Summary
As Napoleon's army approaches Moscow, the city's elite respond not with panic but with forced gaiety and frivolous socializing. Tolstoy reveals a fundamental truth about human nature: when faced with overwhelming danger, people in groups often choose distraction over preparation. The wealthy Muscovites attend parties, gossip about romances, and play word games while their world crumbles around them. At Julie's farewell party, guests mock Pierre's military regiment and speculate cruelly about the Rostov family's financial troubles and Natasha's recovery from her broken engagement. The scene captures how social gatherings can become performative spaces where people hide their real fears behind wit and malice. Pierre, ever the outsider, grows uncomfortable with the shallow cruelty of the conversation, especially when Julie hints at gossip about his feelings for Natasha. The chapter also introduces news that Princess Mary has arrived in Moscow after being rescued by Nicholas Rostov—a detail that will prove significant. Tolstoy masterfully shows how crisis reveals character: some people retreat into denial and social performance, while others, like Pierre, struggle with the disconnect between genuine emotion and social expectation. The chapter demonstrates that in times of collective stress, society often becomes more superficial, not more profound.
Coming Up in Chapter 208
The focus shifts to Princess Mary's arrival in Moscow and her emotional reunion with old friends, as the reality of war begins to penetrate even the most protected social circles.
Share it with friends
An excerpt from the original text.(~500 words)
After the Emperor had left Moscow, life flowed on there in its usual course, and its course was so very usual that it was difficult to remember the recent days of patriotic elation and ardor, hard to believe that Russia was really in danger and that the members of the English Club were also sons of the Fatherland ready to sacrifice everything for it. The one thing that recalled the patriotic fervor everyone had displayed during the Emperor’s stay was the call for contributions of men and money, a necessity that as soon as the promises had been made assumed a legal, official form and became unavoidable. With the enemy’s approach to Moscow, the Moscovites’ view of their situation did not grow more serious but on the contrary became even more frivolous, as always happens with people who see a great danger approaching. At the approach of danger there are always two voices that speak with equal power in the human soul: one very reasonably tells a man to consider the nature of the danger and the means of escaping it; the other, still more reasonably, says that it is too depressing and painful to think of the danger, since it is not in man’s power to foresee everything and avert the general course of events, and it is therefore better to disregard what is painful till it comes, and to think about what is pleasant. In solitude a man generally listens to the first voice, but in society to the second. So it was now with the inhabitants of Moscow. It was long since people had been as gay in Moscow as that year. Rostopchín’s broadsheets, headed by woodcuts of a drink shop, a potman, and a Moscow burgher called Karpúshka Chigírin, “who—having been a militiaman and having had rather too much at the pub—heard that Napoleon wished to come to Moscow, grew angry, abused the French in very bad language, came out of the drink shop, and, under the sign of the eagle, began to address the assembled people,” were read and discussed, together with the latest of Vasíli Lvóvich Púshkin’s bouts rimés. In the corner room at the Club, members gathered to read these broadsheets, and some liked the way Karpúshka jeered at the French, saying: “They will swell up with Russian cabbage, burst with our buckwheat porridge, and choke themselves with cabbage soup. They are all dwarfs and one peasant woman will toss three of them with a hayfork.” Others did not like that tone and said it was stupid and vulgar. It was said that Rostopchín had expelled all Frenchmen and even all foreigners from Moscow, and that there had been some spies and agents of Napoleon among them; but this was told chiefly to introduce Rostopchín’s witty remark on that occasion. The foreigners were deported to Nízhni by boat, and Rostopchín had said to them in French: “Rentrez en vous-mêmes; entrez dans la barque, et n’en faites pas une barque de Charon.” * There...
Master this chapter. Complete your experience
Purchase the complete book to access all chapters and support classic literature
As an Amazon Associate, we earn a small commission from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you.
Available in paperback, hardcover, and e-book formats
Intelligence Amplifier™ Analysis
The Road of Crisis Distraction
Groups respond to overwhelming threats by intensifying trivial social activities to avoid confronting difficult realities.
Why This Matters
Connect literature to life
This chapter teaches how to recognize when collective anxiety transforms into performative normalcy and displaced cruelty.
Practice This Today
This week, notice when groups become unusually social or mean during stressful times—it often signals what they're afraid to discuss directly.
Now let's explore the literary elements.
Terms to Know
Patriotic fervor
The intense emotional rush of nationalism that sweeps through a population during crisis. It's powerful but often short-lived, fading once the immediate emotional trigger passes.
Modern Usage:
We see this after terrorist attacks or during wartime - everyone suddenly has flags and talks about unity, but it usually dies down within months.
Cognitive dissonance
The mental discomfort people feel when reality conflicts with what they want to believe. To cope, they often ignore the uncomfortable truth and focus on distractions instead.
Modern Usage:
Like scrolling social media during a personal crisis instead of dealing with your problems, or partying while your credit card debt piles up.
Social performance
When people put on an act in group settings, saying what's expected rather than what they really think or feel. The bigger the group, the more fake the performance often becomes.
Modern Usage:
Think of how people act differently on social media versus in private, or how office meetings become theater where nobody says what they really think.
Gallows humor
Making jokes or being frivolous in the face of serious danger or tragedy. It's a defense mechanism that helps people cope with overwhelming stress.
Modern Usage:
Hospital workers making dark jokes during tough shifts, or people posting memes during natural disasters or economic crashes.
Group psychology
How people's behavior changes when they're in crowds versus alone. In groups, individuals often abandon personal responsibility and follow the crowd's mood, even when it's destructive.
Modern Usage:
Why people do things at parties they'd never do alone, or how social media pile-ons happen when individuals wouldn't normally be cruel.
Elite bubble
When wealthy or privileged people become so isolated from reality that they can't grasp the severity of problems affecting everyone else. They live in their own world of parties and gossip.
Modern Usage:
Politicians who don't understand regular people's struggles, or celebrities posting tone-deaf content during national crises.
Characters in This Chapter
Pierre Bezukhov
Moral observer
Pierre feels increasingly uncomfortable with the shallow, cruel conversation at the party. He's disturbed by how people mock serious things and gossip cruelly while Moscow faces destruction.
Modern Equivalent:
The person at the office party who gets uncomfortable when everyone starts gossiping meanly about a coworker
Julie Karagina
Social hostess
Julie hosts a farewell party where guests engage in cruel gossip and word games. She represents the frivolous elite who retreat into social performance when faced with crisis.
Modern Equivalent:
The friend who throws parties and spreads gossip instead of dealing with real problems
The Muscovite elite
Collective antagonist
The wealthy Moscow society chooses parties and gossip over preparing for Napoleon's invasion. They mock Pierre's military efforts and cruelly speculate about others' misfortunes.
Modern Equivalent:
The wealthy neighborhood that throws pool parties while the rest of the city deals with a crisis
Princess Mary
Offstage presence
Though not physically present at the party, news of her arrival in Moscow after being rescued by Nicholas becomes fodder for the guests' gossip and speculation.
Modern Equivalent:
The person everyone's talking about at the party but who isn't there to defend themselves
Key Quotes & Analysis
"At the approach of danger there are always two voices that speak with equal power in the human soul: one very reasonably tells a man to consider the nature of the danger and the means of escaping it; the other, still more reasonably, says that it is too depressing and painful to think of the danger."
Context: Tolstoy explains why people choose frivolity over facing reality when crisis approaches
This reveals the fundamental human tendency to avoid painful truths through distraction. Tolstoy shows that denial isn't weakness - it's a natural psychological response to overwhelming situations.
In Today's Words:
When something really bad is coming, part of you knows you should prepare, but another part says it's too scary to think about, so why not just ignore it and have fun instead?
"In solitude a man generally listens to the first voice, but in society to the second."
Context: Explaining why people make worse decisions in groups than alone
This captures how peer pressure and group dynamics push people toward denial and distraction rather than honest assessment. Social settings encourage performance over truth.
In Today's Words:
When you're alone, you usually face reality, but when you're with other people, you just go along with pretending everything's fine.
"The conversation did not flag all evening and turned on the three topics of general interest: the latest war news, the gossip of the town, and a mild form of ridicule."
Context: Describing the shallow nature of conversation at Julie's party while Moscow faces invasion
Tolstoy shows how social gatherings during crisis become exercises in avoidance. People discuss war like entertainment, focusing on gossip and mockery rather than genuine concern.
In Today's Words:
All night they talked about three things: what's happening in the war like it's a TV show, who's doing what around town, and making fun of people.
Thematic Threads
Class
In This Chapter
The wealthy use social gatherings to maintain their sense of superiority even as their world collapses
Development
Continues the theme of how class creates blindness to reality
In Your Life:
Notice how your social circle might use status symbols or exclusive activities to avoid discussing real problems
Social Performance
In This Chapter
Guests perform gaiety and wit to mask their terror about the approaching army
Development
Introduced here as a group survival mechanism
In Your Life:
Recognize when you're performing normalcy instead of addressing what's actually wrong
Cruelty
In This Chapter
The group bonds through gossip and mockery of absent friends like the Rostovs
Development
Shows how fear transforms into aggression toward safe targets
In Your Life:
Watch for times when you or your group become unusually critical of others during stressful periods
Authenticity
In This Chapter
Pierre feels uncomfortable with the shallow conversation while others embrace it
Development
Pierre's ongoing struggle between genuine feeling and social expectation
In Your Life:
Trust the discomfort you feel when group dynamics don't match the seriousness of the situation
Denial
In This Chapter
The entire party structure serves to avoid discussing the military threat
Development
Collective version of individual denial patterns seen throughout
In Your Life:
Notice when family or workplace gatherings seem designed to avoid discussing obvious problems
You now have the context. Time to form your own thoughts.
Discussion Questions
- 1
Why do Moscow's wealthy elite throw parties and gossip while Napoleon's army approaches their city?
analysis • surface - 2
What psychological purpose does the cruel gossip about the Rostov family serve for the party guests?
analysis • medium - 3
Where have you seen groups become more superficial or gossipy during times of stress or crisis?
application • medium - 4
How would you handle being in Pierre's position - uncomfortable with group cruelty but socially trapped in the situation?
application • deep - 5
What does this chapter reveal about how people use social performance to avoid facing difficult realities?
reflection • deep
Critical Thinking Exercise
Spot the Distraction Pattern
Think of a current situation in your life, workplace, or community where people seem unusually focused on trivial matters or gossip. Map out what serious issue might be lurking underneath that everyone is avoiding. Write down the surface behaviors you observe and the deeper fears that might be driving them.
Consider:
- •Notice when social activity increases during stressful times - it's often a red flag
- •Pay attention to who becomes the target of group criticism - they're usually safe scapegoats for bigger fears
- •Ask yourself: What would happen if this group stopped the performance and faced the real issue directly?
Journaling Prompt
Write about a time when you participated in group avoidance behavior during a crisis. What were you really afraid of? How might things have gone differently if someone had named the real problem?
Coming Up Next...
Chapter 208: Pierre Faces the Coming Storm
What lies ahead teaches us crisis forces us to confront our deepest values and priorities, and shows us witnessing injustice can be a catalyst for personal action. These patterns appear in literature and life alike.