Small rant but although I’m always on for critizicing Pierre (The fandom tends to erase all of his mistakes which makes me go :/. Like sir!! That old man is depressed and does bad things because of his depression!!! Don’t erase that) once that does bother me a lot is “Pierre forgave Anatole but didn’t forgive Helene”. Like. On one hand, you’re technically right! Pierre is very cruel towards Helene (Just like she is to him. Like, that’s the point) and that’s usually forgotten within the fandom, but I genuinely don’t know why anyone would think that Pierre forgave Anatole?? Like, where?
Throughout the musical, Pierre admires Anatole’s ability to do whatever he wants. Pierre is completely unable to be active towards something, he doesn’t involve in other people’s lifes even when he has every reason to do so (She cares about Natasha, Andrey is his bestfriend, Anatole is his in-law, Marya is his friend) because he doesn’t see himself worthy of doing so. Anatole, on the contrary, involves in everyone’s lifes without thinking it twice, not caring what they think about him. And THAT’S what Pierre craves and admires about him. Of course, later in the musical, Pierre realizes that this isn’t admirable, and that Anatole is a horrible person, because yeah, he involves himself on others lifes, but he doesn’t care if those others actually want him there, while with Pierre, is all that he cared about. Find Anatole is such an important song to Pierre’s arc because he’s finally understood that he can’t just stay in the sidelines, that he has people who care about him and want him there and that by not being there for them, he’s inderectly ruined their lifes. This also culminates in the next song, because instead of following his nihilistic and depressive instincts that he’s already followed each time he has a solo to this moment (Pierre-> Others suffer my own problems too, The Duel -> Fuck other people, I’m alone in the world; Dust and Ashes -> My happiness is my own responsability, I need to get better, Letters -> I am a MAN and I need to KILL NAPOLEON even if that’s possibly going to kill me), he takes a step back and thinks about what’s best for the Rostovs right now. If he kills/Beats up Anatole, rumors will only grow and hurt Natasha (And think that this is when Pierre still tries to hate her!!), ruining her reputation and making the chances of a reconciliation between her and Andrey more slim. So, he tells says “sorry” to Anatole and gives him the necessary money to run to St Petersburg. This isn’t because he forgives him or some shit (Like?? wtf he compares him to Helene, who at least in this moment is one of the most hated persons by him and literally calls him a “bad man” in Pierre & Natasha), it’s because for the first time in the musical, he’s thinking of the well being of his loved ones and not simply looking for the immediate satisfaction of violence or alchohol.
TLDR; “Find Anatole” culminates Pierre’s arc of self discovery, “Pierre & Anatole” shows the result of his arc, and although I didn’t mention it, Pierre & Andrey and Pierre & Natasha also show a Pierre that has realized that he has to involve himself in the lifes of the people who need him (by trying to convince Andrey to go back to Natasha even when he’s trying to hate her AND by showing Natasha that her life isn’t over and that she has a bright future ahead of her).
