An outstanding feature of Tolstoy's writing is that his characters are always"becoming" and not just"being," Even in these static chapters, where there is little external action, the characters are changing.
The function of this section, then, is to provide a stock-taking of Pierre's and Andrey's development up to now, to allow the friends to compare their thoughts and ideas, and to act upon each other. By turning this static part of his narrative into a low-keyed turning point in the lives of his heroes, Tolstoy makes unusual dramatic material out of essentially undramatic stuff.
Using the long conversations to chronicle the inward change in Prince Andrey is another device whereby Tolstoy underscores Bolkonsky's basically intellectual and passive nature. From a point of static action, a chain of inner reactions is sparked within Prince Andrey which prepares him to emerge into active life once again.
Mere thoughts and arguments, however, are insufficient to mark inner changes for the more ebullient and sensual Pierre. Bezuhov's"conversion" to freemasonry, therefore, takes place in the more active setting of a journey, a symbolic mode whose image contains Tolstoy's implicit judgment that this is just a passing stage in his hero's life.
From their discussion of life and death, we have another opportunity to contrast Pierre's nature with that of Andrey. Where Pierre is eager to believe the ready answers of the masonic system he has newly embraced, Prince Andrey maintains, with the rigidity reminiscent of his father, the conclusions of his personal experiences. Faithful to his own logic, Andrey has concluded that retirement and"living for oneself" is the only way to avoid disillusion with ideals in life and to avoid the pains of futile death. We see clearly that Andrey does not embrace life with the exuberance and unreservedness of Pierre; that he is too intellectual and aristocratic indicates lack of the intensity with which Tolstoy endows Pierre.
