# The Eve of Borodino: Napoleon's Vigil explained — War and Peace

> Chapter companion for War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy.

## What happens

On the night before the Battle of Borodino, Napoleon inspects his lines, converses with his aide Rapp, and reflects on war, fate, and the human body. He displays a mix of supreme confidence and underlying anxiety, making small talk, checking on provisions, and philosophizing while awaiting the dawn. The chapter culminates with the first cannon shots signaling the beginning of the battle.

## Themes in this chapter

### War and History

The chapter is a profound character study of a historical figure at a decisive moment. It contrasts the grand, chess-like strategy of war ('The chessmen are set up') with its grim human cost ('This poor army! It has diminished greatly'), revealing the leader's isolation and the machinery of battle being set in motion.

### Personal vs. Public Life

Napoleon's private moments—his cold, his insomnia, his philosophical musings on the body as a machine—are juxtaposed with his public performance of confidence and geniality for Rapp and the soldiers. The chapter dissects the persona of the commander separate from the man.

### Search for Meaning

In his monologue, Napoleon reduces military art to simple superiority at a given moment and life to a mechanical process. These definitions seem like an attempt to impose order and certainty on the chaos of war and the vulnerability hinted at by his reflection on fortune being 'a courtesan.'

## Key lines

> "The chessmen are set up, the game will begin tomorrow!"

Napoleon declares that all preparations are complete and the battle is ready to commence.

_Highlights his view of the battle as a strategic game, emphasizing control and planning._

> "Fortune is frankly a courtesan, Rapp. I have always said so and I am beginning to experience it."

Napoleon tells Rapp that luck is fickle and unreliable, and he is now feeling its betrayal.

_Reveals a moment of doubt and philosophical bitterness about the unpredictability of fate in war._

> "Our body is a machine for living... Let life go on in it unhindered and let it defend itself..."

Napoleon states that the human body is a self-sustaining mechanism that functions best without medical interference.

_Extends his mechanistic worldview from war to human biology, reflecting a desire for predictable, orderly systems._

> "Do you know, Rapp, what military art is?" asked he. "It is the art of being stronger than the enemy at a given moment. That’s all."

Napoleon defines the essence of military strategy as simply achieving localized superiority at the critical time.

_A reductive, almost dismissive definition that contrasts with the immense complexity and scale of the impending battle._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/war_and_peace/chapters/xxix
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/war_and_peace
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/war_and_peace/chapters