What was Prince Andrei thinking about before the battle? “You are good to everyone, but you have some kind of pride in thought, and this is a big sin” (based on the novel War and Peace. Reflection on the spiritual quest of Prince Andrei Bolkonsky)

I have a lot of impressions. IN this novel many topics were touched upon: life during the war years, relationships between people and love, the search for oneself and one's meaning of life as heroes. The latter can be well traced in the period of life described in the novel by Prince Andrei Bolkonsky.

Andrei Bolkonsky is one of the most important heroes of the work, the son of N.A. Bolkonsky. We first meet him at the very beginning of the novel.

Bolkonsky is shown as a person who is alien to secular society, intrigues, selfish goals and empty talk. It is easy to recognize him among the guests in the salon of A.P. Scherer. Interest in Andrei appears, probably, when you begin to delve into the history of his life.

Bolkonsky is a person who persistently and purposefully seeks the meaning of life. Everything around him does not cause joy and therefore Andrei strives to achieve the ideals that he set for himself: he married Lisa, because she always seemed to him perfection, but after some time lived together, he stopped seeing her former charm in her, now Lisa seemed to Andrei ordinary and he, without even noticing, began to treat her differently, colder. Bolkonsky always dreamed of fame, wanted to accomplish some kind of feat, and therefore, having entered the service, he radically changes his life.

There Andrei fulfilled his desire: during battle of austerlitz he ran ahead of everyone carrying a banner in his hands. Even Napoleon, whom the prince always tried to emulate, appreciated this, with the words “here beautiful death". But now all this no longer seemed to Andrei so incomprehensible and lofty, it was no longer a feat for him at all. Having received a mortal wound, Bolkonsky had a deep understanding that war is still scary, he becomes sorry that this is the end, because only now has the realization of the meaning of life come, but time has been lost.

The most romantic thing in the novel is the time spent by Bolkonsky with Natasha Rostova, starting with an acquaintance. Natasha is the person with whom Andrei is destined to be happy, it is she who should be next to him. By the time he met Rostova, Andrei was already disappointed in life, he stopped believing in love, this is noticeable in his worldview.

Probably, it was love at first sight, because Natasha has some kind of mystery that Andrei cannot solve, I think this is what attracts him to her. Bolkonsky is able to love at a distance, she even experiences some happiness only from the expectation of the upcoming wedding, and Natasha, although she loves the prince very much, due to her age lives in moments, which is why she fell in love with Anatole. I would not want to judge her strictly, because this is just her character, she is a young girl, she tends to think about love, and Andrey's long absence made itself felt. The case with Kuragin destroyed the relationship between Rostova and Bolkonsky, since Andrei could not forgive her mistake. At this stage, fate separates them, leaving disappointment and pain in everyone's soul.

After analyzing all these episodes from the life of Andrei, we can conclude that Bolkonsky was quickly disappointed in many ways: in life, in fame and exploits, in love.

Thus, having shown the reader in the image of Andrei Bolkonsky many remarkable features of the nobles of those years, the author ends his life with death. And to continue the search for high spiritual values ​​\u200b\u200band the meaning of life, which, unfortunately, Andrei understood so late, was destined for his friend Pierre Bezukhov.

Life quest of Andrei Bolkonsky

Andrei Bolkonsky is burdened by the routine, hypocrisy and lies that reign in secular society. These low, meaningless goals that it pursues.

Bolkonsky's ideal is Napoleon, Andrei wants like him, saving others to achieve fame and recognition. This desire of his is the secret reason why he goes to the war of 1805-1807.

During the Battle of Austerlitz, Prince Andrei decides that the hour of his glory has come and rushes headlong under the bullets, although the impetus for this was not only ambitious intentions, but also shame for his army, which began to flee. Bolkonsky was wounded in the head. When he woke up, he began to realize differently the world he finally noticed the beauty of nature. He comes to the conclusion that wars, victories, defeats and glory are nothing, emptiness, vanity of vanities.

After the death of his wife, Prince Andrei is experiencing a strong emotional shock, he decides for himself that he will live for the closest people, but his living nature does not want to put up with such a boring and everyday life, and in the end all this leads to a deep spiritual crisis. But a meeting with a friend and a sincere conversation help partly overcome it. Pierre Bezukhov convinces Bolkonsky that life is not over, that you need to continue to fight, no matter what.

A moonlit night in Otradnoye and a conversation with Natasha, and after meeting with an old oak tree, Bolkonsky returns to life, he begins to realize that he does not want to be such an “old oak tree”. Ambition, a thirst for fame and a desire to live and fight again appear in Prince Andrei, and he goes to serve in St. Petersburg. But, Bolkonsky, participating in the drafting of laws, understands that this is not what the people need.

Natasha Rostova played a very important role in the spiritual development of Prince Andrei. She showed him the purity of thoughts that must be adhered to: love for the people, the desire to live, to do something good for others. Andrei Bolkonsky passionately and tenderly fell in love with Natalya, but could not forgive the betrayal, because he decided that Natasha's feelings were not as sincere and disinterested as he thought before.

Going to the front in 1812, Andrei Bolkonsky does not pursue ambitious intentions, he goes to defend his homeland, to defend his people. And already being in the army, he does not strive for high ranks, but fights next to ordinary people: soldiers and officers.

The behavior of Prince Andrei in the Battle of Borodino is a feat, but a feat not in the sense that we usually understand it, but a feat in front of oneself, in front of one's honor, an indicator long way self-improvement.

After a mortal wound, Bolkonsky was imbued with an all-forgiving religious spirit, changed a lot, revised his views on life in general. He gave forgiveness to Natasha and Kuragin, and died with peace in his heart.

In the novel "War and Peace" you can explore and see firsthand life path And spiritual development Prince Andrei Bolkonsky from a secular, indifferent and conceited person to a wise, honest and spiritually deep person.

In addition to writing about life quest Andrei Bolkonsky, see also:

• The image of Marya Bolkonskaya in the novel "War and Peace", composition
• The image of Napoleon in the novel "War and Peace"
• The image of Kutuzov in the novel "War and Peace"
• Comparative characteristics of the Rostovs and Bolkonskys - composition

Kutuzov had a life experience that taught him to believe only in "patience and time." The belief in the inevitability of fate, the solution of which must be patiently awaited, determines all of Kutuzov's behavior. He calmly contemplates the course of events and, by his very appearance, instills calmness in people, confidence that "everything will be as it should be." Kutuzov firmly believed in the victory of Russia. Tolstoy argues that a military or political leader can be useful if, having felt how events are developing, he tries to instill his faith in their favorable outcome to the masses. This power of Kutuzov's faith and insight is connected with his national spirit. He is related to all the people and it is no coincidence that the word “father” is often repeated when applied to Kutuzov.

Kutuzov, Pierre, Prince Andrei, and Tolstoy's other favorite heroes are on the verge of great revelations. The war is leading them to them, Borodino. Tolstoy called Lermontov's "Borodino" the seed of his novel. In this poem, he saw the expression of the national spirit, the people's view of the course Patriotic War. To show the readers of the battle of Borodino, Tolstoy chose Pierre. It is to him that the great and simple truth, to which he goes from the beginning of the novel, should be revealed.

The moment is approaching when the essence of each person must finally be revealed, the price of his life must be determined.

What was Prince Andrei thinking about before the battle? There are two streams in his mind. On the one hand, he thinks about himself, about his death, the possibility of which he feels. And then the external life seems to him false, deceptive. There is a final reassessment of values. What had previously been dear to him now turned out to be empty and rude: "glory, the public good, love for a woman, the fatherland itself." And another series of thoughts - on a completely different plane: thoughts about the motherland, about love, about the injustice of this world, to which, if you follow the first stream of thought, he does not care. Andrei lost faith in everything that seemed to him the most important thing in life before. According to Tolstoy, the ethological outcome of the development of every person who has served in the state apparatus of autocratic Russia, in tsarist army who knew the true value of secular society.

Prince Andrew believes that the battle will be won. According to Prince Andrei, his success depends on the feeling that is in him, in every soldier. Prince Andrey believes in this powerful moral feeling that unites people who experience the same grief. He hates everything that leads people to division, to wars; he believed in the power of uniting people in the face of danger. Andrei believes that the moment has come when Russia needs moral, mental strength. And Kutuzov possesses them. The opposition of the Kutuzov, folk principle to the egoistic, selfish-rational determines the composition of the novel. With Kutuzov - Prince Andrei, merchant Ferapontov, Denisov, soldiers. Against Kutuzov - Alexander I, Boris Drubetskoy, Berg. Those who are with Kutuzov are absorbed in the general, those who are against him are divided, they think only about the personal. The war is hard for Kutuzov, hateful for Prince Andrei. Prince Andrei considers war to be a crime.

Tolstoy himself considers it a crime. He cannot justify the murders even with patriotic feelings. Tolstoy's pictures of war arouse disgust and horror at war. These dead and wounded, who, as it seems to Pierre, catch him by the legs; and a pool of blood in which a young officer sits; and the fear of being captured, when Pierre convulsively squeezes the Frenchman's neck and it seems to him that the Frenchman's head has come off - all this creates a gloomy atmosphere of murders not illuminated by any idea. These pictures are painted by an artist who already has thoughts in him, which later led him to a worldview, the core of which will be the call "Thou shalt not kill!". Before being mortally wounded, the feeling of life becomes more palpable in Prince Andrei. His last thoughts: “I can’t, I don’t want to die, I love life, I love this grass, earth, air ...” Wounded in the stomach, he rushed to the side - it was a rush to life, a rush to something that he had not before understood, fortunately, the simple enjoyment of life and love for it.

Plekhanov once remarked that "Tolstoy most of all experienced a feeling of horror before death precisely when he most of all enjoyed the consciousness of his unity with nature." “All the interests of the present immediately become indifferent to Prince Andrei. He starts at last time in your life, think about general issues being. All his life, Prince Andrei was looking for his place in society and all his life he was convinced how false and unnecessary everything that society offered him. The proximity of death finally opens his eyes to the truth. When Prince Andrei saw Anatole on a nearby operating table, his sick mind was pierced by the thought: “Compassion, love for brothers, for those who love us, for those who hate us, love for enemies, yes, the love that God preached on earth, which Princess Marya taught me and which I did not understand; that's why I felt sorry for life, that's what was left to me if I were alive. But now it's too late. I know it!". The whole path of Prince Andrei led him to this conclusion.

Andrew like everyone else goodies Tolstoy, mastering the world with reason, does not believe in the power of reason. Analyzing thought all the time leads Prince Andrei to the denial of some pieces of life. The world is falling apart. There remains only one principle that can save the world and the person in it: the love of all for all. The mind is incapable of accepting such an all-encompassing, irrational love. He demands revenge on his personal enemy and the enemy of the fatherland. The mind refuses to believe in a God who teaches universal love. When thinking person sees evil in everything, he becomes embittered himself. An evil feeling arises in Prince Andrei whenever he is disappointed in the next ideals: in secular society, in glory, in the public good, in love for a woman. But somewhere in the depths of his soul there always lived a longing for love for people.

And now, when death began to destroy his body, this thirst for love covers his entire being. And Prince Andrei formulates this thought that completes his entire path: the meaning of life is in all-encompassing love. For the first time, the mind not only follows the feeling, but also renounces itself. The whole path of Andrei Bolkonsky is the path of intermittent mutual negation of hatred and love. Tolstoy, convinced of the futility of hatred, ends this path with the triumph of love in him and the complete renunciation of hatred. This result, according to Tolstoy, is inevitable for every person striving for unity and burdened by separation. In disclosure main idea novel - thoughts about the need for unity, the image of the path of Prince Andrei plays an important role. Only in love, excluding all hatred, is the path to this unity. Such is the meaning of Prince Andrei's quest.

It is no coincidence that after the disclosure of these thoughts of Prince Andrei about love as the only truth of life, Tolstoy writes about Napoleon. Those beginnings of inhumanity, cruelty, selfishness, which Andrei came to deny by the end of the Battle of Borodino, are finally revealed in Napoleon. Until the end of his life, Napoleon could not understand goodness, beauty, or truth. The battle of Borodino revealed the best that was in Prince Andrei, and the worst that was in Napoleon.

Andrei Bolkonsky, his spiritual quest, the evolution of personality are described throughout the entire novel by L. N. Tolstoy. For the author, changes in the consciousness and attitude of the hero are important, because, in his opinion, this is what speaks of the moral health of the individual. Therefore, all the positive heroes of "War and Peace" go the way of searching for the meaning of life, the dialectics of the soul, with all the disappointments, loss and gain of happiness. Tolstoy indicates the presence of a positive beginning in the character by the fact that despite life's troubles, the hero does not lose dignity. These are Andrei Bolkonsky and Pierre Bezukhov. The common and most important thing in their quest is that the heroes come to the idea of ​​unity with the people. Let us consider what the spiritual searches of Prince Andrei led to.

Orientation to the ideas of Napoleon

Prince Bolkonsky first appears before the reader at the very beginning of the epic, in the salon of Anna Scherer, the maid of honor. Before us is a short man, with somewhat dry features, very handsome in appearance. Everything in his behavior speaks of complete disillusionment with life, both spiritual and family. Having married a beautiful egoist, Lisa Meinen, Bolkonsky soon gets tired of her and completely changes his attitude towards marriage. He even conjures a friend of Pierre Bezukhov never to marry.

Prince Bolkonsky longs for something new, for him constant going out, family life is vicious circle from which the young man strives to escape. How? Leaving for the front. This is the uniqueness of the novel "War and Peace": Andrei Bolkonsky, as well as other characters, their dialectics of the soul, are shown within a certain historical setting.

At the beginning of Tolstoy's epic, Andrei Bolkonsky is an ardent Bonapartist, admiring Napoleon's military talent, an adherent of his idea of ​​gaining power through a military feat. Bolkonsky wants to get "his Toulon".

Service and Austerlitz

With the arrival in the army, a new milestone in the search for the young prince begins. The life path of Andrei Bolkonsky made a decisive turn in the direction of bold, courageous deeds. The prince shows exceptional talent as an officer, he shows courage, valor and courage.

Even the smallest details Tolstoy emphasizes what Bolkonsky did right choice: his face became different, ceased to express fatigue from everything, feigned gestures and manners disappeared. At young man there was no time to think about how to behave correctly, he became real.

About what Andrei Bolkonsky is a talented adjutant, Kutuzov himself makes a note: great commander writes a letter to the father of a young man, where he notes that the prince is making exceptional progress. Andrey takes all the victories and defeats to heart: he sincerely rejoices and worries with pain in his soul. He sees an enemy in Bonaparte, but at the same time continues to admire the genius of the commander. He still dreams of "his Toulon". Andrei Bolkonsky in the novel "War and Peace" - an exponent copyright to outstanding personalities, it is from his mouth that the reader learns about the most important battles.

The center of this stage of the prince's life path is He who has shown high heroism, is seriously wounded, he lies on the battlefield and sees the bottomless sky. Then Andrey comes to the realization that he must reconsider life priorities, turn to his wife, whom he despised and humiliated with his behavior. Yes, and once an idol, Napoleon, he sees as an insignificant human being. Bonaparte appreciated the feat of the young officer, only Bolkonsky did not care. He only dreams of quiet happiness and impeccable family life. Andrei decides to end his military career and return home to his wife, in

The decision to live for yourself and loved ones

Fate is preparing Bolkonsky another heavy blow. His wife, Liza, dies in childbirth. She leaves Andrei a son. The prince did not have time to ask for forgiveness, because he arrived too late, he was tormented by guilt. The life path of Andrei Bolkonsky further is caring for his loved ones.

Raising a son, building an estate, helping his father in forming the ranks of the militia - these are his life priorities at this stage. Andrei Bolkonsky lives in seclusion, which allows him to focus on his spiritual world and search for the meaning of life.

Manifest progressive views young prince: he improves the life of his serfs (replaces corvée with dues), he gives status to three hundred people. Still, he is still far from accepting a sense of unity with common people: every now and then thoughts of disdain for the peasantry and ordinary soldiers slip through his speech.

A fateful conversation with Pierre

The life path of Andrei Bolkonsky moves to another plane during the visit of Pierre Bezukhov. The reader immediately notes the kinship of the souls of young people. Pierre, who is in a state of high spirits because of the reforms carried out on his estates, infects Andrey with enthusiasm.

Young people discuss for a long time the principles and meaning of changes in the life of the peasantry. Andrei does not agree with something, he does not accept Pierre's most liberal views on serfs at all. However, practice has shown that, unlike Bezukhov, Bolkonsky managed to really make life easier for his peasants. All thanks to his active nature and practical view of the fortress system.

Nevertheless, the meeting with Pierre helped Prince Andrei to better understand his inner world, start moving towards transformations of the soul.

Rebirth to new life

A sip fresh air, a change in outlook on life was made by a meeting with Natasha Rostova - main character novel "War and Peace". Andrei Bolkonsky visits the Rostov estate in Otradnoy on matters of land acquisition. There he notices a calm, cozy atmosphere in the family. Natasha is so pure, direct, real ... She met him starry night during the first ball in her life and immediately captured the heart of the young prince.

Andrey, as it were, is born again: he understands what Pierre once told him: you need to live not only for yourself and your family, you need to be useful to the whole society. That is why Bolkonsky travels to St. Petersburg to make his proposals to the military charter.

Awareness of the meaninglessness of "state activity"

Unfortunately, Andrei did not manage to meet with the sovereign, he was sent to Arakcheev, an unprincipled and stupid man. Of course, he did not accept the ideas of the young prince. However, another meeting took place that influenced Bolkonsky's worldview. It's about about Speransky. He saw in the young man a good potential for public service. As a result, Bolkonsky is appointed to a position related to the drafting. In addition, Andrei heads the commission for drafting wartime laws.

But soon Bolkonsky is disappointed with the service: the formal approach to work does not satisfy Andrey. He feels like he's doing nothing for anyone here. the right job, he will not render real help to anyone. Increasingly, Bolkonsky recalls life in the village, where he was really useful.

Initially admiring Speransky, Andrei now saw pretense and unnaturalness. Increasingly, Bolkonsky is visited by thoughts about the idleness of Petersburg life and the absence of any meaning in his service to the country.

Breakup with Natasha

Natasha Rostova and Andrei Bolkonsky were very beautiful couple However, they were not destined to marry. The girl gave him the desire to live, to do something for the good of the country, to dream of a happy future. She became Andrew's muse. Natasha favorably differed from other girls in St. Petersburg society: she was pure, sincere, her actions came from the heart, they were devoid of any calculation. The girl sincerely loved Bolkonsky, and not just saw him as a profitable game.

Bolkonsky makes a fatal mistake by postponing the wedding with Natasha for whole year: this provoked her passion for Anatole Kuragin. The young prince could not forgive the girl. Natasha Rostova and Andrei Bolkonsky break off their engagement. The blame for everything is the excessive pride of the prince, the unwillingness to hear and understand Natasha. He is again as self-centered as the reader observed Andrei at the beginning of the novel.

The final turning point in consciousness - Borodino

It is with such a heavy heart that Bolkonsky enters 1812, a turning point for the Fatherland. Initially, he longs for revenge: he dreams of meeting Anatole Kuragin among the military and avenging his failed marriage by challenging him to a duel. But gradually the life path of Andrei Bolkonsky is changing once again: the vision of the tragedy of the people served as an incentive for this.

Kutuzov trusts the young officer to command the regiment. The prince is completely devoted to his service - now it is his life's work, he is so close to the soldiers that they call him "our prince".

Finally, the day of the apotheosis of the Patriotic War and the quest of Andrei Bolkonsky comes - battle of Borodino. It is noteworthy that his vision of this great historical event and the absurdities of wars L. Tolstoy puts into the mouth of Prince Andrei. He reflects on the pointlessness of so many sacrifices for the sake of victory.

The reader sees here Bolkonsky, who has gone through a difficult life path: disappointments, deaths of loved ones, betrayal, rapprochement with the common people. He feels that now he understands and realizes too much, one might say, foreshadows his death: “I see that I began to understand too much. And it is not good for a man to eat from the tree of good and evil.”

Indeed, Bolkonsky is mortally wounded and, among other soldiers, falls into the care of the Rostovs' house.

The prince feels the approach of death, he thinks about Natasha for a long time, understands her, “sees the soul”, dreams of meeting his beloved, asking for forgiveness. He confesses his love to the girl and dies.

The image of Andrei Bolkonsky is an example of high honor, loyalty to the duty of the Motherland and people.

Andrei Bolkonsky inherited from his father a love of order, activity and "pride of thought." But, as a representative of a new generation, Prince Andrei softened many of his father's manners. For example, the family tree makes him smile: along with others, he freed himself from this superstition of aristocracy. He liked to meet people who did not have a "common secular imprint".

Bolkonsky's marriage. Savor.

The novel finds Andrei Bolkonsky just at that moment in his spiritual life, when the superstition of secular relations became especially painful for him. He is a young husband, but in his richly decorated dining room, where all the silver, faience and table linen shine with newness, he advises Pierre never to marry with nervous irritation. Having married, because everyone marries, a kind, very pretty girl, Andrey had to get, like everyone else, into the "enchanted circle of living rooms, gossip, balls, vanity, insignificance."

Bolkonsky at war.

He realizes that this life is "not for him" - and in order to just break with it, he decides to go to war. War, he thinks, like everyone else, is something bright, special, not vulgar, especially a war with such a commander as Bonaparte.

But Bolkonsky is not destined to follow the beaten path. The very first victory, which he, as adjutant of Kutuzov, reported to the Minister of War, led him to thoughts that tormented him in high-society living rooms. The stupid, feigned smile of the minister, the insulting behavior of the adjutant on duty, the rudeness of ordinary officers, the stupidity of the "dear Orthodox army" - all this quickly drowned out interest in the war and the happiness of new, joyful impressions.

Prince Andrei was leaving for the war as an opponent of all abstract reasoning. A family trait, practical efficiency, combined with a mockingly contemptuous attitude towards everything that bore the imprint of metaphysics. When his sister put a small icon around his neck, suffering from his jokes about the shrine, Andrei took this gift so as not to upset his sister, and "his face was at the same time tender and mocking." Near Austerlitz, Andrei was seriously wounded. Then, exhausted from the loss of blood, knocked out of the ranks of his comrades, finding himself in the face of death, Andrei somehow became closer to the religious worldview of his sister. When Napoleon stopped above him with his retinue, everything suddenly appeared to him in a different light than before.

The death of his wife and the first rebirth of Bolkonsky

On the eve of the battle, after a military council, which left a very confused impression, Prince Andrei for a moment came up with the idea that the victims were aimless due to some kind of court considerations; but this thought was drowned out by other habitual thoughts of glory; it seemed to him that he would give the people dearest to him for a minute of glory, of triumph over people. But, seeing near him the conqueror covered with glory, Napoleon, whom he considered his hero, the wounded Prince Andrei could not respond to the question addressed to him. “All the interests that occupied Napoleon seemed so insignificant to him at that moment, his hero himself seemed so petty to him.” He only wanted to comprehend that deity, touching and soothing, about which his sister spoke to him. Still not fully recovered from the wound, Prince Andrei arrives home just in time for the birth of his son and the death of his wife, who could not bear childbirth.

The dying childishly reproachfully looked at her husband, and "something torn off the axis in his soul." Until recently, it had seemed indisputable to him that this woman, the "little princess," was tying him to vulgar life, stands in his way to glory and triumph; and now he is a hero, crowned with glory, who has won the attention of Napoleon and the most flattering reviews of Kutuzov, just as powerless, petty and guilty before a dying woman, just as there, on the Austerlitz field, in front of him, lying in blood, his hero was powerless, petty and guilty Napoleon. And after the death of his wife, he keeps imagining her unspoken reproach: “Oh, what and why did you do this to me?”

With his unaccustomed to abstractions, Prince Andrei is not able to reconcile the contradictions caused in his soul. It seems to him that it is necessary to get away from all social activities, and for two years he leads a secluded life in his village, slowly recovering from the effects of the wound. It seems to him that the mistake of his former life was in the pursuit of fame. But glory, he thinks, is love for others, the desire to do something for them, the desire for their praise. It means that he lived for others and therefore ruined his own life. You need to live only for yourself, for your family, and not for the so-called neighbors. Therefore, in a conversation with Pierre, he passionately and convincingly objects to all his plans to benefit the peasants. Men are also “neighbors”, “this is main source delusion and evil."

He does not want to serve in the army, he also refuses an elected position of the nobility, he tries to completely withdraw into worries only about himself, about his father, about his house. Not to get sick and not to feel remorse - this is the basis of happiness. But without a mocking smile, as it would have been before, Prince Andrei listens to Pierre when he expounds to him the teachings of Freemasonry: to live for others, but not despising them, as Prince Andrei despised those people who should glorify him, you need to see yourself as a link, part of a huge , a harmonious whole, one must live for truth, for virtue, for love for people.

Slowly and difficultly, as in a strong nature, this seed of new life developed in Andrei's soul. He sometimes even wanted to assure himself that his life was over. It seems to him that, protecting his father, only for his own peace of mind takes care of militia affairs, that only out of material interests he travels on guardian affairs of his distant estate, that only from idleness he follows the developing political events and studies the reasons for the failures of past military campaigns. . In fact, a new attitude to life is born in him: “No, life is not over at thirty-one… Not only do I know all that. what is in me ... it is necessary that everyone knows me, so that my life goes not for me alone! The decision to move to St. Petersburg in the fall to take Active participation in social activities, was a natural way out of this mood.

Bolkonsky in the service of Speransky.

In 1809, Prince Andrei appears in the capital with a reputation as a liberal, created by setting the peasants free. In a circle younger generation, adjacent to the reform activities of Speransky, Prince Andrei immediately occupies a prominent place. Former acquaintances find that in five years he has changed for the better, softened, matured, got rid of his former pretense, pride and mockery. Prince Andrei himself is unpleasantly struck by the contempt of some people for others, which he sees, for example, in Speransky. Meanwhile, Speransky for him is almost the same as Napoleon before Austerlitz, and it seems to Prince Andrei that he is again as if before a battle, but only now as a civilian. He enthusiastically set to work on part of the civil code, rejuvenated, cheered up, prettier, but lost all ability to deal with secular ladies, very unhappy that he "contacted Speransky."

Love for Natasha, which in its simplicity was so unlike Speransky's strict opponents, grows in Bolkonsky's heart, but
at the same time, he wants again something infinitely great, like the sky of Austerlitz, and the halo of Speransky fades for him. “... He vividly imagined Bogucharovo, his activities in the village, his trip to Ryazan, remembered the peasants, Dron - the headman, and, having applied to them the rights of persons, which he divided into paragraphs, he wondered how he could have been engaged in such a idle work."

Bolkonsky in the war of 1812.

The break with Speransky was accomplished simply and easily; but it was all the more difficult for Bolkonsky, who was not carried away by some business, to endure
the unexpected betrayal of Natasha, who had already agreed with him on the date of the wedding. Only out of a desire to meet his rival in the army and bring him to a duel, he enters active army just before the beginning of the Patriotic War of 1812. Glory, the public good, love for a woman, the fatherland itself - everything now appears to Prince Andrei as "roughly painted figures." War is "the most disgusting thing in life" and at the same time "the favorite pastime of idle and frivolous people." “The purpose of the war is murder ... They will come together to kill each other, kill, maim tens of thousands of people. As God watches and listens to them from there!” This is how Prince Andrei argues in a conversation with Pierre on the eve of the Battle of Borodino and concludes: “Ah, my soul, Lately it became hard for me to live ... And it’s not good for a person to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil ... Well, not for long!

The next morning, frowning and pale, at first he walked for a long time in front of the ranks of soldiers, considering this necessary to arouse their courage, “then
he was convinced that he had nothing and nothing to teach them.”

Hours and minutes drag on, when all the strength of the soul is directed not to think about the danger ... In the middle of the day, the bursting core struck Andrey.

Reconciliation with life and death of Bolkonsky.

And the first thought of the wounded man was the unwillingness to die and the question of why it is so pitiful to part with life. At the dressing station, when he was undressed, childhood flashed before him for a moment - a nanny putting him to bed and lulling him to sleep. He was somehow touched - and then he suddenly recognized Kuragin in the terribly groaning man. that broke his happiness with Natasha. I also remember Natasha. And he, looking at the once hateful, now pitiful face with eyes swollen with tears, he himself “wept tender, loving tears over people, over himself and over their and his own delusions.” He understood what he did not understand before - love for everyone, even for enemies. "... Enthusiastic pity for the love of this man filled his happy heart."