In the cloze test based on the novel “War and Peace”, choose the word that best completes the sentence: “The _____ of war, however, is _____ to the story of family existence …”.

Introduction / Context:
This question is part of a passage describing “War and Peace”, the famous novel by Leo Tolstoy. The passage explains that the book is a detailed study of Russian society and that the war serves a particular role in relation to the family stories. The blank asks for a noun that logically fits in the phrase “The _____ of war, however, is _____ to the story of family existence”.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• The passage talks about an “epic historical novel” and mentions its treatment of war and family life.
• The blank is in the phrase “The _____ of war, however, is _____ to the story …”.
• Options are: case, prisoner, perperator, and theme.
• We must pick the word that naturally combines with “of war” in this literary context.

Concept / Approach:
In literary criticism, when we talk about the main subject or idea running through a work, we use the word “theme”. Expressions like “the theme of war”, “the theme of love”, or “the theme of sacrifice” are very common. The other options do not collocate well with “of war” in this context. “Case of war” does not sound natural here, “prisoner of war” is a fixed phrase but refers to a person, and “perperator” is a misspelt form of “perpetrator” and does not fit the meaning. Therefore, the correct word should be “theme”.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Observe the grammatical structure: “The _____ of war, however, is …” which calls for a singular noun. Step 2: Consider common academic phrases: “theme of war” is a standard expression in literature discussions. Step 3: Check Option D: “theme”. The phrase “the theme of war” is meaningful and matches the context of literary analysis. Step 4: Check Option A: “case”. “The case of war” is vague and not typically used in this type of description. Step 5: Check Options B and C, which relate to war in different ways but not in this abstract, literary sense. They do not fit well with “is _____ to the story of family existence”.

Verification / Alternative check:
Reading the full sentence with “theme” gives: “The theme of war, however, is _____ to the story of family existence which involves Tolstoy's optimistic belief in the life asserting power of human existence.” This is a natural and coherent description: war is a theme that is secondary to or woven into family stories. No other option creates such a smooth and meaningful sentence.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Option A: “case” does not clearly convey any literary idea and feels out of place. Option B: “prisoner” would form the phrase “the prisoner of war”, which refers to people captured in war, not a concept in a novel. Option C: “perperator” is not even the correct spelling of “perpetrator”, and even if corrected, “the perpetrator of war” would refer to someone causing war, which does not fit the sentence structure.

Common Pitfalls:
Students may attempt to force familiar phrases like “prisoner of war” into the blank without checking whether the rest of the sentence makes sense. It is important to look at the complete sentence and the overall topic. Since the passage is about a novel and its detailed study of society, the vocabulary is that of literary analysis, where words like “theme”, “plot”, and “character” are common.

Final Answer:
The phrase that best fits the literary context is theme, so the correct answer is “The theme of war, however, is …”.