In War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy clearly values ​​characteristics such as spontaneity, honesty, vitality and liveliness. He makes this obvious to the reader through narratives that indicate that he values ​​forms of naturalness over forms of artificiality. In the novel, Tolstoy's exoteric message is that devotion to divine love, or love for all things that exist, is the best way to live. However, comparing two important figures, Platon Karataev and Natasha Rostova, his esoteric message seems to be that most people cannot be completely devoted to divine love, since those who understand, or come to understand, divine love they almost always do as they please. danger or their end. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Platon, a middle-aged Russian soldier taken prisoner in a French-controlled Moscow, is eventually killed by two French soldiers, because he is sick and weak and cannot keep up with the rest of the prisoners. Tolstoy considers Plato ideal for his honesty, his balance between masculinity and femininity, and his traditional Russian peasant manner that evokes vitality and earthiness. Natasha, a young Russian woman, is also very natural, and this is evident from the moment she is introduced into the novel; burst into a room, knock over some objects, and scare some people (Tolstoy 68). Tolstoy wants the reader to admire his lack of inhibition and disregard for social customs and norms. However, unlike Platon, Natasha finds that her genuineness is questioned when she falls in love with Anatol, a handsome character who projects falseness and superficiality. After learning that her fiancé, Prince Andrei, was wounded in battle, Natasha regrets having considered an elopement with Anatol. After Prince Andrei dies from war wounds, she marries and grows old with another character, Pierre, who is neither as superficial as Anatol nor as enlightened as Prince Andrei. Initially, it seems that Tolstoy passes harsh judgment on Natasha for succumbing to the temptations of earthly and romantic relationships, but when comparing a character like Natasha to one like Platon, as well as others like them, it becomes clear that while Tolstoy believes in character to be more ideal, he understands that most people cannot reach that ideal and is ultimately forgiving. A comparison between these two characters highlights Tolstoy's otherwise esoteric message that complete devotion to divine love is optimal but not expected, given the price those who achieve it sometimes end up paying. Tolstoy values ​​the characteristics and themes of naturalness, such as spontaneity, vitality and the rejection of social mores. He finds the opposite traits of artificiality and rigid conformity to be characteristics of a superficial person. War and Peace opens with a scene set on an evening hosted by Anna Pavlovna. The gathering is clearly dominated by the social customs and norms of upper-class people who are overly absorbed in the royal system, which Tolstoy obviously does not like. Each guest performed the ceremony of greeting this unknown, uninteresting and useless aunt. Anna Pavlovna followed these greetings with solemn and melancholy attention, silently approving them. But many times he repeated exactly the same phrases to each one regarding the health of him, her and His Majesty, who, thank God, was better today. (Tolstoy 34) Tolstoy's contempt for the upper-class social ritual of meeting Anna Pavlovna's aunt is evident in hisnarrative description of the aunt as “unknown, uninteresting and unnecessary”. It also makes it clear how repetitive and generic the ritual is, and how equally meaningless to the aunt. What Tolstoy finds useful and meaningful is the genuineness and liveliness of a character. When describing Natasha, it becomes clear that she displays this trait of liveliness:The visitor's daughter was already smoothing her dress and looking at her mother inquiringly, when suddenly from the next room the footsteps of boys and girls were heard running towards the door, the sound of an overturned chair, and then a thirteen-year-old girl who was hiding something in the folds of her short muslin skirt, darted in and stopped dead in the middle of the room... The little girl, not beautiful but half full of life, with black eyes and a wide mouth, childish shoulders from which the bodice had slipped in its rapid flight, black curls thrown back, bare and thin arms... (Tolstoy 68, 69). Both Tolstoy's meticulous description of Natasha's appearance, describing her as unconventionally pretty, but nevertheless clearly attractive, and her sudden and spontaneous burst into the room, which he describes as "full of life", seem to indicate that Natasha demonstrates quality appreciated by Tolstoy, even at the first introduction. Characters who show complete devotion or full understanding of Tolstoy's ideological notion of divine love end up dying. Both Plato and Prince Andrew exemplify this theme. Plato, who is admirably described by Tolstoy as kind and spontaneous, tries to assure a frightened Pierre that he has been thrown into a prison cell: "You've seen a lot of trouble, sir, eh?" the little man said suddenly. And there was such simplicity and kindness in that sing-song voice that Pierre tried to respond, but his jaw was trembling and he felt tears welling up in his eyes. "Well, don't worry, my dear," she said in the sweet, caressing and singsong voice with which old Russian peasant women speak. (Tolstoy 1157)In addition to his comforting voice, Tolstoy emphasizes Plato's affinity for animals, as well as his depiction of traditional, hard-working Russian culture and spirit, which Tolstoy associates with naturalness in the novel. Yet despite these admirable traits, Plato still dies at the hands of French soldiers in Moscow (Tolstoy 1271). Initially, it seems inconsistent to claim that Plato's death was somehow caused by his characteristic spiritual understanding of the connection of himself to the world, but the nature of Prince Andrei's death begins to demonstrate Tolstoy's message. As a character, Prince Andrew ignored previous opportunities for self-reflection; and he only really has a revelation as he sits on his deathbed: 'Love? What is love?' I think. «Love hinders death. Love is life. Everything, everything I understand, I understand only because I love. Everything is, everything exists only because I love. Everything is connected only by love. Love is God, and dying means that I, a particle of love, will return to the universal and eternal source." (Tolstoy 1175) At first this dialogue seems out of place. The words seem like the delirious ramblings of a Prince Andrei close to death. However, Prince Andrei speaks of divine love, meaning love for everything and everyone, rather than love of the material and the particular. He uses the word “love” many times, but this love encompasses the idea that there is a universal and eternal source. Tolstoy seems to indicate that as Prince Andrei is dying, or close to death, he finally understands something deeper about the universal truth of divine love and recognizes a higher power. The death of Prince Andrei makes it clearer that Tolstoy believes that death is associated with a final understanding and.