- Are we totally free?
- Does free will determine historical events?
- Is our mind the cause of our lack of freedom?
- How are astrology and history alike?
- What is free will's relation to things like fate and inevitability?
Monday, July 18, 2016
Epilogue 2 RECAP
Tolstoy analyzes many philosophical theories and questions.
Epilogue 2, Chapters 9, 10, 11, 12
CHAPTER 9
The difference between necessity and freedom is touched on. The greater amount of time that passes between events gives less necessity to an issue, therefore more freedom. Also other factors like mans' relation to the external world and the relation between him and the causes leading up to the action determine his choices and freewill. The more vulnerable, the less freedom we have because then our actions are based on instinct.
Important Quotes
"In every action we examine we see a certain measure of freedom and a certain measure of inevitability. And always the more freedom we see in any action the less inevitability do we perceive, and the more inevitability the less freedom."
"A sinking man who clutches at another and drowns him; or a hungry mother exhausted by feeding her baby, who steals some food; or a man trained to discipline who on duty at the word of command kills a defenseless man—seem less guilty, that is, less free and more subject to the law of necessity"
"our conception of freedom and necessity is increased and diminished depend on three considerations:
(1) The relation to the external world of the man who commits the deeds.
(2) His relation to time.
(3) His relation to the causes leading to the action."
CHAPTER 10
Humans can't be totally free unless they live in a place where time and space doesn't interfere. We believe we are free and freedom becomes an explanation for that which we can't understand. Inevitability and freedom are vastly different and both exist within man, but to understand each concept, we must look at them differently. Reason says that we exist due to time, but consciousness says we exist to change time.
*Do our own minds hinder our total freedom?*
Important Quotes
"Can I lift my arm? I lift it, but ask myself: could I have abstained from lifting my arm at the moment that has already passed? To convince myself of this I do not lift it the next moment. But I am not now abstaining from doing so at the first moment when I asked the question."
"for as soon as there is no freedom there is also no man. And so the conception of the action of a man subject solely to the law of inevitability without any element of freedom is just as impossible as the conception of a man's completely free action."
"So also in history what is known to us we call laws of inevitability, what is unknown we call free will. Free will is for history only an expression for the unknown remainder of what we know about the laws of human life."
CHAPTER 11
If history is examined through free will, there would be no cause for history. History has yet to answer the questions of why certain events occur.
Important Quotes
"If any single action is due to free will, then not a single historical law can exist, nor any conception of historical events. For history, lines exist of the movement of human wills, one end of which is hidden in the unknown but at the other end of which a consciousness of man's will in the present moves in space, time, and dependence on cause. The more this field of motion spreads out before our eyes, the more evident are the laws of that movement. To discover and define those laws is the problem of history."
CHAPTER 12
Just like in astronomy which goes against religion, history's laws go against free will. We choose to recognize astronomy's laws like history's laws, therefore recognizing that we are not totally free and we depend on something that we cannot see.
Important Quotes
"The struggle between the old views and the new was long and stubbornly fought out in physical philosophy. Theology stood on guard for the old views and accused the new of violating revelation. But when truth conquered, theology established itself just as firmly on the new foundation.
Just as prolonged and stubborn is the struggle now proceeding between the old and the new conception of history, and theology in the same way stands on guard for the old view, and accuses the new view of subverting revelation"
"But as in astronomy the new view said: "It is true that we do not feel the movement of the earth, but by admitting its immobility we arrive at absurdity, while by admitting its motion (which we do not feel) we arrive at laws," so also in history the new view says: "It is true that we are not conscious of our dependence, but by admitting our free will we arrive at absurdity, while by admitting our dependence on the external world, on time, and on cause, we arrive at laws."
The difference between necessity and freedom is touched on. The greater amount of time that passes between events gives less necessity to an issue, therefore more freedom. Also other factors like mans' relation to the external world and the relation between him and the causes leading up to the action determine his choices and freewill. The more vulnerable, the less freedom we have because then our actions are based on instinct.
Important Quotes
"In every action we examine we see a certain measure of freedom and a certain measure of inevitability. And always the more freedom we see in any action the less inevitability do we perceive, and the more inevitability the less freedom."
"A sinking man who clutches at another and drowns him; or a hungry mother exhausted by feeding her baby, who steals some food; or a man trained to discipline who on duty at the word of command kills a defenseless man—seem less guilty, that is, less free and more subject to the law of necessity"
"our conception of freedom and necessity is increased and diminished depend on three considerations:
(1) The relation to the external world of the man who commits the deeds.
(2) His relation to time.
(3) His relation to the causes leading to the action."
CHAPTER 10
Humans can't be totally free unless they live in a place where time and space doesn't interfere. We believe we are free and freedom becomes an explanation for that which we can't understand. Inevitability and freedom are vastly different and both exist within man, but to understand each concept, we must look at them differently. Reason says that we exist due to time, but consciousness says we exist to change time.
*Do our own minds hinder our total freedom?*
Important Quotes
"Can I lift my arm? I lift it, but ask myself: could I have abstained from lifting my arm at the moment that has already passed? To convince myself of this I do not lift it the next moment. But I am not now abstaining from doing so at the first moment when I asked the question."
"for as soon as there is no freedom there is also no man. And so the conception of the action of a man subject solely to the law of inevitability without any element of freedom is just as impossible as the conception of a man's completely free action."
"So also in history what is known to us we call laws of inevitability, what is unknown we call free will. Free will is for history only an expression for the unknown remainder of what we know about the laws of human life."
CHAPTER 11
If history is examined through free will, there would be no cause for history. History has yet to answer the questions of why certain events occur.
Important Quotes
"If any single action is due to free will, then not a single historical law can exist, nor any conception of historical events. For history, lines exist of the movement of human wills, one end of which is hidden in the unknown but at the other end of which a consciousness of man's will in the present moves in space, time, and dependence on cause. The more this field of motion spreads out before our eyes, the more evident are the laws of that movement. To discover and define those laws is the problem of history."
CHAPTER 12
Just like in astronomy which goes against religion, history's laws go against free will. We choose to recognize astronomy's laws like history's laws, therefore recognizing that we are not totally free and we depend on something that we cannot see.
Important Quotes
"The struggle between the old views and the new was long and stubbornly fought out in physical philosophy. Theology stood on guard for the old views and accused the new of violating revelation. But when truth conquered, theology established itself just as firmly on the new foundation.
Just as prolonged and stubborn is the struggle now proceeding between the old and the new conception of history, and theology in the same way stands on guard for the old view, and accuses the new view of subverting revelation"
"But as in astronomy the new view said: "It is true that we do not feel the movement of the earth, but by admitting its immobility we arrive at absurdity, while by admitting its motion (which we do not feel) we arrive at laws," so also in history the new view says: "It is true that we are not conscious of our dependence, but by admitting our free will we arrive at absurdity, while by admitting our dependence on the external world, on time, and on cause, we arrive at laws."
Friday, July 15, 2016
Epilogue 2, Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
CHAPTER 1
Tolstoy describes the differences between modern and ancient history and historical views. Ancient history was more based on a deity reining over the people in history, leading them to do what they did. Modern history deals with fact and explanation through sequence.
Important Quotes
"how did individuals make nations act as they wished and by what was the will of these individuals themselves guided? the ancients met by recognizing a divinity which subjected the nations to the will of a chosen man, and guided the will of that chosen man so as to accomplish ends that were predestined."
"Instead of men endowed with divine authority and directly guided by the will of God, modern history has given us either heroes endowed with extraordinary, superhuman capacities, or simply men of very various kinds, from monarchs to journalists, who lead the masses."
"If history had retained the conception of the ancients it would have said that God, to reward or punish his people, gave Napoleon power and directed his will to the fulfillment of the divine ends, and that reply would have been clear and complete. One might believe or disbelieve in the divine significance of Napoleon, but for anyone believing in it there would have been nothing unintelligible in the history of that period, nor would there have been any contradictions.
But modern history cannot give that reply. Science does not admit the conception of the ancients as to the direct participation of the Deity in human affairs, and therefore history ought to give other answers."
CHAPTER 2
Tolstoy continues the explain the differences among historians.
Important Quotes
"As soon as historians of different nationalities and tendencies begin to describe the same event, the replies they give immediately lose all meaning, for this force is understood by them all not only differently but often in quite contradictory ways."
"the historians of culture involuntarily contradict themselves, and show that the new force they have devised does not account for what happens in history, and that history can only be explained by introducing a power which they apparently do not recognize."
CHAPTER 3
The explanation of universal and cultural histories continues.
Important Quotes
"A locomotive is moving. Someone asks: "What moves it?" A peasant says the devil moves it. Another man says the locomotive moves because its wheels go round. A third asserts that the cause of its movement lies in the smoke which the wind carries away."
" Some see it as a force directly inherent in heroes, as the peasant sees the devil in the locomotive; others as a force resulting from several other forces, like the movement of the wheels; others again as an intellectual influence, like the smoke that is blown away."
" The writers of universal histories and of the history of culture are like people who, recognizing the defects of paper money, decide to substitute for it money made of metal that has not the specific gravity of gold."
CHAPTER 4
Tolstoy continues to explain history.
Important Quotes
"This reply is quite satisfactory if we believe that the power was given him by God. But as soon as we do not admit that, it becomes essential to determine what is this power of one man over others. "
CHAPTER 5
The question of what power is is brought up again.
Important Quotes
"If the realm of human knowledge were confined to abstract reasoning, then having subjected to criticism the explanation of "power" that juridical science gives us, humanity would conclude that power is merely a word and has no real existence. But to understand phenomena man has, besides abstract reasoning, experience by which he verifies his reflections. And experience tells us that power is not merely a word but an actually existing phenomenon. "
"On the one side reflection shows that the expression of a man's will—his words—are only part of the general activity expressed in an event, as for instance in a war or a revolution, and so without assuming an incomprehensible, supernatural force—a miracle—one cannot admit that words can be the immediate cause of the movements of millions of men"
CHAPTER 6
Those who are at the top have more power. But it is power along with circumstance that allows events to unfold as they do.
Important Quotes
"Only the expression of the will of the Deity, not dependent on time, can relate to a whole series of events occurring over a period of years or centuries, and only the Deity, independent of everything, can by His sole will determine the direction of humanity's movement; but man acts in time and himself takes part in what occurs."
"So that examining the relation in time of the commands to the events, we find that a command can never be the cause of the event, but that a certain definite dependence exists between the two."
"the contiguous sections of a cone and of the ranks of an army, or the ranks and positions in any administrative or public business whatever from the lowest to the highest, we see a law by which men, to take associated action, combine in such relations that the more directly they participate in performing the action the less they can command and the more numerous they are, while the less their direct participation in the action itself, the more they command and the fewer of them there are; rising in this way from the lowest ranks to the man at the top, who takes the least direct share in the action and directs his activity chiefly to commanding. This relation of the men who command to those they command is what constitutes the essence of the conception called power."
CHAPTER 7
Tolstoy answers the questions of what is power and what force produces movements in history.
Important Quotes
"Whatever happens it always appears that just that event was foreseen and decreed. Wherever the ship may go, the rush of water which neither directs nor increases its movement foams ahead of it, and at a distance seems to us not merely to move of itself but to govern the ship's movement also."
"(1)What is power? (2) What force produces the movement of the nations?
(1) Power is the relation of a given person to other individuals, in which the more this person expresses opinions, predictions, and justifications of the collective action that is performed, the less is his participation in that action.
(2) The movement of nations is caused not by power, nor by intellectual activity, nor even by a combination of the two as historians have supposed, but by the activity of all the people who participate in the events, and who always combine in such a way that those taking the largest direct share in the event take on themselves the least responsibility and vice versa."
"Speaking of the interaction of heat and electricity and of atoms, we cannot say why this occurs, and we say that it is so because it is inconceivable otherwise, because it must be so and that it is a law. The same applies to historical events. Why war and revolution occur we do not know. We only know that to produce the one or the other action, people combine in a certain formation in which they all take part, and we say that this is so because it is unthinkable otherwise, or in other words that it is a law."
CHAPTER 8
Do men have free will? If so, why do we abide by certain laws? Our bodies seem to have free wills because we do what we please with them, but they are controlled by the nervous system which we have no control over. Are we created by God or descendants of apes?
Important Quotes
"But the law of history relates to man. A particle of matter cannot tell us that it does not feel the law of attraction or repulsion and that that law is untrue, but man, who is the subject of history, says plainly: I am free and am therefore not subject to the law."
" If the will of every man were free, that is, if each man could act as he pleased, all history would be a series of disconnected incidents."
Tolstoy describes the differences between modern and ancient history and historical views. Ancient history was more based on a deity reining over the people in history, leading them to do what they did. Modern history deals with fact and explanation through sequence.
Important Quotes
"how did individuals make nations act as they wished and by what was the will of these individuals themselves guided? the ancients met by recognizing a divinity which subjected the nations to the will of a chosen man, and guided the will of that chosen man so as to accomplish ends that were predestined."
"Instead of men endowed with divine authority and directly guided by the will of God, modern history has given us either heroes endowed with extraordinary, superhuman capacities, or simply men of very various kinds, from monarchs to journalists, who lead the masses."
"If history had retained the conception of the ancients it would have said that God, to reward or punish his people, gave Napoleon power and directed his will to the fulfillment of the divine ends, and that reply would have been clear and complete. One might believe or disbelieve in the divine significance of Napoleon, but for anyone believing in it there would have been nothing unintelligible in the history of that period, nor would there have been any contradictions.
But modern history cannot give that reply. Science does not admit the conception of the ancients as to the direct participation of the Deity in human affairs, and therefore history ought to give other answers."
CHAPTER 2
Tolstoy continues the explain the differences among historians.
Important Quotes
"As soon as historians of different nationalities and tendencies begin to describe the same event, the replies they give immediately lose all meaning, for this force is understood by them all not only differently but often in quite contradictory ways."
"the historians of culture involuntarily contradict themselves, and show that the new force they have devised does not account for what happens in history, and that history can only be explained by introducing a power which they apparently do not recognize."
CHAPTER 3
The explanation of universal and cultural histories continues.
Important Quotes
"A locomotive is moving. Someone asks: "What moves it?" A peasant says the devil moves it. Another man says the locomotive moves because its wheels go round. A third asserts that the cause of its movement lies in the smoke which the wind carries away."
" Some see it as a force directly inherent in heroes, as the peasant sees the devil in the locomotive; others as a force resulting from several other forces, like the movement of the wheels; others again as an intellectual influence, like the smoke that is blown away."
" The writers of universal histories and of the history of culture are like people who, recognizing the defects of paper money, decide to substitute for it money made of metal that has not the specific gravity of gold."
CHAPTER 4
Tolstoy continues to explain history.
Important Quotes
"This reply is quite satisfactory if we believe that the power was given him by God. But as soon as we do not admit that, it becomes essential to determine what is this power of one man over others. "
CHAPTER 5
The question of what power is is brought up again.
Important Quotes
"If the realm of human knowledge were confined to abstract reasoning, then having subjected to criticism the explanation of "power" that juridical science gives us, humanity would conclude that power is merely a word and has no real existence. But to understand phenomena man has, besides abstract reasoning, experience by which he verifies his reflections. And experience tells us that power is not merely a word but an actually existing phenomenon. "
"On the one side reflection shows that the expression of a man's will—his words—are only part of the general activity expressed in an event, as for instance in a war or a revolution, and so without assuming an incomprehensible, supernatural force—a miracle—one cannot admit that words can be the immediate cause of the movements of millions of men"
CHAPTER 6
Those who are at the top have more power. But it is power along with circumstance that allows events to unfold as they do.
Important Quotes
"Only the expression of the will of the Deity, not dependent on time, can relate to a whole series of events occurring over a period of years or centuries, and only the Deity, independent of everything, can by His sole will determine the direction of humanity's movement; but man acts in time and himself takes part in what occurs."
"So that examining the relation in time of the commands to the events, we find that a command can never be the cause of the event, but that a certain definite dependence exists between the two."
"the contiguous sections of a cone and of the ranks of an army, or the ranks and positions in any administrative or public business whatever from the lowest to the highest, we see a law by which men, to take associated action, combine in such relations that the more directly they participate in performing the action the less they can command and the more numerous they are, while the less their direct participation in the action itself, the more they command and the fewer of them there are; rising in this way from the lowest ranks to the man at the top, who takes the least direct share in the action and directs his activity chiefly to commanding. This relation of the men who command to those they command is what constitutes the essence of the conception called power."
CHAPTER 7
Tolstoy answers the questions of what is power and what force produces movements in history.
Important Quotes
"Whatever happens it always appears that just that event was foreseen and decreed. Wherever the ship may go, the rush of water which neither directs nor increases its movement foams ahead of it, and at a distance seems to us not merely to move of itself but to govern the ship's movement also."
"(1)What is power? (2) What force produces the movement of the nations?
(1) Power is the relation of a given person to other individuals, in which the more this person expresses opinions, predictions, and justifications of the collective action that is performed, the less is his participation in that action.
(2) The movement of nations is caused not by power, nor by intellectual activity, nor even by a combination of the two as historians have supposed, but by the activity of all the people who participate in the events, and who always combine in such a way that those taking the largest direct share in the event take on themselves the least responsibility and vice versa."
"Speaking of the interaction of heat and electricity and of atoms, we cannot say why this occurs, and we say that it is so because it is inconceivable otherwise, because it must be so and that it is a law. The same applies to historical events. Why war and revolution occur we do not know. We only know that to produce the one or the other action, people combine in a certain formation in which they all take part, and we say that this is so because it is unthinkable otherwise, or in other words that it is a law."
CHAPTER 8
Do men have free will? If so, why do we abide by certain laws? Our bodies seem to have free wills because we do what we please with them, but they are controlled by the nervous system which we have no control over. Are we created by God or descendants of apes?
Important Quotes
"But the law of history relates to man. A particle of matter cannot tell us that it does not feel the law of attraction or repulsion and that that law is untrue, but man, who is the subject of history, says plainly: I am free and am therefore not subject to the law."
" If the will of every man were free, that is, if each man could act as he pleased, all history would be a series of disconnected incidents."
Wednesday, July 13, 2016
RECAP of Epilogue 1
Important Parts:
- Natasha: has outgrown her youthfulness and is now a changed, aged woman. She lives only for Pierre, her husband, and her family. She has lost her sense of self and her spirit.
- Pierre: Has become a respected figure, but disagrees with Nicholas Rostov on government issues. Pierre wants to revolt against a government he's dissatisfied with.
- Nicholas: Has grown cold towards little Nicholas (who is not his own son) and only cares about farming and interacting with the serfs.
- Mary: One of the smartest women in the book--she is revered by Nicholas and may even be smarter than him (at least spiritually)
- Little Nicholas: He is as Pierre was at the beginning. He has no parents and people don't appreciate of love him like they should. He sees Pierre as a father figure, replacing Andrew. He will probably end up growing up like Pierre (The cycle of life continues).
- Countess Rostova: She has grown so old that nobody cares for her anymore. Her grandchildren avoid her and she longs to die.
Epilogue 1, Chapters 12, 13, 14, 15, 16
CHAPTER 12
When Pierre comes back, everyone's mood changes and becomes merrier. Pierre has noticed changes in Natasha and sees how the once youthful girl he loved is more materialistic and washed-out. Little Nicholas tries remembering Andrew, his dad, but cannot remember him clearly or without contempt. Pierre becomes his new father figure. The Countess has been forgotten as she ages and becomes irritable. No one understands her and she wishes to die. Her kids only care for her out of pity and her grandchildren avoid her.
Important Quotes
"The servants—the most reliable judges of their masters because they judge not by their conversation or expressions of feeling but by their acts and way of life—were glad of Pierre's return because they knew that when he was there Count Nicholas would cease going every day to attend to the estate, and would be in better spirits and temper, and also because they would all receive handsome presents for the holidays."
"[Little Nicholas], who was only just beginning to guess what love is, derived the notion that his father had loved Natasha and when dying had left her to his friend. But the father whom the boy did not remember appeared to him a divinity who could not be pictured, and of whom he never thought without a swelling heart and tears of sadness and rapture."
Countess: "After the deaths of her son and husband in such rapid succession, she felt herself a being accidentally forgotten in this world and left without aim or object for her existence. She ate, drank, slept, or kept awake, but did not live. Life gave her no new impressions. She wanted nothing from life but tranquillity, and that tranquillity only death could give her."
CHAPTER 13
The adults sit with the Countess as Pierre tells her of his travels in Petersburg. He simplifies all his stories and sticks to talking about trivial matters for her to understand.
Important Quotes
" Though Pierre, Natasha, Nicholas, Countess Mary, and Denisov had much to talk about that they could not discuss before the old countess—not that anything was hidden from her, but because she had dropped so far behindhand in many things that had they begun to converse in her presence they would have had to answer inopportune questions and to repeat what they had already told her many times"
CHAPTER 14
The men go talk about government matters in another room and little Nicholas follows. Pierre thinks that there is no order in the government and that riots will begin soon and that Alexander is not even interested in saving his own country. Nicholas thinks otherwise and believes in serving the government to ones' best ability. Little Nicholas is confused as to which side to choose and asks Pierre what side his father, Andrew, would've been on.
Important Quotes
"Natasha, who had come in during the conversation, looked joyfully at her husband. It was not what he was saying that pleased her—that did not even interest her, for it seemed to her that was all extremely simple and that she had known it a long time (it seemed so to her because she knew that it sprang from Pierre's whole soul), but it was his animated and enthusiastic appearance that made her glad."
Nicholas (to Pierre): "'You are my best friend, as you know, but if you formed a secret society and began working against the government—be it what it may—I know it is my duty to obey the government. And if Arakcheev ordered me to lead a squadron against you and cut you down, I should not hesitate an instant, but should do it.' And you may argue about that as you like!"
Little Nicholas: "Uncle Pierre, you... no... If Papa were alive... would he agree with you?" he asked.
And Pierre suddenly realized what a special, independent, complex, and powerful process of thought and feeling must have been going on in this boy during that conversation, and remembering all he had said he regretted that the lad should have heard him. He had, however, to give him an answer.
Pierre: "Yes, I think so"
CHAPTER 15
Nicholas talks to Mary about how absurd he thinks Pierre is for wanting to revolt against to government. Mary shows him her diary where she writes all the seemingly insignificant things about their children and he admires her for it. He values her spirituality and composure. They also speak of little Nicholas and Mary just cannot seem to love him like her own kids. Nicholas also isn't too fond of the boy, although he pretends he is.
*Little Nicholas is just as Pierre was at the beginning of the book--alone and not well liked. He has taken an interest in Pierre which is ironic since they are both almost the same person*
Important Quotes
"Nicholas put down the book and looked at his wife. The radiant eyes gazed at him questioningly: would he approve or disapprove of her diary? There could be no doubt not only of his approval but also of his admiration for his wife."
"[Nicholas] was proud of [Mary's] intelligence and goodness, recognized his own insignificance beside her in the spiritual world, and rejoiced all the more that she with such a soul not only belonged to him but was part of himself."
Nicholas: "We began disputing—Pierre and I—and I lost my temper. But he is impossible: such a child! I don't know what would become of him if Natasha didn't keep him in hand"
Mary (about Nicholas): "She felt a submissive tender love for this man who would never understand all that she understood, and this seemed to make her love for him still stronger and added a touch of passionate tenderness."
Mary: "while thinking of her nephew she thought also of her own children. She did not compare them with him, but compared her feeling for them with her feeling for him, and felt with regret that there was something lacking in her feeling for young Nicholas."
CHAPTER 16
Pierre talks to Natasha about how complacent Nicholas is. Meanwhile, little Nicholas dreams of Pierre who morphs into his father in the dream. Nicholas seems to be the villain in the dream and, when he wakes up, he vows to do something grand in life to impress his dead father and Pierre.
Important Quotes
"In saying this Natasha was sincere in acknowledging Mary's superiority, but at the same time by saying it she made a demand on Pierre that he should, all the same, prefer her to Mary and to all other women"
Pierre: "I only wished to say that ideas that have great results are always simple ones. My whole idea is that if vicious people are united and constitute a power, then honest folk must do the same. Now that's simple enough."
Little Nicholas: "But Uncle Pierre! Oh, what a wonderful man he is! And my father? Oh, Father, Father! Yes, I will do something with which even he would be satisfied...."
When Pierre comes back, everyone's mood changes and becomes merrier. Pierre has noticed changes in Natasha and sees how the once youthful girl he loved is more materialistic and washed-out. Little Nicholas tries remembering Andrew, his dad, but cannot remember him clearly or without contempt. Pierre becomes his new father figure. The Countess has been forgotten as she ages and becomes irritable. No one understands her and she wishes to die. Her kids only care for her out of pity and her grandchildren avoid her.
Important Quotes
"The servants—the most reliable judges of their masters because they judge not by their conversation or expressions of feeling but by their acts and way of life—were glad of Pierre's return because they knew that when he was there Count Nicholas would cease going every day to attend to the estate, and would be in better spirits and temper, and also because they would all receive handsome presents for the holidays."
"[Little Nicholas], who was only just beginning to guess what love is, derived the notion that his father had loved Natasha and when dying had left her to his friend. But the father whom the boy did not remember appeared to him a divinity who could not be pictured, and of whom he never thought without a swelling heart and tears of sadness and rapture."
Countess: "After the deaths of her son and husband in such rapid succession, she felt herself a being accidentally forgotten in this world and left without aim or object for her existence. She ate, drank, slept, or kept awake, but did not live. Life gave her no new impressions. She wanted nothing from life but tranquillity, and that tranquillity only death could give her."
CHAPTER 13
The adults sit with the Countess as Pierre tells her of his travels in Petersburg. He simplifies all his stories and sticks to talking about trivial matters for her to understand.
Important Quotes
" Though Pierre, Natasha, Nicholas, Countess Mary, and Denisov had much to talk about that they could not discuss before the old countess—not that anything was hidden from her, but because she had dropped so far behindhand in many things that had they begun to converse in her presence they would have had to answer inopportune questions and to repeat what they had already told her many times"
CHAPTER 14
The men go talk about government matters in another room and little Nicholas follows. Pierre thinks that there is no order in the government and that riots will begin soon and that Alexander is not even interested in saving his own country. Nicholas thinks otherwise and believes in serving the government to ones' best ability. Little Nicholas is confused as to which side to choose and asks Pierre what side his father, Andrew, would've been on.
Important Quotes
"Natasha, who had come in during the conversation, looked joyfully at her husband. It was not what he was saying that pleased her—that did not even interest her, for it seemed to her that was all extremely simple and that she had known it a long time (it seemed so to her because she knew that it sprang from Pierre's whole soul), but it was his animated and enthusiastic appearance that made her glad."
Nicholas (to Pierre): "'You are my best friend, as you know, but if you formed a secret society and began working against the government—be it what it may—I know it is my duty to obey the government. And if Arakcheev ordered me to lead a squadron against you and cut you down, I should not hesitate an instant, but should do it.' And you may argue about that as you like!"
Little Nicholas: "Uncle Pierre, you... no... If Papa were alive... would he agree with you?" he asked.
And Pierre suddenly realized what a special, independent, complex, and powerful process of thought and feeling must have been going on in this boy during that conversation, and remembering all he had said he regretted that the lad should have heard him. He had, however, to give him an answer.
Pierre: "Yes, I think so"
CHAPTER 15
Nicholas talks to Mary about how absurd he thinks Pierre is for wanting to revolt against to government. Mary shows him her diary where she writes all the seemingly insignificant things about their children and he admires her for it. He values her spirituality and composure. They also speak of little Nicholas and Mary just cannot seem to love him like her own kids. Nicholas also isn't too fond of the boy, although he pretends he is.
*Little Nicholas is just as Pierre was at the beginning of the book--alone and not well liked. He has taken an interest in Pierre which is ironic since they are both almost the same person*
Important Quotes
"Nicholas put down the book and looked at his wife. The radiant eyes gazed at him questioningly: would he approve or disapprove of her diary? There could be no doubt not only of his approval but also of his admiration for his wife."
"[Nicholas] was proud of [Mary's] intelligence and goodness, recognized his own insignificance beside her in the spiritual world, and rejoiced all the more that she with such a soul not only belonged to him but was part of himself."
Nicholas: "We began disputing—Pierre and I—and I lost my temper. But he is impossible: such a child! I don't know what would become of him if Natasha didn't keep him in hand"
Mary (about Nicholas): "She felt a submissive tender love for this man who would never understand all that she understood, and this seemed to make her love for him still stronger and added a touch of passionate tenderness."
Mary: "while thinking of her nephew she thought also of her own children. She did not compare them with him, but compared her feeling for them with her feeling for him, and felt with regret that there was something lacking in her feeling for young Nicholas."
CHAPTER 16
Pierre talks to Natasha about how complacent Nicholas is. Meanwhile, little Nicholas dreams of Pierre who morphs into his father in the dream. Nicholas seems to be the villain in the dream and, when he wakes up, he vows to do something grand in life to impress his dead father and Pierre.
Important Quotes
"In saying this Natasha was sincere in acknowledging Mary's superiority, but at the same time by saying it she made a demand on Pierre that he should, all the same, prefer her to Mary and to all other women"
Pierre: "I only wished to say that ideas that have great results are always simple ones. My whole idea is that if vicious people are united and constitute a power, then honest folk must do the same. Now that's simple enough."
Little Nicholas: "But Uncle Pierre! Oh, what a wonderful man he is! And my father? Oh, Father, Father! Yes, I will do something with which even he would be satisfied...."
Tuesday, July 12, 2016
Epilogue 1, Chapters 7, 8, 9, 10, 11
CHAPTER 7
Nicholas and Mary get married in 1813. Nicholas takes up farming when they all move to Bald Hills and takes care of the working serfs. He becomes their leader and loves dealing with the land and the peasants which Mary doesn't understand. He is very possessive of his new hobby and gets mad when Mary interferes.
Important Quotes
Nicholas: "At first he watched the serfs, trying to understand their aims and what they considered good and bad, and only pretended to direct them and give orders while in reality learning from them their methods, their manner of speech, and their judgment of what was good and bad."
"Countess Mary was jealous of this passion of her husband's and regretted that she could not share it; but she could not understand the joys and vexations he derived from that world, to her so remote and alien. She could not understand why he was so particularly animated and happy when, after getting up at daybreak and spending the whole morning in the fields or on the threshing floor, he returned from the sowing or mowing or reaping to have tea with her."
Nicholas: "fairness, of course," he added, "for if the peasant is naked and hungry and has only one miserable horse, he can do no good either for himself or for me." And all Nicholas did was fruitful—probably just because he refused to allow himself to think that he was doing good to others for virtue's sake."
CHAPTER 8
Nicholas talks to Mary about his anger issues. He breaks the ring on his finger from clenching his fists out of anger. Non of the people in his class like him because he spends so much time on his own farming and with the peasants. Nicholas also tells Mary of his and Sonya's past love and Mary feels guilty and jealous. Natasha tells her to forget the past and that Sonya has just been dealt the losing card in this life.
Important Quotes
"The looks of the plain Countess Mary always improved when she was in tears. She never cried from pain or vexation, but always from sorrow or pity, and when she wept her radiant eyes acquired an irresistible charm."
"Among the gentry of the province Nicholas was respected but not liked. He did not concern himself with the interests of his own class, and consequently some thought him proud and others thought him stupid."
Mary: " She thoroughly realized the wrong he had done Sonya, felt herself to blame toward her, and imagined that her wealth had influenced Nicholas' choice. She could not find fault with Sonya in any way and tried to be fond of her, but often felt ill-will toward her which she could not overcome."
Natasha (about Sonya): "''To him that hath shall be given, and from him that hath not shall be taken away.' You remember? She is one that hath not; why, I don't know. Perhaps she lacks egotism, I don't know, but from her is taken away, and everything has been taken away. Sometimes I am dreadfully sorry for her. Formerly I very much wanted Nicholas to marry her, but I always had a sort of presentiment that it would not come off. She is a sterile flower, you know"
CHAPTER 9
It is Nicholas' name day and the whole family has arrived. Mary senses that he's cross with her at dinner since he is happy with everyone else except her. She mentions that this always happens when she's pregnant. Later that night, Mary and her children, little Andrew and Natasha, sneak up to see Nicholas. She feels that she's not beautiful or exciting enough for him. He tells her that he's not mad as he romps around the room with Natasha, his favorite child.
Important Quotes
Nicholas to Mary: "You always have such strange fancies! I didn't even think of being angry," he replied. But the word always seemed to her to imply: "Yes, I am angry but I won't tell you why." Nicholas and his wife lived together so happily that even Sonya and the old countess, who felt jealous and would have liked them to disagree"
"That's always the way," thought Countess Mary. "He talks to everyone except me. I see... I see that I am repulsive to him, especially when I am in this condition." She looked down at her expanded figure and in the glass at her pale, sallow, emaciated face in which her eyes now looked larger than ever. "
Nicholas to Mary: "It is not beauty that endears, it's love that makes us see beauty. It is only Malvinas and women of that kind who are loved for their beauty. But do I love my wife? I don't love her, but... I don't know how to put it. Without you, or when something comes between us like this, I seem lost and can't do anything. Now do I love my finger? I don't love it, but just try to cut it off!"
Mary: "I should never, never have believed that one could be so happy," she whispered to herself. A smile lit up her face but at the same time she sighed, and her deep eyes expressed a quiet sadness as though she felt, through her happiness, that there is another sort of happiness unattainable in this life and of which she involuntarily thought at that instant."
CHAPTER 10
Pierre and Natasha are happily married with four kids. Natasha has lost all her charm of youth and does not go out in public much. She devoted her whole life to her family. She also sets up strict rules for Pierre to follow in the marriage which he agrees to happily. She makes up for it by becoming his slave whenever he's home. The woman's movement is on the rise, but Natasha refuses it and does not comprehend it (except that she starts nursing her children rather than hiring a wet nurse).
Important Quotes
Natasha: "Now her face and body were often all that one saw, and her soul was not visible at all. All that struck the eye was a strong, handsome, and fertile woman"
"Natasha did not follow the golden rule advocated by clever folk, especially by the French, which says that a girl should not let herself go when she marries, should not neglect her accomplishments, should be even more careful of her appearance than when she was unmarried, and should fascinate her husband as much as she did before he became her husband. Natásha on the contrary had at once abandoned all her witchery"
"Pierre's subjection consisted in the fact that he not only dared not flirt with, but dared not even speak smilingly to, any other woman; did not dare dine at the club as a pastime, did not dare spend money on a whim, and did not dare absent himself for any length of time, except on business—in which his wife included his intellectual pursuits, which she did not in the least understand but to which she attributed great importance. To make up for this, at home Pierre had the right to regulate his life and that of the whole family exactly as he chose. At home Natasha placed herself in the position of a slave to her husband"
"After seven years of marriage Pierre had the joyous and firm consciousness that he was not a bad man, and he felt this because he saw himself reflected in his wife. He felt the good and bad within himself inextricably mingled and overlapping. But only what was really good in him was reflected in his wife, all that was not quite good was rejected. And this was not the result of logical reasoning but was a direct and mysterious reflection."
CHAPTER 11
Natasha worries tremendously when Pierre does not come home quickly after his conference in Petersburg. She worries so much that, to distract herself, she overfeeds her baby, Petya, until he's sick. She finds joy in caring for him, though. Pierre finally arrives and Natasha's old, happy self is restored.
*Natasha is really incomplete without her family and Pierre and has changed so much since the beginning. Her spirit is her family and she has no sense of identity without them.*
Important Quotes
"During that fortnight of anxiety Natasha resorted to the baby for comfort so often, and fussed over him so much, that she overfed him and he fell ill. She was terrified by his illness, and yet that was just what she needed. While attending to him she bore the anxiety about her husband more easily."
Nicholas and Mary get married in 1813. Nicholas takes up farming when they all move to Bald Hills and takes care of the working serfs. He becomes their leader and loves dealing with the land and the peasants which Mary doesn't understand. He is very possessive of his new hobby and gets mad when Mary interferes.
Important Quotes
Nicholas: "At first he watched the serfs, trying to understand their aims and what they considered good and bad, and only pretended to direct them and give orders while in reality learning from them their methods, their manner of speech, and their judgment of what was good and bad."
"Countess Mary was jealous of this passion of her husband's and regretted that she could not share it; but she could not understand the joys and vexations he derived from that world, to her so remote and alien. She could not understand why he was so particularly animated and happy when, after getting up at daybreak and spending the whole morning in the fields or on the threshing floor, he returned from the sowing or mowing or reaping to have tea with her."
Nicholas: "fairness, of course," he added, "for if the peasant is naked and hungry and has only one miserable horse, he can do no good either for himself or for me." And all Nicholas did was fruitful—probably just because he refused to allow himself to think that he was doing good to others for virtue's sake."
CHAPTER 8
Nicholas talks to Mary about his anger issues. He breaks the ring on his finger from clenching his fists out of anger. Non of the people in his class like him because he spends so much time on his own farming and with the peasants. Nicholas also tells Mary of his and Sonya's past love and Mary feels guilty and jealous. Natasha tells her to forget the past and that Sonya has just been dealt the losing card in this life.
Important Quotes
"The looks of the plain Countess Mary always improved when she was in tears. She never cried from pain or vexation, but always from sorrow or pity, and when she wept her radiant eyes acquired an irresistible charm."
"Among the gentry of the province Nicholas was respected but not liked. He did not concern himself with the interests of his own class, and consequently some thought him proud and others thought him stupid."
Mary: " She thoroughly realized the wrong he had done Sonya, felt herself to blame toward her, and imagined that her wealth had influenced Nicholas' choice. She could not find fault with Sonya in any way and tried to be fond of her, but often felt ill-will toward her which she could not overcome."
Natasha (about Sonya): "''To him that hath shall be given, and from him that hath not shall be taken away.' You remember? She is one that hath not; why, I don't know. Perhaps she lacks egotism, I don't know, but from her is taken away, and everything has been taken away. Sometimes I am dreadfully sorry for her. Formerly I very much wanted Nicholas to marry her, but I always had a sort of presentiment that it would not come off. She is a sterile flower, you know"
CHAPTER 9
It is Nicholas' name day and the whole family has arrived. Mary senses that he's cross with her at dinner since he is happy with everyone else except her. She mentions that this always happens when she's pregnant. Later that night, Mary and her children, little Andrew and Natasha, sneak up to see Nicholas. She feels that she's not beautiful or exciting enough for him. He tells her that he's not mad as he romps around the room with Natasha, his favorite child.
Important Quotes
Nicholas to Mary: "You always have such strange fancies! I didn't even think of being angry," he replied. But the word always seemed to her to imply: "Yes, I am angry but I won't tell you why." Nicholas and his wife lived together so happily that even Sonya and the old countess, who felt jealous and would have liked them to disagree"
"That's always the way," thought Countess Mary. "He talks to everyone except me. I see... I see that I am repulsive to him, especially when I am in this condition." She looked down at her expanded figure and in the glass at her pale, sallow, emaciated face in which her eyes now looked larger than ever. "
Nicholas to Mary: "It is not beauty that endears, it's love that makes us see beauty. It is only Malvinas and women of that kind who are loved for their beauty. But do I love my wife? I don't love her, but... I don't know how to put it. Without you, or when something comes between us like this, I seem lost and can't do anything. Now do I love my finger? I don't love it, but just try to cut it off!"
Mary: "I should never, never have believed that one could be so happy," she whispered to herself. A smile lit up her face but at the same time she sighed, and her deep eyes expressed a quiet sadness as though she felt, through her happiness, that there is another sort of happiness unattainable in this life and of which she involuntarily thought at that instant."
CHAPTER 10
Pierre and Natasha are happily married with four kids. Natasha has lost all her charm of youth and does not go out in public much. She devoted her whole life to her family. She also sets up strict rules for Pierre to follow in the marriage which he agrees to happily. She makes up for it by becoming his slave whenever he's home. The woman's movement is on the rise, but Natasha refuses it and does not comprehend it (except that she starts nursing her children rather than hiring a wet nurse).
Important Quotes
Natasha: "Now her face and body were often all that one saw, and her soul was not visible at all. All that struck the eye was a strong, handsome, and fertile woman"
"Natasha did not follow the golden rule advocated by clever folk, especially by the French, which says that a girl should not let herself go when she marries, should not neglect her accomplishments, should be even more careful of her appearance than when she was unmarried, and should fascinate her husband as much as she did before he became her husband. Natásha on the contrary had at once abandoned all her witchery"
"Pierre's subjection consisted in the fact that he not only dared not flirt with, but dared not even speak smilingly to, any other woman; did not dare dine at the club as a pastime, did not dare spend money on a whim, and did not dare absent himself for any length of time, except on business—in which his wife included his intellectual pursuits, which she did not in the least understand but to which she attributed great importance. To make up for this, at home Pierre had the right to regulate his life and that of the whole family exactly as he chose. At home Natasha placed herself in the position of a slave to her husband"
"After seven years of marriage Pierre had the joyous and firm consciousness that he was not a bad man, and he felt this because he saw himself reflected in his wife. He felt the good and bad within himself inextricably mingled and overlapping. But only what was really good in him was reflected in his wife, all that was not quite good was rejected. And this was not the result of logical reasoning but was a direct and mysterious reflection."
CHAPTER 11
Natasha worries tremendously when Pierre does not come home quickly after his conference in Petersburg. She worries so much that, to distract herself, she overfeeds her baby, Petya, until he's sick. She finds joy in caring for him, though. Pierre finally arrives and Natasha's old, happy self is restored.
*Natasha is really incomplete without her family and Pierre and has changed so much since the beginning. Her spirit is her family and she has no sense of identity without them.*
Important Quotes
"During that fortnight of anxiety Natasha resorted to the baby for comfort so often, and fussed over him so much, that she overfed him and he fell ill. She was terrified by his illness, and yet that was just what she needed. While attending to him she bore the anxiety about her husband more easily."
Monday, July 11, 2016
Epilogue 1, Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
CHAPTER 1
year 1813-20
Tolstoy explains how the once praised Alexander is now seen at fault by historians. What is good and bad is determined by a time period in which other time periods cannot understand.
Important Quotes
"But even if we assume that fifty years ago Alexander I was mistaken in his view of what was good for the people, we must inevitably assume that the historian who judges Alexander will also after the lapse of some time turn out to be mistaken in his view of what is good for humanity."
"If we admit that human life can be ruled by reason, the possibility of life is destroyed."
CHAPTER 2
What is chance? What is genius? These thoughts are touched upon in this chapter.
Important Quotes
" I do not know why a certain event occurs; I think that I cannot know it; so I do not try to know it and I talk about chance. I see a force producing effects beyond the scope of ordinary human agencies; I do not understand why this occurs and I talk of genius. "
CHAPTER 3
All of Napoleon's actions in the war are described by chance.
CHAPTER 4
Napoleon is exiled to an island off of France. There he contemplates what good he could've brought had he won the war and the people hadn't turned against him. Alexander is now the most powerful ruler but gives up his power because he finds power to be unattractive. Tolstoy speaks of perspective and how everyone has a different perspective and only sees certain parts of a whole (he uses a beehive metaphor).
Important Quotes
"And some years pass during which [Napoleon] plays a pitiful comedy to himself in solitude on his island, justifying his actions by intrigues and lies when the justification is no longer needed, and displaying to the whole world what it was that people had mistaken for strength as long as an unseen hand directed his actions."
"at the time when Napoleon in exile was drawing up childish and mendacious plans of how he would have made mankind happy had he retained power—Alexander I, having fulfilled his mission and feeling the hand of God upon him, suddenly recognizes the insignificance of that supposed power, turns away from it, and gives it into the hands of contemptible men whom he despises"
CHAPTER 5
Count Rostov dies after Natasha and Pierre marry. Nicholas comes home to take care of the countess and Sonya helps him care for her every need. The Rostovs are very poor now and in debt, but hide this from the countess who likes lavish things. Nicholas does not love Sonya at all anymore and thinks she's too perfect to like. He also doesn't want to marry rich and simply enjoys being in his gloomy state.
Important Quotes
"[Nicholas] felt that the more he valued her the less he loved her. He had taken her at her word when she wrote giving him his freedom and now behaved as if all that had passed between them had been long forgotten and could never in any case be renewed. "
CHAPTER 6
Mary goes to visit the Rostovs. Nicholas greets her very coldly and she is taken aback. The countess advises Nicholas to call Mary again and talk with her and he goes, grudgingly. Mary and he talk and Mary asks him why he's changed so much. She cries, telling him that she has so little happiness in life and now has even less since he won't be friendly with her.
Important Quotes
Mary: "I expected nothing else," she told herself, calling her pride to her aid. "I have nothing to do with him and I only wanted to see the old lady, who was always kind to me and to whom I am under many obligations." But she could not pacify herself with these reflections"
Mary: "I don't understand your why, Count," she continued, "but it's hard for me... I confess it. For some reason you wish to deprive me of our former friendship. And that hurts me." There were tears in her eyes and in her voice. "I have had so little happiness in life that every loss is hard for me to bear.... Excuse me, good-by!" and suddenly she began to cry and was hurrying from the room."
year 1813-20
Tolstoy explains how the once praised Alexander is now seen at fault by historians. What is good and bad is determined by a time period in which other time periods cannot understand.
Important Quotes
"But even if we assume that fifty years ago Alexander I was mistaken in his view of what was good for the people, we must inevitably assume that the historian who judges Alexander will also after the lapse of some time turn out to be mistaken in his view of what is good for humanity."
"If we admit that human life can be ruled by reason, the possibility of life is destroyed."
CHAPTER 2
What is chance? What is genius? These thoughts are touched upon in this chapter.
Important Quotes
" I do not know why a certain event occurs; I think that I cannot know it; so I do not try to know it and I talk about chance. I see a force producing effects beyond the scope of ordinary human agencies; I do not understand why this occurs and I talk of genius. "
CHAPTER 3
All of Napoleon's actions in the war are described by chance.
CHAPTER 4
Napoleon is exiled to an island off of France. There he contemplates what good he could've brought had he won the war and the people hadn't turned against him. Alexander is now the most powerful ruler but gives up his power because he finds power to be unattractive. Tolstoy speaks of perspective and how everyone has a different perspective and only sees certain parts of a whole (he uses a beehive metaphor).
Important Quotes
"And some years pass during which [Napoleon] plays a pitiful comedy to himself in solitude on his island, justifying his actions by intrigues and lies when the justification is no longer needed, and displaying to the whole world what it was that people had mistaken for strength as long as an unseen hand directed his actions."
"at the time when Napoleon in exile was drawing up childish and mendacious plans of how he would have made mankind happy had he retained power—Alexander I, having fulfilled his mission and feeling the hand of God upon him, suddenly recognizes the insignificance of that supposed power, turns away from it, and gives it into the hands of contemptible men whom he despises"
CHAPTER 5
Count Rostov dies after Natasha and Pierre marry. Nicholas comes home to take care of the countess and Sonya helps him care for her every need. The Rostovs are very poor now and in debt, but hide this from the countess who likes lavish things. Nicholas does not love Sonya at all anymore and thinks she's too perfect to like. He also doesn't want to marry rich and simply enjoys being in his gloomy state.
Important Quotes
"[Nicholas] felt that the more he valued her the less he loved her. He had taken her at her word when she wrote giving him his freedom and now behaved as if all that had passed between them had been long forgotten and could never in any case be renewed. "
CHAPTER 6
Mary goes to visit the Rostovs. Nicholas greets her very coldly and she is taken aback. The countess advises Nicholas to call Mary again and talk with her and he goes, grudgingly. Mary and he talk and Mary asks him why he's changed so much. She cries, telling him that she has so little happiness in life and now has even less since he won't be friendly with her.
Important Quotes
Mary: "I expected nothing else," she told herself, calling her pride to her aid. "I have nothing to do with him and I only wanted to see the old lady, who was always kind to me and to whom I am under many obligations." But she could not pacify herself with these reflections"
Mary: "I don't understand your why, Count," she continued, "but it's hard for me... I confess it. For some reason you wish to deprive me of our former friendship. And that hurts me." There were tears in her eyes and in her voice. "I have had so little happiness in life that every loss is hard for me to bear.... Excuse me, good-by!" and suddenly she began to cry and was hurrying from the room."
Saturday, July 9, 2016
Book 15 RECAP
Highlights:
- Petya's death: young, blind bravery is killed off-- innocence is killed
- The fall of the French army: the once strong have fallen (whose fault is it, the people or the commanders or fate itself? How has history been re-written)?
- Pierre's change of attitude-- once cynical and shy, now an intelligent and speculative man
- Pierre and Natasha's love for each other-- a suppressed love now blossoms. Each had grown after facing death and the war.
Book 15, Chapters 16, 17, 18, 19, 20
CHAPTER 16
Pierre listens as Mary and Natasha tell him about Andrew's death. Natasha goes into great detail and expresses her undying love for Andrew. Pierre pities her. Natasha asks Pierre why it's worth trusting in a God.
Important Quotes
"And because," Pierre continued, "only one who believes that there is a God ruling us can bear a loss such as hers and... yours."
" Pierre listened to [Natahsa] with lips parted and eyes fixed upon her full of tears. As he listened he did not think of Prince Andrew, nor of death, nor of what she was telling. He listened to her and felt only pity for her, for what she was suffering now while she was speaking."
CHAPTER 17
Mary, Natasha, and Pierre talk over dinner. Pierre tells of all his adventures and how he claimed his status as a smart, brave man. Mary notices how Pierre and Natasha love each other and is elated by this idea. They all have a sort of therapy session, retelling all they've gone through and making themselves feel better for it.
Important Quotes
Pierre: "He told of his adventures as he had never yet recalled them. He now, as it were, saw a new meaning in all he had gone through. Now that he was telling it all to Natásha he experienced that pleasure which a man has when women listen to him—not clever women who when listening either try to remember what they hear to enrich their minds and when opportunity offers to retell it, or who wish to adopt it to some thought of their own and promptly contribute their own clever comments prepared in their little mental workshop—but the pleasure given by real women gifted with a capacity to select and absorb the very best a man shows of himself."
Pierre: "People speak of misfortunes and sufferings," remarked Pierre, "but if at this moment I were asked: 'Would you rather be what you were before you were taken prisoner, or go through all this again?' then for heaven's sake let me again have captivity and horseflesh! We imagine that when we are thrown out of our usual ruts all is lost, but it is only then that what is new and good begins. While there is life there is happiness. There is much, much before us. I say this to you," he added, turning to Natásha.
CHAPTER 18
Pierre goes to visit Mary and Natasha again and confesses his love for Natasha to Mary. Mary tells him that she has faith that all will work out. Pierre goes to Petersburg, leaving Natasha behind but hoping that, upon his return, they will be together forever.
Important Quotes
"Princess Mary stopped. She was going to say that to speak of love was impossible, but she stopped because she had seen by the sudden change in Natásha two days before that she would not only not be hurt if Pierre spoke of his love, but that it was the very thing she wished for. "
CHAPTER 19
Pierre cannot stop thinking about Natasha. As he deals with his dead wife's paperwork in Petersburg, he cannot help but pity her since she never felt the love he now feels in his heart. He thinks that he's unworthy of Natasha's love and because he's so in love, he finds little things to love in everyone around him.
Important Quotes
"[Natasha] will be sure to smile and say: 'How strange! He must be deluding himself. Doesn't he know that he is a man, just a man, while I...? I am something altogether different and higher.'" That was the only doubt often troubling Pierre"
"But at this time [Pierre] saw everybody—both those who, as he imagined, understood the real meaning of life (that is, what he was feeling) and those unfortunates who evidently did not understand it—in the bright light of the emotion that shone within himself, and at once without any effort saw in everyone he met everything that was good and worthy of being loved."
CHAPTER 20
Mary tells Natasha that Pierre loves her. Natasha is so happy that she seems to forget all about Andrew and his love which upsets Mary. But seeing Natasha so happy after such a long time of being depressed also gladdens Mary. Mary also tells her that Pierre must go to Petersburg first and Natasha says that "he must."
Important Quotes
"The change that took place in Natásha at first surprised Princess Mary; but when she understood its meaning it grieved her. "Can she have loved my brother so little as to be able to forget him so soon?"
Mary: "You love him?"
Natasha: "Yes," whispered Natásha.
Mary: "Then why are you crying? I am happy for your sake," said Princess Mary, who because of those tears quite forgave Natásha's joy."
Pierre listens as Mary and Natasha tell him about Andrew's death. Natasha goes into great detail and expresses her undying love for Andrew. Pierre pities her. Natasha asks Pierre why it's worth trusting in a God.
Important Quotes
"And because," Pierre continued, "only one who believes that there is a God ruling us can bear a loss such as hers and... yours."
" Pierre listened to [Natahsa] with lips parted and eyes fixed upon her full of tears. As he listened he did not think of Prince Andrew, nor of death, nor of what she was telling. He listened to her and felt only pity for her, for what she was suffering now while she was speaking."
CHAPTER 17
Mary, Natasha, and Pierre talk over dinner. Pierre tells of all his adventures and how he claimed his status as a smart, brave man. Mary notices how Pierre and Natasha love each other and is elated by this idea. They all have a sort of therapy session, retelling all they've gone through and making themselves feel better for it.
Important Quotes
Pierre: "He told of his adventures as he had never yet recalled them. He now, as it were, saw a new meaning in all he had gone through. Now that he was telling it all to Natásha he experienced that pleasure which a man has when women listen to him—not clever women who when listening either try to remember what they hear to enrich their minds and when opportunity offers to retell it, or who wish to adopt it to some thought of their own and promptly contribute their own clever comments prepared in their little mental workshop—but the pleasure given by real women gifted with a capacity to select and absorb the very best a man shows of himself."
Pierre: "People speak of misfortunes and sufferings," remarked Pierre, "but if at this moment I were asked: 'Would you rather be what you were before you were taken prisoner, or go through all this again?' then for heaven's sake let me again have captivity and horseflesh! We imagine that when we are thrown out of our usual ruts all is lost, but it is only then that what is new and good begins. While there is life there is happiness. There is much, much before us. I say this to you," he added, turning to Natásha.
CHAPTER 18
Pierre goes to visit Mary and Natasha again and confesses his love for Natasha to Mary. Mary tells him that she has faith that all will work out. Pierre goes to Petersburg, leaving Natasha behind but hoping that, upon his return, they will be together forever.
Important Quotes
"Princess Mary stopped. She was going to say that to speak of love was impossible, but she stopped because she had seen by the sudden change in Natásha two days before that she would not only not be hurt if Pierre spoke of his love, but that it was the very thing she wished for. "
CHAPTER 19
Pierre cannot stop thinking about Natasha. As he deals with his dead wife's paperwork in Petersburg, he cannot help but pity her since she never felt the love he now feels in his heart. He thinks that he's unworthy of Natasha's love and because he's so in love, he finds little things to love in everyone around him.
Important Quotes
"[Natasha] will be sure to smile and say: 'How strange! He must be deluding himself. Doesn't he know that he is a man, just a man, while I...? I am something altogether different and higher.'" That was the only doubt often troubling Pierre"
"But at this time [Pierre] saw everybody—both those who, as he imagined, understood the real meaning of life (that is, what he was feeling) and those unfortunates who evidently did not understand it—in the bright light of the emotion that shone within himself, and at once without any effort saw in everyone he met everything that was good and worthy of being loved."
CHAPTER 20
Mary tells Natasha that Pierre loves her. Natasha is so happy that she seems to forget all about Andrew and his love which upsets Mary. But seeing Natasha so happy after such a long time of being depressed also gladdens Mary. Mary also tells her that Pierre must go to Petersburg first and Natasha says that "he must."
Important Quotes
"The change that took place in Natásha at first surprised Princess Mary; but when she understood its meaning it grieved her. "Can she have loved my brother so little as to be able to forget him so soon?"
Mary: "You love him?"
Natasha: "Yes," whispered Natásha.
Mary: "Then why are you crying? I am happy for your sake," said Princess Mary, who because of those tears quite forgave Natásha's joy."
Friday, July 8, 2016
Book 15, Chapters 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15
CHAPTER 6
Kutuzov sees the poor condition in which the French prisoners are in. He gives a short speech to the Russian soldiers before the Krasnoe battles, encouraging them to push on and see the French out.
Important Quotes
Kutuzov: "you are at home while they—you see what they have come to," said he, pointing to the prisoners. "Worse off than our poorest beggars. While they were strong we didn't spare ourselves, but now we may even pity them. They are human beings too. Isn't it so, lads?"
CHAPTER 7
The Russian soldiers are very merry and loud before battle.
CHAPTER 8
The Russian soldiers talk among themselves and make the best of their situation.
Important Quotes
"the army had never under the best material conditions presented a more cheerful and animated aspect. This was because all who began to grow depressed or who lost strength were sifted out of the army day by day. All the physically or morally weak had long since been left behind and only the flower of the army—physically and mentally—remained."
CHAPTER 9
As the Russian soldiers sit around a campfire, two French soldiers, Ramballe and Morel, come staggering out of the bushes asking for food and rest. Morel gets quite drunk while Ramballe, the weaker of the two, is called in to see a colonel.
Important Quotes
Ramballe [to the Russians]: "Oh, you fine fellows, my kind, kind friends! These are men! Oh, my brave, kind friends," and he leaned his head against the shoulder of one of the men like a child."
CHAPTER 10
The French cross the Berezina River where the Russians devise a trap to attack them there. The Russians continue to distrust and dislike Kutuzov, thinking that he's too old and slow to carry out the plans for attack. Kutuzov and some other generals meet with the emperor. He receives the Order of St. George of the First Class (highest military honor in Russia).
Important Quotes
"The most compassionate Russian commanders, those favorable to the French—and even the Frenchmen in the Russian service—could do nothing for the prisoners. The French perished from the conditions to which the Russian army was itself exposed."
" Certain destruction lay behind the French but in front there was hope. Their ships had been burned, there was no salvation save in collective flight, and on that the whole strength of the French was concentrated."
CHAPTER 11
Although Kutuzov receives this high honor, the Emperor and most others still dislike him. Since he's so old and cannot think of future wars and the significance of the war of 1812 and its impact on Russia's involvement in Europe, they don't respect him. Eventually, Kutuzov dies.
Important Quotes
"the Emperor said to the officers assembled about him: "You have not only saved Russia, you have saved Europe!" they all understood that the war was not ended. Kutúzov alone would not see this and openly expressed his opinion that no fresh war could improve the position or add to the glory of Russia, but could only spoil and lower the glorious position that Russia had gained."
"Kutúzov did not understand what Europe, the balance of power, or Napoleon meant. He could not understand it. For the representative of the Russian people, after the enemy had been destroyed and Russia had been liberated and raised to the summit of her glory, there was nothing left to do as a Russian. Nothing remained for the representative of the national war but to die, and Kutúzov died."
CHAPTER 12
Pierre returns from the war and is taken aback by the news of all the deaths: Andrew, Petya, and his Helene. He finds religion once more, inspired by his old friend, Platon, and finds a meaning in life.
Important Quotes
"[Pierre] had become accustomed to during the last few months and got used to the idea that no one would oblige him to go anywhere tomorrow, that no one would deprive him of his warm bed, and that he would be sure to get his dinner, tea, and supper. But for a long time in his dreams he still saw himself in the conditions of captivity."
Pierre: "his wife was no more. "Oh, how good, how splendid!"And by old habit he asked himself the question: "Well, and what then? What am I going to do?" And he immediately gave himself the answer: "Well, I shall live. Ah, how splendid!"
Pierre: " To that question, "What for?" a simple answer was now always ready in his soul: "Because there is a God, that God without whose will not one hair falls from a man's head."
CHAPTER 13
Pierre has changed immensely since the beginning of the book. Instead of having a dark, stupid aura, he now attracts everybody with his sensibility and ability to sympathize and listen. His new mission is to rebuild Moscow. Since its burning, he lost much of his wealth, but considers himself richer because of it. He wants to shed some good on Moscow and feels free and alive doing it. He brings along Willarski, an old masonic acquaintance.
Important Quotes
[an Italian soldier to Pierre]: "If all Russians are in the least like you, it is sacrilege to fight such a nation," he said to Pierre. "You, who have suffered so from the French, do not even feel animosity toward them."
Pierre: "This was his acknowledgment of the impossibility of changing a man's convictions by words, and his recognition of the possibility of everyone thinking, feeling, and seeing things each from his own point of view."
Pierre: "Now to his surprise he found that he no longer felt either doubt or perplexity about these questions. There was now within him a judge who by some rule unknown to him decided what should or should not be done."
Pierre: " By being ruined I have become much richer."
" Where Willarski saw deadness Pierre saw an extraordinary strength and vitality—the strength which in that vast space amid the snows maintained the life of this original, peculiar, and unique people. He did not contradict Willarski and even seemed to agree with him—an apparent agreement being the simplest way to avoid discussions that could lead to nothing—and he smiled joyfully as he listened to him."
CHAPTER 14
Moscow, after being plundered, comes back to life slowly. People move back in and churches, businesses, and government starts working again.
Important Quotes
"The Russians who entered Moscow, finding it plundered, plundered it in their turn. They continued what the French had begun. "
CHAPTER 15
Pierre goes to visits Mary and give his condolences about Andrew. There, he sees a little woman dressed in black but does not recognize her until Mary tells him that's Natasha. He flushes and it's obvious that he's in love with her. Natasha radiates when she sees Pierre as well.
Important Quotes
[about Andrew's death]: "Is it possible that he died in the bitter frame of mind he was then in? Is it possible that the meaning of life was not disclosed to him before he died?" thought Pierre. He recalled Karataev and his death and involuntarily began to compare these two men, so different, and yet so similar in that they had both lived and both died and in the love he felt for both of them."
"[Pierre] flushed joyfully yet with painful distress. He tried to hide his agitation. But the more he tried to hide it the more clearly—clearer than any words could have done—did he betray to himself, to her, and to Princess Mary that he loved her."
Kutuzov sees the poor condition in which the French prisoners are in. He gives a short speech to the Russian soldiers before the Krasnoe battles, encouraging them to push on and see the French out.
Important Quotes
Kutuzov: "you are at home while they—you see what they have come to," said he, pointing to the prisoners. "Worse off than our poorest beggars. While they were strong we didn't spare ourselves, but now we may even pity them. They are human beings too. Isn't it so, lads?"
CHAPTER 7
The Russian soldiers are very merry and loud before battle.
CHAPTER 8
The Russian soldiers talk among themselves and make the best of their situation.
Important Quotes
"the army had never under the best material conditions presented a more cheerful and animated aspect. This was because all who began to grow depressed or who lost strength were sifted out of the army day by day. All the physically or morally weak had long since been left behind and only the flower of the army—physically and mentally—remained."
CHAPTER 9
As the Russian soldiers sit around a campfire, two French soldiers, Ramballe and Morel, come staggering out of the bushes asking for food and rest. Morel gets quite drunk while Ramballe, the weaker of the two, is called in to see a colonel.
Important Quotes
Ramballe [to the Russians]: "Oh, you fine fellows, my kind, kind friends! These are men! Oh, my brave, kind friends," and he leaned his head against the shoulder of one of the men like a child."
CHAPTER 10
The French cross the Berezina River where the Russians devise a trap to attack them there. The Russians continue to distrust and dislike Kutuzov, thinking that he's too old and slow to carry out the plans for attack. Kutuzov and some other generals meet with the emperor. He receives the Order of St. George of the First Class (highest military honor in Russia).
Important Quotes
"The most compassionate Russian commanders, those favorable to the French—and even the Frenchmen in the Russian service—could do nothing for the prisoners. The French perished from the conditions to which the Russian army was itself exposed."
" Certain destruction lay behind the French but in front there was hope. Their ships had been burned, there was no salvation save in collective flight, and on that the whole strength of the French was concentrated."
CHAPTER 11
Although Kutuzov receives this high honor, the Emperor and most others still dislike him. Since he's so old and cannot think of future wars and the significance of the war of 1812 and its impact on Russia's involvement in Europe, they don't respect him. Eventually, Kutuzov dies.
Important Quotes
"the Emperor said to the officers assembled about him: "You have not only saved Russia, you have saved Europe!" they all understood that the war was not ended. Kutúzov alone would not see this and openly expressed his opinion that no fresh war could improve the position or add to the glory of Russia, but could only spoil and lower the glorious position that Russia had gained."
"Kutúzov did not understand what Europe, the balance of power, or Napoleon meant. He could not understand it. For the representative of the Russian people, after the enemy had been destroyed and Russia had been liberated and raised to the summit of her glory, there was nothing left to do as a Russian. Nothing remained for the representative of the national war but to die, and Kutúzov died."
CHAPTER 12
Pierre returns from the war and is taken aback by the news of all the deaths: Andrew, Petya, and his Helene. He finds religion once more, inspired by his old friend, Platon, and finds a meaning in life.
Important Quotes
"[Pierre] had become accustomed to during the last few months and got used to the idea that no one would oblige him to go anywhere tomorrow, that no one would deprive him of his warm bed, and that he would be sure to get his dinner, tea, and supper. But for a long time in his dreams he still saw himself in the conditions of captivity."
Pierre: "his wife was no more. "Oh, how good, how splendid!"And by old habit he asked himself the question: "Well, and what then? What am I going to do?" And he immediately gave himself the answer: "Well, I shall live. Ah, how splendid!"
Pierre: " To that question, "What for?" a simple answer was now always ready in his soul: "Because there is a God, that God without whose will not one hair falls from a man's head."
CHAPTER 13
Pierre has changed immensely since the beginning of the book. Instead of having a dark, stupid aura, he now attracts everybody with his sensibility and ability to sympathize and listen. His new mission is to rebuild Moscow. Since its burning, he lost much of his wealth, but considers himself richer because of it. He wants to shed some good on Moscow and feels free and alive doing it. He brings along Willarski, an old masonic acquaintance.
Important Quotes
[an Italian soldier to Pierre]: "If all Russians are in the least like you, it is sacrilege to fight such a nation," he said to Pierre. "You, who have suffered so from the French, do not even feel animosity toward them."
Pierre: "This was his acknowledgment of the impossibility of changing a man's convictions by words, and his recognition of the possibility of everyone thinking, feeling, and seeing things each from his own point of view."
Pierre: "Now to his surprise he found that he no longer felt either doubt or perplexity about these questions. There was now within him a judge who by some rule unknown to him decided what should or should not be done."
Pierre: " By being ruined I have become much richer."
" Where Willarski saw deadness Pierre saw an extraordinary strength and vitality—the strength which in that vast space amid the snows maintained the life of this original, peculiar, and unique people. He did not contradict Willarski and even seemed to agree with him—an apparent agreement being the simplest way to avoid discussions that could lead to nothing—and he smiled joyfully as he listened to him."
CHAPTER 14
Moscow, after being plundered, comes back to life slowly. People move back in and churches, businesses, and government starts working again.
Important Quotes
"The Russians who entered Moscow, finding it plundered, plundered it in their turn. They continued what the French had begun. "
CHAPTER 15
Pierre goes to visits Mary and give his condolences about Andrew. There, he sees a little woman dressed in black but does not recognize her until Mary tells him that's Natasha. He flushes and it's obvious that he's in love with her. Natasha radiates when she sees Pierre as well.
Important Quotes
[about Andrew's death]: "Is it possible that he died in the bitter frame of mind he was then in? Is it possible that the meaning of life was not disclosed to him before he died?" thought Pierre. He recalled Karataev and his death and involuntarily began to compare these two men, so different, and yet so similar in that they had both lived and both died and in the love he felt for both of them."
"[Pierre] flushed joyfully yet with painful distress. He tried to hide his agitation. But the more he tried to hide it the more clearly—clearer than any words could have done—did he betray to himself, to her, and to Princess Mary that he loved her."
Thursday, July 7, 2016
Book 15, Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
CHAPTER 1
year 1812-13
Natasha and Mary are still overcoming the sorrow of Andrew's death. Mary goes back to Moscow and is distracted by little Nicholas, but Natasha has more time to contemplate the happenings of the death. She selfishly wishes that Andrew would've fought the illness longer because, even if he were suffering, he would have been alive and with her.
Important Quotes
Natasha: "I agreed," Natásha now said to herself, "that it would be dreadful if he always continued to suffer. I said it then only because it would have been dreadful for him, but he understood it differently. He thought it would be dreadful for me. He then still wished to live and feared death.... Had I said what I thought, I should have said: even if he had to go on dying, to die continually before my eyes, I should have been happy compared with what I am now."
CHAPTER 2
News of Petya's death reaches the Rostovs. The Countess is distraught and Natasha looks after her. In the middle of the night, the countess cries for the first time.
CHAPTER 3
Natasha nurses her mother and this helps her overcome the pain of Andrew's death. With Petya's death came a sort of life for her. She and Mary continue to get very close and both their strengths come back slowly.
Important Quotes
"A spiritual wound produced by a rending of the spiritual body is like a physical wound and, strange as it may seem, just as a deep wound may heal and its edges join, physical and spiritual wounds alike can yet heal completely only as the result of a vital force from within.
Natásha's wound healed in that way."
"[Natasha] thought her life was ended, but her love for her mother unexpectedly showed her that the essence of life—love—was still active within her. Love awoke and so did life."
CHAPTER 4
Tolstoy describes how the Russian army pursued the French to show their strength and valor. They lost many men but kept pushing on. Also, in history, Napoleon is regarded as the hero and Kutuzov as the sneaky general.
CHAPTER 5
Kutuzov is continued to be described as a slow, inactive general in history. But Tolstoy rebukes this, claiming that he was a great general who thought of others and the welfare of Russia.
Important Quotes
"And only that feeling placed him on that highest human pedestal from which he, the commander-in-chief, devoted all his powers not to slaying and destroying men but to saving and showing pity on them. That simple, modest, and therefore truly great, figure could not be cast in the false mold of a European hero—the supposed ruler of men—that history has invented."
year 1812-13
Natasha and Mary are still overcoming the sorrow of Andrew's death. Mary goes back to Moscow and is distracted by little Nicholas, but Natasha has more time to contemplate the happenings of the death. She selfishly wishes that Andrew would've fought the illness longer because, even if he were suffering, he would have been alive and with her.
Important Quotes
Natasha: "I agreed," Natásha now said to herself, "that it would be dreadful if he always continued to suffer. I said it then only because it would have been dreadful for him, but he understood it differently. He thought it would be dreadful for me. He then still wished to live and feared death.... Had I said what I thought, I should have said: even if he had to go on dying, to die continually before my eyes, I should have been happy compared with what I am now."
CHAPTER 2
News of Petya's death reaches the Rostovs. The Countess is distraught and Natasha looks after her. In the middle of the night, the countess cries for the first time.
CHAPTER 3
Natasha nurses her mother and this helps her overcome the pain of Andrew's death. With Petya's death came a sort of life for her. She and Mary continue to get very close and both their strengths come back slowly.
Important Quotes
"A spiritual wound produced by a rending of the spiritual body is like a physical wound and, strange as it may seem, just as a deep wound may heal and its edges join, physical and spiritual wounds alike can yet heal completely only as the result of a vital force from within.
Natásha's wound healed in that way."
"[Natasha] thought her life was ended, but her love for her mother unexpectedly showed her that the essence of life—love—was still active within her. Love awoke and so did life."
CHAPTER 4
Tolstoy describes how the Russian army pursued the French to show their strength and valor. They lost many men but kept pushing on. Also, in history, Napoleon is regarded as the hero and Kutuzov as the sneaky general.
CHAPTER 5
Kutuzov is continued to be described as a slow, inactive general in history. But Tolstoy rebukes this, claiming that he was a great general who thought of others and the welfare of Russia.
Important Quotes
"And only that feeling placed him on that highest human pedestal from which he, the commander-in-chief, devoted all his powers not to slaying and destroying men but to saving and showing pity on them. That simple, modest, and therefore truly great, figure could not be cast in the false mold of a European hero—the supposed ruler of men—that history has invented."
Wednesday, July 6, 2016
RECAP of book 14
The French continue to retreat and the Russian army follows them menacingly, making it known that they want them off their turf.
Highlights:
Highlights:
- Petya-- he wants to prove that he's a man and dies without even being able to show his true strengths. He dies a little boy, still.
- Pierre-- he ignores his friend, Platon, when Platon gets sick. He is afraid that his mentor and source of happiness is not immortal.
Book 14, Chapters 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19
CHAPTER 11
Petya begs Denisov to let him ride out to the heaviest part of the battle. Denisov agrees and Petya follows Dolokhov. He gets too excited, though, falls off his horse and is shot in the head. Meanwhile, Pierre is among the captives that are rescued that day.
CHAPTER 12
Pierre sees how the French army keeps deteriorating. He realizes that nothing is perfect and one hundred percent good in life, so why be unhappy? His prisoner friend, Karataev, becomes ill and Pierre refuses to interact anymore.
*Perhaps Pierre does not want to see Karataev anymore since he used to be a source of happiness and strength for him and, now that he's sick, his mortal side shows and scare Pierre.*
Important Quotes
"Pierre did not know why, but since Karataev had begun to grow weaker it had cost him an effort to go near him."
Pierre: " He had learned that as there is no condition in which man can be happy and entirely free, so there is no condition in which he need be unhappy and lack freedom."
CHAPTER 13
Pierre goes up to Karataev as he's telling one of his stories. It is about an old man who is wrongfully convicted of murder. He takes the punishment though, because he claims that it's God's will, and dies happily.
Important Quotes
[Pierre]: "His feeling of pity for this man frightened him and he wished to go away, but there was no other fire, and Pierre sat down, trying not to look at Platon."
Platon: "How am I? If we grumble at sickness, God won't grant us death," replied Platon, and at once resumed the story he had begun."
[Old merchant in the story]: '"am being punished for my own and other men's sins. But I have not killed anyone or taken anything that was not mine, but have only helped my poorer brothers. I was a merchant, my dear brothers, and had much property. 'And he went on to tell them all about it in due order. 'I don't grieve for myself,' he says, 'God, it seems, has chastened me."
CHAPTER 14
Pierre notices that Platon is staring at him, trying to get him to come over and talk. However, he ignores his look. Later on, he hears a shot from where Platon was sitting and sees two French soldiers running away with a gun. Platon's dog begins to howl miserably.
CHAPTER 15
Pierre thinks of the meaning of God and existence. Life is God, God is life. He thinks of Platon and that last look he gave him. Finally, the Russian soldiers come to free the prisoners. Denisov carries Petya's dead body to bury him.
Important Quotes
Pierre: "Life is everything. Life is God. Everything changes and moves and that movement is God. And while there is life there is joy in consciousness of the divine. To love life is to love God. Harder and more blessed than all else is to love this life in one's sufferings, in innocent sufferings."
CHAPTER 16
The French army is in bad condition and Napoleon can't do anything to help.
Important Quotes
Napoleon: "And though they pretended to be concerned about the army, each was thinking only of himself and of how to get away quickly and save himself. "
CHAPTER 17
It's every man for himself now as the Russians are in hot pursuit of the French.
CHAPTER 18
Napoleon, some historians wish to believe, was a grand leader. However, he was the first to abandon his army and flee to save his own life.
Important Quotes
"regarding this period of the campaign the historians, who attributed the actions of the mass to the will of one man, would have found it impossible to make the story of the retreat fit their theory. But no! Mountains of books have been written by the historians about this campaign, and everywhere are described Napoleon's arrangements, the maneuvers, and his profound plans which guided the army, as well as the military genius shown by his marshals."
"Greatness," it seems, excludes the standards of right and wrong. For the "great" man nothing is wrong, there is no atrocity for which a "great" man can be blamed."
CHAPTER 19
Tolstoy describes how the Russians pursue the French.
Important Quotes
"If the aim of the Russians consisted in cutting off and capturing Napoleon and his marshals—and that aim was not merely frustrated but all attempts to attain it were most shamefully baffled—then this last period of the campaign is quite rightly considered by the French to be a series of victories, and quite wrongly considered victorious by Russian historians."
"The Russian army had to act like a whip to a running animal. And the experienced driver knew it was better to hold the whip raised as a menace than to strike the running animal on the head."
Petya begs Denisov to let him ride out to the heaviest part of the battle. Denisov agrees and Petya follows Dolokhov. He gets too excited, though, falls off his horse and is shot in the head. Meanwhile, Pierre is among the captives that are rescued that day.
CHAPTER 12
Pierre sees how the French army keeps deteriorating. He realizes that nothing is perfect and one hundred percent good in life, so why be unhappy? His prisoner friend, Karataev, becomes ill and Pierre refuses to interact anymore.
*Perhaps Pierre does not want to see Karataev anymore since he used to be a source of happiness and strength for him and, now that he's sick, his mortal side shows and scare Pierre.*
Important Quotes
"Pierre did not know why, but since Karataev had begun to grow weaker it had cost him an effort to go near him."
Pierre: " He had learned that as there is no condition in which man can be happy and entirely free, so there is no condition in which he need be unhappy and lack freedom."
CHAPTER 13
Pierre goes up to Karataev as he's telling one of his stories. It is about an old man who is wrongfully convicted of murder. He takes the punishment though, because he claims that it's God's will, and dies happily.
Important Quotes
[Pierre]: "His feeling of pity for this man frightened him and he wished to go away, but there was no other fire, and Pierre sat down, trying not to look at Platon."
Platon: "How am I? If we grumble at sickness, God won't grant us death," replied Platon, and at once resumed the story he had begun."
[Old merchant in the story]: '"am being punished for my own and other men's sins. But I have not killed anyone or taken anything that was not mine, but have only helped my poorer brothers. I was a merchant, my dear brothers, and had much property. 'And he went on to tell them all about it in due order. 'I don't grieve for myself,' he says, 'God, it seems, has chastened me."
CHAPTER 14
Pierre notices that Platon is staring at him, trying to get him to come over and talk. However, he ignores his look. Later on, he hears a shot from where Platon was sitting and sees two French soldiers running away with a gun. Platon's dog begins to howl miserably.
CHAPTER 15
Pierre thinks of the meaning of God and existence. Life is God, God is life. He thinks of Platon and that last look he gave him. Finally, the Russian soldiers come to free the prisoners. Denisov carries Petya's dead body to bury him.
Important Quotes
Pierre: "Life is everything. Life is God. Everything changes and moves and that movement is God. And while there is life there is joy in consciousness of the divine. To love life is to love God. Harder and more blessed than all else is to love this life in one's sufferings, in innocent sufferings."
CHAPTER 16
The French army is in bad condition and Napoleon can't do anything to help.
Important Quotes
Napoleon: "And though they pretended to be concerned about the army, each was thinking only of himself and of how to get away quickly and save himself. "
CHAPTER 17
It's every man for himself now as the Russians are in hot pursuit of the French.
CHAPTER 18
Napoleon, some historians wish to believe, was a grand leader. However, he was the first to abandon his army and flee to save his own life.
Important Quotes
"regarding this period of the campaign the historians, who attributed the actions of the mass to the will of one man, would have found it impossible to make the story of the retreat fit their theory. But no! Mountains of books have been written by the historians about this campaign, and everywhere are described Napoleon's arrangements, the maneuvers, and his profound plans which guided the army, as well as the military genius shown by his marshals."
"Greatness," it seems, excludes the standards of right and wrong. For the "great" man nothing is wrong, there is no atrocity for which a "great" man can be blamed."
CHAPTER 19
Tolstoy describes how the Russians pursue the French.
Important Quotes
"If the aim of the Russians consisted in cutting off and capturing Napoleon and his marshals—and that aim was not merely frustrated but all attempts to attain it were most shamefully baffled—then this last period of the campaign is quite rightly considered by the French to be a series of victories, and quite wrongly considered victorious by Russian historians."
"The Russian army had to act like a whip to a running animal. And the experienced driver knew it was better to hold the whip raised as a menace than to strike the running animal on the head."
Tuesday, July 5, 2016
Book 14, Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
CHAPTER 1
year 1812
Tolstoy describes the way in which the French ultimately lost their war and had to retreat. After winning at Moscow, the French only declined and did not take over like proper rulers.
Important Quotes
"An army gains a victory, and at once the rights of the conquering nation have increased to the detriment of the defeated. An army has suffered defeat, and at once a people loses its rights in proportion to the severity of the reverse, and if its army suffers a complete defeat the nation is quite subjugated."
" The period of the campaign of 1812 from the battle of Borodino to the expulsion of the French proved that the winning of a battle does not produce a conquest and is not even an invariable indication of conquest; it proved that the force which decides the fate of peoples lies not in the conquerors, nor even in armies and battles, but in something else."
CHAPTER 2
Tolstoy writes about the spirit of the men in the army and how smaller groups have more spirit and will to fight the great masses. Therefore, guerilla warfare has more spirit than traditional warfare.
Important Quotes
"Military science, seeing in history innumerable instances of the fact that the size of any army does not coincide with its strength and that small detachments defeat larger ones, obscurely admits the existence of this unknown factor and tries to discover it—now in a geometric formation, now in the equipment employed, now, and most usually, in the genius of the commanders. "
" The spirit of an army is the factor which multiplied by the mass gives the resulting force. To define and express the significance of this unknown factor—the spirit of an army—is a problem for science."
" The Russians, on the contrary, ought according to tactics to have attacked in mass, but in fact they split up into small units, because their spirit had so risen that separate individuals, without orders, dealt blows at the French without needing any compulsion to induce them to expose themselves to hardships and dangers."
CHAPTER 3
The Russian partisans kill the French themselves. "Partisan warfare" breaks out. Denisov and Dolokhov are planned to surprise attack the French at their camps in Smolensk. Many French are killed and Denisov is apprehensive to attack again for fear of being too obvious.
CHAPTER 4
Denisov awaits orders to hear news on Dolokhov's position. While waiting, he sees a procession of captured French soldiers and horses. Petya comes to him with a message from his commander saying that the German troops are ready to attack the French. This makes Denisov want to make haste in attacking the French first.
CHAPTER 5
Denisov, Petya, and the esaul (horseman) watch the French troops from above, preparing to attack with or without Dolokhov. They also see the peasant, Tikhon, who was the bravest and strongest man in the army, running from French fire. Apparently, the French had exposed him and the plan of attack had been found out.
Important Quotes
[Tikhon]: "He was the bravest and most useful man in the party. No one found more opportunities for attacking, no one captured or killed more Frenchmen, and consequently he was made the buffoon of all the Cossacks and hussars and willingly accepted that role."
CHAPTER 6
Tikhon tells Denisov why he had been running from the French. He had captured one of them, but let him go because he thought he wasn't good enough for Denisov to question. Denisov, Petya, and other soldiers think Tikhon is a fool for letting his captive go.
CHAPTER 7
Petya wants to prove himself as a man. He forgets all about his German commander and sees Denisov and Tikhon as his new heroes. He begs to stay with them longer, hoping to fight alongside them. He also pities a French drummer boy they've captured who is his age. He asks to bring him food, afraid that the soldiers will think his pity is weak and child-like. Petya is eager to get on the soldiers' good side and offers them anything to make them happy and to make himself likeable.
Important Quotes
"Pétya had been in a constant state of blissful excitement at being grown-up and in a perpetual ecstatic hurry not to miss any chance to do something really heroic. He was highly delighted with what he saw and experienced in the army, but at the same time it always seemed to him that the really heroic exploits were being performed just where he did not happen to be. And he was always in a hurry to get where he was not."
Petya: "I might ask," he thought, "but they'll say: 'He's a boy himself and so he pities the boy.' I'll show them tomorrow whether I'm a boy. Will it seem odd if I ask?" Pétya thought. "Well, never mind!" and immediately, blushing and looking anxiously at the officers to see if they appeared ironical"
CHAPTER 8
Dolokhov arrives and Petya is star-struck by him. He begs him to let him check out the French troops before attacking, disguised as a French soldier. Denisov advises against it, but Petya stands his ground.
Important Quotes
"Pétya had heard in the army many stories of Dólokhov's extraordinary bravery and of his cruelty to the French, so from the moment he entered the hut Pétya did not take his eyes from him, but braced himself up more and more and held his head high, that he might not be unworthy even of such company."
[Petya to Denisov]: "For you'll admit that if we don't know for sure how many of them there are... hundreds of lives may depend on it, while there are only two of us. Besides, I want to go very much and certainly will go, so don't hinder me," said he. "It will only make things worse..."
CHAPTER 9
Petya and Dolokhov sneak into the French campground dressed as the French hussars. Petya is quite frightened as Dolokhov makes conversation with the French soldiers, inquiring about their numbers and captives. Petya feels as if they suspect them both, but they make it out alive and well.
Important Quotes
"Pétya, his heart in his mouth with excitement, rode by his side. 'If we're caught, I won't be taken alive! I have a pistol," whispered he."
CHAPTER 10
It's the eve of battle and Petya cannot sleep. He talks to a soldier and asks him to sharpen his sword since he never learned how. He is so excited for battle that he seems to be living a fantasy. His excitement creates a music in his head. Everything seems good.
Important Quotes
"Nothing Pétya could have seen now would have surprised him. He was in a fairy kingdom where everything was possible. "
Petya: He closed his eyes, and, from all sides as if from a distance, sounds fluttered, grew into harmonies, separated, blended, and again all mingled into the same sweet and solemn hymn. "Oh, this is delightful! As much as I like and as I like!" said Pétya to himself. He tried to conduct that enormous orchestra.
year 1812
Tolstoy describes the way in which the French ultimately lost their war and had to retreat. After winning at Moscow, the French only declined and did not take over like proper rulers.
Important Quotes
"An army gains a victory, and at once the rights of the conquering nation have increased to the detriment of the defeated. An army has suffered defeat, and at once a people loses its rights in proportion to the severity of the reverse, and if its army suffers a complete defeat the nation is quite subjugated."
" The period of the campaign of 1812 from the battle of Borodino to the expulsion of the French proved that the winning of a battle does not produce a conquest and is not even an invariable indication of conquest; it proved that the force which decides the fate of peoples lies not in the conquerors, nor even in armies and battles, but in something else."
CHAPTER 2
Tolstoy writes about the spirit of the men in the army and how smaller groups have more spirit and will to fight the great masses. Therefore, guerilla warfare has more spirit than traditional warfare.
Important Quotes
"Military science, seeing in history innumerable instances of the fact that the size of any army does not coincide with its strength and that small detachments defeat larger ones, obscurely admits the existence of this unknown factor and tries to discover it—now in a geometric formation, now in the equipment employed, now, and most usually, in the genius of the commanders. "
" The spirit of an army is the factor which multiplied by the mass gives the resulting force. To define and express the significance of this unknown factor—the spirit of an army—is a problem for science."
" The Russians, on the contrary, ought according to tactics to have attacked in mass, but in fact they split up into small units, because their spirit had so risen that separate individuals, without orders, dealt blows at the French without needing any compulsion to induce them to expose themselves to hardships and dangers."
CHAPTER 3
The Russian partisans kill the French themselves. "Partisan warfare" breaks out. Denisov and Dolokhov are planned to surprise attack the French at their camps in Smolensk. Many French are killed and Denisov is apprehensive to attack again for fear of being too obvious.
CHAPTER 4
Denisov awaits orders to hear news on Dolokhov's position. While waiting, he sees a procession of captured French soldiers and horses. Petya comes to him with a message from his commander saying that the German troops are ready to attack the French. This makes Denisov want to make haste in attacking the French first.
CHAPTER 5
Denisov, Petya, and the esaul (horseman) watch the French troops from above, preparing to attack with or without Dolokhov. They also see the peasant, Tikhon, who was the bravest and strongest man in the army, running from French fire. Apparently, the French had exposed him and the plan of attack had been found out.
Important Quotes
[Tikhon]: "He was the bravest and most useful man in the party. No one found more opportunities for attacking, no one captured or killed more Frenchmen, and consequently he was made the buffoon of all the Cossacks and hussars and willingly accepted that role."
CHAPTER 6
Tikhon tells Denisov why he had been running from the French. He had captured one of them, but let him go because he thought he wasn't good enough for Denisov to question. Denisov, Petya, and other soldiers think Tikhon is a fool for letting his captive go.
CHAPTER 7
Petya wants to prove himself as a man. He forgets all about his German commander and sees Denisov and Tikhon as his new heroes. He begs to stay with them longer, hoping to fight alongside them. He also pities a French drummer boy they've captured who is his age. He asks to bring him food, afraid that the soldiers will think his pity is weak and child-like. Petya is eager to get on the soldiers' good side and offers them anything to make them happy and to make himself likeable.
Important Quotes
"Pétya had been in a constant state of blissful excitement at being grown-up and in a perpetual ecstatic hurry not to miss any chance to do something really heroic. He was highly delighted with what he saw and experienced in the army, but at the same time it always seemed to him that the really heroic exploits were being performed just where he did not happen to be. And he was always in a hurry to get where he was not."
Petya: "I might ask," he thought, "but they'll say: 'He's a boy himself and so he pities the boy.' I'll show them tomorrow whether I'm a boy. Will it seem odd if I ask?" Pétya thought. "Well, never mind!" and immediately, blushing and looking anxiously at the officers to see if they appeared ironical"
CHAPTER 8
Dolokhov arrives and Petya is star-struck by him. He begs him to let him check out the French troops before attacking, disguised as a French soldier. Denisov advises against it, but Petya stands his ground.
Important Quotes
"Pétya had heard in the army many stories of Dólokhov's extraordinary bravery and of his cruelty to the French, so from the moment he entered the hut Pétya did not take his eyes from him, but braced himself up more and more and held his head high, that he might not be unworthy even of such company."
[Petya to Denisov]: "For you'll admit that if we don't know for sure how many of them there are... hundreds of lives may depend on it, while there are only two of us. Besides, I want to go very much and certainly will go, so don't hinder me," said he. "It will only make things worse..."
CHAPTER 9
Petya and Dolokhov sneak into the French campground dressed as the French hussars. Petya is quite frightened as Dolokhov makes conversation with the French soldiers, inquiring about their numbers and captives. Petya feels as if they suspect them both, but they make it out alive and well.
Important Quotes
"Pétya, his heart in his mouth with excitement, rode by his side. 'If we're caught, I won't be taken alive! I have a pistol," whispered he."
CHAPTER 10
It's the eve of battle and Petya cannot sleep. He talks to a soldier and asks him to sharpen his sword since he never learned how. He is so excited for battle that he seems to be living a fantasy. His excitement creates a music in his head. Everything seems good.
Important Quotes
"Nothing Pétya could have seen now would have surprised him. He was in a fairy kingdom where everything was possible. "
Petya: He closed his eyes, and, from all sides as if from a distance, sounds fluttered, grew into harmonies, separated, blended, and again all mingled into the same sweet and solemn hymn. "Oh, this is delightful! As much as I like and as I like!" said Pétya to himself. He tried to conduct that enormous orchestra.
Monday, July 4, 2016
RECAP of Book 13
The French continue to weaken and are forced to retreat.
Main topic: Greed
---The search for riches and goods are what hinder the French and make them lose. They were to greedy that their own greed set them back.
(This also happens with the Russians when they try to capture Murat and Napoleon---their greed hinders them).
Main topic: Greed
---The search for riches and goods are what hinder the French and make them lose. They were to greedy that their own greed set them back.
(This also happens with the Russians when they try to capture Murat and Napoleon---their greed hinders them).
Book 13, Chapters 16, 17, 18, 19
CHAPTER 16
Bolkhovitinov travels to Litashevka to relay a message to Konovnitsyn.
CHAPTER 17
Kutuzov sits thinking about the war. He isn't like the youth who readily believe and accept rumors that Napoleon is moving out of Moscow. He believes that Russia has fallen too far down. In the middle of the night, though, a messenger tells him that the rumors of Napoleon moving out are true.
Important Quotes
"With his sixty years' experience [Kutuzov] knew what value to attach to rumors, knew how apt people who desire anything are to group all news so that it appears to confirm what they desire, and he knew how readily in such cases they omit all that makes for the contrary. And the more he desired it the less he allowed himself to believe it."
CHAPTER 18
Napoleon and his army have no choice but to retreat and are ashamed of themselves.
Important Quotes
"The members of what had once been an army—Napoleon himself and all his soldiers fled—without knowing whither, each concerned only to make his escape as quickly as possible from this position, of the hopelessness of which they were all more or less vaguely conscious. "
"If the Cossacks did not capture Napoleon then, what saved him was the very thing that was destroying the French army, the booty on which the Cossacks fell. "
"That Napoleon agreed with Mouton, and that the army retreated, does not prove that Napoleon caused it to retreat, but that the forces which influenced the whole army and directed it along the Mozhaysk (that is, the Smolensk) road acted simultaneously on him also."
CHAPTER 19
The French retreat to Smolensk and despite Kutuzov's attempts to stop the Russian army from continuing to attack them unnecessarily, they fight on anyway.
Important Quotes
"A man in motion always devises an aim for that motion. To be able to go a thousand miles he must imagine that something good awaits him at the end of those thousand miles. One must have the prospect of a promised land to have the strength to move. "
Bolkhovitinov travels to Litashevka to relay a message to Konovnitsyn.
CHAPTER 17
Kutuzov sits thinking about the war. He isn't like the youth who readily believe and accept rumors that Napoleon is moving out of Moscow. He believes that Russia has fallen too far down. In the middle of the night, though, a messenger tells him that the rumors of Napoleon moving out are true.
Important Quotes
"With his sixty years' experience [Kutuzov] knew what value to attach to rumors, knew how apt people who desire anything are to group all news so that it appears to confirm what they desire, and he knew how readily in such cases they omit all that makes for the contrary. And the more he desired it the less he allowed himself to believe it."
CHAPTER 18
Napoleon and his army have no choice but to retreat and are ashamed of themselves.
Important Quotes
"The members of what had once been an army—Napoleon himself and all his soldiers fled—without knowing whither, each concerned only to make his escape as quickly as possible from this position, of the hopelessness of which they were all more or less vaguely conscious. "
"If the Cossacks did not capture Napoleon then, what saved him was the very thing that was destroying the French army, the booty on which the Cossacks fell. "
"That Napoleon agreed with Mouton, and that the army retreated, does not prove that Napoleon caused it to retreat, but that the forces which influenced the whole army and directed it along the Mozhaysk (that is, the Smolensk) road acted simultaneously on him also."
CHAPTER 19
The French retreat to Smolensk and despite Kutuzov's attempts to stop the Russian army from continuing to attack them unnecessarily, they fight on anyway.
Important Quotes
"A man in motion always devises an aim for that motion. To be able to go a thousand miles he must imagine that something good awaits him at the end of those thousand miles. One must have the prospect of a promised land to have the strength to move. "
Sunday, July 3, 2016
Book 13, Chapters 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15
CHAPTER 9
The pillaging in Moscow had gone too far and Napoleon tries to put a stop to it. Decrees are written, encouraging the people to return to Moscow and work again. Napoleon even gives out forged Russian money for the Russian people to buy food instead of rob it.
CHAPTER 10
None of the decrees Napoleon ordered have come to pass. None of the Russians want to return to Moscow and the French army continues to misbehave and loot. Napoleon has no control over his own men and the French army starts to deteriorate more.
Important Quotes
"That army, like a herd of cattle run wild and trampling underfoot the provender which might have saved it from starvation, disintegrated and perished with each additional day it remained in Moscow. But it did not go away."
"The plight of the whole army resembled that of a wounded animal which feels it is perishing and does not know what it is doing."
CHAPTER 11
Pierre inquires as to what is happening with the French army. He is told to talk to the educated Monsieur Kiril. Nearby, a French soldier asks Pierre's friend, Platon, to sew him a shirt.
CHAPTER 12
Pierre comes to the conclusion that happiness means going through struggles and suffering. His happiest months are in captivity.
Important Quotes
"[Pierre] had long sought in different ways that tranquillity of mind, that inner harmony which had so impressed him in the soldiers at the battle of Borodino. He had sought it in philanthropy, in Freemasonry, in the dissipations of town life, in wine, in heroic feats of self-sacrifice, and in romantic love for Natásha; he had sought it by reasoning—and all these quests and experiments had failed him. And now without thinking about it he had found that peace and inner harmony only through the horror of death, through privation, and through what he recognized in Karataev. "
"The absence of suffering, the satisfaction of one's needs and consequent freedom in the choice of one's occupation, that is, of one's way of life, now seemed to Pierre to be indubitably man's highest happiness."
" The very qualities that had been a hindrance, if not actually harmful, to him in the world he had lived in—his strength, his disdain for the comforts of life, his absent-mindedness and simplicity—here among these people gave him almost the status of a hero. And Pierre felt that their opinion placed responsibilities upon him."
CHAPTER 13
The French soldiers that captured Pierre are on the move to retreat. One of the sickly soldiers asks Pierre what is to be done with him and Pierre asks a corporal who tells him to forget about the sick. One the way out, they all gaze at a dead man they found on the road.
Important Quotes
"in the stirring and deafening noise of the drums, he recognized that mysterious, callous force which compelled people against their will to kill their fellow men—that force the effect of which he had witnessed during the executions."
CHAPTER 14
The soldiers make their way past Moscow and Pierre and the other captives see the destruction and pillaging taking place. The French threaten to beat and kill anyone lagging behind. At the campsite, Pierre laughs at the fact that he's mortal and yet the French care so much about keeping him a prisoner although he is destined to die.
Important Quotes
"All that [Pierre] now witnessed scarcely made an impression on him—as if his soul, making ready for a hard struggle, refused to receive impressions that might weaken it."
Pierre: " They hold me captive. What, me? Me? My immortal soul? Ha-ha-ha! Ha-ha-ha!..." and he laughed till tears started to his eyes."
CHAPTER 15
The Russians hear of the French retreat in Moscow and want to take action. The less than capable Dokhturov and a small detachment, is sent out with the mission of attacking Broussier.
The pillaging in Moscow had gone too far and Napoleon tries to put a stop to it. Decrees are written, encouraging the people to return to Moscow and work again. Napoleon even gives out forged Russian money for the Russian people to buy food instead of rob it.
CHAPTER 10
None of the decrees Napoleon ordered have come to pass. None of the Russians want to return to Moscow and the French army continues to misbehave and loot. Napoleon has no control over his own men and the French army starts to deteriorate more.
Important Quotes
"That army, like a herd of cattle run wild and trampling underfoot the provender which might have saved it from starvation, disintegrated and perished with each additional day it remained in Moscow. But it did not go away."
"The plight of the whole army resembled that of a wounded animal which feels it is perishing and does not know what it is doing."
CHAPTER 11
Pierre inquires as to what is happening with the French army. He is told to talk to the educated Monsieur Kiril. Nearby, a French soldier asks Pierre's friend, Platon, to sew him a shirt.
CHAPTER 12
Pierre comes to the conclusion that happiness means going through struggles and suffering. His happiest months are in captivity.
Important Quotes
"[Pierre] had long sought in different ways that tranquillity of mind, that inner harmony which had so impressed him in the soldiers at the battle of Borodino. He had sought it in philanthropy, in Freemasonry, in the dissipations of town life, in wine, in heroic feats of self-sacrifice, and in romantic love for Natásha; he had sought it by reasoning—and all these quests and experiments had failed him. And now without thinking about it he had found that peace and inner harmony only through the horror of death, through privation, and through what he recognized in Karataev. "
"The absence of suffering, the satisfaction of one's needs and consequent freedom in the choice of one's occupation, that is, of one's way of life, now seemed to Pierre to be indubitably man's highest happiness."
" The very qualities that had been a hindrance, if not actually harmful, to him in the world he had lived in—his strength, his disdain for the comforts of life, his absent-mindedness and simplicity—here among these people gave him almost the status of a hero. And Pierre felt that their opinion placed responsibilities upon him."
CHAPTER 13
The French soldiers that captured Pierre are on the move to retreat. One of the sickly soldiers asks Pierre what is to be done with him and Pierre asks a corporal who tells him to forget about the sick. One the way out, they all gaze at a dead man they found on the road.
Important Quotes
"in the stirring and deafening noise of the drums, he recognized that mysterious, callous force which compelled people against their will to kill their fellow men—that force the effect of which he had witnessed during the executions."
CHAPTER 14
The soldiers make their way past Moscow and Pierre and the other captives see the destruction and pillaging taking place. The French threaten to beat and kill anyone lagging behind. At the campsite, Pierre laughs at the fact that he's mortal and yet the French care so much about keeping him a prisoner although he is destined to die.
Important Quotes
"All that [Pierre] now witnessed scarcely made an impression on him—as if his soul, making ready for a hard struggle, refused to receive impressions that might weaken it."
Pierre: " They hold me captive. What, me? Me? My immortal soul? Ha-ha-ha! Ha-ha-ha!..." and he laughed till tears started to his eyes."
CHAPTER 15
The Russians hear of the French retreat in Moscow and want to take action. The less than capable Dokhturov and a small detachment, is sent out with the mission of attacking Broussier.
Saturday, July 2, 2016
Book 13, Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
CHAPTER 1
year 1812
Tolstoy explains how men perceive history. Do we attribute it to one man or to many?
Important Quotes
"Man's mind cannot grasp the causes of events in their completeness, but the desire to find those causes is implanted in man's soul."
CHAPTER 2
The tension build-up between the Russian and French armies is described.
CHAPTER 3
There is tension still between Kutuzov and Bennigsen. The Emperor advises Kutuzov as to how to act against the French, but Kutuzov is ready to attack at all costs.
CHAPTER 4
Kutuzov talks to Ermolov about how to proceed with the attack on the French. Later on, Ermolov disappears and nobody can find him. (Apparently he didn't want to deal with staging an attack).
CHAPTER 5
Kutuzov grows mad at the fact that no one is taking orders and taking this battle so slowly.
CHAPTER 6
Denisov speaks to a Polish soldier who tells him that Murat is close and can be captured. At first, Denisov feels that the Polish man is lying, but one his troops are together, he feels more stable and ready to attack the French. The Russian troops capture a French camp along the way, but are so blinded by capturing the soldiers and goods that they fail to capture Murat. Everyone points fingers at each other, blaming one another for not capturing Murat.
Important Quotes
"Had the Cossacks pursued the French, without heeding what was behind and around them, they would have captured Murat and everything there. That was what the officers desired. But it was impossible to make the Cossacks budge when once they had got booty and prisoners."
CHAPTER 7
Kutuzov becomes angry with Ermolov again because they had been so slow in attacking the French that the French themselves got news of their plans. On their way to capture Murat, many Russians died unnecessarily, although the Russian troops were able to expose how weak the French are.
Important Quotes
"That's how everything is done with us, all topsy-turvy!" said the Russian officers and generals after the Tarutino battle, letting it be understood that some fool there is doing things all wrong but that we ourselves should not have done so, just as people speak today. But people who talk like that either do not know what they are talking about or deliberately deceive themselves."
CHAPTER 8
Tolstoy speaks of Napoleon's bad management of his strategic position in Moscow. Instead of camping out in Moscow or taking over Petersburg, he let his troops loot and burn the city. The trrops may have been stronger in order to fight the Russians, but they lost strength. He does mention, though, that Napoleon never lost sight of trying to find peace, the welfare of the Russian people, and diplomacy.
year 1812
Tolstoy explains how men perceive history. Do we attribute it to one man or to many?
Important Quotes
"Man's mind cannot grasp the causes of events in their completeness, but the desire to find those causes is implanted in man's soul."
CHAPTER 2
The tension build-up between the Russian and French armies is described.
CHAPTER 3
There is tension still between Kutuzov and Bennigsen. The Emperor advises Kutuzov as to how to act against the French, but Kutuzov is ready to attack at all costs.
CHAPTER 4
Kutuzov talks to Ermolov about how to proceed with the attack on the French. Later on, Ermolov disappears and nobody can find him. (Apparently he didn't want to deal with staging an attack).
CHAPTER 5
Kutuzov grows mad at the fact that no one is taking orders and taking this battle so slowly.
CHAPTER 6
Denisov speaks to a Polish soldier who tells him that Murat is close and can be captured. At first, Denisov feels that the Polish man is lying, but one his troops are together, he feels more stable and ready to attack the French. The Russian troops capture a French camp along the way, but are so blinded by capturing the soldiers and goods that they fail to capture Murat. Everyone points fingers at each other, blaming one another for not capturing Murat.
Important Quotes
"Had the Cossacks pursued the French, without heeding what was behind and around them, they would have captured Murat and everything there. That was what the officers desired. But it was impossible to make the Cossacks budge when once they had got booty and prisoners."
CHAPTER 7
Kutuzov becomes angry with Ermolov again because they had been so slow in attacking the French that the French themselves got news of their plans. On their way to capture Murat, many Russians died unnecessarily, although the Russian troops were able to expose how weak the French are.
Important Quotes
"That's how everything is done with us, all topsy-turvy!" said the Russian officers and generals after the Tarutino battle, letting it be understood that some fool there is doing things all wrong but that we ourselves should not have done so, just as people speak today. But people who talk like that either do not know what they are talking about or deliberately deceive themselves."
CHAPTER 8
Tolstoy speaks of Napoleon's bad management of his strategic position in Moscow. Instead of camping out in Moscow or taking over Petersburg, he let his troops loot and burn the city. The trrops may have been stronger in order to fight the Russians, but they lost strength. He does mention, though, that Napoleon never lost sight of trying to find peace, the welfare of the Russian people, and diplomacy.
Friday, July 1, 2016
RECAP of book 12
Highlights:
Pierre- he is captured after trying to plot to kill Napoleon and tried for arson. He again loses faith in God and humanity and hates the world because he cannot fix it.
Andrew- At the end he dies, but before he recognizes death and life as love. He is a particle of love in the universe and this thought helps dying feel better.
Mary and Natasha- they are bound together by their worry and love for Andrew. (Their love is exactly what Andrew thinks that our existences are made up of).
----The French continue to overtake Moscow which is up in flames.----
Pierre- he is captured after trying to plot to kill Napoleon and tried for arson. He again loses faith in God and humanity and hates the world because he cannot fix it.
Andrew- At the end he dies, but before he recognizes death and life as love. He is a particle of love in the universe and this thought helps dying feel better.
Mary and Natasha- they are bound together by their worry and love for Andrew. (Their love is exactly what Andrew thinks that our existences are made up of).
----The French continue to overtake Moscow which is up in flames.----
Book 12, Chapters 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16
CHAPTER 10
Pierre is interrogated by the bloodthirsty, French marshal, Davout. Davout accused him of being a Russian spy and Pierre can't say anything to make him believe otherwise. Pierre feels as though some unseen system is killing him off.
Important Quotes
"Davout looked up and gazed intently at him. For some seconds they looked at one another, and that look saved Pierre. Apart from conditions of war and law, that look established human relations between the two men. At that moment an immense number of things passed dimly through both their minds, and they realized that they were both children of humanity and were brothers."
"A system of some sort was killing him—Pierre—depriving him of life, of everything, annihilating him."
CHAPTER 11
Pierre watches as several of the other Russian prisoners he had been taken in with are killed. The acts seem unnatural to him and everyone around him seems to feel guilty for what they're doing.
Important Quotes
"Two more prisoners were led up. In the same way and with similar looks, these two glanced vainly at the onlookers with only a silent appeal for protection in their eyes, evidently unable to understand or believe what was going to happen to them. They could not believe it because they alone knew what their life meant to them, and so they neither understood nor believed that it could be taken from them."
"The body collapsed. The soldiers dragged it awkwardly from the post and began pushing it into the pit. They all plainly and certainly knew that they were criminals who must hide the traces of their guilt as quickly as possible."
CHAPTER 12
Pierre meets another solider named Platon in the shed that the French locked them in. Platon tells Pierre of his past and tells him that fate is in God's hands.
Important Quotes
"But now [Pierre] felt that the universe had crumbled before his eyes and only meaningless ruins remained, and this not by any fault of his own. He felt that it was not in his power to regain faith in the meaning of life "
Platon: "I say things happen not as we plan but as God judges."
CHAPTER 13
Pierre notices Platon's way of life and his cheery attitude and his roots as a peasant. Platon provides a sense of security and hope for Pierre.
Important Quotes
"But [Platon's] life, as he regarded it, had no meaning as a separate thing. It had meaning only as part of a whole of which he was always conscious."
CHAPTER 14
Princess Mary goes to see Andrew who is with the Rostovs after Nicholas tells her that he is ill. She sees Natasha, but instead of hating her, they are bound together by a common grief over Andrew.
Important Quotes
"But hardly had the princess looked at Natásha's face before she realized that here was a real comrade in her grief, and consequently a friend. She ran to meet her, embraced her, and began to cry on her shoulder. "
CHAPTER 15
Mary sees the critical condition that Andrew is in. He, however, receives her in a cold, detached manner as he is plagues by thoughts of death and remarks that the living cannot understand the thoughts of a dying man. He son comes to visit him and dares not cry in front of him. However, little Nicholas cries in front of Natasha once he has left the room.
Important Quotes
Mary: "But in what am I to blame?" she asked herself. And his cold, stern look replied: "Because you are alive and thinking of the living, while I..."
"When little Nicholas was brought into Prince Andrew's room he looked at his father with frightened eyes, but did not cry, because no one else was crying. Prince Andrew kissed him and evidently did not know what to say to him."
CHAPTER 16
Prince Andrew once again contemplates what death and the afterlife really is as he lays dying. He concludes that death is love. Everything is made up of love. Finally, he dies in front of Mary and Natasha.
Important Quotes
Andrew: "When he came to himself after being wounded and the flower of eternal, unfettered love had instantly unfolded itself in his soul as if freed from the bondage of life that had restrained it, he no longer feared death and ceased to think about it."
"This suddenly happened," had occurred two days before Princess Mary arrived. It was the last spiritual struggle between life and death, in which death gained the victory. It was the unexpected realization of the fact that he still valued life as presented to him in the form of his love for Natásha, and a last, though ultimately vanquished, attack of terror before the unknown."
Andrew: "Love hinders death. Love is life. All, everything that I understand, I understand only because I love. Everything is, everything exists, only because I love. Everything is united by it alone. Love is God, and to die means that I, a particle of love, shall return to the general and eternal source."
Andrew: "When they brought his son to him, he pressed his lips to the boy's and turned away, not because he felt it hard and sad (Princess Mary and Natásha understood that) but simply because he thought it was all that was required of him"
Pierre is interrogated by the bloodthirsty, French marshal, Davout. Davout accused him of being a Russian spy and Pierre can't say anything to make him believe otherwise. Pierre feels as though some unseen system is killing him off.
Important Quotes
"Davout looked up and gazed intently at him. For some seconds they looked at one another, and that look saved Pierre. Apart from conditions of war and law, that look established human relations between the two men. At that moment an immense number of things passed dimly through both their minds, and they realized that they were both children of humanity and were brothers."
"A system of some sort was killing him—Pierre—depriving him of life, of everything, annihilating him."
CHAPTER 11
Pierre watches as several of the other Russian prisoners he had been taken in with are killed. The acts seem unnatural to him and everyone around him seems to feel guilty for what they're doing.
Important Quotes
"Two more prisoners were led up. In the same way and with similar looks, these two glanced vainly at the onlookers with only a silent appeal for protection in their eyes, evidently unable to understand or believe what was going to happen to them. They could not believe it because they alone knew what their life meant to them, and so they neither understood nor believed that it could be taken from them."
"The body collapsed. The soldiers dragged it awkwardly from the post and began pushing it into the pit. They all plainly and certainly knew that they were criminals who must hide the traces of their guilt as quickly as possible."
CHAPTER 12
Pierre meets another solider named Platon in the shed that the French locked them in. Platon tells Pierre of his past and tells him that fate is in God's hands.
Important Quotes
"But now [Pierre] felt that the universe had crumbled before his eyes and only meaningless ruins remained, and this not by any fault of his own. He felt that it was not in his power to regain faith in the meaning of life "
Platon: "I say things happen not as we plan but as God judges."
CHAPTER 13
Pierre notices Platon's way of life and his cheery attitude and his roots as a peasant. Platon provides a sense of security and hope for Pierre.
Important Quotes
"But [Platon's] life, as he regarded it, had no meaning as a separate thing. It had meaning only as part of a whole of which he was always conscious."
CHAPTER 14
Princess Mary goes to see Andrew who is with the Rostovs after Nicholas tells her that he is ill. She sees Natasha, but instead of hating her, they are bound together by a common grief over Andrew.
Important Quotes
"But hardly had the princess looked at Natásha's face before she realized that here was a real comrade in her grief, and consequently a friend. She ran to meet her, embraced her, and began to cry on her shoulder. "
CHAPTER 15
Mary sees the critical condition that Andrew is in. He, however, receives her in a cold, detached manner as he is plagues by thoughts of death and remarks that the living cannot understand the thoughts of a dying man. He son comes to visit him and dares not cry in front of him. However, little Nicholas cries in front of Natasha once he has left the room.
Important Quotes
Mary: "But in what am I to blame?" she asked herself. And his cold, stern look replied: "Because you are alive and thinking of the living, while I..."
"When little Nicholas was brought into Prince Andrew's room he looked at his father with frightened eyes, but did not cry, because no one else was crying. Prince Andrew kissed him and evidently did not know what to say to him."
CHAPTER 16
Prince Andrew once again contemplates what death and the afterlife really is as he lays dying. He concludes that death is love. Everything is made up of love. Finally, he dies in front of Mary and Natasha.
Important Quotes
Andrew: "When he came to himself after being wounded and the flower of eternal, unfettered love had instantly unfolded itself in his soul as if freed from the bondage of life that had restrained it, he no longer feared death and ceased to think about it."
"This suddenly happened," had occurred two days before Princess Mary arrived. It was the last spiritual struggle between life and death, in which death gained the victory. It was the unexpected realization of the fact that he still valued life as presented to him in the form of his love for Natásha, and a last, though ultimately vanquished, attack of terror before the unknown."
Andrew: "Love hinders death. Love is life. All, everything that I understand, I understand only because I love. Everything is, everything exists, only because I love. Everything is united by it alone. Love is God, and to die means that I, a particle of love, shall return to the general and eternal source."
Andrew: "When they brought his son to him, he pressed his lips to the boy's and turned away, not because he felt it hard and sad (Princess Mary and Natásha understood that) but simply because he thought it was all that was required of him"
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