The Role Of Natasha Rostova In Leo Tolstoy's War And Peace

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In the vast world of literature, few characters are looked upon with as much confusion, admiration, and respect as Natasha Rostova in Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace. Considering the novel’s impressive cast of nearly 600 characters, Natasha’s notoriety becomes even more striking. Natasha manages to confound both readers and the novel’s many characters with her unpredictable nature and unfaltering vitality. Pierre Bezukhov, one of the piece’s primary characters, attempts to describe Natasha to her future sister-in-law but fails, saying “‘I decidedly don’t know what kind of girl she is; I simply cannot analyze her. She is enchanting. But why, I don’t know: that’s all one can say about her’” (Tolstoy 548). Even the most intelligent of characters like …show more content…

Though many would regard Andrei as a contender for main character, without Natasha he would have been unable to complete his quest to find perfection. Consequently, readers would never have experienced divine love -- Andrei’s ultimate contribution to the novel. To understand Natasha’s significance in Andrei’s fate, the essence of his quest must first be established. Throughout War and Peace, Andrei attempts to use his career, titles, and battle glory to discover perfection. Perfection, he presumes, will allow him to escape his constant intellectualizing and overcome the cold, disinterested approach to life he maintains. Certainly, Andrei cannot intellectualize perfection as it is beyond reproach and so he seeks it above all else. He constantly moves from one quest to another, repeatedly abandoning his endeavours when he has inevitably discovered a flaw. Andrei's largest disappointment came after the Battle of Austerlitz upon suffering a wound in an attempt to turn the tide of the battle. Seeing an opportunity for glory, Andrei grabs a fallen Russian standard thinking “Here it is!” (280) which refers both to the standard itself and the situation’s potential for glory. Andrei runs towards French forces, inspires hundreds of men to follow him, and soon after suffers a nearly fatal wound. As he lays dying on the battlefield, he looks into the sky and …show more content…

He tells Pierre during an unexpected encounter in 1807 “I lived for others and ruined my life — and not almost, but completely” (Tolstoy 384). Only when he meets Natasha does his spirit reawaken. On Andrei’s way to her family’s estate for business, he sees “An enormous oak, twice the span of a man’s arms in girth, with some limbs broken off long ago, and broken bark covering old scars… it stood, old, angry, scornful, and ugly, amidst the smiling birches… It alone did not want to submit to the charm of spring and did not want to see either the springtime or the sun” (Tolstoy 420). This oak tree represents Andrei himself; just as the oak tree refuses to embrace life despite being surrounded by its beauty, so does Andrei. Similarly, Andrei’s pessimistic worldview warps his interpretation of the tree. Instead of seeing an impressively weathered giant, he sees a beaten down reflection of himself. Mere hours later, though, he becomes enchanted with Natasha after seeing her running through a meadow and hearing her sing out her bedroom window under the moonlight. Andrei is captivated by her and simultaneously irked by her happiness and his exclusion: “She doesn’t care at all about my existence!” (422). Natasha’s presences deeply affects Andrei and “In his soul there suddenly

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