The next day, Boris acts on Berg’s advice and sets out
to seek patronage from Andrew. Boris finally finds Andrew, who kindly agrees
to talk to him about becoming an adjutant (a staff officer). It is
announced that the Russian and Austrian strategists have decided to
attack the French, and Boris feels elated that he is in such important
company. Nicholas also is overjoyed at having been reviewed by the
tsar, with whom he is so fascinated he almost seems to be in love.
Talks with Napoleon are underway, and Andrew learns from the Russian
emissary that Napoleon fears a large battle. The plan remains to
attack the French at Austerlitz, though General Kutuzov fears defeat.
At the council of war, the commanders disagree and hesitate. Nonetheless,
Andrew relishes the glory that he feels will come. Riding on horseback
that night, Nicholas dozes and thinks of Natasha, but he is awakened
by shots nearby. It is clear that action will follow soon. The next
morning, the Russian troops advance, blinded by a fog and unsure
whether they are in the midst of the French.
Rostov’s detachment is frustrated to learn that they are
late, due to a mix-up over misunderstood orders. Unbeknownst to
the -Russians, the French forces are nearby—in fact, Napoleon himself expressionlessly
watches the Russians take their position. The tsar reproaches Kutuzov
for delaying the battle, but Kutuzov responds that a battle is more
serious than an official parade, and that being late is not as important
as being strong. Suddenly the French appear closer than expected,
and Kutuzov is wounded in the cheek. Andrew is wounded by a French
bludgeon, and he falls to the ground in an attitude of bliss and
peace, thanking God that all falsehood is vanishing around him.
Meanwhile, on the right flank, Bagration’s troops, including Nicholas,
have not started fighting yet. The charge begins, with Rostov in
it. All but eighteen of the officers die in the attack. Boris rides
up, but Nicholas rides away, seeking the tsar with a message. Confusion
reigns. The possibility of defeat is too horrible for Nicholas to contemplate.
Nicholas, still searching for Kutuzov or the tsar in the
village of Pratzen, is told that the tsar has been transported away
wounded. Nicholas cannot believe it, and he hears conflicting reports. Despairing,
he sees the dead in the fields. He is surprised to find the tsar
alone in a field, but he is too shy to address him, so he rides
on. Later, Nicholas comes back to find the tsar gone. The cannon
fire continues, and more men fall. Meanwhile, Andrew, lying in Pratzen, is
unsure where he is and delirious after receiving his wound. Napoleon
rides by and comments on Andrew, but even this hardly affects him.
When Napoleon later speaks to the Russian prisoners of war, he is
courteous and complimentary toward Andrew.
Analysis: Books Two–Three
Perhaps the foremost idea in these chapters is the disillusionment
of idealists. Tolstoy emphatically underlines the split between
the grand, noble, or romantic ideas characters hold about concepts
such as national unity, war, and leadership, and the disappointing
reality these characters experience later.
Tolstoy opens Book Two by continuing to deflate the grand notion
of the unity of the Russian nation, deepening his exploration of
the internal divisions within Russia that he had implied in Book One.
We see a microcosm of these internal rifts in the barracks, as our
first glimpse of a military conflict is not between Russians and Frenchmen,
but among Russians themselves: the officer Telyanin steals a purse
and Nicholas accuses him of thievery. We wonder about the strength
of national unity if the Russians fight among themselves even on
the battlefield. Similarly, when the first two Russian casualties
are reported, there is talk of how the detachment may be awarded
a medal, with no mention of mourning the fellow Russians who have
fallen. Even the scene in which the officer Nesvitski is stuck on
the bridge—blocked not by the enemy but by the movement of his own
troops—hints that Russians can be their own worst enemies, perhaps
even as much as the French are.
Disillusionment also occurs on the level of individual
characters. Andrew starts off with high-minded notions of heroism,
giving money to wounded soldiers from his own pocket, and believing
that the Austrian commanders would appreciate the import of a Russian victory.
But during his mission to the Austrian general, Andrew discovers
that the Austrians greet news of Kutuzov’s triumphs with little
more than indifference, despite a series of Austrian blunders that should
leave them very grateful for a Russian success. This sudden understanding
that recognition and credit are not always given fairly marks the
start of Andrew’s initiation into the realities of war, the beginning
of a deadened attitude that he never truly shakes throughout the
rest of the novel.
Tolstoy uses the battle scenes in this section primarily
to explore leadership, especially the fact that men who are revered
as super-human heroes have the same mundane, everyday aspects as
common men. Both the French and the Russian sides of the battle
make certain men into myths. Anna Pavlovna has already referred
to Napoleon as the “Antichrist,” and here the French emperor exhibits a
mythical aspect: our first image of Napoleon is of him standing immobile
and expressionless, as if he were a statue rather than a living
man. Tsar Alexander is revered in similarly transcendent ways, and
Nicholas is amazed, when he finds the tsar standing alone in a field,
that such a great figure could appear so ordinary. When the tsar
hesitates in his review of the Russian troops, Nicholas is surprised,
thinking that a great man never hesitates. This close proximity
of high commanders to lowly infantrymen produces an environment
in which great leadership appears especially valuable. Indeed, we
see that a revered leader like Alexander can inspire his troops
to acts of heroic self-sacrifice. However, that same proximity of
the great and the lowly also has the potential to disillusion those in
the rank and file, making them realize that their mythical heroes are,
in many aspects, simply men just like themselves.
