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Fallacy
Volume 2, Part 1: Chapters 7–9
Explanation and Analysis—Marya's Vision:
Tolstoy presents a brief flashback in a scene in which Princess Marya Bolkonsky suddenly recalls a moment from the past upon hearing of the apparent death in battle of her brother, Prince Andrei:
The princess sank strengthlessly into the armchair next to her father and wept. She now saw her brother at the moment when he had taken leave of her and Liza, with his tender and at the same time arrogant air, saw him at the moment when, tenderly and mockingly, he had put on the little icon. “Did he believe? Did he repent of his unbelief? Was he now there? There, in the place of eternal rest and bliss?” she wondered.
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Volume 3, Part 2: Chapters 36–39
Explanation and Analysis—Unexpected Memory:
In a military hospital, a deeply injured Prince Andrei sees a man whose leg has been amputated and realizes, with surprise, that he recognizes the man. Here, Tolstoy employs a flashback to clarify the identity of the injured soldier:
Unlock with LitCharts A+“What is this man’s connection with my childhood, with my life?” [Prince Andrei] asked himself, without finding an answer. And suddenly a new and unexpected memory from the world of childhood, purity, and love came to Prince Andrei. He remembered Natasha as he had seen her for the first time at the ball in 1810, with her slender neck and arms, with her frightened, happy face ready for rapture, and in his soul love and tenderness for her awakened, stronger and more alive than ever. He now remembered the connection between him and this man [...]
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