War and Peace # 3

The main characters in Lev Tolstoy 's War and Peace are Andrei and Pierre and he writes these characters as polar opposites with enough character similarities to make them friends . Nowhere in the epic is this made clearer than in their attitudes toward war Pierre is emotionally sensitive and somewhat napve . Eager to learn about war , he helps to carry ordnance in a conflict with Napoleon , the reader is allowed a glimpse inside the heart of a man who comes to believe that Napoleon is Revelation 's Antichrist and that he is appointed

to be Napoleon 's assassin . Andrei , however , is Pierre 's antithesis emotionally unavailable and honorable , the war nearly takes Andrei 's life , yet he returns to fight for his beloved country . One of the key aspects in comparing and contrasting these protagonists comes in war 's idealism its disillusionment and delusion of grandeur and romantic heroism in the struggle for Russia 's unity affects both men similarly and differently Significantly , Tolstoy uses these characters to expose the internal rift found deep within their homeland divisions among the troops and Russian infightings cause the reader to consider the glories of Russian war as nothing more than the effects war has on all people heroes are just people

Andrei 's disillusionment comes at a very high price for him the realization that war is not glamorous or always fair begins to remove him from his naivety and drop him into the chasm of reality where he becomes a nihilist...