Into this Silence of Watching

Into this Silence of Watching

In my present reading of War and Peace there is a new perspective of life. I could see it through two insignificant characters.  One is the eight year-old boy and the other is a very old man. One is Natasha’s brother, heroine of the story, and the other one is the hero's (Prince Andrew) father. Tolstoy has knitted these characters into the novel in such fine fabric. They finely go along with the main texture of the novel. They cannot be removed from the larger texture. If these two threads are removed from the complete texture then it will unweave the whole fabric.

I was startled at them while reading. These two insignificant characters are very much connected with the Napoleonic war. The news about the war had some impact on these two. Natasha’s little brother hears the news and he wants to go to the warfront. The patriotic fervor in the boy is very strong. At the age of eight he compels his father to let him go to the battlefield to fight the enemy. The old man could not sleep peacefully. Earlier he had much experience in the war. He wants peace for his mother Russia from the present war. Now the old energy with the forgotten memory propels him to go to the warfront to fight the enemy. 

          I could see these two characters as the modern day citizens of the country. Proclamation tears our eardrums. It urges us to do something for the nation. At that time the war can be visualized in its material status. Our present day war is something abstract. Our patriotic leaders are calling the entire nation to do something for our country.

In this situation we desire to participate to win the battle. Unfortunately we are all like these two characters. We want to do something but our physical strength cannot compete such a larger body of the Goliathan enemy.

At the same time few of our experienced leaders are also in such an abandoned condition. They have their experience. They have already faced many battles.  Now they are at the retired stage. They can shed tears over their inability of not participating in the battle. Their methods are very old. The present battle is modern with peculiar mercenaries. When they enter the field they will be confused. There is only one option for them:  they can mourn over their inability.

Both of us have to struggle in our silence of watching over the battle.  If we step into it the battle may cost our life. If our death would contribute something to the war our sacrifice will be a monument. But nothing could be done with this sacrifice.