The Man Delusion
Literary analysis entails the careful examination of the numerous factors that comprise a work. A book review that only contains an evaluation of the plot betrays a shallow grasp of a given book’s complexity. A firm understanding of a book, however, is realized once the analyzer is cognizant that multiple literary components are acting in tandem to produce a more significant meaning. By weighing the relationships between the plot, character development, and themes, the individual will attain a mature understanding of the book. Sometimes the most critical component for realizing a work’s meaning is through the author’s choice of title, for often a well-chosen title will encapsulate the work’s themes. Tolstoy’s War and Peace is a successful title because it captures the strife, both internal and external, of the characters in the novel. Tolstoy uses the war and peace imagery to contrast the battlefield of the Napoleonic wars with the relative peace of society, and at the same time, he uses the same imagery for the characters’ inner struggles. All the characters are restless and are searching for meaning, peace, and satisfaction. The title War and Peace succeeds in this regard, but it fails to recognize other themes such as the uncontrollable ebb and flow of history, the enslavement and unimportance of great men, sublimation, and most of all, power and control. A more successful title would be The Man Delusion. The Man Delusion is a direct reference to Richard Dawkins’ controversial book The God Delusion. Dawkins’ perspective is the product of a post-Freudian worldview. According to Sigmund Freud and Ludwig von Feuerbach, God is a man-made fiction created to alleviate man’s insecurity. Essentially, man realizes that his power is limited, and he is subject to mortality. As a result, he creates a being that is omnipotent and cedes all power to this being for psychological comfort. Essentially, the delusion for Freud and Feuerbach is the belief in a compassionate God that has power and control over the universe. The Man Delusion is a fitting title for War and Peace because it draws out Tolstoy’s themes regarding human power over history and sublimation. Instead of being deluded by ceding power to a god, man is deluded in War and Peace because he believes in the Great Man. In Tolstoy’s view, men have invested too much power in great men. Historians have claimed that historical events are the imposition of the will of the great man, but Tolstoy challenges this by claiming that history is made up of infinite chance events and is comprised of all human actions. In fact, the hero is the most enslaved man for Tolstoy. The imposition of one’s ego will only lead to dissatisfaction. Contrastingly, Tolstoy does assert a position through which man can be satisfied and find meaning within history: compassion. Through compassion, man sublimates himself and ties himself to the rest of humanity. Only in this regard can one escape the delusion that one has control over historical events and find satisfaction. In this paper, we will argue that The Man Delusion is the best title because of Tolstoy’s view that history is uncontrollable, his assertion that the great man is the most enslaved, and the most satisfied men are those who live through compassionate sublimation.
Throughout the text, Tolstoy demonstrates that history is ultimately uncontrollable and is comprised of chance events rather than a single will. History is the aggregate of independent wills that create a continuous history that barrels forward. “Man lives consciously for himself, but is an unconscious instrument in the attainment of the historic, universal, aims of humanity” (Tolstoy, 537). This is not to say that man cannot have an affect in history, but rather that man cannot be cognizant of the effects that will result from his own individual actions. Tolstoy illustrates this view with a scene set at Sloboda’s Palace. As a reaction to comments made by Pierre, Rostov incites the crowd to commit a large portion of their serfs to the Russian army. “The secretary was told to write down the resolution of the Moscow nobility and gentry, that they would furnish ten men, fully equipped, out of every thousand serfs…” (Tolstoy, 605). However, when the men arrive back at their homes they “amazed themselves at what they had done” (Tolstoy, 606). This particular passage represents the two main aspects of Tolstoy’s view of history: man’s incapacity to control his actions and the irrevocability of man’s actions once they have occurred. Though the men think that they are willfully committing their serfs to the army, in reality they have been swept up by the mentality of the mob and could not have made any other decision. Additionally, despite their regrets the decision could not be undone; “each man lives for himself, using his freedom to attain his personal aims, and feels with his whole being that he can now do or abstain from doing this or that action, but as soon as he has done it, that action becomes irrevocable and belongs to history” (Tolstoy, 537). History is ultimately an entity that is remote from the will of the single individual.
Though every man lacks volition and control, the ruler is the most enslaved to history. In Tolstoy’s view, history consists of the actions of every person. However man’s limitations make it impossible for historians to capture the motives and acts of every individual, so they create heroes in order to explain how events occur. This is the man delusion. Man believes that his own will has the power to control and shape historical events and that his will alone moves them. Napoleon believed that “Nothing outside himself had any significance for him, because everything in the world, it seemed to him, depended entirely on his will” (Tolstoy, 550). Napoleon fully believes that the success of his army and the French conquests over Russia result directly from his own desires and military prowess. At the Battle of Borodino, however, Tolstoy particularly points out that Napoleon and other great men actually have little control. He writes: “And it was not Napoleon who directed the course of the battle, for none of his orders were executed and during the battle he did not know what was going on before him…It only seemed to Napoleon that it all took place by his will” (Tolstoy, 699). The battle represents Napoleon’s deceptive belief that he himself is the driving force for the way in which the battle plays itself out, when in reality he has little to do with it. In this respect, he is the most deluded of all the characters because he believes he has more power than he actually has.
Though Napoleon thinks he acts out of his own volition, Tolstoy points out that as Napoleon traverses further into Russia, his own will loses significance: “the luring of Napoleon into the depths of the country was not the result of any plan, for no one believed it to be possible; it resulted from a most complex interplay of intrigues, aims, and wishes among those who took part in the war and had no perception whatever of the inevitable” (Tolstoy, 609). Napoleon’s decisions were ultimately determined by his own personal characteristics, the previous actions of the other people in his and the opposing armies, and the general predetermination of history itself. Even the playing out of these decisions lay outside the realm of his control and rested instead upon the generals and soldiers who were active participants in the war. In fact, Tolstoy asserts that Napoleon could not prevent himself from invading Russia as his passions took control of his will.
Napoleon represents the most extreme form of delusion: the belief that one can control history. For Tolstoy, the rulers in general are the most deluded because they believe they have control when in fact they are less in control than an average citizen. Tolstoy writes: “History, that is the unconscious, general, hive life of mankind, uses every moment of the life of kings as a tool for its own purposes” (Tolstoy, 537). Napoleon is the most trapped by predestination because of his connections with so many other people: “the higher a man stands on the social ladder, the more people he is connected with and the more power he has over others, the more evident is the predestination and inevitability of his every action” (Tolstoy, 537). Napoleon is the most deluded, for he believes he has power and control but actually has little authority over history.
On the other hand, Tolstoy provides us with an alternative. The man who enforces his ego is actually deluded, but a man who sublimates himself is the most free and happy. The three primary characters in War and Peace that recognize the necessity of sublimation and their tie with the rest of humanity are Kutuzov, Andrew, and Pierre. Kutuzov strikes a significant contrast with Napoleon. Napoleon is the most deluded there is no will of one man, but rather the will of the people. Tolstoy makes this distinction in his Second Epilogue: “What causes historical events? Power. What is power? Power is the collective will of the people transferred to one person. Under what condition is the will of the people delegated to one person? On condition that that person expresses the will of the whole people” (Tolstoy 1056). Napoleon is the deluded man because he does not realize the oneness of humanity. He loses the Napoleonic wars and is left wondering what happened to the power “of his once mighty arm” (726). Kutuzov, on the other hand, realizes that one must negate his own ego, for by denying oneself, you become more in tune with the rhythm of humanity. This is evident in Kutuzov’s military success at the Battle of Borodino where he denies his own power and allies himself with the “spirit of the army.” Tolstoy writes:
By long years of military experience he knew, and with the wisdom of age understood, that it is impossible for one man to direct hundreds of thousands of others struggling with death, and he knew that the result of a battle is decided not by the orders of a commander in chief, nor the place where the troops are stationed, nor by the number of cannon or of slaughtered men, but by that intangible force called the spirit of the army, and he watched this force and guided it in as far as that was in his power. (718)
Kutuzov, unlike Napoleon, realizes that he is one of many actors in history, and as a result, one must become one with the human spirit in order to have purpose and success. Kutuzov and the Russian army win the Battle of Borodino, and ultimately, Napoleon loses the war.
The second character that realizes that satisfaction comes only through sublimation through compassion is Andrew. Throughout much of the novel, Andrew is actively searching for a purpose. First, he attempts to sublimate himself in the military. This sublimation, however, is not pure. Instead, his sublimation is tainted by escapism and self-interest. He rejects his home life, and he completely ignores his son’s existence. The military becomes his safety valve. Through the military, he feels a stronger purpose, but he is constantly absorbed in distinguishing himself and making his impact on history. At the Battle of Austerlitz, he exclaims, “Here it is! The decisive moment has arrived. My turn has come” (Tolstoy 242). Later on, he becomes obsessed with developing new legal code. All his efforts are tainted by the delusion of the great man, for in each of these two circumstances, he is attempting to leave his mark on history. Andrew, however, is miserable in this endeavor. He does not find true happiness until he is dying. Andrew realizes that only by letting go of himself and living through pure unconditional love can one be happy. He remembers how he felt compassion for his enemy who was suffering, and he realizes that love is the essence of life. Love is what ties us all together (817). In Book Eleven, Andrew has the following reflection:
“Yes—love,” he thought again quite clearly. “But not love which loves for something, for some quality, for some purpose, or for some reason, but the love which I—while dying—first experienced when I saw my enemy and yet loved him. I experienced that feeling of love which is the very essence of the soul and does not require an object. Now again I feel that bliss. To love one’s neighbors, to love one’s enemies, to love everything, to love God in all His manifestations. It is possible to love someone dear to you with human love, but an enemy can only be loved by divine love. That is why I experienced such joy when I felt that I loved that man.” (817)
Andrew finally realizes that he can only find satisfaction through this compassionate love, and through love for all things, one becomes connected with the rest of humanity. Compassion knows no enemies; rather, it combines us all. Like Kutuzov, Andrew finds that he must neglect his own wants and desires. Instead, he realizes that he is part of a greater whole, and love is the way to find meaning in history with humanity.
Finally, Pierre also finds meaning through love and compassion. Throughout much of the novel, Pierre, like Andrew, seeks to sublimate himself. Again, Pierre is unsatisfied and is looking for a means to escape from reality. Throughout much of his life, Pierre indulged in a free life style of loose women and alcohol not just for pure pleasure but for escape. This is particularly evident in Book Eight when Pierre has the following thought:
To Pierre all men seemed like those soldiers, seeking refuge from life: some in ambition, some in horses, some in cards, some in framing laws, some in women, some in toys, some in horses, some in politics, some in sport, some in wine, and some in governmental affairs. “Nothing is trivial, and nothing is important, it’s all the same—only to save oneself from it as best one can,” thought Pierre. “Only not to see it, that dreadful it!” (Tolstoy 478)
After this realization, Pierre actively searches for meaning and purpose in his life. He joins the Freemasons because he believes that by entering the order, he is embarking on a noble mission for humanity. He indulges in numerology because he believes that it possesses some metaphysical secret that if he can grasp it, he can understand the world. Pierre only becomes satisfied, though, when he is stripped of luxury when he is taken prisoner and meets Platon Karataev. Pierre respects Platon’s love for all mankind. He does not discriminate. Instead, he embodies love. Pierre realizes like Andrew that the answer is to sublimate oneself to a divine compassion. During Pierre’s dream in Book Fourteen, he realizes that “Life is everything. Life is God. Everything changes and moves and that movement is God. And while there is life there is joy in consciousness of the divine. To love life is to love God. Harder and more blessed than all else is to love this life in one’s sufferings, in innocent sufferings” (941). In fact, after further reflection, Pierre comes to realize that God is found in all men. He realizes that Platon embodied the love of God and that to live happily is to love your fellow man (977). “All his life he had looked over the heads of the men around him, when he should have merely looked in front of him without straining his eyes” (977). Pierre concludes that compassion ties him to the rest of humanity and that by denying one’s ego, one becomes united to humanity.
In conclusion, Tolstoy emphasizes the different conceptions of power and its relationship to history in this book. For Tolstoy, human history is out of our control and is the result of the common will of humanity, rather than the will of one man. As such, Napoleon suffers from the man delusion because he is convinced that he is the sole cause of the contemporary historical movement. He fails to realize that the will of the people is the true cause, and he thereby fails. Kutuzov, Andrew, and Pierre, however, grasp that happiness is found not by asserting your will but by losing oneself. Through compassion, one is tied to all men and the universal will and one attains fulfillment. In summation, the title The Man Delusion encapsulates man’s delusion regarding his own power in history.
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