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In Tolstoy’s work “War and Peace” one encounters many cases of death, in many different forms and places. In the war scenes death is a matter of numbers, whereas individual deaths in the families are elaborate and far more sentimental. Certain characters in the novel are already dead, whereas others are waiting to be reborn. The novel is rich in this aspect and descriptive of the impact of death. Therefore, we shall consider here only physical deaths of significant characters of the novel to gain a better understanding of the handling and results of their physical death. First of all we shall look closer at the death scene of Lise and the impact of it on the family left behind, life of her baby son Nikolai, her husband Andrei and sister in law Mariya. Secondly, the elaborate scenes of Count Bezukhov’s long awaited death. Third, the death of old Prince Bolkonsky and the tremendous change it brought to princess Mariya’s life. Finally, we shall examine futile and untimely death of Petya Rostov on the battlefield, a symbolic example of the many deaths that war causes. Tolstoy not only explores each of these cases to show their impact on surrounding people, but also to understand the mystery, the bigger picture of life’s meaning. The scene of the ironic and unexpected death of Lise during childbirth, as her arrogant husband Andrei repents his attitude towards her, is a rather touching, private experience. It portrays the classic experience of death: one minute here, next minute gone, but where? Lise is a beautiful, innocent and full of life. Even her husband Andrei, who dislikes her due to change of his heart, admits to Pierre, saying: ‘my wife is a wonderful woman. She is one of those rare women with whom one can be at peace for one’s honor.’ It seems that Tolstoy prefers to handle the death of a character in a similar manner that befits the character. Lise, who is a peaceful and lovely person, departs from the novel just as peacefully and quietly as the person she was in life. Tolstoy does not project the impact of her death onto the characters outside the family as he does with the old count Bezukhov. Lise has an expression on her face that says: ‘I loved you all and I have done no harm to any of you and what have you done to me?
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