When we
spoke about the value of life during the second course I have already thought
about my favorite book’s character’s Prince Andrei Nikolaevitch Bolkonsky. I
don’t know if Tolstoy would agree with me or if he read Kierkegaard books but I
will know explain why I think so.
Bolkonsky and the value of life
First of
all, we saw that for Kierkegaard only the possibility of death aware us of the
possible value of life. I think for Bolkonsky it arrives when he is injured
during Austerlitz battle. Before this happened Prince Andrei was always
depressed, bitter, cold and seems to be
tired to live. But after it is the drama :
"What's this? Am I falling? My legs are
giving way," thought he, and fell on his back. He opened his eyes, hoping
to see how the struggle of the Frenchmen with the gunners ended, whether the
red-haired gunner had been killed or not and whether the cannon had been
captured or saved. But he saw nothing. Above him there was now nothing but the
sky the lofty sky, not clear yet still immeasurably lofty, with gray clouds
gliding slowly across it. "How quiet, peaceful, and solemn; notat all as I
ran," thought Prince Andrew "not as we ran, shouting and fighting,
not at all as the gunner and the Frenchman with frightened and angry faces
struggled for the mop: how differently do those clouds glide across that lofty
infinite sky! How was it I did not see that lofty sky before? And how happy I
am to have found it at last! Yes! All is vanity, all falsehood, except that infinite
sky. There is nothing, nothing, but that. But even it does not exist, there is
nothing but quiet and peace. Thank God! . . ."
After that
Prince Andrei totally changed. He became less obsessed by his ambition and more
lucid on the world which surrounds him. After Austerlitz he seems to know the
value of life.
Bolkonsky and the stages of life
Then I
wondered if I could find another thing in Prince Andrei’s behavior that we can
compare with Kierkegaard’s thought. For example what does his behavior go to do
with the different stages of life?
First,
aestheticism. I don’t think Prince Andrei was one day a man who looks for
pleasures. However it is the case of his friend Pierre at the beginning of the
story. For instance this character makes a promise not going to a party anymore
and an hour later goes to a party. ( Well, we can think that Andrei has an aesthetic life to, for instance he says he doesn't believe in God but he always speaks about Him. But I think it is a detail of his personality)
On the
other hand Prince Andrei has an ethical life. He is married although he doesn’t
love his wife, he assumes the social relationships although he doesn’t like
society life. He has the sense of duty. But we can find irony in his word,
namely when he speaks about his marriage. This marriage is the great difference
between Andrei and Pierre in the beginning of the story : Pierre, the aesthetic
man is not married while Andrei, the ethical one, he is inscribed in time. He
decides to be in conformity with the rules and values of the society h is
living is. Therefore, he wants to be a great soldier, a war hero, a good son
for his father. His humor highlights how distant he is from the world he is confronted
with.
Finally
when he died we can say that he is in the religious stage. He is injured in the Borodino’s battle and
from this moment he doesn’t have a real consciousness of what is around him. He
gives up all the people he loves like his son or his beloved, Natacha, and he
only wants to read the Gospel. He seems to be in direct relationship with the divine
and it seems there is only his body on
earth. "Yes, it was death! I died
and woke up. Yes, death is an awakening!", he thought.
Throughout
his text, Tolstoy is likely to outline the portrait of a man who embodies two stages
of existence and his best friend could represent the last stage.
(You can
watch this video from the beginning to approximately 3’30. You will see the difference
between the behaviors of Prince Bolkonsky and Pierre in the beginning of the
story. I am sorry I didn’t find this extract in English.)
All things
considered, I think that the thought of Kierkegaard is likely to help us to
understand the personality of Prince Andrei Bolkonsky.
And you,
what do you think about this ?
Is there
another book’s character who can be analyse like this ?
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