Hello all,
My thoughts while reading book four were all over the place. In the beginning, things were incredibly happy with the homecoming of Nicholas and Denisov. People were joyous and kissing and hugging and creating new memories. However, things quickly changed with their presence. Things were tense with Sonya and Nicholas. They were so obviously in love with each other. Tolstoy does an incredible job, in my opinion, of depicting the thoughts and emotions of a man the age of Nicholas. I find it so interesting that these types of emotions are so relatable and recurrent throughout history even though cultures change entirely. I was puzzled, however, how they so openly knew about their love but decided to act against it. Love, an incredibly complex emotion albeit, seems to triumph even in reality. Why does Tolstoy choose not to act upon their love? Is it an attempt to appeal more to the reader? What were your guys' thoughts throughout this?
Pierre is incredibly unpredictable in my opinion. His actions, declaring a duel against Dolokhov, threw me entirely. Also, even though he came out the victor against the man who was presumably Helene's other partner, Helene's opinion of Pierre lessened. She thought that it was foolish of him to do something of this nature. I would think, in a society that one can declare duels in, that the victor of such a conflict would run away with the girl. This is not the case. Why do you think Tolstoy did this? With Pierre losing Helene, do you think that Tolstoy was just emphasizing the fact that Helene was in the marriage for his fortune? After Helene declared that she wanted a portion of Pierre's fortune amidst the separation, my thoughts towards this theory strengthened.
Let me know what you think! Thank you guys,
Antonio
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