Notes on WAR AND PEACE Strange Perception in the Midst of Battle

 

SHOT OUT OF YOUR HORSE, FINDING NEW STRANGE WAYS OF VIEWING WAR

Reading Part II of War and Peace, which is the “war” part. Tolstoy has a great feel for the sense of confusion and disorderly turmoil that predominates in time of combat. Maybe because he saw combat himself. In the Caucasus and during the Crimean War. Nikolay Rostov and his mounted hussars are about to attack the French. “The command to form up was heard, then sabers squealed as they were drawn from scabbards. But still no one moved. The troops of the left flank, both infantry and hussars, sensed that their superiors themselves did not know what to do, and the indecisiveness of the superiors communicated itself to the troops.” In this part of the novel Tolstoy makes it clear that even Prince Bagration, the general in command of the Russian forces, has no precise idea about what he’s doing; he plays the tune mainly by ear.

 Nikolay Rostov gallops into battle, waving his saber, caught up in the joyful spirit of combat, “the delight of the attack,” intent on chopping up his enemies, but then, suddenly, his horse is shot out from under him, and everything changes. His left arm is mangled, he is on foot facing French infantry, and Tolstoy uses his favorite device of making it strange.

“Has something happened to me? Such things do happen and what must be done when they happen? . . . His hand was like someone else’s, not his own. He examined the hand, looking for blood, finding none. Well, here are some people, he thought, rejoicing, seeing several men running toward him. They’ll help me!”

 Of course, those running toward him are French soldiers, and this slowly dawns on him. “He looked at the approaching Frenchmen, and although a brief moment ago he had been galloping furiously in order to get at these Frenchmen and cut them to pieces, they were so close to him now, and so terrible, that he could not believe his eyes. Who are they? Why are they running? Can it be that they’re running toward me? And why? To kill me? ME, who everybody loves so much? He recalled his mother’s love for him, his family’s love, his friends’ love, and the idea that the enemy intended to kill him seemed impossible.”