Prince Andrey strives to attain meaning in his life through being a hero, and he imagines how his battle-winning plan will launch him to fame. Being a hero, however, is another way of expressing the youthful needs for acceptance and recognition, and Bolkonsky must first value himself before he can assess his value to the world. Through these conflicting viewpoints — self-esteem versus the esteem of others — Prince Andrey is caught in an"enchanted circle": While depending on the approval of the world for self-definition, he cannot approve enough of himself to recognize the conditions for being unique and outstanding. This dichotomy between Andrey's lack of emotional self-awareness and his highly developed intellectual awareness results in a profound nihilism, a deep desire for the restfulness of death.
Tolstoy invokes images of death when he speaks of the"mysterious power and glory" Bolkonsky feels hovering over him"in the mist," and when the stricken Andrey views the"infinite lofty sky" (which Nikolay viewed in Book II) promising the sought-for surcease from his personal struggles, life, death, and individuality combine into nothingness under that eternal expanse.
With this death-oriented insight, Prince Andrey sees Napoleon as insignificant as an insect. Like a parasitic buzzing fly fed on carrion, the great man regards the battlefield corpses as nourishment for his personal needs. Because death has no absolute value for Napoleon, he is deluded about the value of life; this means he is also unaware of his historic significance. Symbolizing Napoleon's nature as that of a fly, Tolstoy projects Andrey into a symbolic state of death. Henceforth Bolkonsky must be"reborn" in order to live, and we foresee a new phase in his life. Andrey's symbolic death, however, is a foreshadow of his ultimate demise.
