The long description of the battle of Borodino immerses us completely in the"war" area of Tolstoy's novel. No longer concerned with the personal conflict within the souls of specific characters, Tolstoy extends his writing to include the national struggle and the moral force generated on a national scale. As Prince Andrey and Pierre dispose of their personal past and fuse themselves with the whole of the Russian defending force, so does Tolstoy dispose of the glory and gamesmanship of past battles. In these chapters we find none of the romance and daring of Rostov and Denisov at Eylau, but only the carnage and life-an-death seriousness of the steadfast Russians at Borodino. This is the battle that galvanizes the defenders into a powerful definition of the Russian spirit and presages Napoleon's downfall.
Tolstoy overstates a comparison between Kutuzov's recognition of reality and Napoleon's"artificial phantasm of life" to show how Russia's ultimate victory will come about. Not only does Bonaparte have no control over the events of the battle, but his megalomania prevents him from understanding the actual insignificance of his role. He is shown to be more helpless in the tide of destiny than any soldier in the ranks. Kutuzov's power, on the other hand, lies precisely in his awareness of being a passive instrument among the play of forces beyond his control.
From this sense of passivity in face of destiny, Kutuzov, as well as each soldier he commands, gains an awareness of death that heightens each sense of personal — hence national — being. In this awareness consists the"superior moral force" of the Russians whom the French cannot overcome.
Moral force of an individual or nation, Tolstoy says in many ways, derives from being part of a cosmic whole and submitting to a universal destiny. This is but another version of Pierre's analogy of"an endless ladder of progression" from inanimate life to the free spirits close to God. Where Napoleon is blinded by considering his will free, thus hastening the destruction of his army, the self-forgetful Kutuzov bows to necessity and guides an inspirited Russian force to victory.
