You Don't Know What You've Got 'Til It's Gone

You Don't Know What You've Got 'Til It's Gone

In the first reading, the immediacy of death at Austerlitz puts into perspective the value of life for Prince Andrew : "He [Andrew] wished that they would help bring him back to life, which seemed to him so beautiful now that he had today learned to understand it so differently" (Book 3, Chp. 13). Episodes similar to this one continue throughout the reading for today. For example, Nicholas Rostov finds himself most deeply appreciating his family, fortune and circumstances in the moment that he gambles them away (Book 4, Chp. 13). In another example, Natasha Rostov joyously commits herself to loving Andrew at the same moment that the intensity of his ability to love her back begins to  fade (Book 6, Chp. 14). 

In this reading, we observe Pierre's very literal and somewhat misguided search for happiness, as well as Andrew and Nicholas' turbulent relationships with what it is to be happy. Happiness is not easy to find, especially since calamity seems to befall the characters of War and Peace often and unexpectedly. 

Does Tolstoy make the argument that perhaps happiness is not so hard to find? It seems to be right in front of his characters, even if they are too blind to acknowledge its presence. Do we need calamity/suffering to more fully appreciate/identify happiness? Is the fragility of happiness what makes it beautiful?