Summary
Levin finds himself in a profound spiritual crisis as he grapples with questions about the meaning of life and his place in the world. Despite his material success and loving family, he feels an overwhelming sense of emptiness and purposelessness that threatens to consume him. His rational, scientific mind has stripped away his childhood faith, leaving him adrift in a universe that seems meaningless. He observes the peasants working on his estate and envies their simple, unquestioned faith, wondering how they find peace in beliefs he can no longer accept. The contrast between his intellectual sophistication and their spiritual certainty becomes a source of deep anguish. Levin realizes that his education and wealth, things he once valued, have actually isolated him from the kind of authentic existence he craves. This chapter marks a crucial turning point where Levin must confront whether knowledge and reason are enough to sustain a meaningful life, or whether something deeper is required. His struggle reflects the broader tension between faith and reason that dominated 19th-century thought, but Tolstoy presents it through the lens of one man's very personal crisis. For readers like Rosie, Levin's questioning resonates with anyone who has ever felt successful on paper but empty inside, wondering if there's more to life than just getting through each day. His search for meaning beyond material achievement speaks to the universal human need for purpose and connection to something greater than ourselves.
Coming Up in Chapter 145
A chance conversation with a peasant about living 'for one's soul' stops Levin in his tracks, offering him a glimpse of the spiritual truth he's been desperately seeking. This simple exchange may hold the key to resolving his existential crisis.
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An excerpt from the original text.(~500 words)
The next day the sick man received the sacrament and extreme unction. During the ceremony Nikolay Levin prayed fervently. His great eyes, fastened on the holy image that was set out on a card-table covered with a colored napkin, expressed such passionate prayer and hope that it was awful to Levin to see it. Levin knew that this passionate prayer and hope would only make him feel more bitterly parting from the life he so loved. Levin knew his brother and the workings of his intellect: he knew that his unbelief came not from life being easier for him without faith, but had grown up because step by step the contemporary scientific interpretation of natural phenomena crushed out the possibility of faith; and so he knew that his present return was not a legitimate one, brought about by way of the same working of his intellect, but simply a temporary, interested return to faith in a desperate hope of recovery. Levin knew too that Kitty had strengthened his hope by accounts of the marvelous recoveries she had heard of. Levin knew all this; and it was agonizingly painful to him to behold the supplicating, hopeful eyes and the emaciated wrist, lifted with difficulty, making the sign of the cross on the tense brow, and the prominent shoulders and hollow, gasping chest, which one could not feel consistent with the life the sick man was praying for. During the sacrament Levin did what he, an unbeliever, had done a thousand times. He said, addressing God, “If Thou dost exist, make this man to recover” (of course this same thing has been repeated many times), “and Thou wilt save him and me.” After extreme unction the sick man became suddenly much better. He did not cough once in the course of an hour, smiled, kissed Kitty’s hand, thanking her with tears, and said he was comfortable, free from pain, and that he felt strong and had an appetite. He even raised himself when his soup was brought, and asked for a cutlet as well. Hopelessly ill as he was, obvious as it was at the first glance that he could not recover, Levin and Kitty were for that hour both in the same state of excitement, happy, though fearful of being mistaken. “Is he better?” “Yes, much.” “It’s wonderful.” “There’s nothing wonderful in it.” “Anyway, he’s better,” they said in a whisper, smiling to one another. This self-deception was not of long duration. The sick man fell into a quiet sleep, but he was waked up half an hour later by his cough. And all at once every hope vanished in those about him and in himself. The reality of his suffering crushed all hopes in Levin and Kitty and in the sick man himself, leaving no doubt, no memory even of past hopes. Without referring to what he had believed in half an hour before, as though ashamed even to recall it, he asked for iodine to inhale in a bottle...
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Intelligence Amplifier™ Analysis
The Road of Educated Emptiness
The more we learn to question everything, the harder it becomes to find meaning in anything.
Why This Matters
Connect literature to life
This chapter teaches how to identify when education and analysis become barriers to meaning rather than pathways to it.
Practice This Today
This week, notice when your knowledge makes you feel more isolated rather than more connected - that's the trap in action.
Now let's explore the literary elements.
Terms to Know
Existential crisis
A moment of intense questioning about life's meaning and purpose, often triggered by success or major life changes. The person feels disconnected from their previous beliefs and struggles to find what makes life worth living.
Modern Usage:
We see this when people hit midlife and wonder 'Is this all there is?' despite having good jobs, families, and material success.
Faith versus reason
The conflict between believing in something spiritual or religious versus relying only on logic and scientific thinking. This was a major debate in the 1800s as science challenged traditional religious beliefs.
Modern Usage:
Today this shows up in debates about science versus religion, or when educated people struggle with spiritual beliefs their families hold.
Class consciousness
Awareness of the differences between social classes and how education, wealth, and lifestyle create barriers between people. Levin sees how his privileged position separates him from his workers.
Modern Usage:
We see this when college graduates feel disconnected from their working-class families, or when wealthy people romanticize 'simpler' lifestyles.
Spiritual emptiness
The feeling that material success and intellectual achievements don't fill the deep human need for meaning and connection. Despite having everything society says should make you happy, you feel hollow inside.
Modern Usage:
This is common in our consumer culture when people achieve their goals but still feel unfulfilled and wonder what they're working toward.
Peasant wisdom
The idea that simple, uneducated people might understand life's truths better than sophisticated intellectuals. Their unquestioned faith and connection to basic human needs gives them peace that education can't provide.
Modern Usage:
We see this when people say their grandmother's simple advice was better than years of therapy, or when city people envy rural communities.
Rational materialism
The belief that only physical, measurable things are real and that reason and science can explain everything. This worldview rejects spiritual or religious explanations for life's meaning.
Modern Usage:
Today this appears in strict atheism or the belief that psychology and science can solve all human problems without spiritual elements.
Characters in This Chapter
Levin
Protagonist in crisis
He's experiencing a complete breakdown of his worldview despite outward success. His rational mind has destroyed his childhood faith but left him with no replacement for meaning and purpose.
Modern Equivalent:
The successful professional who has everything but feels empty inside
The peasants
Contrasting figures
They represent simple faith and contentment that Levin envies. Their unquestioned beliefs give them peace and purpose that his education has taken away from him.
Modern Equivalent:
The coworkers who seem genuinely happy with simple lives while you overthink everything
Key Quotes & Analysis
"What am I? And what is this place? And why am I here?"
Context: He's alone, contemplating his existence and feeling lost despite his material success
These are the fundamental questions of human existence that hit when our usual distractions fail. Levin's wealth and status can't answer the basic question of why life matters.
In Today's Words:
What's the point of any of this? Why am I even here?
"I sought an answer to my question. And thought could not give me an answer to my question—it is incommensurable with my question."
Context: He realizes that pure rational thinking cannot solve his spiritual crisis
This captures the limitation of purely intellectual approaches to life's deepest questions. Some human needs can't be met through logic alone.
In Today's Words:
I can't think my way out of this feeling—my brain just isn't the right tool for this problem.
"The whole of life appeared to me as a sort of senseless mockery of some kind."
Context: He's describing how his loss of faith has made everything feel pointless
Without a framework for meaning, even good things feel hollow and absurd. This is the dark side of losing the beliefs that once gave life structure.
In Today's Words:
Everything just feels like a cruel joke—nothing seems to matter anymore.
Thematic Threads
Class
In This Chapter
Levin envies the peasants' simple faith while feeling trapped by his educated class's skepticism
Development
Evolved from earlier social observations to personal spiritual crisis
In Your Life:
You might feel caught between the world you came from and the one your education opened up.
Identity
In This Chapter
Levin questions who he really is beyond his wealth and education
Development
Deepened from social identity concerns to existential identity crisis
In Your Life:
You might wonder if your job title or achievements really define who you are.
Personal Growth
In This Chapter
Levin realizes that intellectual growth without spiritual growth creates emptiness
Development
Shifted from external achievements to internal development needs
In Your Life:
You might feel successful on paper but empty inside, needing something deeper than accomplishments.
Social Expectations
In This Chapter
Levin feels pressure to maintain rational, educated skepticism while craving simple faith
Development
Evolved from conforming to expectations to questioning their value
In Your Life:
You might feel pressure to appear sophisticated while secretly longing for simpler certainties.
You now have the context. Time to form your own thoughts.
Discussion Questions
- 1
What specific things does Levin envy about the peasants on his estate, and why can't he simply adopt their approach to life?
analysis • surface - 2
How has Levin's education and wealth become barriers to the kind of peace he's seeking, rather than tools for achieving it?
analysis • medium - 3
Where do you see people today struggling with the gap between being successful on paper and feeling empty inside?
application • medium - 4
When someone you know is caught in the Sophistication Trap—knowing too much to believe simply but not enough to find meaning—how would you help them navigate forward?
application • deep - 5
What does Levin's crisis reveal about the relationship between knowledge and happiness, and how might someone find meaning without abandoning either intelligence or faith?
reflection • deep
Critical Thinking Exercise
Map Your Own Sophistication Traps
Think of an area where your increased knowledge or experience has made something harder rather than easier—maybe parenting, relationships, or career decisions. Write down what you used to believe simply, what you learned that complicated it, and what you lost in the process. Then identify one small way you might integrate your knowledge with a return to some form of meaningful simplicity.
Consider:
- •Consider both what you gained and what you lost through learning
- •Look for patterns where expertise created paralysis rather than confidence
- •Think about people who seem to balance knowledge with peace
Journaling Prompt
Write about a time when you envied someone's simple certainty about something you'd learned to question. What did their confidence give them that your knowledge couldn't provide?
Coming Up Next...
Chapter 145
In the next chapter, you'll discover key events and character development in this chapter, and learn thematic elements and literary techniques. These insights reveal timeless patterns that resonate in our own lives and relationships.