As I was reading section 21 of Book 10, I noticed that when speaking with Pierre a Russian officer consistently addresses Napoleon as "him". Tolstoy makes a point of italicizing the word "his" when the officer explains to Pierre which land is claimed by the Russians and which land is claimed by the French, "That's his again [...] It was ours yesterday, but now it is his." (p.678) The Russian officer later speculates that, “He will probably pass round to the right of Moskva.” (p.679) Throughout the conversation the Russian officer refuses to speak the name "Napoleon". What is Tolstoy's trying to tell the reader through this sudden use of pronouns? Am I reading too much into the text? Perhaps, but my own interpretation of this change in language is that the use of "he" instead of Napoleon demonstrates Napoleon's growing power. The Russians seem almost scared to speak his name directly, which tells the audience that after the failed battle of Borodino the Russians are gradually beginning to recognize and perhaps even fear the strength of the French army. I couldn't help but think of The Harry Potter Series when first noticing this word choice. In Harry Potter all witches and wizards refuse to speak Lord Voldemort's name. Instead they refer to him as, "He who must not be named". It's a stretch- I know. But I believe that the omission of Napoleon’s name carries the same significance as the omission of Lord Voldemort's name. The Russians are acknowledging the fearful wrath of Napoleon.

War and Peace Movie

I thought it would be interesting to watch the movie trailer for one of the first theatrical versions of War and Peace.

One of the things I found interesting about this trailer was its portrayal of Natasha as the main character in the sense that many of the other characters were described in relation to her. I also found it interesting that they left out Nicholas and Mary, who are arguably also main characters. Still, I think it is fun to see a portrayal of this novel, especially in the dance scenes.

Tolstoy's Birthday Party

Just found a link to some footage of Tolstoy's 80th birthday party. It's a little hard to understand whats going on but I thought it was pretty interesting anyway.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tolstoy.ogg

The Formation of the Aristocratic Family

Marriage is an institution held in great importance in young people’s lives in War and Peace. The act of choosing a spouse is, however, very delicate, and we often see marriages occur between not the most perfect of matches. The formation of the aristocratic family is a process based largely on potential acquired wealth.

Natasha, as an elite without wealth, must make sure her husband is moneyed because she does not have wealth to inherit from her family. Borís faces the same constriction with his prospective matches. Although Natasha and Borís love each other they cannot overcome the fact that if they married they would suffer financially; this is their deal breaker. Pierre, on the other hand, is largely undesirable until he inherits his wealth. Then, he has opportunity to construct his family to include the most beautiful and desirable woman in Russia—Hélène—due to her desire of wealth, similarly to Natasha or Borís. But because of this importance of the superficial, Pierre’s marriage is cold and unhappy.

Overall, families in the Russian aristocracy formed like business relationships; partners were more desirable when they came with wealth. The already wealthy sought partners who were, instead of having money, the most charming or beautiful. Aristocratic families were largely formed because of a desire for money, but the superficiality of this desire resulted in doomed relationships for many.

The Conjugate Pairs of Families in War and Peace.

While discussing War and Peace with a peer, I realized that the four major families within the novel exist in conjugate pairs: that is, each family and its values has an almost exact opposite embodied by another family. The Buzukhov family and the Rostov family are opposites, and the Kuragin family and the Bolkonski family are opposites.

The Buzukhov's embody a family on which relationships are built on money. If you love someone, you give them material things. Count Bezukhov shows his love for his son, Pierre, by including giving him the estate even though Pierre is illegitimate. The Rostov's, on the other hand, are terrible with money, but love each other immensely and show it though affection and emotional connection. Though in Russian Society "wealth is power", and we are supposed to look down on the Rostov's for their lack of financial knowledge, we can connect with the Rostov's through their obvious care for each other.

The Kuragin's, for their part, place emphasis on money, but only because it is necessary for a high status in society. They are obsessed with rank, and power, and will manipulate their way to the top. The family roles and boundaries are very unclear within their family. They are also obsessed with everything shallow and most of all, French. The Bolkonski's, on the other hand, embody Russian society. They fight some societal norms and prefer honor and integrity over rank and power. The structure of their family is very defined and almost unbreakable, in the way that there is mutual respect among them. Although within the family they are very different, they obviously care about each other, but seem unable to express it well.

Tolstoy's use of Fate

In the beginnings of both book 9 and book 10 of War and Peace Tolstoy describes the inevitability of the French invading Russia in 1812 and their defeat at the hands of the Russians. In both books Tolstoy emphasizes the fact that no one is really to blame for any of these actions and that it was all unavoidable acts of fate. He claims that the "Rulers and generals are "history's slaves""(535). About the French invading, he questions "What produced this extraordinary occurrence? What were its causes(535)?" While describing the people who took part in the fighting he claims that they were all "imagining that they knew what they were doing and did it for their own free will, but they all were involuntary tools of history, carrying on a work concealed from them but comprehensible to us"(607). I am wondering how his use of fate in these books reflect upon his belief in religion or the existence of god. On one hand it could be interpreted to symbolize Tolstoy's belief in god, showing how people are destined and guided by god to do what they do. People act in accordance with their own free will but are all the while being led to the inevitable outcome god has decided. On the other hand it could symbolize a belief in the lack of a god, showing how their is no influence from above directing the lives of men and women either way. With no god influencing the world, "history's slaves" assume they are living their lives based on their own free will but are really being led to these inevitable outcomes by the circumstances of their time. Either way it is clear Tolstoy believes in fate. Whether Tolstoy believes that fate is determined by God or circumstance is the real question. What do you guys think?

Map of war and peace

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=109254424792174297813.00045886cf4df09fa6fdf&ll=51.780528,21.716881&spn=21.625626,54.762039&source=embed

I found this and I thought it was a really good help to understand where everything is going on and how the war moves around Europe. I hope it will be useful to you too:).