War & Peace Podnotes, A Study Guide

An intimate meal is held at the Bolkonsky estate on the sole day Andrei will reconnect with his father, Nikolay. The following day Andrei will be heading off to fight the indomitable forces of Napoleon.  Awaiting at the dining room table is Andrei and Lise, Marya and Mademoiselle Bourienne, as well as the Nikolay's architect, Mikhail Ivanovich, who is an odd addition. Usually a sticker or social class divisions, the old General nevertheless invites his architect (considered a servant) to dine with him. This appears to be an attempt to teach his daughter that everyone is equal, in line with more liberal thinking of the time. Nikolay doesn’t really keep a circle of close friends, so he may also be demonstrating a need to have a companion, even though Ivanovich largely remains silent. As he waits for his father, Andrei is made to laugh by a new addition on the wall, a framed genealogical tree tracing the Bolkonsky family roots to the ancient princes of the Kyivan-Rus’ and the legendary Rurik. Such family tre