the heat and the enclosed environment which is present throughout the city. When visiting Raskolnikov, she exclaims "I'm sure...
The period is the early 19th century; those involved and discussed in this essay are for the most part Russian gentry. Increasingly relaxed social mores in the “developed” world, including the greater freedom to choose to whom one gets married to as well as increased women’s sexual rights, were much more uncommon during the time that War and Peace takes place. Tolstoy, an outspoken critic of arranged marriages, uses the characters in his novel as a way of exploring the various types of love, and in general the interactions between men and women of the time. This essay will attempt to focus on these relationships in an effort to get a better idea of Tolstoy’s views on the proper roles that men and women should play as friends, lovers, or spouses. By exploring the male/female relationships among the noble families, a detailed picture of both the expectations and realms of acceptable behavior will be established.
Despite the criticism that Anna Karenina is actually two novels, Tolstoy insisted that it is one novel. Although certain characters hardly ever interact, they are still aware of each other and one’s actions have even the smallest influence on the other.
A. The Epic of Russian Literature. New York: Oxford University Press, 1950. 309-346. Tolstoy, Leo. "
These aristocrats, despite their high education and power, will do nothing to help win the war. They live like parasites on the body of Russia’s society. This is how Tolstoy describes this class in general, but he also depicts two representatives of this upper class, Andrew Bolkonsky and Pierre Bisuhov, who were the more intellectual ones, and whose lives and views of war and life changed as the result of the war. Andrew was interested in a military career, and wasn’t completely satisfied with the czar, while Pierre wasted his life on alcohol – his everyday activity.