War And Peace By Leo Tolstoy :: essays research papers

Then novel War and Peace was written by a famous Russian author Leo Tolstoy in 1865. The novel describes the war with Napoleon in which many countries were involved such as Russia, Austrian, Prussia, Spain, Sweden, and Britain. The novel generally focuses on Russia. It reflects the different views and participation in the war of Russian aristocracy and peasants and in addition shows Tolstoys negative viewpoint on the war.Showing the war, Tolstoy describes Napoleons attack on Russia, the battle of Borodino, the slow retrieval of the Russian ground forces, the conquest of Moscow by Napoleon, the fire in Moscow, and the retrieval of Napoleons army during a deadly winter. Naopleon had to retrieve from Russia under attacks by Russian peasants and horsemen on those who fell behind. His army also sufferes from cold and hunger, since the Russians obliterateed all food supplies. The putsch of Moscow by Napoleon proved to be useless, and in the long run, destroyed a large part of his army .Alongside with these historical events, Tolstoy describes the different classes of Russian society in terms of their participation in the war and what kind of an impact war had on their lives. In the beginning of the novel, the Russian aristocratic class, which was in the czars circle, requisiteed Russia to participate in the war. They wanted a quick victory and pride for the Russian nobility. They did not anticipate that the war would destroy homes, agriculture, and take many Russian lives. This class is shown in Anna Pavlova Sharers salon, with its upper class aristocracy, who talk only in French, viewing the Russian language as uncivilized and useful only for peasants. They adopted French culture and wear French style clothing, and at the same time they want to fight Napoleon. However, the majority of this class doesnt want to participate themselves in the war, but want to win the war with the hands of the peasants. These aristocrats, despite their high instruction and power, will do nothing to help win the war. They live like parasites on the body of Russias society. This is how Tolstoy describes this class in general, but he also depicts two representatives of this upper class, Andrew Bolkonsky and Pierre Bisuhov, who were the more intellectual ones, and whose lives and views of war and life changed as the result of the war.Andrew was interested in a military career, and wasnt whole satisfied with the czar, while Pierre wasted his life on alcohol his everyday activity.