2026/04/18 War and Peace
In the present wartime, it is natural to be anxious about its impact on our lives. Revisiting war classics may provide some insight into how wars have affected people throughout history. Today’s book is War and Peace, written by Leo Tolstoy and published in 1869.
War and Peace follows the lives of four aristocrats, whose lives are reshaped by the Napoleonic Wars. The novel doesn’t focus on battles or glorify heroism. Instead, it shows how war seeps into personal identity, relationships, and life itself. The characters’ personal journeys intersect with the national crisis, forcing them to confront reality in ways peacetimes never required.
The first is Pierre Bezukhov’s journey. As the illegitimate son of a wealthy Bezukhov aristocrat, Pierre is an awkward, wealthy outsider who has been suddenly thrust into high society. He struggles with purpose, drifting through life without direction. During the war, he witnesses battlefield chaos and suffers betrayal at the hands of his wife, Helene, which drives him to madness and disillusionment. He thus wanders through a burning Moscow and is taken prisoner by French forces. There, he encounters suffering and death up close, which strips away his disillusionments and helps him discover meaning in simple human connection and endurance.
Elsewhere, Prince Andrei Bolkonsky enters the war seeking honor and greatness, inspired by heroic ideals. He is severely wounded in battle. After a brief moment of existential realization while lying on the battlefield, he returns to war, only to be mortally wounded. Thus, war destroys his belief in glory. What once seemed noble now feels empty. By the end, Andrei moves toward spiritual acceptance, realising that ambition is not the only thing that matters.
Meanwhile, the story of Natasha Rostova shows what happens when innocence is confronted with reality. She begins as a lively, impulsive girl, but the war financially strains her family and forces her to go between several suitors. She helps care for wounded soldiers during Moscow’s evacuation, where she witnesses suffering and loss directly. The war accelerates her emotional growth, as do her mistakes in her romantic life, especially her betrayal of her beloved Prince Andrei. She evolves from a carefree young woman to someone with deep empathy and emotional resilience.
And then there is Nikolai Rostov, who is drawn to military life by patriotism and a sense of duty. During the war, he experiences both excitement and fear in battle and struggles with the gap between his ideals and harsh reality. When he returns home, his priorities have shifted. He moves from impulsive enthusiasm to practical responsibility, especially towards his family.
Across all these characters, the pattern is consistent: War dismantles illusions, forces confrontation with mortality and suffering, and redirects lives away from ambition towards meaning, connection, and survival. The key idea of War and Peace is that war not only shapes history but also redefines the inner lives of those who live through it.
The article is researched and composed by Saily Bhagwat.