Hello readers...
This blog is the part of my thinking activity in my classroom work. So in this Blog I would like to write about two famous novel based on war.
Here i would like to compare two novels leo Tolstoy' s "war and peace" and Ernest Hemingway’s ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls'.
So firstly I would like to give a brief some basic information about both novel.
1)For Whom the Bell Tolls:-
For Whom the Bell Tolls is a novel by Ernest Hemingway published in 1940. It tells the story of Robert Jordan, a young American volunteer attached to a Republican guerrilla unit during the Spanish Civil War. As a dynamiter, he is assigned to blow up a bridge during an attack on the city of Segovia.
Summary:-
The novel is set near Segovia, Spain, in 1937 and tells the story of American teacher Robert Jordan, who has joined the antifascist Loyalist army. Jordan has been sent to make contact with a guerrilla band and blow up a bridge to advance a Loyalist offensive. The action takes place during Jordan’s 72 hours at the guerrilla camp. During this period he falls in love with María, who has been raped by fascist soldiers, and befriends the shrewd but cowardly guerrilla leader Pablo and his courageous wife, Pilar. Jordan manages to destroy the bridge; Pablo, Pilar, María, and two other guerrillas escape, but Jordan is injured. Proclaiming his love to María once more, he awaits the fascist troops and certain death.
2)War and peace:-
War and Peace is a novel by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy, first published serially, then published in its entirety in 1869. It is regarded as one of Tolstoy's finest literary achievements and remains an internationally praised classic of world literature.
Summary:-
War and Peace broadly focuses on Napoleon’s invasion of Russia in 1812 and follows three of the most well-known characters in literature: Pierre Bezukhov, the illegitimate son of a count who is fighting for his inheritance and yearning for spiritual fulfillment; Prince Andrei Bolkonsky, who leaves his family behind to fight in the war against Napoleon; and Natasha Rostov, the beautiful young daughter of a nobleman who intrigues both men.
A s Napoleon’s army invades, Tolstoy brilliantly follows characters from diverse backgrounds—peasants and nobility, civilians and soldiers—as they struggle with the problems unique to their era, their history, and their culture. And as the novel progresses, these characters transcend their specificity, becoming some of the most moving—and human—figures in world literature.
Narrative technique of for whom the tell :-
For Whom Bell Tolls' presents the narrative through an omniscient point of view that continually shifts back and forth between the characters. In this way, Hemingway can effectively chronicle the effect of the war on the men and women involved.
In 'For Whom the Bell tolls,' John Donne explores themes of life, death, and the human condition. He suggests that no man is an “island.” Donne addresses humanity, asking everyone to reconsider how they perceive themselves and their relationship to everyone else.
Narrative technique of War and Peace:-
War and Peace is epic in scope as well as tone, relating a tale that still staggers the imagination.”In a famous essay describing his experience teaching writing in a village schoolhouse, he regretted corrupting the children's talents with his Europeanized sensibility; left to their own devices, they could relate.Tolstoy smoothly introduces us to the three settings wherein we first meet the major and minor characters as he takes us from one party in Petersburg to another in Moscow, and thence to a family reunion at Bleak Hills.
Characterization in for whom the Bell tolls:-
Robert Jordan:- An American college instructor of Spanish, fighting as a demolition expert with the Loyalists in the Spanish Civil War.
Pablo:- Leader of the guerilla band whose aid Jordan enlists in the destruction of a bridge.
Pilar:- Pablo's mujer, who has kept the band together in spite of the fact that Pablo has "gone bad."
Maria:- A young girl whom the guerillas have rescued from enemy captivity and who falls in love with Jordan.
Anselmo:- An old man, one of the few members of Pablo's band whom Jordan trusts.
General Golz:- A Russian officer, one of the many military "observers" sent to aid the Spanish communists in the war, who is directing the forthcoming attack.
Kashkin:- Another Russian, Jordan's predecessor as demolition man with Pablo's band. He is dead when the book opens.
El Sordo The leader of another guerilla band which is hiding out in the vicinity of Pablo's cave.
Joaquin:- A young boy, member of El Sordo's band.
Eladio, Agustin, Andres, Primitivo, Fernando, and Rafael Members of Pablo's band.
Characterization in war and Peace:-
In novel we find three families and others some major figures.
Let's we see here:-
Bolkonsky Family
Bolkonsky Scion of an ancient and honorable family, now an old man, who clings more and more to the values of an outdated feudal society.
Prince Andrey Bolkonsky His son and heir, who is an intensely intellectual, basically egotistical young man who seeks to exchange his sense of alienation for a sense of being at one with the world. His quest affirms his nihilism.
Maria:-plain, graceless young woman who sustains her lonely life by a strong Christian piety.
Mademoiselle Bourienne:- Marya's companion, an orphaned Frenchwoman of a frivolous and opportunistic nature.
Nikolushka, later Nikolinka Prince Andrey's son, who attains adolescence by the end of the novel.
Princess Liza Bolkonsky Andrey's wife, a silly, chattering society girl who never grows up and who dies in childbirth.
Bezuhov Family
Count Kirill Vladmirovitch Bezuhov An old man, once a grandee in Catherine's court, who dies early in the novel after legitimizing his oldest son, to whom he leaves vast wealth.
Pierre Bezuhov The hero of the novel and the old count's son, whose spiritual development is the best expression of Tolstoy's philosophy.
Rostov Family
Count Ilya Rostov A gregarious, good-natured, and generous family man whose interest in maintaining his family's pleasures contributes to his financial ruination.
Countess Natalya Rostov His wife, a typical Russian noblewoman, whose main interests center within the family.
Natasha Rostov The heroine of the novel and a bewitching young girl whom Tolstoy regards as the creature-manifestation of love, nature, and femininity.
Nikolay Rostov The oldest son, who is an officer in the hussars and who later marries Marya Bolkonsky. He is an unimaginative young man who believes that doing one's duty is the highest virtue of the individual.
Vera Rostov The eldest child, who marries Alphonse Berg, an opportunistic youth of German descent.
Petya Rostov The youngest child, whose vivacity is closest to that of Natasha and who dies prematurely near the end of the war.
Sonya The Rostov's poor relation whom they raise with their own children. She devotes her life to loving Nikolay but never marries him.
Boris Drubetskoy Son of a friend of Countess Rostov who has been educated with the Rostov children. Boris becomes important in court circles and is a career-man in the army.
Kuragin Family
Prince Vassily A well-practiced courtier whose life is a series of political and social maneuvers to maintain prestige.
Ippolit Kuragin His dull-witted son, who would like to compromise Andrey's wife, Liza.
Anatole Kuragin An avowed hedonist whose handsomeness attracts both Princess Marya, whom he would like to marry for her fortune, and Natasha, whom he all but seduces.
Ellen Kuragin, later Countess Bezuhov A beautiful sensualist who married Pierre and who becomes a celebrated salonniere.
Major Historical Figures:-
Napoleon Tolstoy uses him as the outstanding example of the"great man" who is so deluded by his own mystique he cannot see himself as history's unwitting tool.
Kutuzov Commander-in-chief of the Russian forces, whom Tolstoy apotheosizes as the"Russian of Russians" whose intuitive power and humble self-image contribute to the victory.
Alexander I Tsar of the Russias whose divine-right function denies his personal existence. He is depicted as a noble figurehead.
Speransky The intellectual young secretary of state whom Tolstoy treats ironically. Speransky believes his motives are to liberalize and enlighten the operations of government, whereas his real motives are to belittle others.
Wintzengerode, Pfuhl, Weierother, and others Prussian generals whom Tolstoy makes fun of for their mechanistic and"scientific" interest in war.
Prince Bagration General hailed as the"hero of Austerlitz." Tolstoy shows that in reality he was a passive leader in the midst of numerous, separate events which compose the battle of Austerlitz.
Other Characters
Platon Karataev More symbolic than real, this peasant is Pierre's fellow prisoner and the inspiration of Bezuhov's conversion.
Vaska Denisov Captain of Nikolay's regiment who falls in love with, and is rejected by, Natasha. He is Nikolay's mentor in battle and performs the same function later for Petya Rostov.
Dolohov Penniless cardsharp, notorious as a bully. His cruelty and bravery play a part in various incidents in the novel.
Anna Pavlovna Scherer Celebrated St. Petersburg hostess who constantly schemes to maintain her prestige in court circles.
Effect of war in both novels:-
Hemingway's "For Whom the Bell Tolls": War's Affect on Man and Importance of Time
At first glance Hemingway's novel For Whom The Bell Tolls appears to be an action packed war novel. But underneath all the action there are underlying ideas that reveal much about how war changes a man and causes him to realize the importance of time.
In novel Hemingway reveals these ideas about war through the narrator's thoughts and through the interaction between the major characters. Hemingway shows that war brings about a personal change, that reveals much about man's individuality and that time is limited.
We can see that each and every characters effected by war. They chanded their mind through the war.Hemingway reveals much about the individuality of men through the relationship of Robert Jordan and Maria. The simple character Anselmo is also changed by the war.
Tolstoy's "War and Peace":-
Tolstoy said War and Peace is "not a novel, even less is it a poem, and still less a historical chronicle." Large sections, especially the later chapters, are philosophical discussions rather than narrative.
Although a large portion of War and Peace focuses on war, which is associated in our minds with clear-headed strategy and sensible reasoning, Tolstoy constantly emphasizes the irrational motives for human behavior in both peace and war. Wisdom is linked not to reason but to an acceptance of how mysterious our actions can be, even to ourselves. General Kutuzov emerges as a great leader not because he develops a logical plan and then demands that everyone follow it, but rather because he is willing to adapt to the flow of events and think on his feet. He revises his plan as each stage turns out to be vastly different from what was expected. Similarly irrational actions include Nicholas’s sudden decision to wed Mary after previously resolving to go back to Sonya, and Natasha’s surprising marriage to Pierre. Yet almost all the irrational actions we see in the novel turn out successfully, in accordance with instincts in human life that, for Tolstoy, lie far deeper than our reasoning minds.
So here is my some brief introduction on this two novels.
Thank you....
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