It is hard to relate a story of the French Revolution and high Russian society to my life as an American, 15 year old student. Even so, I shall try my best by relating not circumstances, but feelings. I mentioned in my last ORB Journal the battle in Austria that Denisov came to and yelled at Nevitsky before hand for giving orders to the soldiers to burn down the bridges. I am now discussing Nikolushka Rostov and how he reacted to being in his first battle, or as the men in the Russian army put it, ‘smelled the gunpowder for the first time’. Before the battle, Rostov was eager to prove himself to be useful in the war and he hoped to earn his place in the ranks. He was optimistic about how his first battle would go, but when the battle commenced, …show more content…
So, he stood there with his hands at his sides, panicking because he was in the middle of a battle with absolutely no way to fight. Men were falling on his left and right, people were bringing stretchers for the wounded, and he was ashamed of his inability to help. I have never been in the middle of a war, let alone a battle during the French Revolution, I can relate to his situation. The worst possible way that things could come along and ruin my day is if I am confident while preparing and heading into a situation, and as soon as I have no chance to turn back, I realise that I am the least prepared person present. I have had entire weeks ruined from believing that I would do good on an exam, having it set in front of me, and then completely forgetting all of the answers. I have done it many times in the past and I will surely do it again in the future. Furthermore, the worst part about it is that I always start out thinking that I am going to be extremely successful and then have my hopes crushed as I realise how much of an idiot I feel