The force of life - Natasha

The third section of the 4th volume of War and Peace reverts back to the domestic. We're with the Rostovs, recovering from the death of Andrei - and we know (though they don't) that Petya, the youngest child, has died in battle. Our attention in these chapters is entirely on Princess Marya (Andrei's sister) and (mostly) Natasha, his beloved. Marya, though in mourning, is the far more practical woman and quickly assumes her responsibilities, particularly for her orphaned nephew. She will take him to Moscow to resume his education. Natasha, the far more emotional and even unstable young woman, wallows in her misery, seems almost to savor it. She thinks about Andrei, remembering a moment when he'd misinterpreted her, thought she could not bear to be around his suffering (when she actually could not bear to see him suffering, rather different), she wishes she could explain to him. She sits in her room, depressed, thinner and more wan all the time - her life could be endangered. But here Tolstoy breaks somewhat with his style and does use metaphor to explain: he compares her soul to a wounded body, healing, strengthening, and, later, compares it to a field with the first shoots of green beginning to emerge - her healing, her new life. For a young and vibrant woman like Natasha, it is impossible to turn away from the world. She agrees to go to Moscow with Marya, where her reconnection with Pierre is inevitable. Meanwhile, the Rostovs learn of Petya's death, and only Natasha can console her mother during two weeks of tearful mourning. For all her flaws and immaturity, she is a tremendous force of life for her family and throughout the novel.