During his last days home before returning to the front,
Nicholas feels the typical atmosphere of love within the Rostov
family disturbed by tensions between his cousin Sonya and his friend Dolokhov.
Nicholas discovers that Dolokhov has asked for Sonya’s hand in marriage,
but Sonya has refused him, clinging to her love for Nicholas. Nicholas
begs Sonya to reconsider Dolokhov’s offer, but she insists that
she loves Nicholas like a brother, and that such love is enough
for her.
Meanwhile, Denisov develops an interest in Natasha, with whom
he dances splendidly at a ball. Dolokhov invites Nicholas to a card
game at his hotel, and Nicholas loses all the money his father has
given him and more—the final sum Nicholas owes Dolokhov is forty-three
thousand rubles. Nicholas despairs, promising to pay the sum the
next day, and he returns home in a gloomy mood. Hearing Natasha
sing, however, makes Nicholas forget his woes momentarily. He asks
his father for the money to pay Dolokhov, but it takes the old Count
two weeks to raise the requested amount. Denisov proposes to Natasha,
but is rejected. Both Denisov and Nicholas leave Moscow in disappointment.
Book Five, Chapters 1–5
Pierre began to feel a sense of uneasiness,
and the need, even the inevitability, of entering into conversation
with this stranger.
See Important Quotations Explained
Pierre is at the Torzhok railway station, en route to
St. Petersburg after leaving his wife. He is miserable and lost,
meditating on the absurdity of human life. Pierre watches a strange,
old traveler wearing a Masonic ring. The man fascinates Pierre and
unsettles him by gazing steadily at him. The stranger knows Pierre
and addresses him, and the two launch into a deep philosophical
conversation about human failings, divine perfection, and the possibility
of reforming one’s life. Pierre recognizes how awful his behavior
has been, and he asks for guidance. The traveler—who Pierre later
finds out is a Freemason named Bazdeev—tells Pierre to contact a
Count Willarski in St. Petersburg.
After arriving in St. Petersburg, Pierre continues his
spiritual search. Willarski visits him and proposes to sponsor him
as an initiate into the Masonic brotherhood. At the initiation ritual,
Pierre renounces his atheism, affirms his faith in God, and vows
to love death as a deliverance from the woes of life. He gives up
his valuables and confesses that his chief sin has been his passion
for women. After this confession, Pierre feels bliss.
The following day, Vasili Kuragin visits Pierre and urges
him to reconcile with Helene. In a new show of boldness, Pierre
asks Vasili to leave, renouncing his earlier mistakes. Pierre then
sets out for his southern estates. Meanwhile, Anna Pavlovna continues
to give her customary parties, and takes a new interest in Boris,
who has found great recent success as a military officer and diplomatic
assistant. Anna Pavlovna introduces Boris to Helene, who asks him
to come visit her. During his stay, Boris becomes a regular guest
at Helene’s.
Book Five, Chapters 6–18
As the war recommences late in 1806,
old Prince Bolkonski is appointed a military commander despite his
age. His son, Andrew, having renounced active warfare, takes a desk
job under his father’s command and stays home with his son and sister.
While his baby son suffers from a high fever, Andrew receives a
letter from his father with news of a Russian victory and orders
to leave on a military errand. He refuses to leave until his son
is better. Andrew reads letters from his friend Bilibin about the
confusions and injustices of war, until he panics and fears his
son is dead. As the baby’s fever breaks, Andrew realizes that his
son is the one good thing in his life.
