Summary
Levin throws himself into farm work with desperate intensity, trying to escape his inner turmoil through physical labor. He works alongside his peasants in the fields, cutting hay under the scorching sun, finding temporary peace in the rhythm of the scythe and the camaraderie of shared work. The harder he works, the more his mind quiets - but only while his body is in motion. The moment he stops, his thoughts return to the same painful questions that have been haunting him: What's the point of all this effort? Why does anything matter when death makes everything meaningless? His philosophical crisis deepens as he watches his workers, who seem content with simple pleasures and daily routines, while he remains trapped in endless questioning. The physical exhaustion provides brief relief, like a painkiller that wears off too quickly. Tolstoy shows us how Levin represents anyone who has ever felt overwhelmed by life's bigger questions - the kind that hit you at 3am when you can't sleep. Work becomes both escape and prison: it distracts him from his despair but can't actually solve it. This chapter reveals how even the most grounded, practical people can be undone by existential doubt. Levin's struggle mirrors what many people face when they start questioning whether their daily efforts have any real meaning. His desperate attempt to lose himself in labor shows both the power and limitations of staying busy as a coping mechanism. The chapter builds tension around whether physical work can truly heal spiritual wounds, or if Levin needs to find answers on a deeper level.
Coming Up in Chapter 117
Levin's physical exhaustion finally catches up with him, but his racing mind won't let him rest. A chance encounter while walking home from the fields might offer the perspective he's been desperately seeking.
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An excerpt from the original text.(~500 words)
The streets were still empty. Levin went to the house of the Shtcherbatskys. The visitors’ doors were closed and everything was asleep. He walked back, went into his room again, and asked for coffee. The day servant, not Yegor this time, brought it to him. Levin would have entered into conversation with him, but a bell rang for the servant, and he went out. Levin tried to drink coffee and put some roll in his mouth, but his mouth was quite at a loss what to do with the roll. Levin, rejecting the roll, put on his coat and went out again for a walk. It was nine o’clock when he reached the Shtcherbatskys’ steps the second time. In the house they were only just up, and the cook came out to go marketing. He had to get through at least two hours more. All that night and morning Levin lived perfectly unconsciously, and felt perfectly lifted out of the conditions of material life. He had eaten nothing for a whole day, he had not slept for two nights, had spent several hours undressed in the frozen air, and felt not simply fresher and stronger than ever, but felt utterly independent of his body; he moved without muscular effort, and felt as if he could do anything. He was convinced he could fly upwards or lift the corner of the house, if need be. He spent the remainder of the time in the street, incessantly looking at his watch and gazing about him. And what he saw then, he never saw again after. The children especially going to school, the bluish doves flying down from the roofs to the pavement, and the little loaves covered with flour, thrust out by an unseen hand, touched him. Those loaves, those doves, and those two boys were not earthly creatures. It all happened at the same time: a boy ran towards a dove and glanced smiling at Levin; the dove, with a whir of her wings, darted away, flashing in the sun, amid grains of snow that quivered in the air, while from a little window there came a smell of fresh-baked bread, and the loaves were put out. All of this together was so extraordinarily nice that Levin laughed and cried with delight. Going a long way round by Gazetny Place and Kislovka, he went back again to the hotel, and putting his watch before him, he sat down to wait for twelve o’clock. In the next room they were talking about some sort of machines, and swindling, and coughing their morning coughs. They did not realize that the hand was near twelve. The hand reached it. Levin went out onto the steps. The sledge-drivers clearly knew all about it. They crowded round Levin with happy faces, quarreling among themselves, and offering their services. Trying not to offend the other sledge drivers, and promising to drive with them too, Levin took one and told him to drive to the Shtcherbatskys’. The sledge-driver...
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Intelligence Amplifier™ Analysis
The Road of Motion Without Direction
Using constant activity to avoid confronting deeper psychological or spiritual problems that require stillness to resolve.
Why This Matters
Connect literature to life
This chapter teaches how to recognize when activity serves as emotional avoidance rather than problem-solving.
Practice This Today
This week, notice when you get 'too busy' to deal with something important—that's usually your mind protecting you from a difficult decision or conversation.
Now let's explore the literary elements.
Terms to Know
Existential crisis
A period of intense questioning about life's meaning and purpose, often triggered by major life events or deep reflection. It's when someone feels lost and wonders if anything they do really matters in the grand scheme of things.
Modern Usage:
We see this in people going through midlife crises, career burnouts, or anyone asking 'What's the point?' during tough times.
Physical labor as therapy
The idea that hard physical work can provide mental relief and emotional healing. The repetitive motions and physical exhaustion can temporarily quiet racing thoughts and anxiety.
Modern Usage:
This shows up in everything from therapeutic gardening programs to people who hit the gym when stressed or throw themselves into home improvement projects during difficult periods.
Peasant wisdom
The concept that working-class people often possess a practical, grounded understanding of life that educated elites lack. They find contentment in simple pleasures and daily routines without overthinking everything.
Modern Usage:
We see this when blue-collar workers seem happier than stressed-out executives, or when simple people give the best life advice.
Scythe work
Traditional hay cutting using a long-handled blade that requires rhythm, skill, and teamwork. It was backbreaking work that created strong bonds among workers who moved in synchronized patterns.
Modern Usage:
Similar to any repetitive physical work that creates a meditative state - like assembly line work, kitchen prep, or even rhythmic exercise routines.
Escape through busyness
Using constant activity and work to avoid dealing with emotional pain or difficult questions. The busier you stay, the less time you have to think about what's really bothering you.
Modern Usage:
This is workaholism, over-scheduling, or anyone who can't sit still because being alone with their thoughts is too painful.
Russian estate system
The social structure where wealthy landowners managed large properties worked by peasants. There was a clear class divide, but sometimes landowners worked alongside their workers, especially during busy seasons like harvest.
Modern Usage:
Similar to a CEO who occasionally works on the factory floor, or a restaurant owner who jumps in to help during rush periods.
Characters in This Chapter
Levin
Protagonist in crisis
He's desperately trying to escape his philosophical doubts through exhausting farm work. The harder he works, the quieter his mind becomes, but the relief is only temporary. He represents anyone struggling with life's bigger questions.
Modern Equivalent:
The successful person having a midlife crisis who throws themselves into extreme fitness or projects to avoid dealing with deeper issues
The peasant workers
Contrasting figures
They work alongside Levin in the fields, seeming content with simple pleasures and daily routines. Their apparent peace highlights Levin's internal turmoil and makes him question why he can't find the same satisfaction.
Modern Equivalent:
The coworkers who seem genuinely happy with their jobs while you're questioning everything about your career and life choices
Key Quotes & Analysis
"The longer Levin mowed, the oftener he felt those moments of unconsciousness in which it seemed not his hands that swung the scythe, but the scythe mowing of itself."
Context: As Levin loses himself in the rhythm of cutting hay
This describes the meditative state that comes from repetitive physical work. Levin finds temporary peace when his conscious mind shuts off and his body takes over. It's a form of moving meditation that provides relief from his racing thoughts.
In Today's Words:
When you're so focused on physical work that you zone out and your hands just do the work automatically - like you're on autopilot but in a good way.
"He felt a pleasure in the work that surprised him - the pleasure of changing his way of life."
Context: When Levin first starts working in the fields
This shows how dramatically changing your routine can provide psychological relief. Levin discovers that stepping out of his usual privileged lifestyle into manual labor gives him unexpected satisfaction and temporary escape from his problems.
In Today's Words:
Sometimes shaking up your whole routine - even doing something completely different from your normal life - can feel surprisingly good.
"Work, which had been for him a means of escape from life, had become life itself."
Context: As Levin becomes more absorbed in farm labor
This reveals both the power and the trap of using work as an escape mechanism. What starts as a distraction becomes an obsession. Levin isn't solving his problems - he's just replacing one form of avoidance with another.
In Today's Words:
When staying busy stops being a temporary break and becomes the only way you know how to cope with life.
Thematic Threads
Work as Escape
In This Chapter
Levin uses physical labor to temporarily quiet his existential doubts and philosophical torment
Development
Evolved from his earlier agricultural interests into desperate escapism
In Your Life:
You might recognize this when you volunteer for extra shifts to avoid dealing with relationship problems at home.
Class Consciousness
In This Chapter
Levin observes his peasant workers who seem content with simple pleasures while he suffers from overthinking
Development
Continues his ongoing fascination with and envy of working-class simplicity
In Your Life:
You might feel this when you envy coworkers who seem unbothered by workplace politics that keep you awake at night.
Existential Crisis
In This Chapter
Questions about life's meaning and death's inevitability plague Levin despite his attempts to escape through work
Development
Deepening from earlier philosophical doubts into desperate spiritual seeking
In Your Life:
You might experience this during major life transitions when you question whether your daily efforts really matter.
Physical vs. Mental
In This Chapter
The contrast between physical exhaustion providing relief while mental activity brings torment
Development
Introduced here as Levin's new coping strategy
In Your Life:
You might notice this when you prefer busy work tasks over quiet planning time because thinking feels overwhelming.
Temporary Solutions
In This Chapter
The relief from physical work only lasts while Levin is actively moving, disappearing when he stops
Development
Introduced here as a pattern of ineffective coping
In Your Life:
You might recognize this when your stress-relief activities only work while you're doing them, leaving problems unchanged.
You now have the context. Time to form your own thoughts.
Discussion Questions
- 1
Why does Levin throw himself into physical farm work, and what does he hope to achieve?
analysis • surface - 2
What happens to Levin's troubling thoughts while he's working versus when he stops? Why do you think physical activity has this effect?
analysis • medium - 3
Think about people you know who stay constantly busy. What might they be avoiding by never slowing down?
application • medium - 4
If you were Levin's friend, how would you help him address his deeper questions instead of just working himself to exhaustion?
application • deep - 5
What does Levin's struggle reveal about the difference between staying busy and actually solving our problems?
reflection • deep
Critical Thinking Exercise
Map Your Motion Patterns
For the next week, notice when you feel the urge to stay busy or avoid quiet moments. Track three instances: what activity did you choose, what were you avoiding thinking about, and how did you feel afterward? Look for patterns in your own motion trap behaviors.
Consider:
- •Be honest about activities that feel productive but might be avoidance
- •Notice the difference between purposeful action and restless motion
- •Pay attention to what thoughts or feelings emerge when you do slow down
Journaling Prompt
Write about a time when you used busyness to avoid dealing with something important. What were you really running from, and what would have happened if you had faced it directly instead?
Coming Up Next...
Chapter 117
The coming pages reveal key events and character development in this chapter, and teach us thematic elements and literary techniques. These discoveries help us navigate similar situations in our own lives.