by Maria K.

Created on: September 18, 2011   Last Updated: September 19, 2011

Pierre Bezukhov is an unlikely hero. Through all the events of the book, spanning years, through his sudden transition from an unknown bastard son of a wealthy man to the most desired bachelor of the season, through his sham of  marriage to Elaine, through the horrors of war, through the fire of Moscow, through all the death and destruction, Pierre is the only one who emerges with his character and his beliefs relatively intact.

Yes, he is often weak, yes he is a man of gentle and pliant temper, who would love nothing more than to be left alone in the quiet of his home, shielded from the trials and tribulations of the world. He is not a man of strong passions and pursuits. Indeed, even Pierre's love for Natasha is one of quiet, unassuming steadfastness rather than that of grand gestures and dramatic words. And yet, it is possible that it's Bezukhov's very softness and flexibility that guide him through life's hardships.

One sees such examples elsewhere in literature, drawing parallels among seemingly unlikely works. Ivan Tsvet in Alexander Kuprin's "Star of Salomon" and - later - J.R. Tolkien's Bilbo and Frodo in "The Hobbit" and "Lord of the Rings" trilogy are but two such examples. They are ordinary people with no particular ambitions beyond simple comforts of life, thrust into extraordinary situations and surviving them because their unassuming character makes them difficult to corrupt via conventional means. Power means nothing to them, for they simply do not know what to do with it, their desire to rule over people going no further than a maid, a cook and a housekeeper. They don't mind wealth, but only as long as someone else manages it for them, for otherwise it becomes a bother - another responsibility they have no wish to assume.

Tolstoy must have grown fond of his stumbling and bumbling hero, because in the end, he grants Pierre Bezukhov the life of his preference - the life of peace and comfort and simple pleasures. That, however, is not without a caveat - Tolstoy's warning that nothing can ever be perfect and that there will always be a snake in every kind of Eden. While Pierre is delighted with his final situation and adores his children, the love of his life - Natasha - is no longer the spirited and graceful little goddess he fell in love with. She turns, instead, into a rather mediocre woman, a settled housewife with no interests beyond her husband's pipe and her children's diapers.

It is Natasha's great fortune - the one she barely appreciates - that she is with Pierre, for he is the only one who can still love her even after that regrettable transformation and still consider himself the luckiest man on Earth.

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