These chapters offer another instance of parallel experience for Pierre and Marya as both find their lives difficult. When Tolstoy has Pierre observe that life is fraught with dangers that men try to avoid thinking about, like men under fire, he prepares us for his further examinations of actual battle conditions as Napoleon invades Russia and as Pierre himself is drawn into the battle front.
Moreover, as he plunges each character into his deepest despair, Tolstoy readies us for the main battle within each soul he bares before us. In order to bring about the final state of inner peace and adulthood of these protagonists, the author now shows each stage of inner war as his characters strive to meet their destiny.
