In Tolstoy’s classic novel, War and Peace, the setting and tone the reader encounter at the opening of the book suggest that war and peace will be presented as opposing constructs, with the former being portrayed as a social vice to be avoided and the latter being posited as a virtue to be pursued. In these early pages, the reader is aware that war is eminent; this fact is made evident in the second sentence of the novel. Nonetheless, the members of the upper class, at least, seem to be somewhat insulated from war’s immediate threats. Domestic and social life are, for now at least, protected, and the greatest apparent worry of the elite is the fact that all of the fetes, “festivities and fireworks” they are invited to attend are becoming “wearisome” because there are simply so many of them (4). This false peace, however, does not last for long, and Tolstoy soon disrupts any expectations the reader might have had about the supposedly diametric relationship between war and peace. In fact, Tolstoy goes on to show that during a time of war, there can really be no peace. The domestic and social sphere are infected by the negative animus of conflict, although this fact may be unconscious to the characters themselves. It is only when war has passed that society and the home begin to reconstitute themselves and resume a semblance of normalcy and healthy functioning.
Peace, Tolstoy seems to posit, is not always peaceful. Although the main characters who are not on the front lines are, more or less, safely ensconced in their homes, effectively insulated from the overt horrors of war, the tension of war eventually spills over into society, just as it has throughout all of human history. Even in the place where one should be most safe, one’s home, Tolstoy creates conflicts that undermine any sense of consistent well-being within one’s own sphere and among one’s own family and close friends. One of the earliest examples of the destabilization of the domestic sphere is when Pierre challenges the lover of his wife Helene to a duel. Although he is utterly inept with respect to social graces, Pierre nearly kills Helene’s lover with his swordsmanship, and it is this episode that marks the steady decline and degradation of safety and well-being in any number of marital and personal relationships in the novel.
The chaos and violence of war has been projected onto society at large, as it always is, but there are some aspects of war that are instructive and profoundly meaningful for those who are fighting on the front lines of the battle, and these lessons will provide those characters with lasting skills that they can use to negotiate their personal relationships if and when they return home from defending Russia’s autonomy and honor. Andrew’s close encounter with death, for instance, shakes him, but then it serves to fortify him. For the first time ever, the rather callous and cold Andrew has begun to understand the true meaning of life. It was only by glimpsing his mortality and the brevity and fragility of human life, though, that Andrew could learn this lesson and prepare himself to apply it. It seems significant that the lesson is so powerful that Andrew does not even notice when the infamous Napoleon walks past him as he lies on the ground trying to grasp the fullness of his new awareness.
In Tolstoy’s War and Peace, conflict and stability do not complement each other so much as they do reflect one another. War and peace, Tolstoy argues through the circumstances that afflict and liberate his characters, are not as different as they might appear with just a superficial glance. Rather, the dramatic tensions that exist between the two constructs that have marked every epoch of human history affect and inform one another. In times of war, even those places and people who seem the safest are unlikely to be free of divisive conflict. The chaos, uncertainty, and scope of violence that characterize periods of war spill over into every other aspect of society, including the domestic sphere, creating instability for everyone, irrespective of whether this fact is acknowledged.
It is not until after the war between the Russians and Napoleon’s forces has ended that families and relationships finally begin to stabilize and assume a semblance of functionality and normalcy, much like society itself. Pierre and Natasha enter into a phase of domestic bliss and mutual appreciation. Mary and Nicholas get married and their union brings peace of various kinds—economic and domestic—to both of their families. The message that Tolstoy wants to deliver seems to be clear. Social peace, Tolstoy says through his characters and their conditions at the novel’s conclusion, is a precondition for domestic stability. Without being overly moralizing, Tolstoy’s War and Peace does become a morality tale, cautioning the reader against the varied kinds of violence that human beings inflict upon one another.
Work Cited
Tolstoy, Leo. War and Peace. Trans. George Gibian. New York: W.W. Norton, 1996.
