Enemies! How long have we been apart?
Their bloodlust was gone.
A.S. Pushkin.
Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy in his novel “War and Peace” consistently pursues the idea of the predestined destiny of man. He can be called a fatalist. This is clearly, truthfully and logically proven in the scene of Dolokhov’s duel with Pierre. A purely civilian, Pierre wounded Dolokhov, a rake, a rake, a fearless warrior, in a duel. But Pierre was completely unable to handle weapons. Just before the duel, second Nesvitsky explained to Bezukhov “where to press.”
But I'll start from the very beginning. The episode telling about the duel between Pierre Bezukhov and Dolokhov is found in the second volume, first part, chapters four and five of the epic novel, and it can be called “Unconscious Act.” It begins with a description of a dinner at an English club during the Napoleonic War of 1805-1807. Everyone is sitting at the table, eating,
drink. They raise toasts to the emperor and his health. Bagration, Naryshkin, Count Rostov, Denisov, Dolokhov, Bezukhov are present at the dinner. Pierre “does not see or hear anything happening around him, and thinks about one thing, difficult and insoluble.” He is tormented by the question: are Dolokhov and his wife Helen really lovers? “Every time his gaze accidentally meets Dolokhov’s beautiful, insolent eyes, Pierre feels like something terrible, ugly is rising in his soul.” And after a toast made by his “enemy”: “To the health of beautiful women and their lovers,” Bezukhov realizes that his suspicions are not in vain. A conflict is brewing, the beginning of which occurs when Dolokhov snatches a piece of paper intended for Pierre. The Count challenges the offender to a duel, but he does it hesitantly, timidly, one might even think that the words: “You... you... scoundrel!.. I challenge you...” - accidentally escape him. He does not realize what this fight can lead to, and neither do the seconds: Nesvitsky -
Pierre's second, Nikolai Rostov - Dolokhov's second. The behavior of all these characters indicates this. On the eve of the duel, Dolokhov sits all night in the club, listening to gypsies and songwriters. He is confident in himself, in his abilities, he goes with the firm intention of killing his opponent, but this is only an appearance, his soul is restless. His opponent “has the appearance of a man busy with some considerations that are not at all related to the upcoming matter. His haggard face is yellow. He apparently didn't sleep at night." The Count still doubts the correctness of his actions, he realizes: Helen’s lover is to blame; What would he have done in Dolokhov’s place? Pierre doesn't know what to do: either run away or finish the job. But when Nesvitsky tries to reconcile him with his rival, Bezukhov refuses, while calling everything stupid. Dolokhov doesn’t want to hear anything at all. Despite the refusal to reconcile, the duel does not begin for a long time due to the lack of awareness of the act, which Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy characterizes as follows: “For about three minutes everything was ready, and yet
were slow to start. Everyone was silent." The indecision of the characters is also conveyed by the description of nature - it is sparing and laconic: fog and thaw. Began. Dolokhov, when they began to disperse. He walked slowly, his mouth had the semblance of a smile, he was aware of his superiority and wanted to show that he was not afraid of anything. Pierre walks quickly, straying from the beaten path, as if he is trying to run away, to finish everything as quickly as possible. Perhaps that is why he shoots first, at random, flinching from the strong sound, and wounds his opponent.
“At the word three, Pierre walked forward with a quick step... holding the pistol, extending his right hand forward, apparently afraid that he might kill himself with this pistol. He carefully put his left hand back... After walking six steps and straying off the path into the snow, Pierre looked back at his feet, again quickly glanced at Dolokhov and, pulling his finger, as he was taught, fired... "there was no return shot. “...Dolokhov’s hasty steps could be heard... He was holding his left side with one hand...” Having fired, Dolokhov missed... Dolokhov’s wound and his unsuccessful attempt to kill the count are the culmination of the episode.
Then there is a decline in the action and a denouement, which is what all the characters experience. Pierre does not understand anything, he is full of remorse and regret, barely holding back his sobs, clutching his head, goes back somewhere into the forest, that is, runs away from
done, out of fear. Dolokhov does not regret anything, does not think about himself, about his pain, but is afraid for his mother, to whom he causes suffering.
In the outcome of the duel, according to Tolstoy, the highest justice was accomplished. Dolokhov, whom Pierre received in his house as a friend, helped with money in memory of an old friendship, disgraced Bezukhov by seducing his wife. But Pierre is completely unprepared for the role of “judge” and “executioner” at the same time; he repents of what happened, thanks God that he did not kill Dolokhov.
Pierre's humanism is disarming; even before the duel, he was ready to repent of everything, but not out of fear, but because he was sure of Helene's guilt. He tries to justify Dolokhov: “Maybe I would have done the same in his place,” Pierre thought.
– Even, probably, I would have done the same. Why this duel, this murder? Helene’s insignificance and baseness are so obvious that Pierre is ashamed of his action; this woman is not worth taking a sin on her soul - killing a person for her. Pierre is scared that he almost ruined his own soul, as he had previously ruined his life, by connecting it with Helen.
From this episode we learn that Dolokhov seems rude, self-confident, arrogant only from the outside, but in reality “... this brawler, brute... was the most gentle son and brother...” Here one of the author’s statements is proven that everything is as obvious, clear and unambiguous as it seems at first glance. Life is much more complex and diverse than we think, know or assume about it. In this episode, L.N. Tolstoy showed how an extreme situation changes a person and reveals his true face.
The great philosopher Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy teaches to be humane, fair, tolerant of the shortcomings and vices of people, for “he who is without sin.”
After the successful actions of the Russian army under the command of Prince Bagration near the village of Shengraben, the high society of Moscow recognized him as a true hero. The famous Count Ilya Rostov gave a feast in his honor at the English Club. He himself was busy making preparations for it. “He was entrusted by the club with arranging a celebration for Bagration, because rarely did anyone know how to organize a feast in such a grand manner, hospitably, especially because rarely did anyone know how and want to contribute their money if they were needed to organize a feast.”
The dinner itself was a great success. “The next day, March 3, at two o’clock in the afternoon, 250 members of the English Club and 50 guests were expecting the good guest and hero of the Austrian campaign, Prince Bagration, for dinner.” Everyone had dinner serenely and remembered the exploits of Bagration. There is almost nothing about Kutuzov and the loss of the Battle of Austerlitz.
they remembered, and if they did, they said that the battle was mainly lost due to Kutuzov’s inexperience. “The reasons were found for that incredible, unheard of and impossible event that the Russians were beaten, and everything became clear, and in
in all corners of Moscow they began to say the same thing. These reasons were: the betrayal of the Austrians, the poor food supply of the army, the betrayal of the Pole Prshebyshevsky and the Frenchman Langeron, the inability of Kutuzov, and (they said quietly) the youth and inexperience of the sovereign, who believed in bad and insignificant people.”
At this dinner were Dolokhov with young Rostov and Pierre, who was seated opposite them. From the very beginning of dinner, Pierre was thoughtful, gloomy and tried not to look in Dolokhov’s direction. The reason for this was an anonymous letter received by Pierre “in which it was said ... that he sees poorly through his glasses, and that his wife’s connection with Dolokhov is a secret only to him.” And indeed, the reason for this could have been the fact that Dolokhov, having arrived on vacation, settled with his old friend Pierre and the cynical comments that he made towards the beautiful Helen, Pierre’s wife. Pierre was thoughtful all evening, forgot to say hello (in particular to young Rostov), and did not hear the toast to the health of the Emperor. All lunch he thought about this letter and about his wife. He ate and drank a lot.
The turning point of the dinner for Pierre was Dolokhov’s toast “to beautiful women and their lovers,” and also the fact that the note brought by the waiter to Pierre was snatched by Dolokhov and began to read aloud. Pierre's nerves could not stand it. “Don’t you dare take it! - he shouted... You... you... scoundrel!.. I challenge you...” Dolokhov accepted the challenge. The duel was scheduled for the next morning, Dolokhov's second was Rostov, Pierre's was Nesvitsky. Pierre could not sleep all night, while the young officer was absolutely calm.
The next morning, appropriate preparations were made. “Pierre had the appearance of a man busy with some considerations that were not at all related to the upcoming matter. His haggard face was yellow.” Count Bezukhov did not know how to shoot.
Because of the extraordinary kindness of his character, he did not need a weapon; he did not know how to use a pistol, he did not even know how to shoot. “Just tell me where to go and where to shoot?”
After the count of three, Pierre “walked forward with quick steps, straying from the well-trodden path and walking on solid snow.” Dolokhov walked confidently and evenly, as if the matter had long been decided, undoubtedly in his favor.
A shot rang out, but there was no other shot. “Only Dolokhov’s hurried steps were heard, and his figure appeared from behind the smoke. With one hand he held his left side, with the other he clutched the lowered pistol. His face was pale."
Pierre, at first not understanding what had happened, ran, almost sobbing, to Dolokhov, but he stopped him and ordered him to go to the barrier. He ate cold snow to numb the pain, stood up and fired, but missed. Pierre didn’t even move or close himself; he stood with his chest open, looking at Dolokhov.
“Stupid... stupid! “Death... lies,” Pierre repeated, wincing.” He wanted to run away from all this, but Nesvitsky stopped him and took him home. The wounded Dolokhov was lifted onto a sleigh and taken to Moscow. And then we learn that the only thing this troublemaker regrets after the duel is his mother. “My mother, my angel, my adored angel, mother... Rostov found out that Dolokhov, this brawler, brute - Dolokhov lived in Moscow with his old mother and hunchbacked sister, and was the most gentle son and brother.”
For the novel as a whole, this scene is of great importance. So we learned that the fat, good-natured Pierre was capable of showing his character and his strength at the right moments, and the violent officer Dolokhov, in fact, had nothing more valuable than his family: his mother and sister.
L. N. Tolstoy’s epic novel “War and Peace” not only shows us realistically reliable events during the Napoleonic Wars, not only provides a complex interweaving of the author’s artistic and ideological concepts, but also answers the main question formulated in the title of the novel. According to the author, there are two main directions in history - towards the unification of people and towards their disunity. Unity occurs when people are united not only by social equality, but also by a common idea, a goal, as happened in the war with Napoleon; they can be united by friendship, love, family, and common interests. The separation of people occurs due to human pride, individualism, and the exaltation of the individual. Moral vices also play a destructive role in separating people. It is precisely this moment in the relationship between Pierre and Dolokhov that is shown to us in the duel scene. After all, they were once friends. Their enmity began when Dolokhov decided to realize his ambitions at the expense of Pierre, to establish himself as a person, while sacrificing all moral principles. Pierre, having married, out of old friendship invites Dolokhov to live in his house - as a result, Dolokhov becomes Helen’s lover. Pierre, of course, did not suspect anything, because such meanness simply could not have occurred to him, but he receives an anonymous letter that sheds light on the relationship between Helen and Dolokhov.
At a dinner in honor of Bagration at the English Club, Pierre painfully ponders the contents of the letter, trying to analyze everything that happened. Dolokhov sits at dinner opposite Pierre, and when Pierre looked at him, he “felt how something terrible, ugly was understood in his soul.” Pierre reflects: “It would be a special delight for him to dishonor my name and laugh at me, precisely because I worked for him and looked after him, helped him.” Pierre recalls the attacks of cruelty that came upon Dolokhov and which Pierre witnessed. Pierre understands that it costs Dolokhov nothing to kill a person. Tolstoy again repeats the idea that when he looked at Dolokhov, “something terrible and ugly rose in his soul.” The author escalates the situation, shows how all the people around Dolokhov begin to behave brazenly, just like him, including Rostov. Everyone who falls into Dolokhov’s orbit seems to be infected by him with cynicism, disrespect for others, and arrogance. Looking at Pierre, Dolokhov proposes a toast to pretty women and their lovers. This is, to say the least, inappropriate for honoring the hero, the winner of the Battle of Shengraben. The servant wants to give Pierre the text of a cantata in honor of Bagration, but Dolokhov snatches the piece of paper from Pierre's hands. Pierre’s patience ran out: “Something terrible and ugly, which had been bothering him throughout dinner, rose up and took possession of him. He leaned his entire corpulent body across the table. “Don’t you dare take it! - he shouted.” Dolokhov, perfectly understanding Pierre’s condition, looks at him with “bright, cheerful, cruel eyes, with the same smile.” Pierre challenged Dolokhov to a duel.
The contrast between these characters is interesting, which is especially noticeable before the duel. Dolokhov is calm, he does not experience any pangs of conscience at all, neither is he worried, moreover, he explains to Rostov the reason for his calmness: “You go with the firm intention of killing him, as quickly and surely as possible, then everything will be fine.” That is, he himself goes to a duel with the firm intention of killing a person to whom he owes a lot, to whom he is guilty, whose life he ruined.
Pierre did not sleep the whole night before the duel, thinking about what had happened: “Two considerations exclusively occupied him: the guilt of his wife, of whom, after a sleepless night, there was no longer the slightest doubt, and the innocence of Dolokhov, who had no reason to protect the honor of a stranger to him.” . Pierre is so noble and generous that he forgets about the insult that this man inflicted on him, about the bad influence Dolokhov has on others, about his causeless cruelty, cynicism, and desire to denigrate everything and everyone. But nevertheless, he is ready for a duel, and there can be no reconciliation offered to him and his opponent by the seconds, as required by the rules of the duel. But Pierre had never held a pistol in his life. He asks the second: “Just tell me where to go and where to shoot?” Pierre looks like a big, good-natured child who has never harmed anyone in his life. And such a person wants to kill the nonentity Dolokhov!
And so the opponents began to converge. “Pierre walked forward with quick steps, straying from the well-trodden path and walking on solid snow. Pierre held the pistol with his right hand extended forward, apparently afraid that he might kill himself with this pistol. He carefully put his left hand back, because he wanted to support his right hand with it, but he knew that this was impossible.” All the details of the hero’s description emphasize his inexperience in matters of dueling, the absolute impossibility for him to kill anyone. Pierre shoots without aiming and wounds Dolokhov. Dolokhov, having fallen on the snow, wants to make his shot. Pierre, shocked by what he had done, stands in front of Dolokhov’s pistol, not even trying to cover himself with a weapon: “Pierre, with a meek smile of repentance, helplessly spreading his legs and arms, stood straight in front of Dolokhov with his broad chest and looked at him sadly.” The seconds even closed their eyes, realizing that Pierre would be killed. But Dolokhov missed. "Past!" - he shouted. There is so much anger at himself in this cry because he did not kill Pierre. And Pierre “grabbed his head and, turning back, went into the forest, walking entirely in the snow and uttering incomprehensible words out loud.” “Stupid... stupid! Death... lies...” Pierre repeats. For him, the very idea that he almost killed a man is monstrous, and for Dolokhov the fact that he did not kill Pierre is terrible. This antithesis allows us to understand Tolstoy’s philosophical concept: violence should not be a way to resolve conflicts; there is nothing more valuable than human life.
The wounded Dolokhov is taken home, and Rostov, who was his second, is surprised to learn that “Dolokhov, this brawler, the brute Dolokhov, lived in Moscow with an old mother and a hunchbacked sister and was the most gentle son and brother.” All the more terrible is the guilt of Dolokhov, who plays with the lives of others and his own, knowing that his loved ones love him, worry about him, and suffer because of him.
For Pierre, the duel was a turning point in his life: he thinks about the meaning of life, reconsiders his actions, changes his views. One thing remains unchanged: his kindness, generosity, generosity. And in the duel scene, these best qualities of Pierre were fully demonstrated.
Relationship between Helen and Dolokhov.
At a dinner in honor of Bagration at the English Club, Pierre painfully ponders the contents of the letter, trying to analyze everything that happened. Dolokhov sits at dinner opposite Pierre, and when Pierre looked at him, he “felt like something terrible, ugly was understood in his soul.” Pierre reflects: “It would be a special delight for him to dishonor my name and laugh at me, precisely because I worked for him and looked after him, helped him.” Pierre recalls the attacks of cruelty that came upon Dolokhov and which Pierre witnessed. Pierre understands that it costs Dolokhov nothing to kill a person. Tolstoy again repeats the idea that when he looked at Dolokhov, “something terrible and ugly rose in his soul.” The author escalates the situation, shows how all the people around Dolokhov begin to behave brazenly, just like him, including Rostov. Everyone who falls into Dolokhov’s orbit seems to be infected by him with cynicism, disrespect for others, and arrogance. Looking at Pierre, Dolokhov proposes a toast to pretty women and their lovers. This is, to say the least, inappropriate for honoring the hero, the winner of the Battle of Shengraben. The servant wants to give Pierre the text of a cantata in honor of Bagration, but Dolokhov snatches the piece of paper from Pierre's hands. Pierre’s patience ran out: “Something terrible and ugly, which had been bothering him throughout dinner, rose up and took possession of him. He leaned his entire corpulent body across the table. “Don’t you dare take it! - he shouted." Dolokhov, perfectly understanding Pierre’s condition, looks at him with “bright, cheerful, cruel eyes, with the same smile.” Pierre challenged Dolokhov to a duel.
The contrast between these characters is interesting, which is especially noticeable before the duel. Dolokhov is calm, he does not experience any pangs of conscience at all, nor is he worried; moreover, he explains to Rostov the reason for his calmness: “You go with the firm intention of killing him, as quickly and surely as possible, then everything will be fine.” That is, he himself goes to a duel with the firm intention of killing a person to whom he owes a lot, to whom he is guilty, whose life he ruined.
Pierre did not sleep the whole night before the duel, thinking about what had happened: “Two considerations exclusively occupied him: the guilt of his wife, of whom, after a sleepless night, there was no longer the slightest doubt, and the innocence of Dolokhov, who had no reason to protect the honor of a stranger to him.” . Pierre is so noble and generous that he forgets about the insult that this man inflicted on him, about the bad influence Dolokhov has on others, about his causeless cruelty, cynicism, and desire to denigrate everything and everyone. But nevertheless, he is ready for a duel, and there can be no reconciliation offered to him and his opponent by the seconds, as required by the rules of the duel. But Pierre had never held a pistol in his life. He asks the second: “Just tell me where to go and where to shoot? “Pierre looks like a big, good-natured child who has never harmed anyone in his life. And such a person wants to kill the nonentity Dolokhov!
Chapter VI. Family scene between Pierre Bezukhov and Helen. Pierre Bezukhov's divorce from his wife
Volume 2 Part 1
Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy, in his novel “War and Peace,” consistently pursues the idea of the predestined destiny of man. He can be called a fatalist. This is clearly, truthfully and logically proven in the scene of Dolokhov’s duel with Pierre. A purely civilian man - Pierre wounded Dolokhov in a duel - a bret pa, a rake, a fearless warrior. But Pierre was completely unable to handle weapons. Just before the duel, second Nesvitsky explained to Bezukhov “where to press.”
The episode telling about the duel between Pierre Bezukhov and Dolokhov can be called “Unconscious Act.” It begins with a description of a dinner at the English Club. Everyone sits at the table, eats and drinks, toasts to the emperor and his well-being. Present at the dinner are Bagration, Naryshkin, Count Rostov, Denisov, Dolokhov, and Bezukhoe. Pierre “does not see or hear anything happening around him and thinks about one thing, difficult and insoluble.” He is tormented by the question: are Dolokhov and his wife Helen really lovers? “Every time his gaze accidentally met Dolokhov’s beautiful, insolent eyes, Pierre felt something terrible, ugly rising in his soul.” And after a toast made by his “enemy”: “To the well-being of beautiful women and their lovers,” Bezukhov realizes that his suspicions are not in vain.
A conflict is brewing, the beginning of which occurs when Dolokhov snatches a piece of paper intended for Pierre. The Count challenges the offender to a duel, but he does it hesitantly, timidly; moreover, one can imagine that the words: “You... you... scoundrel!.., I challenge you...” - accidentally escape from him. He does not realize what that same fight can lead to, and neither do his seconds: Nesvitsky, Pierre’s second, and Nikolai Rostov, Dolokhov’s second.
On the eve of the duel, Dolokhov sits all night in the club, listening to gypsies and songwriters. He is confident in himself, in his abilities, he has a firm intention to kill his opponent, but this is only an appearance, his soul is restless. His opponent, on the other hand, has the appearance of a man busy with some considerations that are not at all related to the upcoming matter. His haggard face is yellow. He apparently didn’t sleep at night.” The Count still doubts the correctness of his actions and wonders: what would he have done in Dolokhov’s place?
Pierre doesn't know what to do: either run away or finish the job. But when Nesvitsky tries to reconcile him with his rival, Bezukhov refuses, while calling everything stupid. Dolokhov doesn’t want to hear anything at all.
Despite the refusal to reconcile, the duel does not begin for a long time due to the lack of awareness of the act, which Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy expressed as follows: “For about three minutes everything was ready, and yet they hesitated to start. Everyone was silent.” The indecisiveness of the characters is also conveyed by the description of nature - it is sparing and laconic: fog and thaw.
Began. Dolokhov, when they began to disperse, walked slowly, his mouth had the appearance of a smile. He is aware of his superiority and wants to show that he is not afraid of anything. Pierre walks quickly, straying from the beaten path, as if he is trying to escape, to complete everything as quickly as possible. Perhaps this is precisely why he shoots first, at random, flinching from the strong sound, and wounds his opponent.
Dolokhov, having fired, misses. Dolokhov's wounding and his unsuccessful attempt to kill the count are the climax of the episode. Then there is a decline in the action and a denouement, which is contained in what all the characters experience. Pierre does not understand anything, he is full of remorse and regret, barely holding back his sobs, clutching his head, he goes back somewhere into the forest, that is, he runs away from what he has done, from his fear. Dolokhov does not regret anything, does not think about himself, about his pain, but is afraid for his mother, to whom he causes suffering.
In the outcome of the duel, according to Tolstoy, the highest justice was accomplished. Dolokhov, whom Pierre received in his house as a friend and helped with money in memory of an old friendship, disgraced Bezukhov by seducing his wife. But Pierre is completely unprepared for the role of “judge” and “executioner” at the same time; he repents of what happened, thanks God that he did not kill Dolokhov.
Pierre's humanism is disarming; even before the duel, he was ready to repent of everything, but not out of fear, but because he was sure of Helene's guilt. He tries to justify Dolokhov. “Maybe I would have done the same thing in his place,” thought Pierre. “Even probably I would have done the same thing. Why this duel, this murder?”
Helene’s insignificance and baseness are so obvious that Pierre is ashamed of his action; this lady is not worth taking a sin on her soul - killing a person for her. Pierre is scared that he almost ruined his own soul, as he had previously ruined his life, by connecting it with Helen.
After the duel, taking the wounded Dolokhov home, Nikolai Rostov learned that “Dolokhov, that same brawler, brute, - Dolokhov lived in Moscow with his old mother and hunchbacked sister and was the most gentle son and brother...”. Here one of the author’s statements is proven that not everything is as obvious, clear and unambiguous as it seems at first glance. Life is much more complex and diverse than we think, know or assume about it. The great philosopher Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy teaches to be humane, fair, tolerant of the shortcomings and vices of people. In the scene of Dolokhov’s duel with Pierre Bezukhov, Tolstoy gives a lesson: it is not for us to judge what is fair and what is unfair, not everything obvious is unambiguous and easily resolved.
Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy always spoke of a work of art as a collection of thoughts “linked together” and existing only in such linkage. And the whole work is a “labyrinth of couplings.” Its meaning is born from the “concatenation” of images, episodes, paintings, motifs, and details. Tolstoy always spoke ironically about those readers who try to find individual thoughts in individual scenes. Each small scene already carries the “big” idea of the entire novel. It is like an edge, like one of the turns in the “labyrinth”.
Pierre's duel with Dolokhov is one of the most important milestone events in Pierre's life, the end of one stage and the beginning of another.
Already during dinner before the duel, Pierre sat with his eyes fixed, with an appearance of complete absent-mindedness... His face was sad and gloomy. He is completely self-absorbed. One gets the feeling that he is tormented by a problem that he cannot solve for himself. It’s as if two principles collide in him: his characteristic complacency and a principle alien to him: aggressiveness, selfishness, inherent in such heroes as Dolokhov, Anatol Kuragin, Napoleon. Both of these principles continue to struggle in Pierre throughout the episode.
And gradually the state that Lev Nikolaevich called the word “war” begins to take possession of the hero:
Pierre looked at Dolokhov, his pupils drooped, something terrible and ugly, which had been bothering him throughout dinner, rose up and took possession of him.
Further, it would seem that the victory of this principle was not so unconditional, since Pierre was not sure of Dolokhov’s guilt and of his right to judge him. But hope turned out to be illusory, because it immediately sounded soberingly that “it was in those moments when such thoughts came to him that he, with a particularly calm and absent-minded look... asked: “Is it soon and is it ready?” And then, in response to the timid thought that what he and Dolokhov had started was “terribly stupid,” it sounds sharp:
No, what to talk about!.. All the same...
Pierre's mind no longer obeys him, the hero no longer controls himself. And this happens not only to Pierre, but also to other heroes. The kindest and most honest Nikolai Rostov “looked unkindly at Pierre” at dinner. It seems that the characters’ gaze is shrouded in a veil. It’s probably not for nothing that the clearing where the duel is taking place is so foggy that the heroes can’t see each other well even forty steps away. Because of the fog, they “vaguely” discern that people, and not abstract figures, have gone in opposite directions. For Dolokhov, everything that happens in the clearing is not a duel, but a hunt: for him, killing a man means the same thing as for a hunter not to miss a bear. But still, something confuses the heroes, they discern something in the fog, something stops them. They are slow to start. Everyone is silent.
But for the author it is obvious that the matter must be accomplished regardless of the will of people. And it happened, despite the fact that the struggle still continues in Pierre. The author says that “Pierre walked forward with quick steps, straying from the well-trodden path...”, but obeying Dolokhov’s shout, he began to take aim. There is a smile of “regret and remorse” on his face, but he is helpless before the force that took possession of him during lunch.
After this episode of his life, Pierre will plunge into a strange state for some time. He will not be able to connect historical and life facts together, he will have the feeling that his mind is running idle, he will lose the sense of the integrity of the world, which for him will fall apart into separate small parts, being plunged into a state of “war”.
Thus, a small episode becomes a labyrinthine turn of a large novel, and the thought contained in it becomes the facet of that main one, which in Tolstoy’s language sounds like “war and peace.”
Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy in his novel “War and Peace” consistently pursues the idea of the predestined destiny of man. He can be called a fatalist. This is clearly, truthfully and logically proven in the scene of Dolokhov’s duel with Pierre. A purely civilian man - Pierre wounded Dolokhov in a duel - a rake, a rake, a fearless warrior. But Pierre was completely unable to handle weapons. Just before the duel, second Nesvitsky explained to Bezukhov “where to press.”
“At the word three, Pierre walked forward quickly... holding the pistol, his right hand extended forward, apparently afraid that he might kill himself with this pistol. He carefully put his left hand back... After walking six steps and straying off the path into the snow, Pierre looked back at his feet, again quickly glanced at Dolokhov and, pulling his finger, as he was taught, fired... "There was no return shot. “...Dolokhov’s hasty steps could be heard... He was holding his left side with one hand...” Having fired, Dolokhov missed. Here, according to Tolstoy, the highest justice was accomplished. Dolokhov, whom Pierre received in his house as a friend, helped with money in memory of an old friendship, disgraced Bezukhov by seducing his wife.
But Pierre is completely unprepared for the role of “judge” and “executioner” at the same time; he repents of what happened, thanks God that he did not kill Dolokhov. Pierre's humanism is disarming; even before the duel, he was ready to repent of everything, but not out of fear, but because he was sure of Helene's guilt. He tries to justify Dolokhov: “Maybe I would have done the same thing in his place,” thought Pierre. “Even, probably, I would have done the same thing. Why this duel, this murder? Helene’s insignificance and baseness are obvious, and Pierre is ashamed of his action. This woman is not worth taking a sin on her soul - killing a person for her.
Pierre is scared that he almost ruined his own soul, as he had previously ruined his life, by connecting it with Helen. After the duel, taking the wounded Dolokhov home, Nikolai Rostov learned that “Dolokhov, this brawler, brute, Dolokhov, lived in Moscow with his old mother and hunchbacked sister and was the most gentle son and brother...”. Here one of the author’s statements is proven that not everything is as obvious, clear and unambiguous as it seems at first glance. Life is much more complex and diverse than we think, know or assume about it. The great philosopher Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy teaches to be humane, fair, tolerant of the shortcomings and vices of people, for “he who is without sin.” In the scene of Dolokhov's duel with Pierre Bezukhov, Tolstoy gives a Lesson: it is not for us to judge what is fair and what is unfair, not everything obvious is unambiguous and easily resolved.
One of the main problems of the epic novel is the problem of war and peace, but not only as a contrast between peacetime and battles, but also as a study of harmonious, friendly relations between people and relationships that result in quarrels, discord, and enmity.
The episode of the duel between P. Bezukhov and F. Dolokhov is devoted to the causes, development and outcome of abnormal, hostile relations between people.
How did it happen that these two people, who until recently were friends participating in carousing together, became irreconcilable enemies? The cause of their discord was a woman, a deeply immoral creature - Helen Kuragina.
Pierre Bezukhov and Fyodor Dolokhov are at a dinner at the English Club in honor of Prince Bagration, the hero of the Austrian campaign. But even while preparing dinner, Anna Mikhailovna Drubetskaya tells Ilya Andreevich Rostov about Pierre’s misfortune: “She (Helen) came here, and this daredevil (Dolokhov) followed her... They say Pierre himself is completely killed by his grief.” Yes, Pierre is very worried, but not because he loves Helene, but because he cannot believe in human meanness.
At dinner, as luck would have it, Pierre found himself at the table opposite Dolokhov. Even in the morning, Count Bezukhov received an anonymous letter, “in which it was said with that vile playfulness that is characteristic of all anonymous letters that he sees poorly through his glasses and that his wife’s relationship with Dolokhov is a secret for him alone.” Pierre did not believe the letter, “but he was now afraid to look at Dolokhov, who was sitting in front of him.” Pierre is a conscientious man, and he is ashamed to suspect others, ashamed that these suspicions may turn out to be true. Pierre is painfully experiencing this state, but he is not yet enraged, he has not yet reached the critical point of an emotional and psychological explosion. He is also afraid of Dolokhov, because he has a reputation as a person who “doesn’t mean anything to kill.” Pierre does not pay attention to the hints when Dolokhov makes a toast, addressing him: “To the health of beautiful women, Petrusha, and their lovers.” But the atmosphere is gradually heating up.
The footman handing out Kutuzov's cantata puts a piece of paper on Pierre, as a more honored guest, and Dolokhov snatches this piece of paper from Bezukhov's hands. Then “something terrible and ugly, which had been bothering him throughout dinner, rose up and took possession of” Pierre. “Don’t you dare take it!” - he shouted. This man, always gentle and good-natured, could not restrain himself; the tension that had been accumulated for so long received an emotional outlet. Pierre challenges Dolokhov to a duel. “The very second Pierre did this... he felt that the question of his wife’s guilt, which had been tormenting him these last 24 hours, was finally and undoubtedly resolved in the affirmative. He hated her and was forever separated from her.” Thus, the duel for Pierre was not so much an intercession for the honor of his wife and the return of his honor, but rather an event that made it possible to end the vile and painful relationship in marriage.
The duel took place the next day, at eight in the morning, in the Sokolnitsky forest. Nikolai Rostov agreed to be Dolokhov’s second, and Prince Nesvitsky became Bezukhov’s second.
Pierre understood that the duel was a stupid event, and thought that Dolokhova was innocent, because his wife had become a stranger to Bezukhov. But he does not refuse the duel, he only asks Nesvitsky: “Just tell me where to go and where to shoot?” Dolokhov is even more categorical: “No apologies, nothing decisive.”
The weather interfered with the duel: thaw and fog, forty steps away it was unclear to see each other. Nature seems to resist this event, which is unnecessary and meaningless.
The opponents began to converge. Pierre fired first and, completely unexpectedly and almost without aiming, wounded his opponent. “Pierre, barely holding back his sobs, ran to Dolokhov, who stopped him, shouting: “To the barrier!” Dolokhov, having gathered his last strength, already lying in the snow, began to take aim. “His lips trembled, but still smiled; the eyes sparkled with effort and malice.” Pierre, “with a meek smile of regret and repentance, helplessly spreading his legs and arms,” stood right in front of Dolokhov. They shouted to him: “Cover yourself with a pistol, stand sideways!” Even Denisov, his opponent, shouted. But, fortunately, Dolokhov’s shot missed the target.
Everything, it would seem, was put in its place: the deeply moral Pierre, a man of the purest and kindest soul, punished the vicious and evil Dolokhov. But the ending of the episode seems unexpected. Rostov and Denisov took the wounded Dolokhov, who woke up upon entering Moscow. “Rostov was struck by the completely changed and unexpectedly enthusiastically tender expression on Dolokhov’s face,” who is very worried that his mother, if she sees him dying, will not survive it. He begs Rostov to go to her and prepare her. It turns out that Dolokhov, “this brawler, brute Dolokhov, lived in Moscow with his old mother and hunchbacked sister and was the most gentle son and brother.”
This ending to the episode seems unexpected only at first glance. But Tolstoy does not have absolutely negative or absolutely positive characters, because he is a realist writer. By focusing on Dolokhov's anger and obscene behavior, the author still gives him the right to remain human.
L.N. Tolstoy conveys well the mental state of the characters through the details of the portrait, through their poses, facial expressions and gives internal monologues. We, together with the heroes of the epic novel, experience their ups and downs, languish with their feelings, and reflect with them on life and its issues. All this undoubtedly testifies to the skill of Tolstoy the psychologist.
L. N. Tolstoy’s epic novel “War and Peace” not only shows us realistically reliable events during the Napoleonic Wars, not only provides a complex interweaving of the author’s artistic and ideological concepts, but also answers the main question formulated in the title of the novel. According to the author, there are two main directions in history - towards the unification of people and towards their disunity. Unity occurs when people are united not only by social equality, but also by a common idea, a goal, as happened in the war with Napoleon; they can be united by friendship, love, family, and common interests. The separation of people occurs due to human pride, individualism, and the exaltation of the individual. Moral vices also play a destructive role in separating people. It is precisely this moment in the relationship between Pierre and Dolokhov that is shown to us in the duel scene. After all, they were once friends. Their enmity began when Dolokhov decided to realize his ambitions at the expense of Pierre, to establish himself as a person, while sacrificing all moral principles. Pierre, having married, out of old friendship invites Dolokhov to live in his house - as a result, Dolokhov becomes Helen’s lover. Pierre, of course, did not suspect anything, because such meanness simply could not have occurred to him, but he receives an anonymous letter that sheds light on the relationship between Helen and Dolokhov.
At a dinner in honor of Bagration at the English Club, Pierre painfully ponders the contents of the letter, trying to analyze everything that happened. Dolokhov sits at dinner opposite Pierre, and when Pierre looked at him, he “felt how something terrible, ugly was understood in his soul.” Pierre reflects: “It would be a special delight for him to dishonor my name and laugh at me, precisely because I worked for him and looked after him, helped him.” Pierre recalls the attacks of cruelty that came upon Dolokhov and which Pierre witnessed. Pierre understands that it costs Dolokhov nothing to kill a person. Tolstoy again repeats the idea that when he looked at Dolokhov, “something terrible and ugly rose in his soul.” The author escalates the situation, shows how all the people around Dolokhov begin to behave brazenly, just like him, including Rostov. Everyone who falls into Dolokhov’s orbit seems to be infected by him with cynicism, disrespect for others, and arrogance. Looking at Pierre, Dolokhov proposes a toast to pretty women and their lovers. This is, to say the least, inappropriate for honoring the hero, the winner of the Battle of Shengraben. The servant wants to give Pierre the text of a cantata in honor of Bagration, but Dolokhov snatches the piece of paper from Pierre's hands. Pierre’s patience ran out: “Something terrible and ugly, which had been bothering him throughout dinner, rose up and took possession of him. He leaned his entire corpulent body across the table. “Don’t you dare take it! - he shouted.” Dolokhov, perfectly understanding Pierre’s condition, looks at him with “bright, cheerful, cruel eyes, with the same smile.” Pierre challenged Dolokhov to a duel.
The contrast between these characters is interesting, which is especially noticeable before the duel. Dolokhov is calm, he does not experience any pangs of conscience at all, neither is he worried, moreover, he explains to Rostov the reason for his calmness: “You go with the firm intention of killing him, as quickly and surely as possible, then everything will be fine.” That is, he himself goes to a duel with the firm intention of killing a person to whom he owes a lot, to whom he is guilty, whose life he ruined.
Pierre did not sleep the whole night before the duel, thinking about what had happened: “Two considerations exclusively occupied him: the guilt of his wife, of whom, after a sleepless night, there was no longer the slightest doubt, and the innocence of Dolokhov, who had no reason to protect the honor of a stranger to him.” . Pierre is so noble and generous that he forgets about the insult that this man inflicted on him, about the bad influence Dolokhov has on others, about his causeless cruelty, cynicism, and desire to denigrate everything and everyone. But nevertheless, he is ready for a duel, and there can be no reconciliation offered to him and his opponent by the seconds, as required by the rules of the duel. But Pierre had never held a pistol in his life. He asks the second: “Just tell me where to go and where to shoot?” Pierre looks like a big, good-natured child who has never harmed anyone in his life. And such a person wants to kill the nonentity Dolokhov!
And so the opponents began to converge. “Pierre walked forward with quick steps, straying from the well-trodden path and walking on solid snow. Pierre held the pistol with his right hand extended forward, apparently afraid that he might kill himself with this pistol. He carefully put his left hand back, because he wanted to support his right hand with it, but he knew that this was impossible.” All the details of the hero’s description emphasize his inexperience in matters of dueling, the absolute impossibility for him to kill anyone. Pierre shoots without aiming and wounds Dolokhov. Dolokhov, having fallen on the snow, wants to make his shot. Pierre, shocked by what he had done, stands in front of Dolokhov’s pistol, not even trying to cover himself with a weapon: “Pierre, with a meek smile of repentance, helplessly spreading his legs and arms, stood straight in front of Dolokhov with his broad chest and looked at him sadly.” The seconds even closed their eyes, realizing that Pierre would be killed. But Dolokhov missed. "Past!" - he shouted. There is so much anger at himself in this cry because he did not kill Pierre. And Pierre “grabbed his head and, turning back, went into the forest, walking entirely in the snow and uttering incomprehensible words out loud.” “Stupid... stupid! Death... lies...” Pierre repeats. For him, the very idea that he almost killed a man is monstrous, and for Dolokhov the fact that he did not kill Pierre is terrible. This antithesis allows us to understand Tolstoy’s philosophical concept: violence should not be a way to resolve conflicts; there is nothing more valuable than human life.
The wounded Dolokhov is taken home, and Rostov, who was his second, is surprised to learn that “Dolokhov, this brawler, the brute Dolokhov, lived in Moscow with an old mother and a hunchbacked sister and was the most gentle son and brother.” All the more terrible is the guilt of Dolokhov, who plays with the lives of others and his own, knowing that his loved ones love him, worry about him, and suffer because of him.
For Pierre, the duel was a turning point in his life: he thinks about the meaning of life, reconsiders his actions, changes his views. One thing remains unchanged: his kindness, generosity, generosity. And in the duel scene, these best qualities of Pierre were fully demonstrated.
Enemies! How long have we been apart?
Their bloodlust was gone.
A.S. Pushkin.
Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy in his novel “War and Peace” consistently pursues the idea of the predestined destiny of man. He can be called a fatalist. This is clearly, truthfully and logically proven in the scene of Dolokhov’s duel with Pierre. A purely civilian, Pierre wounded Dolokhov, a rake, a rake, a fearless warrior, in a duel. But Pierre was completely unable to handle weapons. Just before the duel, second Nesvitsky explained to Bezukhov “where to press.”
But I'll start from the very beginning. The episode telling about the duel between Pierre Bezukhov and Dolokhov is found in the second volume, first part, chapters four and five of the epic novel, and it can be called “Unconscious Act.” It begins with a description of a dinner at an English club during the Napoleonic War of 1805-1807. Everyone is sitting at the table, eating,
drink. They raise toasts to the emperor and his health. Bagration, Naryshkin, Count Rostov, Denisov, Dolokhov, Bezukhov are present at the dinner. Pierre “does not see or hear anything happening around him, and thinks about one thing, difficult and insoluble.” He is tormented by the question: are Dolokhov and his wife Helen really lovers? “Every time his gaze accidentally meets Dolokhov’s beautiful, insolent eyes, Pierre feels like something terrible, ugly is rising in his soul.” And after a toast made by his “enemy”: “To the health of beautiful women and their lovers,” Bezukhov realizes that his suspicions are not in vain. A conflict is brewing, the beginning of which occurs when Dolokhov snatches a piece of paper intended for Pierre. The Count challenges the offender to a duel, but he does it hesitantly, timidly, one might even think that the words: “You... you... scoundrel!.. I challenge you...” - accidentally escape him. He does not realize what this fight can lead to, and neither do the seconds: Nesvitsky -
Pierre's second, Nikolai Rostov - Dolokhov's second. The behavior of all these characters indicates this. On the eve of the duel, Dolokhov sits all night in the club, listening to gypsies and songwriters. He is confident in himself, in his abilities, he goes with the firm intention of killing his opponent, but this is only an appearance, his soul is restless. His opponent “has the appearance of a man busy with some considerations that are not at all related to the upcoming matter. His haggard face is yellow. He apparently didn't sleep at night." The Count still doubts the correctness of his actions, he realizes: Helen’s lover is to blame; What would he have done in Dolokhov’s place? Pierre doesn't know what to do: either run away or finish the job. But when Nesvitsky tries to reconcile him with his rival, Bezukhov refuses, while calling everything stupid. Dolokhov doesn’t want to hear anything at all. Despite the refusal to reconcile, the duel does not begin for a long time due to the lack of awareness of the act, which Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy characterizes as follows: “For about three minutes everything was ready, and yet
were slow to start. Everyone was silent." The indecision of the characters is also conveyed by the description of nature - it is sparing and laconic: fog and thaw. Began. Dolokhov, when they began to disperse. He walked slowly, his mouth had the semblance of a smile, he was aware of his superiority and wanted to show that he was not afraid of anything. Pierre walks quickly, straying from the beaten path, as if he is trying to run away, to finish everything as quickly as possible. Perhaps that is why he shoots first, at random, flinching from the strong sound, and wounds his opponent.
“At the word three, Pierre walked forward with a quick step... holding the pistol, extending his right hand forward, apparently afraid that he might kill himself with this pistol. He carefully put his left hand back... After walking six steps and straying off the path into the snow, Pierre looked back at his feet, again quickly glanced at Dolokhov and, pulling his finger, as he was taught, fired... "there was no return shot. “...Dolokhov’s hasty steps could be heard... He was holding his left side with one hand...” Having fired, Dolokhov missed... Dolokhov’s wound and his unsuccessful attempt to kill the count are the culmination of the episode.
Then there is a decline in the action and a denouement, which is what all the characters experience. Pierre does not understand anything, he is full of remorse and regret, barely holding back his sobs, clutching his head, goes back somewhere into the forest, that is, runs away from
done, out of fear. Dolokhov does not regret anything, does not think about himself, about his pain, but is afraid for his mother, to whom he causes suffering.
In the outcome of the duel, according to Tolstoy, the highest justice was accomplished. Dolokhov, whom Pierre received in his house as a friend, helped with money in memory of an old friendship, disgraced Bezukhov by seducing his wife. But Pierre is completely unprepared for the role of “judge” and “executioner” at the same time; he repents of what happened, thanks God that he did not kill Dolokhov.
Pierre's humanism is disarming; even before the duel, he was ready to repent of everything, but not out of fear, but because he was sure of Helene's guilt. He tries to justify Dolokhov: “Maybe I would have done the same in his place,” Pierre thought.
– Even, probably, I would have done the same. Why this duel, this murder? Helene’s insignificance and baseness are so obvious that Pierre is ashamed of his action; this woman is not worth taking a sin on her soul - killing a person for her. Pierre is scared that he almost ruined his own soul, as he had previously ruined his life, by connecting it with Helen.
From this episode we learn that Dolokhov seems rude, self-confident, arrogant only from the outside, but in reality “... this brawler, brute... was the most gentle son and brother...” Here one of the author’s statements is proven that everything is as obvious, clear and unambiguous as it seems at first glance. Life is much more complex and diverse than we think, know or assume about it. In this episode, L.N. Tolstoy showed how an extreme situation changes a person and reveals his true face.
The great philosopher Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy teaches to be humane, fair, tolerant of the shortcomings and vices of people, for “he who is without sin.”
After the successful actions of the Russian army under the command of Prince Bagration near the village of Shengraben, the high society of Moscow recognized him as a true hero. The famous Count Ilya Rostov gave a feast in his honor at the English Club. He himself was busy making preparations for it. “He was entrusted by the club with arranging a celebration for Bagration, because rarely did anyone know how to organize a feast in such a grand manner, hospitably, especially because rarely did anyone know how and want to contribute their money if they were needed to organize a feast.”
The dinner itself was a great success. “The next day, March 3, at two o’clock in the afternoon, 250 members of the English Club and 50 guests were expecting the good guest and hero of the Austrian campaign, Prince Bagration, for dinner.” Everyone had dinner serenely and remembered the exploits of Bagration. There is almost nothing about Kutuzov and the loss of the Battle of Austerlitz.
they remembered, and if they did, they said that the battle was mainly lost due to Kutuzov’s inexperience. “The reasons were found for that incredible, unheard of and impossible event that the Russians were beaten, and everything became clear, and in
in all corners of Moscow they began to say the same thing. These reasons were: the betrayal of the Austrians, the poor food supply of the army, the betrayal of the Pole Prshebyshevsky and the Frenchman Langeron, the inability of Kutuzov, and (they said quietly) the youth and inexperience of the sovereign, who believed in bad and insignificant people.”
At this dinner were Dolokhov with young Rostov and Pierre, who was seated opposite them. From the very beginning of dinner, Pierre was thoughtful, gloomy and tried not to look in Dolokhov’s direction. The reason for this was an anonymous letter received by Pierre “in which it was said ... that he sees poorly through his glasses, and that his wife’s connection with Dolokhov is a secret only to him.” And indeed, the reason for this could have been the fact that Dolokhov, having arrived on vacation, settled with his old friend Pierre and the cynical comments that he made towards the beautiful Helen, Pierre’s wife. Pierre was thoughtful all evening, forgot to say hello (in particular to young Rostov), and did not hear the toast to the health of the Emperor. All lunch he thought about this letter and about his wife. He ate and drank a lot.
The turning point of the dinner for Pierre was Dolokhov’s toast “to beautiful women and their lovers,” and also the fact that the note brought by the waiter to Pierre was snatched by Dolokhov and began to read aloud. Pierre's nerves could not stand it. “Don’t you dare take it! - he shouted... You... you... scoundrel!.. I challenge you...” Dolokhov accepted the challenge. The duel was scheduled for the next morning, Dolokhov's second was Rostov, Pierre's was Nesvitsky. Pierre could not sleep all night, while the young officer was absolutely calm.
The next morning, appropriate preparations were made. “Pierre had the appearance of a man busy with some considerations that were not at all related to the upcoming matter. His haggard face was yellow.” Count Bezukhov did not know how to shoot.
Because of the extraordinary kindness of his character, he did not need a weapon; he did not know how to use a pistol, he did not even know how to shoot. “Just tell me where to go and where to shoot?”
After the count of three, Pierre “walked forward with quick steps, straying from the well-trodden path and walking on solid snow.” Dolokhov walked confidently and evenly, as if the matter had long been decided, undoubtedly in his favor.
A shot rang out, but there was no other shot. “Only Dolokhov’s hurried steps were heard, and his figure appeared from behind the smoke. With one hand he held his left side, with the other he clutched the lowered pistol. His face was pale."
Pierre, at first not understanding what had happened, ran, almost sobbing, to Dolokhov, but he stopped him and ordered him to go to the barrier. He ate cold snow to numb the pain, stood up and fired, but missed. Pierre didn’t even move or close himself; he stood with his chest open, looking at Dolokhov.
“Stupid... stupid! “Death... lies,” Pierre repeated, wincing.” He wanted to run away from all this, but Nesvitsky stopped him and took him home. The wounded Dolokhov was lifted onto a sleigh and taken to Moscow. And then we learn that the only thing this troublemaker regrets after the duel is his mother. “My mother, my angel, my adored angel, mother... Rostov found out that Dolokhov, this brawler, brute - Dolokhov lived in Moscow with his old mother and hunchbacked sister, and was the most gentle son and brother.”
For the novel as a whole, this scene is of great importance. So we learned that the fat, good-natured Pierre was capable of showing his character and his strength at the right moments, and the violent officer Dolokhov, in fact, had nothing more valuable than his family: his mother and sister.
Pierre sat opposite Dolokhov and Nikolai Rostov. He ate a lot and greedily and drank a lot, as always. But those who knew him briefly saw that some big change had taken place in him that day. He was silent throughout dinner and, squinting and wincing, looked around him or, stopping his eyes, with an air of complete absent-mindedness, rubbed the bridge of his nose with his finger. His face was sad and gloomy. He seemed to not see or hear anything happening around him, and was thinking about one thing, heavy and unresolved. This unresolved question that tormented him was the hints of the princess in Moscow about Dolokhov’s closeness to his wife and this morning the anonymous letter he received, in which it was said with that vile playfulness that is characteristic of all anonymous letters that he sees poorly through his glasses and that his wife’s connection with Dolokhov is a secret only to him. Pierre decidedly did not believe either the princess’s hints or the letter, but he was now afraid to look at Dolokhov, who was sitting in front of him. Every time his gaze accidentally met Dolokhov’s beautiful, insolent eyes, Pierre felt something terrible, ugly rising in his soul, and he quickly turned away. Unwittingly remembering the whole past of his wife and her relationship with Dolokhov, Pierre saw clearly that what was said in the letter could be true, could at least seem true, if it concerned not his wife. Pierre involuntarily recalled how Dolokhov, to whom everything was returned after the campaign, returned to St. Petersburg and came to him. Taking advantage of his carousing friendship with Pierre, Dolokhov came directly to his house, and Pierre accommodated him and lent him money. Pierre recalled how Helen, smiling, expressed her displeasure that Dolokhov lived in their house, and how Dolokhov cynically praised the beauty of his wife, and how from that time until his arrival in Moscow he was not separated from them for a minute. “Yes, he is very handsome,” thought Pierre, “I know him. It would be a special delight for him to dishonor my name and laugh at me, precisely because I worked for him and looked after him, helped him. I know, I understand what salt this should add to his deception in his eyes, if it were true. Yes, if it were true; but I don’t believe, I don’t have the right and I can’t believe.” He recalled the expression that Dolokhov's face took on when moments of cruelty came over him, like those in which he tied up a policeman with a bear and set him afloat, or when he challenged a man to a duel without any reason, or killed a coachman's horse with a pistol. . This expression was often on Dolokhov's face when he looked at him. “Yes, he’s a brute,” thought Pierre, “it means nothing to him to kill a person, it must seem to him that everyone is afraid of him, it must be pleasant for him. He must think that I am afraid of him too. And indeed, I am afraid of him,” thought Pierre, and again with these thoughts he felt something terrible and ugly rising in his soul. Dolokhov, Denisov and Rostov were now sitting opposite Pierre and seemed very cheerful. Rostov chatted merrily with his two friends, one of whom was a dashing hussar, the other a famous raider and rake, and occasionally glanced mockingly at Pierre, who at this dinner impressed with his concentrated, absent-minded, massive figure. Rostov looked at Pierre unkindly, firstly, because Pierre, in his hussar eyes, was a rich civilian, the husband of a beauty, generally a woman; secondly, because Pierre, in the concentration and distraction of his mood, did not recognize Rostov and did not respond to his bow. When they began to drink the sovereign's health, Pierre, lost in thought, did not get up and take the glass. - What are you doing? - Rostov shouted to him, looking at him with enthusiastically embittered eyes. - Don’t you hear: health of the Emperor! - Pierre sighed, stood up obediently, drank his glass and, waiting for everyone to sit down, turned to Rostov with his kind smile. “But I didn’t recognize you,” he said. But Rostov had no time for this, he shouted: hurray! “Why don’t you renew your acquaintance,” Dolokhov said to Rostov. “God be with him, you fool,” said Rostov. “We must cherish the husbands of pretty women,” said Denisov. Pierre did not hear what they said, but he knew that they were talking about him. He blushed and turned away. “Well, now for the health of beautiful women,” said Dolokhov and with a serious expression, but with a smiling mouth at the corners, turned to Pierre with a glass. “For the health of beautiful women, Petrusha, and their lovers,” he said. Pierre, with his eyes downcast, drank from his glass, without looking at Dolokhov or answering him. The footman who was handing out Kutuzov's cantata put the sheet of paper on Pierre, as a more honored guest. He wanted to take it, but Dolokhov leaned over, snatched the piece of paper from his hand and began to read. Pierre looked at Dolokhov, his pupils drooped: something terrible and ugly, which had been bothering him throughout dinner, rose up and took possession of him. He leaned his entire corpulent body across the table. - Don't you dare take it! - he shouted. Hearing this cry and seeing who it referred to, Nesvitsky and the neighbor on the right side turned to Bezukhov in fear and haste. - Come on, come on, what are you talking about? - frightened voices whispered. Dolokhov looked at Pierre with bright, cheerful, cruel eyes, with the same smile, as if he was saying: “Oh, this is what I love.” “I won’t,” he said clearly. Pale, with a trembling lip, Pierre tore off the sheet. “You... you... scoundrel!.. I challenge you,” he said and, moving his chair, stood up from the table. At that very second that Pierre did this and uttered these words, he felt that the question of his wife’s guilt, which had been tormenting him these last 24 hours, was finally and undoubtedly resolved in the affirmative. He hated her and was forever separated from her. Despite Denisov’s requests that Rostov not interfere in this matter, Rostov agreed to be Dolokhov’s second and after the table talked with Nesvitsky, Bezukhov’s second, about the conditions of the duel. Pierre went home, and Rostov, Dolokhov and Denisov sat in the club until late in the evening, listening to gypsies and songwriters. “So see you tomorrow, in Sokolniki,” said Dolokhov, saying goodbye to Rostov on the porch of the club. - And are you calm? - asked Rostov. Dolokhov stopped. - You see, I’ll tell you in a nutshell the whole secret of the duel. If you go to a duel and write wills and tender letters to your parents, if you think that they might kill you, you are a fool and are probably lost; and you go with the firm intention of killing him, as quickly and surely as possible, then everything will be fine, as our Kostroma safecracker used to tell me. How can one not be afraid of a bear, he says? Yes, as soon as you see him, and the fear passes, as if it didn’t go away! Well, so am I. A demain, mon cher! The next day, at eight o'clock in the morning, Pierre and Nesvitsky arrived at the Sokolnitsky forest and found Dolokhov, Denisov and Rostov there. Pierre had the appearance of a man busy with some considerations that were not at all related to the upcoming matter. His haggard face was yellow. He apparently didn't sleep that night. He looked around absently and winced as if from the bright sun. Two considerations exclusively occupied him: the guilt of his wife, of which, after a sleepless night, there was no longer the slightest doubt, and the innocence of Dolokhov, who had no reason to protect the honor of a stranger to him. “Maybe I would have done the same in his place,” thought Pierre. - I probably would have done the same thing. Why this duel, this murder? Either I kill him, or he will hit me in the head, elbow, knee. Leave here, run away, bury yourself somewhere,” came to his mind. But precisely in those moments when such thoughts came to him, with a particularly calm and absent-minded look, which inspired respect in those who looked at him, he asked: “Is it soon and is it ready?” When everything was ready, the sabers were stuck in the snow, indicating a barrier to which they had to converge, and the pistols were loaded, Nesvitsky approached Pierre. “I would not have fulfilled my duty, Count,” he said in a timid voice, “and would not have justified the trust and honor that you did to me by choosing me as your second, if I had not told you everything at this important, very important moment.” truth. I believe that this matter does not have enough reasons and that it is not worth shedding blood for it... You were wrong, you got carried away... “Oh, yes, terribly stupid...” said Pierre. “So let me convey your regret, and I am sure that our opponents will agree to accept your apology,” said Nesvitsky (like other participants in the case and like everyone else in similar cases, not yet believing that it would come to an actual duel). You know, Count, it is much nobler to admit your mistake than to bring matters to an irreparable point. There was no resentment on either side. Let me talk... - No, what to talk about! - said Pierre, - it doesn’t matter... So it’s ready? - he added. - Just tell me where to go and where to shoot? - he said, smiling unnaturally meekly. He picked up the pistol and began asking about the method of release, since he had not yet held a pistol in his hands, which he did not want to admit. “Oh, yes, that’s how it is, I know, I just forgot,” he said. “No apologies, nothing decisive,” Dolokhov answered Denisov, who, for his part, also made an attempt at reconciliation and also approached the appointed place. The place for the duel was chosen about eighty paces from the road where the sleigh remained, in a small clearing of a pine forest, covered with snow that had melted from the thaws of the last days. The opponents stood about forty paces from each other, at the edges of the clearing. The seconds, measuring their steps, laid footprints imprinted in the wet deep snow from the place where they stood to the sabers of Nesvitsky and Denisov, which meant a barrier and were stuck ten steps from each other. The thaw and fog continued; Forty steps away it was unclear to see each other. It took about three minutes for everything to be ready, but they still hesitated to start. Everyone was silent.// / Duel between Pierre and Dolokhov (based on Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace”)
The novel "War and Peace" is simply overflowing with a variety of characters who accurately and deftly convey the ordinary realities of life that depict the essence of socialites and the devotion of the common people. The relationships between the characters reveal the most vivid human feelings to readers - love, hatred, and devotion.
The main character of the novel can be called Pierre Bezukhov. From the first to the last page of a grandiose work, we can observe his spiritual evolution, his internal revolution.
Pierre takes him as his wife. The author emphasizes that this person was very freedom-loving and dissolute. Kuragina agrees to a marriage alliance with Bezukhov only for the sake of inheritance. The woman did not experience any feelings of love for her legal spouse. It was for this reason that she quite calmly took lovers and did not hide this fact at all.
Of course, this situation outraged Pierre and he decided to challenge one of his wife’s libertines, Dolokhov, to a duel. Bezukhov understood that it would cost Dolokhov nothing to kill and wound a person; he admitted to himself that he was afraid of such a duel. However, after another impudent prank of Dolokhov, Bezukhov feels a furious explosion inside his chest and challenges his hater to a duel.
And now the moment of the duel has come. Dolokhov does not react in any way to the reconciliations proposed by seconds Denisov and Nesvitsky. He is determined to fight. The seconds understood that a real murder was coming. They tried to slow down the start of the duel. Everyone realized what a hopeless situation the innocent Pierre found himself in. However, nothing can be done!
He stretches out his hand first, awkwardly holding the gun and afraid of injuring himself from his clumsiness. He fires and hits Dolokhov, who falls into the snow. However, even after being wounded, the restless opponent responds with a shot, but, by luck of fate, he misses and Pierre remains alive.
After the duel, the reader sees completely different heroes. Dolokhov bursts into tears, worried about his mother, who, having learned about what happened, may not survive the news of her son’s injury. Pierre understands the stupidity of his action, its uselessness and decides to break off relations with Helen. During a conversation with his wife, Pierre does not look like himself. He is angry, he is determined to end the relationship, wanting to end everything and leave for St. Petersburg.
After this stage of life, Pierre associates himself with Freemasonry. It turns out that the duel between Bezukhov and Dolokhov became a kind of turning point in the life of the main character, which gave rise to a complete evolution in Pierre’s soul.
