In these chapters, Tolstoy follows the earlier pattern of Book II when he paralleled the actions of Bolkonsky and Rostov during the Schöngraben campaign. Both men have undergone a change in attitude since then, and we can measure this change by noting how their present points of view draw close together.
Prince Andrey now realizes that heroism takes place at the battlefront when a man is able to confront and overcome death through his own actions and not by commanding other men according to an abstract grand scheme. Nikolay, who has accepted his lot as part of the universal order designed by his superiors — even though this may involve getting killed — now discovers that"the enemy" consists of men like himself who fear death. With this insight, both protagonists have discovered a sense of individual morality that can only be acted out according to an individual responsibility.
When Andrey asks the tsar to send him to the front, thereby losing his chance for achievement in the world of the court, he is stating the central truth in his life: A human being has a unique value in the harmonious scheme of the universe that is proved when he can face death to fulfill and define his life.
