Death of the Others in War and Peace
The aim of this article is to analyze how the characters of Tolstoy's novel War and Peace experience the death of the others. After the death of his wife, Andrey feels very guilty, for he abandoned her, preferring his social ambition to the happiness of his family. Andrey's life in seclusion is the means by which he punishes himself and is itself his social and spiritual death. He is called again to life only after he meets Natasha, the symbol and embodiment of life in this novel. Maria goes through the process of grief after her father's death. Retrospection tums out to be a vital element in the process of grief. After she successfully detaches herself from her deceased father, she meets Nicholas, her future husband and she returns to a normal life. Another heroine of the novel, Natasha also undergoes the process of grief after the death of Andrey, her former fiancé. But life brings her back to itself by arousing love towards her family in her. Pierre learns from Karataev the lesson that everything happens according to God's will or fate and one must receive everything as it happens. He receives Karataev's death as natural, not even grieving over him. Karataev remains in his memory as an embodiment of goodness, truth and simplicity.