They live like parasites on the body of Russia"s society. This is how Tolstoy describes this class in general, but he also depicts two representatives of this upper class, Andrew Bolkonsky and Pierre Bisuhov, who were the more intellectual ones, and whose lives and views of war and life changed as the result of the war.

             Andrew was interested in a military career, and wasn"t completely satisfied with the czar, while Pierre wasted his life on alcohol – his everyday activity. However, they fall into the center of military activities during the war; Andrew was fatally wounded, while Pierre witnesses Moscow burning and innocent people, women, and children dying from hunger. They open up simple, but important truths. They experience the rough times that peasants go through and begin to feel a unity with the nation. They start to appreciate basic things that they never even thought of before, such as food, peace, and love.

             Depicting the Rostov family, who were also wealthy nobles, but were not in the czar"s circle and lived in rural parts of Russia, Tolstoy showed a typical Russian family who were devoted to their country and Russian traditions. All of Tolstoy"s sympathy is on their side and he presents them in a positive way. They sing Russian folklore, which the higher aristocrats would not dream of doing. Depicting this class, Tolstoy describes simple and eternal problems such as birth, love, forgiveness, and death. War hurt these people the most. They lost everything: hoses, livestock, and serfs. The loss of their serfs was very hard to come by, since they became very close to them. The women from this class served in hospitals and became nurses, like Natasha Rostova did, or hid wounded soldiers in their house from the French army. Men from this class organized their own little armies of peasants and fought with guerilla warfare when the French army was retreating, as captain Dolohov did.