Tolstoy uses these chapters as a eulogy for Kutuzov. Calling him the"Russian of the Russians," Tolstoy echoes Prince Nikolay Bolkonsky's earlier pronouncements about Russia requiring a"true Russian" to lead her, a man who intuitively understands the nature of his country and can act according to its spirit. Like the old prince whose life is outdated, Kutuzov also passes on, leaving a clean slate for the next generation to inscribe.
In many statements, Tolstoy describes Kutuzov by means of the same expressions he uses to describe Platon Karataev."This old man [he says, by way of an example], who through experience of life had reached the conviction that the thoughts and words that serve as its expression are never the motive force of men, frequently uttered words, which were quite meaningless — the first words that occurred to his mind." Karataev, we recall, also uttered words with the same simplicity and spontaneity.
By comparing Karataev with Kutuzov, Tolstoy illustrates the general's awareness of the universality of experience and the organic continuity of history of which each man is a significant part. This awareness allowed Kutuzov to win the war. Thoughts and words, however, do not reveal this inner truth; rather, by externalizing it they diminish its clarity. Tolstoy thus states a truth he has stated before: Words are mere outer manifestations of a sensibility essentially inexpressible, and only actions reveal implicit truths. We shall presently see how Pierre lives his"new life" without philosophizing its significance; his happiness expresses itself in a personal harmony whose roots, like those of Kutuzov and Karataev, grow out of a sense of cosmic unity.
