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Why there was a duel between Pierre and Dolokhov. Composition: Pierre's duel with Dolokhov

THE FAILED DUELIST AND HIS LITERARY DUEL.

I.N.Kramskoy Portrait of Leo Tolstoy 1873

Among the duelists, although, fortunately, not taken place, Count Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy appears. In May 1861, another quarrel between Leo Tolstoy and Ivan Turgenev, who apparently did not have time to leave for Baden-Baden, almost ended in a duel.
It is known that the classics often differed in their views on literature and life.
The reason was the upbringing of Turgenev's illegitimate daughter, Polina.
Tolstoy considered that the situation when a "discharged girl" mends "dirty, fetid tatters" of the poor on her knees is insincere and more like a "theatrical stage". These words angered Turgenev.
He lost his self-control and allowed an unusual harshness:
"If you talk like that, I'll punch you in the face!"
According to Sophia Tolstoy, Ivan Sergeevich wanted to hit Lev Nikolaevich.
Tolstoy, who by chance did not receive a letter of apology, sent a dispatch with a challenge. Due to the lack of pistols, he offered to shoot with ... hunting rifles.
How this whole Tolstoy-Turgenev epic would end, God alone knows, but, fortunately, Tolstoy enlightened himself and forgave the offender the words: "I'll punch you in the face."
And this, after all, does honor to the essence of the count's family: after all, these are very offensive words, and for them it is simply supposed to demand satisfaction.
Thank God, the duel did not take place, and the writers reconciled after 17 years.
By the way, after the reconciliation, the count wrote this: “What a strange impulse that has infiltrated our heart and diligently cherished by the musty traditions of the rotting circle of feudal lords! these negotiations, agreeing with the seconds, who, without memory, like matchmakers, are fussing about something ... But the most disgusting thing, of course, is the state of mind. Each of the fighting. "

And now let's leaf through the pages of the "book of all times and peoples" - the novel "War and Peace", in which Lev Nikolayevich vividly describes the duel between Pierre Bezukhov and Fyodor Dolokhov.

Consider the heroes:

V. Serov Pierre Bezukhov

PIERRE BEZUKHOV
The illegitimate son of the famous Catherine's nobleman, Count Bezukhov, who unexpectedly became the heir to the title and huge fortune. Soft, clumsy, likes to philosophize. Brought up abroad. Having fallen under the influence of his father's friend, Prince Vasily, he marries without love his daughter Helen, the first beauty. Suspecting Dolokhov in connection with his wife, he challenges him to a duel. Then, realizing the depravity of Helen, breaks with her.

M.Bashilov Paris Dolokhova 1866

FEDOR DOLOHOV
"Semyonovsky officer, famous player and breter" 25 years old.
Image prototypes:
- reveler and brave R.I. Dorokhov, whom Tolstoy knew in the Caucasus
- Count F.I. Tolstoy-American, a relative of the writer
- A.S. Figner, partisan during the Patriotic War of 1812
Dolokhov is "a poor man, without any connections." But he misses in the conditions of ordinary life and has fun doing incredible things. After another revelry - the story of the bear and the quarter - Dolokhov was demoted to the soldiers. However, during the military campaign of 1805-1807. regained all the regalia. He provokes Bezukhov to a duel, becoming his wife's lover.

And now it remains for me to quote the lines from the novel dedicated to this duel.

This unresolved question that tormented him was the princess’s hints 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 jocularity that is characteristic of all anonymous letters that he sees badly through his glasses and that his wife's relationship with Dolokhov is a secret only for him.
Pierre recalled how Helen, smiling, expressed her displeasure that Dolokhov was living in their house, and how Dolokhov cynically praised him for 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 a bully,” thought Pierre, “it doesn’t mean anything to him to kill a person, it should seem to him that everyone is afraid of him, he should be pleased with this. He must think that I am afraid of him. And indeed, I am afraid of him, ”thought Pierre, and again with these thoughts he felt something terrible and ugly rising in his soul.
“Well, now for the health of beautiful women,” said Dolokhov, and with a serious expression, but with a smiling mouth in the corners, he turned to Pierre with a glass. “To the health of beautiful women, Petrusha, and their lovers,” he said.
"You... you... scoundrel!... I challenge you," he said, and, moving his chair, got up from the table. At the very second that Pierre did this and uttered these words, he felt that the question of the guilt of his wife, which had tormented him these last days, was finally and undoubtedly decided in the affirmative. He hated her and was forever broken from her. Despite Denisov's requests that Rostov not interfere in this matter, Rostov agreed to be Dolokhov's second and, after the table, spoke with Nesvitsky, Bezukhov's second, about the terms of the duel. Pierre went home, and Rostov, Dolokhov and Denisov sat in the club until late in the evening, listening to gypsies and song books.
- So until tomorrow, in Sokolniki, - said Dolokhov, saying goodbye to Rostov on the porch of the club.
- Are you calm? asked Rostov.
Dolokhov stopped.
- You see, I will tell you the whole secret of the duel in a few words. If you go to a duel and write wills and tender letters to your parents, if you think that you might be killed, you are a fool and probably lost; and you go with the firm intention of killing him, as quickly and as quickly as possible, then everything is in order, as our Kostroma bear cub used to say to me.

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 looked like a man preoccupied with some considerations that had nothing to do with the upcoming business. His haggard face was yellow. He apparently didn't sleep that night. He absentmindedly looked around him and grimaced, as if from a bright sun. Two considerations exclusively occupied him: the guilt of his wife, in 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. “Perhaps I would have done the same in his place,” thought Pierre. - Even I probably would have done the same. Why this duel, this murder? Either I will kill him, or he will hit me in the head, in the elbow, in the knee. Get out of here, run away, bury yourself somewhere, ”it occurred to him. But precisely at those moments when such thoughts came to him, he, with a particularly calm and absent-minded air that inspired respect for those who looked at him, asked: “Is it soon and is it ready?”
When everything was ready, the sabers were stuck in the snow, meaning a barrier to which it was necessary to converge, and the pistols were loaded, Nesvitsky went up to 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 me by choosing me as your second, if I had not told you all at this important, very important moment. truth. I believe that this case does not have enough reasons and that it is not worth shedding blood for it ... You were wrong, you got excited ...
“Ah, 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 (as well as other participants in the case and like everyone else in such cases, still not believing that it would come to a real duel). You know, Count, it is much nobler to admit one's mistake than to bring matters to the point of irreparable. There was no resentment on either side. Let me talk...
- No, what to talk about! - said Pierre, - it doesn't matter ... Is that ready? he added. - Just tell me how to go where and shoot where? he said, smiling unnaturally meekly. He picked up a pistol, began to ask about the method of descent, since he still did not hold a pistol in his hands, which he did not want to admit. “Oh, yes, that's how, 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 sledges were left, in a small clearing of a pine forest, covered with snow that had melted from the last days of thaw. The opponents stood about forty paces apart, at the edges of the clearing. The seconds, measuring their steps, made imprints 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 paces apart. The thaw and fog continued; for forty paces it was unclear to see each other. For about three minutes everything was already ready, and yet they hesitated to start. Everyone was silent.

D. Shmarinov Pierre's duel with Dolokhov 1953

Well, start, - said Dolokhov.
“Well,” said Pierre, still smiling. It was getting scary. It was obvious that the deed, which had begun so easily, could no longer be prevented by anything, that it proceeded by itself, already independently of the will of the people, and had to be accomplished. Denisov was the first to come forward to the barrier and proclaimed:
- Since the “opponents” have abandoned the “imitation” of the enemy, wouldn’t you like to start: take pistols and, according to the word tg, and begin to converge.
- G...az! Two! T" gi! .. - Denisov shouted angrily and stepped aside. Both walked along the trodden paths closer and closer, recognizing each other in the fog. The opponents had the right, converging to the barrier, to shoot whenever they wanted. Dolokhov walked slowly, not raising his pistol, peering with his bright, shining, blue eyes into the face of his adversary, his mouth, as always, had a semblance of a smile on it.
At the word three, Pierre went forward with quick steps, straying from the trodden path and walking on solid snow. Pierre held the pistol, stretching his right hand forward, apparently afraid that he would kill himself with this pistol. He diligently put his left hand back, because he wanted to support his right hand with it, but he knew that this was impossible. After walking six steps and straying off the path into the snow, Pierre looked around at his feet, again quickly looked at Dolokhov and, pulling his finger, as he had been taught, fired. Not expecting such a strong sound, Pierre flinched at his shot, then smiled at his own impression and stopped. The smoke, especially thick from the fog, prevented him from seeing at first; but the other shot he was waiting for did not come. Only Dolokhov's hurried steps were heard, and his figure appeared from behind the smoke. With one hand he held on to his left side, the other clutched the lowered pistol. His face was pale. Rostov ran up and said something to him.
- No ... no, - Dolokhov said through his teeth, - no, it's not over, - and, having taken a few more falling, hobbling steps to the very saber, he fell on the snow beside it. His left hand was covered in blood, he wiped it on his coat and leaned on it. His face was pale, frowning and trembling.
- It's a pity ... - began Dolokhov, but could not immediately pronounce ... - please, - he finished with an effort. Pierre, barely holding back his sobs, ran to Dolokhov and was about to cross the space separating the barriers, when Dolokhov shouted: - To the barrier! - And Pierre, realizing what was happening, stopped at his saber. Only ten steps separated them. Dolokhov lowered his head to the snow, greedily bit the snow, raised his head again, corrected himself, drew up his legs and sat down, looking for a firm center of gravity. He swallowed cold snow and sucked it; his lips trembled, but everyone smiled; his eyes shone with the effort and malice of the last gathered strength. He raised his pistol and took aim.
“Sideways, cover yourself with a pistol,” Nesvitsky said.
- Zakg "ope!" - unable to stand it, even Denisov shouted to his opponent.
Pierre, with a meek smile of regret and repentance, helplessly spreading his legs and arms, stood straight in front of Dolokhov with his broad chest and looked sadly at him. Denisov, Rostov and Nesvitsky closed their eyes. At the same time they heard a shot and an angry cry from Dolokhov.
- Past! - shouted Dolokhov and powerlessly lay face down on the snow. Pierre clutched his head and, turning back, went into the forest, walking entirely in the snow and aloud saying incomprehensible words.
- Stupid... stupid! Death... a lie... - he kept grimacing. Nesvitsky stopped him and took him home.
Rostov and Denisov carried the wounded Dolokhov.

Materials of articles used
Yuri Malekin "

Chapter IV

“Yes, he is very handsome,” thought Pierre, “I know him. It would be a special charm for him to dishonor my name and laugh at me, precisely because I worked for him and looked down on him, helped him. I know, I understand what salt in his eyes this must give to his deceit, if it were true. Yes, if it were true; but I do not believe, have no right, and cannot believe.” He recalled the expression that Dolokhov's face assumed when moments of cruelty were found on him, like those in which he connected the quarterly with a bear and let him into the water, or when he challenged a man to a duel for no reason, or killed the coachman's horse with a pistol . This expression was often on Dolokhov's face when he looked at him. “Yes, he is a bully,” thought Pierre, “it doesn’t mean anything to him to kill a person, it should seem to him that everyone is afraid of him, he should be pleased with this. He must think that I am afraid of him. 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 was talking merrily with his two friends, one of whom was a dashing hussar, the other a well-known brat and rake, and occasionally looked mockingly at Pierre, who at this dinner struck with his concentrated, absent-minded, massive figure. Rostov looked unkindly at Pierre, firstly, because Pierre, in his hussar eyes, was a civilian rich man, the husband of a beauty, in general a woman; secondly, because Pierre, in the concentration and distraction of his mood, did not recognize Rostov and did not answer his bow. When they began to drink the sovereign's health, Pierre, lost in thought, did not get up and did not take a glass.

What are you? - Rostov shouted to him, looking at him with enthusiastic and embittered eyes. - Don't you hear: the health of the sovereign emperor! - Pierre, sighing, meekly got up, drank his glass and waited for everyone to sit down, with his kind smile turned to Rostov.

I didn't recognize you," he said. But Rostov was not up to it, he shouted: hurrah!

Why don’t you renew your acquaintance, ”Dolokhov said to Rostov.

God be with him, fool, - said Rostov.

We must cherish the husbands of pretty women, - said Denisov.

Pierre did not hear what they were saying, but he knew what they were saying about him. He blushed and turned away.

Well, now for the health of beautiful women, ”Dolokhov said, and with a serious expression, but with a smiling mouth in the corners, he turned to Pierre with a glass. “To the health of beautiful women, Petrusha, and their lovers,” he said.

Pierre, lowering his eyes, drank from his glass, not looking at Dolokhov and not answering him. The footman, who was distributing Kutuzov's cantata, put the sheet to Pierre as a more honored guest. He wanted to take it, but Dolokhov leaned over, snatched the sheet from his hand and began to read. Pierre looked at Dolokhov, his pupils drooped: something terrible and ugly, which had troubled him all the time of dinner, rose and took possession of him. He bent his whole fat body across the table.

Don't you dare take it! he shouted.

Hearing this cry and seeing to whom it referred, Nesvitsky and a neighbor on the right side, frightened and hastily turned to Bezukhov.

Completeness, completeness, what are you? whispered frightened voices. Dolokhov looked at Pierre with bright, cheerful, cruel eyes, with the same smile, as if he were saying: "Ah, that's what I love."

I won't," he said clearly.

Pale, with a trembling lip, Pierre tore the leaf.

You ... you ... scoundrel! .. I challenge you, ”he said, and, moving his chair, got up from the table. At the very second that Pierre did this and uttered these words, he felt that the question of the guilt of his wife, which had tormented him these last days, was finally and undoubtedly decided in the affirmative. He hated her and was forever broken from her. Despite Denisov's requests that Rostov not interfere in this matter, Rostov agreed to be Dolokhov's second and, after the table, spoke with Nesvitsky, Bezukhov's second, about the terms of the duel. Pierre went home, and Rostov, Dolokhov and Denisov sat in the club until late in the evening, listening to gypsies and song books.

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, in a few words I will reveal to you 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 you might be killed, you are a fool and probably lost; and you go with the firm intention of killing him, as quickly and as quickly as possible, then everything is in order, as our Kostroma bear cub used to say to me. A bear, he says, how not to be afraid? Yes, as soon as you see him, and the fear has passed, as if it had not gone away! Well, so am I. A demain, mon cher!

When everything was ready, the sabers were stuck in the snow, meaning a barrier to which it was necessary to converge, and the pistols were loaded, Nesvitsky went up to 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 me by choosing me as your second, if I had not told you the whole truth at this important, very important moment. . I believe that this case does not have enough reasons and that it is not worth shedding blood for it ... You were wrong, you got excited ...

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 (as well as other participants in the case and like everyone else in such cases, still not believing that it would come to a real duel). You know, Count, it is much nobler to admit one's mistake than to bring matters to the point of irreparable. There was no resentment on either side. Let me talk...

No, what is there to talk about! - said Pierre, - it doesn't matter ... Is that ready? he added. - Just tell me how to go where and shoot where? he said, smiling unnaturally meekly. He picked up a pistol, began to ask about the method of descent, since he still did not hold a pistol in his hands, which he did not want to admit. “Oh, yes, that's how, 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 sledges were left, in a small clearing of a pine forest, covered with snow that had melted from the last days of thaw. The opponents stood about forty paces apart, at the edges of the clearing. The seconds, measuring their steps, made imprints 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 paces apart. The thaw and fog continued; for forty paces it was unclear to see each other. For about three minutes everything was already ready, and yet they hesitated to start. Everyone was silent.

Chapter V

Well, start, - said Dolokhov.

Well, - said Pierre, still smiling. It was getting scary. It was obvious that the deed, which had begun so easily, could no longer be prevented by anything, that it proceeded by itself, already independently of the will of the people, and had to be accomplished. Denisov was the first to come forward to the barrier and proclaimed:

Since the "enemies" have abandoned the "imitation" pg, wouldn't you like to start: take pistols and use the word mg "and start to converge.

Gas! Two! T" gi! .. - Denisov shouted angrily and stepped aside. Both walked along the trodden paths closer and closer, recognizing each other in the fog. The opponents had the right, converging to the barrier, to shoot whenever they wanted. Dolokhov walked slowly, not raising his pistol, peering with his bright, shining, blue eyes into the face of his adversary, his mouth, as always, had a semblance of a smile on it.

At the word three, Pierre went forward with quick steps, straying from the trodden path and walking on solid snow. Pierre held the pistol, stretching his right hand forward, apparently afraid that he would kill himself with this pistol. He diligently put his left hand back, because he wanted to support his right hand with it, but he knew that this was impossible. After walking six steps and straying off the path into the snow, Pierre looked around at his feet, again quickly looked at Dolokhov and, pulling his finger, as he had been taught, fired. Not expecting such a strong sound, Pierre flinched at his shot, then smiled at his own impression and stopped. The smoke, especially thick from the fog, prevented him from seeing at first; but the other shot he was waiting for did not come. Only Dolokhov's hurried steps were heard, and his figure appeared from behind the smoke. With one hand he held on to his left side, the other clutched the lowered pistol. His face was pale. Rostov ran up and said something to him.

No ... no, - Dolokhov said through his teeth, - no, it's not over, - and, having taken a few more falling, hobbling steps to the very saber, he fell on the snow beside it. His left hand was covered in blood, he wiped it on his coat and leaned on it. His face was pale, frowning and trembling.

It's a pity ... - began Dolokhov, but could not immediately pronounce ... - please, - he finished with an effort. Pierre, barely holding back his sobs, ran to Dolokhov and was about to cross the space separating the barriers, when Dolokhov shouted: - To the barrier! - And Pierre, realizing what was happening, stopped at his saber. Only ten steps separated them. Dolokhov lowered his head to the snow, greedily bit the snow, raised his head again, corrected himself, drew up his legs and sat down, looking for a firm center of gravity. He swallowed cold snow and sucked it; his lips trembled, but everyone smiled; his eyes shone with the effort and malice of the last gathered strength. He raised his pistol and took aim.

Sideways, cover yourself with a pistol, ”Nesvitsky said.

Zakg "ope!" - unable to stand it, even Denisov shouted to his opponent.

Pierre, with a meek smile of regret and repentance, helplessly spreading his legs and arms, stood straight in front of Dolokhov with his broad chest and looked sadly at him. Denisov, Rostov and Nesvitsky closed their eyes. At the same time they heard a shot and an angry cry from Dolokhov.

Past! - shouted Dolokhov and powerlessly lay face down on the snow. Pierre clutched his head and, turning back, went into the forest, walking entirely in the snow and aloud saying incomprehensible words.

Stupid... stupid! Death... a lie... - he kept grimacing. Nesvitsky stopped him and took him home.

Rostov and Denisov carried the wounded Dolokhov.

Dolokhov, silently, with closed eyes, lay in the sleigh and did not answer the questions that were put to him; but, having entered Moscow, he suddenly came to himself and, raising his head with difficulty, took Rostov, who was sitting beside him, by the hand. Rostov was struck by the completely changed and unexpectedly enthusiastic tender expression of Dolokhov's face.

Well? How do you feel? asked Rostov.

Bad! but that's not the point. My friend, - said Dolokhov in a broken voice, - where are we? We are in Moscow, I know. I'm fine, but I killed her, killed her... She can't take it. She won't bear...

Who? asked Rostov.

My mother. My mother, my angel, my beloved angel, mother. - And Dolokhov began to cry, squeezing Rostov's hand. When he calmed down somewhat, he explained to Rostov that he was living with his mother, that if his mother saw him dying, she would not be able to bear it. He begged Rostov to go to her and prepare her.

Rostov went ahead to carry out the assignment and, to his great surprise, found out that Dolokhov, this brawler, Dolokhov, lived in Moscow with an old mother and a hunchbacked sister and was the most tender son and brother.

Chapter VI

Pierre had rarely seen his wife face to face lately. Both in St. Petersburg and in Moscow, their house was constantly full of guests. The next night after the duel, as he often did, he did not go to the bedroom, but remained in his huge father's study, the very one in which old Count Bezukhov had died. No matter how painful all the inner work of the last sleepless night was, now an even more painful one began.

He lay down on the sofa and wanted to fall asleep in order to forget everything that had happened to him, but he could not do it. Such a storm of feelings, thoughts, memories suddenly arose in his soul that he not only could not sleep, but could not sit still and had to jump up from the sofa and walk around the room with quick steps. Then she seemed to him at the first time after her marriage, with bare shoulders and a tired, passionate look, and immediately next to her he saw Dolokhov’s beautiful, arrogant and firmly mocking face, as it was at dinner, and the same face of Dolokhov, pale, trembling and suffering, as it had been when he turned and fell into the snow.

“What happened? he asked himself. - I killed my lover, yes, I killed my wife's lover. Yes, it was. From what? How did I get there? “Because you married her,” answered the inner voice.

“But what is my fault? he asked. “In the fact that you married without loving her, in the fact that you deceived both yourself and her,” and he vividly imagined that minute after dinner at Prince Vasily’s, when he said these words that did not come out of him: “Je vous aime “. Everything from this! Even then I felt, he thought, I felt then that it was not that I had no right to it. And so it happened." He remembered the honeymoon and blushed at the memory. Particularly vivid, insulting and shameful for him was the memory of how one day, shortly after his marriage, he, at twelve o'clock in the afternoon, in a silk dressing gown, came from the bedroom to the office and found the chief manager in the office, who bowed respectfully, looked at the face Pierre, on his dressing gown and smiled slightly, as if expressing with this smile respectful sympathy for the happiness of his principal.

“And how many times have I been proud of her,” he thought, proud of her majestic beauty, her worldly tact; he was proud of his home, in which she received all of Petersburg, was proud of her inaccessibility and beauty. So what am I proud of? At the time I thought I didn't understand her. How often, pondering her character, I said to myself that it was my fault that I did not understand her, that I did not understand this eternal calmness, contentment and absence of any predilections and desires, and the whole clue was in that terrible word that she was a depraved woman: imagine this terrible word, and everything became clear!

Anatole went to her to borrow money from her and kissed her bare shoulders. She didn't give him money, but she let him kiss her. Her father jokingly aroused her jealousy; she said with a calm smile that she was not so stupid as to be jealous: let her do what she wants, she said about me. I asked her once if she felt any signs of pregnancy. She laughed contemptuously and said that she was not a fool to want to have children, and that she would not have children from me.

Then he remembered the clarity and coarseness of her thoughts and the vulgarity of her expressions, despite her upbringing in the highest aristocratic circle. "I'm not some kind of fool ... go and try it yourself ... allez vous promener," she said. Often, looking at her success in the eyes of old and young men and women, Pierre could not understand why he did not love her. “Yes, I never loved her,” Pierre said to himself. “I knew she was a depraved woman,” he repeated to himself, “but I did not dare to admit it.

And now Dolokhov, - here he sits in the snow and forcibly smiles and dies, perhaps, with some kind of feigned youth, answering my repentance!

Pierre was one of those people who, despite their outward so-called weakness of character, do not look for an attorney for their grief. He processed his grief alone in himself.

“She is in everything, she alone is to blame for everything,” he said to himself. - But what of this? Why did I associate myself with her, why did I say this to her: “Je vous aime”, which was a lie, and even worse than a lie, he said to himself. - I am to blame and must bear ... But what? The shame of the name, the misfortune of life? Eh, it's all nonsense, - he thought, - and the shame of the name and honor - everything is conditional, everything is independent of me.

Louis XVI was executed because they said that he was dishonorable and a criminal (it occurred to Pierre), and they were right from their point of view, just like those who died a martyr’s death for him and canonized him saints. Then Robespierre was executed for being a despot. Who is right, who is wrong? Nobody. And live - and live: tomorrow you will die, how could I die an hour ago. And is it worth it to suffer when one second remains to live in comparison with eternity? But at the moment when he considered himself reassured by this kind of reasoning, she suddenly imagined her, and at those moments when he most of all showed her his insincere love, and he felt a rush of blood to his heart, and had to get up again, move, and break and tear things that fall under his hands. "Why did I say to her: "Je vous aime?" he kept repeating to himself, and repeating this question for the tenth time, it occurred to him that Molière's mais que diable allait il faire dans cette galère?, and he laughed at himself.

At night, he called the valet and ordered to pack in order to go to Petersburg. He couldn't stay under the same roof with her. He couldn't imagine how he would talk to her now. He decided that tomorrow he would leave and leave her a letter in which he would announce to her his intention to be separated from her forever.

In the morning, when the valet, bringing coffee, entered the study, Pierre was lying on the ottoman and sleeping with an open book in his hand.

He woke up and looked around frightened for a long time, unable to understand where he was.

The countess was ordered to ask if your excellency is at home, the valet asked.

But before Pierre had time to decide on the answer that he would make, like the countess herself, in a white satin robe, embroidered with silver, and in simple hair (two huge braids en diadème doubled around her lovely head) entered the room calmly and majestically; only on her marble, somewhat convex forehead was a wrinkle of anger. She, with her all-enduring calmness, did not speak in front of the valet. She knew about the duel and came to talk about it. She waited until the valet filled the coffee and left. Pierre looked at her timidly through his glasses, and just as a hare, surrounded by dogs, flattening its ears, continues to lie in sight of its enemies, so he tried to continue reading; but he felt that it was senseless and impossible, and again looked timidly at her. She did not sit down and looked at him with a contemptuous smile, waiting for the valet to come out.

What else is this? What have you done, I ask you? she said sternly.

I what? I ... - said Pierre.

Here is a brave man found! Well, tell me, what kind of duel is this? What did you want to prove with this? What? I'm asking you. - Pierre turned heavily on the sofa, opened his mouth, but could not answer.

If you do not answer, then I will tell you ... - Helen continued. You believe everything you are told. They told you ... - Helen laughed, - that Dolokhov is my lover, - she said in French, with her rough accuracy of speech, pronouncing the word "lover", like any other word, - and you believed it! But what did you prove? What did you prove with this duel? That you are a fool, que vous êtes un sot; so everyone knew it. What will it lead to? To make me the laughingstock of all Moscow; so that everyone would say that you, in a drunken state, not remembering yourself, challenged to a duel a person whom you are jealous of without reason, - Helen more and more raised her voice and animated, - who is better than you in every respect ...

Hm ... hm, - Pierre mumbled, grimacing, not looking at her and not moving a single member.

And why could you believe that he was my lover? .. Why? Because I love his company? If you were smarter and nicer, then I would prefer yours.

Don’t talk to me… I beg you,” Pierre whispered hoarsely.

Why shouldn't I speak! I can speak and boldly say that it is a rare wife who, with a husband like you, would not take lovers (des amants) for herself, and I did not, ”she said. Pierre wanted to say something, looked at her with strange eyes, which she did not understand the expression, and lay down again. He suffered physically at that moment: his chest was tight, and he could not breathe. He knew that he needed to do something to end this suffering, but what he wanted to do was too scary.

We'd better part ways," he said abruptly.

Parting, if you please, only if you give me a fortune, - said Helen ... - Parting, that's what scared me!

Pierre jumped up from the sofa and, staggering, rushed to her.

I will kill you! he shouted and, seizing a marble plaque from the table with a force unknown to him, took a step towards it and swung it at her.

Helen's face grew frightful; she yelped and jumped away from him. The breed of his father affected him. Pierre felt the fascination and charm of rage. He threw the plank, smashed it, and, approaching Helen with open arms, shouted: “Get out!” - in such a terrible voice that this scream was heard in the whole house with horror. God knows what Pierre would have done at that moment if Helen had not run out of the room.

A week later, Pierre gave his wife a power of attorney to manage all the Great Russian estates, which accounted for more than half of his fortune, and left alone for St. Petersburg.

Enemies! How long apart
Their thirst for blood took away.
A.S. Pushkin.
Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy in the novel "War and Peace" consistently holds the idea of the predestination of a person's fate. You can call him a fatalist. Brightly, truthfully and logically, this is proved in the scene of the duel between Dolokhov and Pierre. A purely civilian man - Pierre wounded Dolokhov in a duel - a bully, a rake, a fearless warrior. But Pierre could not handle weapons at all. Just before the duel, Nesvitsky's second explained to Bezukhov "where to press."
But I'll start from the very beginning. The episode, which tells about the duel between Pierre Bezukhov and Dolokhov, is in the second volume, the first part, the chapters of the fourth and fifth epic novel, and it can be called "Unconscious act". It begins with a description of a dinner in an English club, at which time the war with Napoleon of 1805-1807 is going on. 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, heavy 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 something terrible, ugly rises in his soul.” And after a toast uttered 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 plot of which occurs when Dolokhov grabs a piece of paper intended for Pierre. The count challenges the offender to a duel, but he does it uncertainly, timidly, one might even think that the words: "You ... you ... scoundrel! .. I challenge you ..." - inadvertently escape from him. He does not realize what this fight can lead to, and the seconds do not realize this: Nesvitsky -
Pierre's second, Nikolai Rostov - Dolokhov's second. The behavior of all these characters points to this. On the eve of the duel, Dolokhov sits in the club all night, listening to gypsies and songwriters. He is confident in himself, in his abilities, goes with the firm intention of killing his opponent, but this is only an appearance, his soul is restless. His opponent, on the other hand, “looks like a man busy with some considerations that have nothing to do with the upcoming business. His haggard face is yellow. He apparently didn't sleep at night." The count still doubts the correctness of his actions, he thinks: Helen's lover is to blame; what would he do in Dolokhov's place. Pierre does not know what to do: either to run away, or to bring the matter to an end. But when Nesvitsky tries to reconcile him with his rival, Bezukhov refuses, while calling everything stupid. Dolokhov does not want to hear anything at all. Despite the refusal to reconcile, the duel does not begin for a long time due to the unconsciousness of the act, which Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy characterizes as follows: “For about three minutes everything was already ready, and yet
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 a semblance of a smile, he is aware of his superiority and wants to show that he is not afraid of anything. Pierre, on the other hand, walks quickly, straying off the beaten track, he seems to be trying to escape, to finish everything as soon as possible. Perhaps that is why he shoots first, while at random, shuddering from a strong sound, and injures his opponent.
“At the word three, Pierre went forward with a quick step ... he held the pistol, stretching his right hand forward, apparently afraid that he would kill himself from this pistol. He diligently put his left hand back ... After walking six steps and straying off the path into the snow, Pierre looked at his feet, again quickly looked at Dolokhov and, pulling his finger, as he was taught, fired ... "there was no return shot. "... Dolokhov's hasty steps were heard ... With one hand he held on to his left side ..." 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 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, on the other hand, does not regret anything, does not think about himself, about his pain, but is afraid for his mother, whom he causes suffering.
In the outcome of the duel, according to Tolstoy, the highest justice was done. Dolokhov, whom Pierre received in his house in a friendly way, 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 disarms, already before the duel he was ready to repent of everything, but not out of fear, but because he was sure of Helen's guilt. He tries to justify Dolokhov: “Maybe I would have done the same in his place,” thought Pierre.
“Even I would probably do the same. Why this duel, this murder? Helen's insignificance and baseness are so obvious that Pierre is ashamed of his act, this woman is not worth it to take a sin on her soul - to kill a person for her. Pierre is afraid that he almost ruined his own soul, as before - his life, having connected it with Helen.
From this episode, we learn that Dolokhov seems rude, self-confident, impudent only from the outside, but in fact ".... this brawler, breter ... was the most gentle son and brother ..." Here one of the author's statements is proved 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 about it, know or assume. In this episode, Leo Tolstoy showed how much an extreme situation changes a person, reveals his true face.
The great philosopher Leo Tolstoy teaches to be humane, fair, tolerant of the shortcomings and vices of people, for "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 took care of the preparations for it. “He was entrusted from the club with arranging a celebration for Bagration, because rarely anyone knew how to organize a feast in such a big way, hospitably, especially because rarely anyone knew how and wanted to put their money if they were needed for arranging a feast.”
The dinner itself was a success. “The next day, March 3rd, at two o’clock in the afternoon, 250 members of the English Club, 50 guests, were waiting for dinner for a kind guest and hero of the Austrian campaign, Prince Bagration.” Everyone serenely dined and recalled the exploits of Bagration. About Kutuzov and about the loss of the Battle of Austerlitz almost nothing
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
all corners of Moscow started talking the same thing. These reasons were: the betrayal of the Austrians, the bad food of the troops, the betrayal of the Pole Prshebyshevsky and the Frenchman Langeron, the inability of Kutuzov, and (they spoke slowly) the youth and inexperience of the sovereign, who believed in bad and insignificant people.
This dinner was attended by Dolokhov with the 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 the direction of Dolokhov. The reason for this was an anonymous letter received by Pierre "in which it was said ... that he could not see well through his glasses, and that his wife's connection with Dolokhov was a secret only for him alone." Indeed, the reason for this could be the fact that Dolokhov, having arrived on vacation, settled with his old friend Pierre and those cynical comments that he made in the direction of the beautiful Helen, Pierre's wife. The whole evening, Pierre was thoughtful, forgot to say hello (in particular to young Rostov), did not hear a toast to the health of the Emperor. All dinner he thought about this letter and about his wife. He ate and drank a lot.
The turning point of the dinner was for Pierre Dolokhov’s toast “to beautiful women and their lovers”, as well as the fact that Dolokhov grabbed the note brought by the waiter to Pierre and began to read aloud. Pierre's nerves failed. "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, Rostov was Dolokhov's second, Pierre - Nesvitsky. All night Pierre could not sleep, while the young officer was absolutely calm.
Preparations were made the next morning. “Pierre looked like a man preoccupied with some considerations that were not at all related to the upcoming business. His haggard face was yellow. Count Bezukhov did not know how to shoot.
Due to 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 how to go where and shoot where?”
After counting "three" Pierre "walked forward with quick steps, straying from the beaten path and walking on solid snow." Dolokhov, on the other hand, moved 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 hasty steps were heard, and his figure appeared from behind the smoke. With one hand he held on to his left side, the other clutched the lowered pistol. His face was pale."
Pierre, at first not understanding what had happened, ran, almost sobbing, to Dolokhov, but he stood him up and ordered him to go to the barrier. He ate the cold snow to numb the pain, raised himself and fired, but missed. Pierre did not even move and did not close, he stood with an open chest, looking at Dolokhov.
“Stupid…stupid! Death ... a lie, 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 sled and taken to Moscow. And then we learn that the only thing this troublemaker regrets after the duel is about his mother. “My mother, my angel, my adored angel, mother ... Rostov found out that Dolokhov, this brawler, brat - Dolokhov lived in Moscow with an old mother and a 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 able at the right time to show his character, his strength, and the violent officer Dolokhov, in fact, had nothing more valuable than his family: his mother and sister.

The epic novel by L. N. Tolstoy "War and Peace" not only shows us realistically reliable events of the Napoleonic Wars, not only gives a complex interweaving of the author's artistic and worldview 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 - to connect people and to separate them. Unity occurs when people are united not only by social equality, but also by a common idea, goal, as happened in the war with Napoleon, they can be united by friendship, love, family, common interests. The separation of people occurs because of human pride, individualism, the elevation of the individual. Moral vices also play their destructive role in separating people. It is 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, at the expense of Pierre, to realize his ambitions, 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 is sitting 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 charm for him to disgrace 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 were found on Dolokhov and which Pierre was a witness to. Pierre understands that Dolokhov does not have to kill a man. Tolstoy again repeats the idea that when looking 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 impudently, 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 proclaims a toast to pretty women and their lovers. This is at least inappropriate in honoring the hero, the winner in the battle of Shengraben. The servant wants to give Pierre the text of a cantata in honor of Bagration, but Dolokhov snatches the sheet from Pierre's hands. Pierre's cup of patience overflowed: “Something terrible and ugly, which tormented him all the time of dinner, rose and took possession of him. He bent his whole fat 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.

An interesting contrast between these characters, which is especially noticeable before the duel. Dolokhov is calm, he does not feel any pangs of conscience at all, he also does not feel any excitement, moreover, he explains to Rostov the reason for his calmness: “You go with the firm intention of killing him, as soon as possible and as quickly as possible, then everything is fine.” That is, he himself goes to a duel with the firm intention of killing a man to whom he owes a lot, to whom he is guilty, to whom he ruined his life.

Pierre does not sleep all night before the duel, thinking about what happened: “Two considerations exclusively occupied him: the guilt of his wife, in 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” . Pierre is so noble and generous that he forgets about the insult that this man inflicted on him, about the bad influence that 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 it should be according to the rules of the duel. But Pierre never held a pistol in his hands. He asks the second: “Just tell me how to go where and shoot where?” Pierre is like a big, good-natured child who has never harmed anyone in his life. And such a person wants to kill the insignificance of Dolokhov!

And so the opponents began to converge. “Pierre walked forward with quick steps, straying from the beaten path and walking on solid snow. Pierre held the pistol, stretching his right hand forward, apparently afraid that he would kill himself with this pistol. He diligently pushed 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 description of the hero emphasize his inexperience in matters of dueling, the absolute impossibility for him to kill anyone. Pierre shoots without aiming and injures 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 directly in front of Dolokhov with his broad chest and looked sadly at him.” The seconds even closed their eyes, realizing that Pierre would be killed. But Dolokhov missed. "Past!" he shouted. How much anger at himself sounds 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 aloud saying incomprehensible words." “Stupid…stupid! Death ... a lie ... "- repeats Pierre. 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. Such an antithesis allows us to understand Tolstoy's philosophical concept: violence should not be a way to resolve conflicts, there is nothing more precious than human life.

The wounded Dolokhov is being taken home, and Rostov, who was his second, is surprised to learn that “Dolokhov, this brawler, brother Dolokhov, lived in Moscow with an old mother and a hunchbacked sister and was the most tender son and brother.” The more terrible is the fault of Dolokhov, who plays with other people's lives and his own, knowing that his loved ones, worry and suffer because of him close people.

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, spiritual generosity, generosity. And in the duel scene, these best qualities of Pierre were fully manifested.

Relations 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 is sitting opposite Pierre at dinner, and when Pierre looked at him, he "felt how something terrible, ugly was understood in his soul." Pierre reflects: “It would be a special charm for him to disgrace 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 were found on Dolokhov and which Pierre was a witness to. Pierre understands that Dolokhov does not have to kill a man. Tolstoy again repeats the idea that when looking 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 impudently, 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 proclaims a toast to pretty women and their lovers. This is at least inappropriate in honoring the hero, the winner in the battle of Shengraben. The servant wants to give Pierre the text of a cantata in honor of Bagration, but Dolokhov snatches the sheet from Pierre's hands. Pierre's cup of patience overflowed: “Something terrible and ugly, which tormented him all the time of dinner, rose and took possession of him. He bent his whole fat 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.
An interesting contrast between these characters, which is especially noticeable before the duel. Dolokhov is calm, he does not feel any pangs of conscience at all, he also does not feel any excitement, moreover, he explains to Rostov the reason for his calmness: “You go with the firm intention of killing him, as soon as possible and as quickly as possible, then everything is fine.” That is, he himself goes to a duel with the firm intention of killing a man to whom he owes a lot, to whom he is guilty, to whom he ruined his life.
Pierre does not sleep all night before the duel, thinking about what happened: “Two considerations exclusively occupied him: the guilt of his wife, in 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” . Pierre is so noble and generous that he forgets about the insult that this man inflicted on him, about the bad influence that 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 it should be according to the rules of the duel. But Pierre never held a pistol in his hands. He asks the second: “Just tell me how to go where and shoot where? » Pierre looks like a big, good-natured child who has never harmed anyone in his life. And such a person wants to kill the insignificance of Dolokhov!
Chapter VI. Family scene between Pierre Bezukhov and Helen. Divorce of Pierre Bezukhov with his wife
Volume 2 Part 1

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 great change had taken place in him that day. He was silent all the time of dinner and, screwing up his eyes 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 did not seem to see or hear anything happening around him, and he thought of one thing, heavy and unresolved. This unresolved question that tormented him was the princess’s hints 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 jocularity that is characteristic of all anonymous letters that he sees badly through his glasses and that his wife's relationship with Dolokhov is a secret only for him. Pierre resolutely did not believe either the hints of the princess 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 rather turned away. Involuntarily recalling all the 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 did not concern 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 revelry friendship with Pierre, Dolokhov came directly to his house, and Pierre placed him and lent him money. Pierre recalled how Helen, smiling, expressed her displeasure that Dolokhov was living in their house, and how Dolokhov cynically praised him for 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 charm for him to dishonor my name and laugh at me, precisely because I worked for him and looked down on him, helped him. I know, I understand what salt in his eyes this must give to his deceit, if it were true. Yes, if it were true; but I do not believe, have no right, and cannot believe.” He recalled the expression that Dolokhov's face assumed when moments of cruelty were found on him, like those in which he connected the quarterly with a bear and let him into the water, or when he challenged a man to a duel for no reason, or killed the coachman's horse with a pistol . This expression was often on Dolokhov's face when he looked at him. “Yes, he is a bully,” thought Pierre, “it doesn’t mean anything to him to kill a person, it should seem to him that everyone is afraid of him, he should be pleased with this. He must think that I am afraid of him. 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 was talking merrily with his two friends, one of whom was a dashing hussar, the other a well-known brat and rake, and occasionally looked mockingly at Pierre, who at this dinner struck with his concentrated, absent-minded, massive figure. Rostov looked unkindly at Pierre, firstly, because Pierre, in his hussar eyes, was a civilian rich man, the husband of a beauty, in general a woman; secondly, because Pierre, in the concentration and distraction of his mood, did not recognize Rostov and did not answer his bow. When they began to drink the sovereign's health, Pierre, lost in thought, did not get up and did not take a glass. - What are you? - Rostov shouted to him, looking at him with enthusiastic and embittered eyes. - Don't you hear: the health of the sovereign emperor! - Pierre, sighing, meekly got up, drank his glass and waited for everyone to sit down, with his kind smile turned to Rostov. “I didn’t recognize you,” he said. But Rostov was not up to it, he shouted: hurrah! “Why don’t you renew your acquaintance,” Dolokhov said to Rostov. "God bless him, you fool," said Rostov. “We must cherish the husbands of pretty women,” said Denisov. Pierre did not hear what they were saying, but he knew what they were saying 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 in the corners, he turned to Pierre with a glass. “To the health of beautiful women, Petrusha, and their lovers,” he said. Pierre, lowering his eyes, drank from his glass, not looking at Dolokhov and not answering him. The footman, who was distributing Kutuzov's cantata, put the sheet to Pierre as a more honored guest. He wanted to take it, but Dolokhov leaned over, snatched the sheet from his hand and began to read. Pierre looked at Dolokhov, his pupils drooped: something terrible and ugly, which had troubled him all the time of dinner, rose and took possession of him. He bent his whole fat body across the table. - Don't you dare take it! he shouted. Hearing this cry and seeing to whom it referred, Nesvitsky and a neighbor on the right side, frightened and hastily turned to Bezukhov. - Completeness, completeness, what are you? whispered frightened voices. Dolokhov looked at Pierre with bright, cheerful, cruel eyes, with the same smile, as if he were saying: "Ah, that's what I love." "I won't," he said distinctly. Pale, with a trembling lip, Pierre tore the leaf. "You... you... scoundrel!... I challenge you," he said, and, moving his chair, got up from the table. At the very second that Pierre did this and uttered these words, he felt that the question of the guilt of his wife, which had tormented him these last days, was finally and undoubtedly decided in the affirmative. He hated her and was forever broken from her. Despite Denisov's requests that Rostov not interfere in this matter, Rostov agreed to be Dolokhov's second and, after the table, spoke with Nesvitsky, Bezukhov's second, about the terms of the duel. Pierre went home, and Rostov, Dolokhov and Denisov sat in the club until late in the evening, listening to gypsies and song books. - So until tomorrow, in Sokolniki, - said Dolokhov, saying goodbye to Rostov on the porch of the club. - Are you calm? asked Rostov. Dolokhov stopped. - You see, I will tell you the whole secret of the duel in a few words. If you go to a duel and write wills and tender letters to your parents, if you think that you might be killed, you are a fool and probably lost; and you go with the firm intention of killing him, as quickly and as quickly as possible, then everything is in order, as our Kostroma bear cub used to say to me. A bear, he says, how not to be afraid? Yes, as soon as you see him, and the fear has passed, as if it had not gone 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 looked like a man preoccupied with some considerations that had nothing to do with the upcoming business. His haggard face was yellow. He apparently didn't sleep that night. He absentmindedly looked around him and grimaced, as if from a bright sun. Two considerations exclusively occupied him: the guilt of his wife, in 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. “Perhaps I would have done the same in his place,” thought Pierre. - Even I probably would have done the same. Why this duel, this murder? Either I will kill him, or he will hit me in the head, in the elbow, in the knee. Get out of here, run away, bury yourself somewhere, ”it occurred to him. But precisely at those moments when such thoughts came to him, he, with a particularly calm and absent-minded air that inspired respect for those who looked at him, asked: “Is it soon and is it ready?” When everything was ready, the sabers were stuck in the snow, meaning a barrier to which it was necessary to converge, and the pistols were loaded, Nesvitsky went up to 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 me by choosing me as your second, if I had not told you all at this important, very important moment. truth. I believe that this case does not have enough reasons and that it is not worth shedding blood for it ... You were wrong, you got excited ... “Ah, 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 (as well as other participants in the case and like everyone else in such cases, still not believing that it would come to a real duel). You know, Count, it is much nobler to admit one's mistake than to bring matters to the point of irreparable. There was no resentment on either side. Let me talk... - No, what to talk about! - said Pierre, - it doesn't matter ... Is that ready? he added. - Just tell me how to go where and shoot where? he said, smiling unnaturally meekly. He picked up a pistol, began to ask about the method of descent, since he still did not hold a pistol in his hands, which he did not want to admit. “Oh, yes, that's how, 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 sledges were left, in a small clearing of a pine forest, covered with snow that had melted from the last days of thaw. The opponents stood about forty paces apart, at the edges of the clearing. The seconds, measuring their steps, made imprints 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 paces apart. The thaw and fog continued; for forty paces it was unclear to see each other. For about three minutes everything was already ready, and yet they hesitated to start. Everyone was silent.

Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy's novel "War and Peace" consistently holds the idea of the predestination of a person's fate. You can call him a fatalist. Brightly, truthfully and logically, this is proved in the scene of the duel between Dolokhov and Pierre. A purely civilian man - Pierre wounded Dolokhov in a duel - a brete pa, a rake, a fearless warrior. But Pierre could not handle weapons at all. Just before the duel, Nesvitsky's second explained to Bezukhov "where to press."

The episode, which tells 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 is sitting at the table, eating and drinking, proclaiming toasts to the emperor and his well-being. Bagration, Naryshkin, Count Rostov, Denisov, Dolokhov, Bezukhoye are present at the dinner. Pierre "does not see or hear anything happening around him and thinks about one thing, heavy 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 the toast uttered by his "enemy": "For the well-being of beautiful women and their lovers," Bezukhov realizes that his suspicions are not in vain.
A conflict is brewing, the plot of which occurs when Dolokhov grabs a piece of paper intended for Pierre. The count challenges the offender to a duel, but he does it uncertainly, timidly, one can even imagine that the words: "You ... you ... scoundrel!., I challenge you ..." - inadvertently escape from him. He does not realize what that duel can lead to, and the seconds do not realize this either: Nesvitsky - Pierre's second and Nikolai Rostov - Dolokhov's second.

On the eve of the duel, Dolokhov sits in the club all night, 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, in his soul "he is restless. His rival" looks like a man busy with some considerations that are not at all related to the upcoming case. His haggard face is yellow. He apparently did not sleep at night. " The count still doubts the correctness of his actions and thinks: what would he do in Dolokhov's place?

Pierre does not know what to do: either to run away, or to bring the matter to an end. But when Nesvitsky tries to reconcile him with his rival, Bezukhov refuses, while calling everything stupid. Dolokhov does not want to hear anything at all.

Despite the refusal to reconcile, the duel does not begin for a long time due to the unconsciousness of the act, which Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy expressed as follows: "For about three minutes everything was already ready, and yet they hesitated to start. Everyone was silent." The indecision of the characters is also indicated 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 a gooey smile. He is aware of his superiority and wants to show that he is not afraid of anything. Pierre, on the other hand, is walking fast, straying off the beaten track, he seems to be trying to escape, to complete everything as soon as possible. Perhaps that is why he shoots first, while at random, flinching from a strong sound, and injures his opponent.

Dolokhov, shooting, misses. Dolokhov's wound and his unsuccessful attempt to kill the count are the climax of the episode. Then there is a decline in 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, goes back somewhere into the forest, that is, he runs away from what he has done, from his fear. Dolokhov, on the other hand, does not regret anything, does not think about himself, about his pain, but is afraid for his mother, whom he causes suffering.

In the outcome of the duel, according to Tolstoy, the highest justice was done. Dolokhov, whom Pierre received in his house in a friendly way 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 disarms, already before the duel he was ready to repent of everything, but not out of fear, but because he was sure of Helen's guilt. He tries to justify Dolokhov. “Perhaps I would have done the same in his place,” thought Pierre. “Even probably I would have done the same thing. Why this duel, this murder?”

Helen's insignificance and baseness are so obvious that Pierre is ashamed of his act, this lady is not worth it to take a sin on her soul - to kill a person for her. Pierre is afraid that he almost ruined his own soul, as he already did his life, by connecting it with Helen.

After the duel, while taking the wounded Dolokhov home, Nikolai Rostov found out that "Dolokhov, the same brawler, breter - Dolokhov lived in Moscow with an old mother and a hunchbacked sister and was the most gentle son and brother ...". Here one of the author's statements is proved, that not everything is so obvious, understandable and unambiguous, as it seems at first glance. Life is much more complex and diverse than we think about it, know or assume. The great philosopher Leo Tolstoy teaches to be humane, fair, tolerant of the shortcomings and vices of people. 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 solved.

17.04.2019

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 relations that result in quarrels, discord, hostility.

The episode of the duel between P. Bezukhov and F. Dolokhov is dedicated 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 contention 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 during the preparation of dinner, Anna Mikhailovna Drubetskaya tells Ilya Andreevich Rostov about Pierre's misfortune: "She (Helen) came here, and this daredevil (Dolokhov) followed her ... They say that Pierre himself is completely heartbroken." Yes, Pierre is very worried, but not because he loves Helen, but because he cannot believe in human meanness.

At dinner, as luck would have it, Pierre found himself at the table opposite Dolokhov. 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 does not see well through his glasses and that his wife’s connection 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 person, 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 furious, he has not yet reached the critical point of an emotional and psychological explosion. He is still afraid of Dolokhov, because he has a reputation as a person to whom "it means nothing to kill." Pierre does not pay attention to 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, distributing Kutuzov's cantata, puts a sheet of paper to Pierre, as a more honored guest, and Dolokhov snatches this sheet from Bezukhov's hands. Then "something terrible and ugly, which tormented him all the time of dinner, rose and took possession" of Pierre. "Don't you dare take it!" he shouted. This man, always soft and good-natured, could not restrain himself, the tension that had been building up for so long got an emotional outlet. Pierre challenges Dolokhov to a duel. “The very second that Pierre did this ... he felt that the question of the guilt of his wife, which had tormented him these last days, was finally and undoubtedly decided in the affirmative. He hated her and was forever cut off from her." Thus, for Pierre, the duel was not so much an intercession for the honor of his wife and the return of his honor, but an event that made it possible to end the heinous 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 a duel, he only asks Nesvitsky: “Just tell me how to go where and shoot where?” Dolokhov is even more categorical: "No apologies, nothing decisive."

The weather interferes with the duel: thaw and fog, for forty steps it was not clear to see each other. Nature seems to oppose this event, unnecessary and meaningless.

Opponents began to converge. Pierre fired first and, quite 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 the last of his strength, already lying on the snow, began to aim. “His lips trembled, but he kept smiling; his eyes shone with effort and malice. Pierre, “with a meek smile of regret and remorse, helplessly spreading his legs and arms,” stood right in front of Dolokhov. They shouted to him: “Close yourself with a pistol, become sideways!” Even Denisov shouted - his opponent. But, fortunately, Dolokhov's shot did not hit the target.

Everything, it would seem, is put in its place: the deeply moral Pierre, a man of the purest and kindest soul, punished the vicious and vicious Dolokhov. But the episode's ending is surprising. Rostov and Denisov took the wounded Dolokhov, who woke up at the entrance to Moscow. “Rostov was struck by the completely changed and unexpectedly enthusiastic tender expression on Dolokhov’s face,” who is very worried that his mother, if she sees him dying, will not survive this. He begs Rostov to go to her and prepare her. It turns out that Dolokhov, "this brawler, Dolokhov, lived in Moscow with an old mother and a hunchbacked sister, and was the most tender son and brother."

This ending of 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. Focusing on the malice and obscene behavior of Dolokhov, the author still gives him the right to remain human.

L. N. Tolstoy well conveys the state of mind of the characters through the details of the portrait, through their postures, facial expressions and gives internal monologues. Together with the heroes of the epic novel, we experience their ups and downs, languish in their feelings, reflect with them on life and its issues. All this undoubtedly testifies to the skill of Tolstoy as a psychologist.

Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy always spoke of a work of art as a collection of thoughts “linked together” and existing only in such a link. And the whole work is a “labyrinth of links”. Its meaning is born from the "linkage" of images, episodes, pictures, motifs, details. Tolstoy always spoke ironically about those readers who are trying to find individual thoughts in individual scenes. Each small scene already carries the "big" idea of the whole novel. It is like a line, like one of the turns in the "maze".

The duel between Pierre and 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 the dinner preceding the duel, Pierre was sitting, "stopping his eyes, with an air of complete absent-mindedness ... His face was dull and gloomy." He is completely immersed in himself. It seems that he is tormented by a problem that he cannot solve for himself. It is as if two principles collide in him: his characteristic complacency and a principle alien to him: aggressiveness, selfishness, inherent in such heroes as Dolokhov, Anatole Kuragin, Napoleon. Both of these beginnings continue to fight in Pierre throughout the episode.

And gradually, the state that Lev Nikolayevich called the word "war" begins to take possession of the hero:

Pierre glanced at Dolokhov, his pupils dropped, something terrible and ugly, which had tormented him all the time of dinner, rose and took possession of him.

Further, it would seem that the victory of this beginning was not so unconditional, since Pierre was not sure of Dolokhov's guilt and of his right to judge him. But the hope turned out to be illusory, because it immediately sounded soberingly that “it was precisely at 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 started was “terribly stupid,” sounds harsh:

No, what to talk about! .. Anyway ...

Pierre's mind no longer obeys him, the hero does not control himself. And this happens not only with Pierre, but also with other heroes. The kindest and most honest Nikolai Rostov "looked unkindly at Pierre" at dinner. It seems that the eyes of the heroes are covered with a veil. After all, it is not in vain that, probably, in the clearing where the duel takes place, there is such a fog that the heroes can hardly see each other already forty steps away. Because of the fog, they “vaguely” distinguish 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: to kill a man means the same thing to a hunter not to miss a bear. But still, something confuses the heroes, they distinguish something in the fog, something stops them. They are slow to start. Everyone is silent.

But for the author it is obvious that the deed must be done independently of the will of the people. And it happened, despite the fact that the struggle still continues in Pierre. The author says that “Pierre went forward with quick steps, straying from the trodden path ...”, but obeying Dolokhov’s shout, he began to aim. There is a smile of "regret and remorse" on his face, but he is helpless before the power that took possession of him during dinner.

After this episode of his life, Pierre will plunge into a strange state for a while. He will not be able to link together historical and life facts, he will have the feeling that his mind is working in vain, 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 a facet of that main one, which in Tolstoy’s language sounds like “war and peace”.

Volume 2 Part 1 Chapter 4 and 5

L.N. Tolstoy in his novel "War and Peace" reveals the idea of the predestination of human destiny. We can even call the author of this work a fatalist. This idea is proved very clearly in the scene of the duel between Dolokhov and Pierre. Pierre, a civilian who does not know how to shoot at all, before the start of the duel, learns from Nesvitsky's second where to press. And he manages to injure Dolokhov, who is fluent in weapons. The episode, which tells about the duel between Bezukhov and Dolokhov, can symbolically be called "Unconscious act". The episode begins with a picture of a dinner at the English Club. Guests dine at the table, make toasts in honor of the emperor, drink to his health.

Only Pierre does not see or hear anything, he is not interested in what is happening around him, all his thoughts are occupied with one thing - heavy and insoluble. He constantly asks himself: is his wife really cheating on him with Dolokhov? As soon as his gaze intersected with Dolokhov's eyes, beautiful and arrogant, Pierre felt something disgusting, terrible rising in his soul. The last doubts are dispelled when Dolokhov makes a toast to beautiful women and their lovers.

The conflict is brewing, its plot occurs at the moment when Dolokhov intercepts the sheet that is intended for Bezukhov. Pierre is indignant and discouraged, he does not even have time to think of anything, the words themselves escape from his lips.

Timidly and uncertainly, he challenges his offender to a duel. He never for a moment thinks about what it can lead to. Seconds don't realize it either.

Before the duel, Dolokhov spends time in the club, listening to the songs of gypsies. He is confident in his abilities, he intends to kill Bezukhov, but still his soul is restless. Pierre pretends to be busy with things that have nothing to do with the duel. However, his haggard face shows that he has not slept all night.

The count is still haunted by doubts whether he did the right thing, he thinks about how he himself would behave in Dolokhov's place. Bezukhov does not know what to do: either to urgently run away from there, or to stay and participate in the duel. However, he refuses the last opportunity to avoid a duel. When his second Nesvitsky makes an attempt to reconcile him with Dolokhov, Bezukhov refuses, calling it stupidity. The opponent does not want to hear anything at all.

Both sides refused to reconcile, but the duel still does not start. The reason for this is the unconsciousness of the act, indecision, which is also emphasized by the state of nature: fog and thaw.

But the fight has begun. The duelists began to disperse. Dolokhov has a kind of smile on his face, awareness of his superiority and the absence of any fear. Bezukhov is in a hurry, he walks quickly, strays off the beaten path, as if trying to escape. This is not a typical situation for him, and he wants it to end as soon as possible.

Maybe that's why he shoots first, at random, without aiming, and wounds Dolokhov. The next shot is for Dolokhov. This is the moment of the highest tension of this episode. The opponent misses. Then comes the denouement, in which the author describes the experiences of the characters. Pierre is filled with remorse, he can hardly restrain his sobs. He tries to escape from his fear, from the horror of the situation and rushes into the forest. Dolokhov has no regret, he does not think about his pain, but he mentally worries about his mother, whom he causes a lot of suffering.

The outcome of the duel, according to the author, is destined from above and is the height of justice. Pierre received Dolokhov in a friendly manner in his house, in memory of friendship he helped him, and he responded with betrayal, seducing his wife. However, at the same time, Pierre does not try on the role of a judge, he is grateful to God that Dolokhov remained alive, and deeply repents of his deed.

Bezukhov shows himself to be a humanist, he was already ready to repent before the duel, but fear was not the reason for this, but his confidence in Helen's guilt. Pierre is trying to find an excuse for Dolokhov. The Count sees so clearly all the baseness and insignificance of Helen that he becomes ashamed of his participation in the duel, because he could take sin on his soul and kill a man because of a woman who is completely unworthy.

Nikolai Rostov, taking the wounded Dolokhov home after the duel, found out that he, being at the same time a brawler and a bully, was also a loving son and brother, who was waiting at home for an old mother and a hunchbacked sister. With this remark, the author emphasizes that not everything in life is as clear and understandable as it sometimes seems. Life turns out to be much more complicated than we imagine it to be. The writer teaches us to be fair and tolerant of people's shortcomings. In the episode of Dolokhov's duel with Bezukhov, the author says that we cannot judge what is fair and what is not, and that not everything that is obvious at first glance is unambiguously and easily solved.

THE FAILED DUELIST AND HIS LITERARY DUEL.

I.N.Kramskoy Portrait of Leo Tolstoy 1873

Consider the heroes:

V. Serov Pierre Bezukhov

M.Bashilov Paris Dolokhova 1866

And now it remains for me to quote the lines from the novel dedicated to this duel.

D. Shmarinov Pierre's duel with Dolokhov 1953

Materials of articles used
Yuri Malekin "

The duel of Pierre and Dolokhov is not just a climax in the novel, it is the first and most serious turning point in the development of the protagonist's worldview. Growing up, as L. N. Tolstoy shows, is impossible without painful changes in consciousness, this is an inevitable stage. It is not easy for Pierre to decide to challenge his former comrade to a duel, but this decision brings an understanding of the future path for the hero.

The reason for the duel between Bezukhov and Dolokhov

The marriage of Bezukhov and Helen Kuragina turned out to be a mistake from the very beginning. The couple did not love each other. Pierre was pleased with the thought of owning the most beautiful woman in St. Petersburg, and Helen was inspired by the title and money of Bezukhov. Naive Pierre did not suspect that human ingratitude could cross all boundaries: he rescued Dolokhov, invited him to live with him, helped financially. In “gratitude”, the comrade became the lover of his wife. Bezukhov learns about this from an anonymous note.

The conflict that occurs between men in the English club becomes a natural consequence of Helen's depraved behavior and Dolokhov's ridicule of his benefactor. When a toast about married ladies and their lovers sounds from the lips of a comrade, Pierre understands that his wife's infidelities are a secret only for him alone, all of Petersburg laughs at him. At this moment, Dolokhov rips out of Pierre's hands the paper that he received to voice, the intensity reaches its apotheosis. Pierre challenges Dolokhov to a duel, he accepts the challenge without hesitation.

If we take into account that Pierre never held a weapon in his hands, and Dolokhov was an excellent shooter, then the result of the duel is the author's game with the fates of the characters. Tolstoy shows the law of life: beginners and dilettantes are always lucky, and also those who have a pure soul. Pierre is loved by fate, luck accompanies him in the most terrible moments of his life.

fateful day

An inexperienced duelist is tormented by conscience, the night before meeting with an opponent, he finally understands that his wife is a deceitful, insignificant, depraved woman. He even justifies Dolokhov, realizing that he himself would have done the same if a similar situation had happened to him. Pierre is afraid to kill a person, but he cannot forgive the offender. The seconds are well aware that most likely during the duel Bezukhov will die - awkward, inexperienced, helpless, like a child. A few minutes before the shot, the second explains to Pierre where to press so that the weapon fires ... Bezukhov is very worried and in a hurry, therefore, apparently, he shoots first. He accidentally hits Dolokhov and wounds him. This fact terrifies the hero, while Dolokhov, having the right to shoot almost point-blank, for some reason misses. He's very upset that he didn't make it. Pierre is horrified that he has hurt a man. This moment very clearly characterizes the main character. There are many such fatal moments in the novel War and Peace, which are very realistic and at the same time incredible.

The protagonist runs away from the place where everything happened, he is on the verge of insanity - he blames himself, whispers words of repentance, he comes to understand how fragile human life is.

The value of the duel in the life of the protagonist

The duel serves as the final stage, which leads the hero to the idea that he chose the wrong path, made a big mistake by choosing Helen as his wife. He realizes that he is drawn into someone else's game, that he does not want to continue to live in a humiliating position next to a dishonorable woman. The stage of relations with Helen is over, Pierre has become much stronger, more determined and more experienced. He felt how easy it is to deprive a person of life, without having either the right or the grounds. Pierre feels the need to change his lifestyle, get away from everyone, find the meaning of life, which would be his salvation.

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