Summary
Levin throws himself into physical labor on his estate, working alongside his peasants in the fields as he struggles with his spiritual crisis. The hard work provides temporary relief from his torment about life's meaning, but the questions keep returning. He finds himself envying the simple faith of his workers, who seem to accept life without the philosophical anguish that consumes him. As he scythes grain under the hot sun, Levin experiences moments of physical satisfaction and connection to the land, yet these feelings can't silence his deeper doubts. The chapter shows how even meaningful work and connection to nature can't solve existential despair on their own. Levin's attempt to find peace through labor reflects a common human response to crisis - throwing ourselves into activity to avoid confronting painful truths. His observation of the peasants' apparent contentment highlights the burden that education and privilege can sometimes create, making us question things that others accept naturally. This internal struggle between reason and faith, between thinking too much and living simply, drives toward the novel's climax where Levin must find a way to reconcile his need for meaning with his capacity for doubt.
Coming Up in Chapter 165
A chance conversation with an old peasant about living 'for the soul' rather than for oneself suddenly illuminates everything for Levin. The answer he's been desperately seeking has been right in front of him all along.
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An excerpt from the original text.(~500 words)
Levin came back to the house only when they sent to summon him to supper. On the stairs were standing Kitty and Agafea Mihalovna, consulting about wines for supper. “But why are you making all this fuss? Have what we usually do.” “No, Stiva doesn’t drink ... Kostya, stop, what’s the matter?” Kitty began, hurrying after him, but he strode ruthlessly away to the dining-room without waiting for her, and at once joined in the lively general conversation which was being maintained there by Vassenka Veslovsky and Stepan Arkadyevitch. “Well, what do you say, are we going shooting tomorrow?” said Stepan Arkadyevitch. “Please, do let’s go,” said Veslovsky, moving to another chair, where he sat down sideways, with one fat leg crossed under him. “I shall be delighted, we will go. And have you had any shooting yet this year?” said Levin to Veslovsky, looking intently at his leg, but speaking with that forced amiability that Kitty knew so well in him, and that was so out of keeping with him. “I can’t answer for our finding grouse, but there are plenty of snipe. Only we ought to start early. You’re not tired? Aren’t you tired, Stiva?” “Me tired? I’ve never been tired yet. Suppose we stay up all night. Let’s go for a walk!” “Yes, really, let’s not go to bed at all! Capital!” Veslovsky chimed in. “Oh, we all know you can do without sleep, and keep other people up too,” Dolly said to her husband, with that faint note of irony in her voice which she almost always had now with her husband. “But to my thinking, it’s time for bed now.... I’m going, I don’t want supper.” “No, do stay a little, Dolly,” said Stepan Arkadyevitch, going round to her side behind the table where they were having supper. “I’ve so much still to tell you.” “Nothing really, I suppose.” “Do you know Veslovsky has been at Anna’s, and he’s going to them again? You know they’re hardly fifty miles from you, and I too must certainly go over there. Veslovsky, come here!” Vassenka crossed over to the ladies, and sat down beside Kitty. “Ah, do tell me, please; you have stayed with her? How was she?” Darya Alexandrovna appealed to him. Levin was left at the other end of the table, and though never pausing in his conversation with the princess and Varenka, he saw that there was an eager and mysterious conversation going on between Stepan Arkadyevitch, Dolly, Kitty, and Veslovsky. And that was not all. He saw on his wife’s face an expression of real feeling as she gazed with fixed eyes on the handsome face of Vassenka, who was telling them something with great animation. “It’s exceedingly nice at their place,” Veslovsky was telling them about Vronsky and Anna. “I can’t, of course, take it upon myself to judge, but in their house you feel the real feeling of home.” “What do they intend doing?” “I believe they think of going to...
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Intelligence Amplifier™ Analysis
The Work Escape - When Busyness Becomes Avoidance
Using physical activity or busyness to avoid confronting difficult emotions or existential questions.
Why This Matters
Connect literature to life
This chapter teaches how to identify when we're using activity to avoid confronting difficult emotions or situations.
Practice This Today
This week, notice when you suddenly feel compelled to clean, work, exercise, or stay busy during emotional stress - pause and ask what you might be avoiding.
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 about why they exist and what point there is to anything.
Modern Usage:
We see this in midlife crises, quarter-life crises, or when people burn out and ask 'What's the point of all this?'
Physical labor as therapy
Using hard, manual work to quiet mental anguish and find temporary peace. The body's exhaustion can temporarily silence the mind's torment.
Modern Usage:
People today hit the gym, do yard work, or take up woodworking when they're stressed or depressed.
Peasant spirituality
The simple, unquestioned faith of working-class people who accept life's hardships without philosophical analysis. They find meaning through tradition and community rather than intellectual searching.
Modern Usage:
We see this in people who find peace through simple faith, family traditions, or just 'going with the flow' without overthinking everything.
Privilege burden
The way education and wealth can sometimes make life harder by creating awareness of problems that ignorance might have avoided. More knowledge can mean more anxiety.
Modern Usage:
College graduates often struggle more with anxiety than those who went straight to work, or how reading too much news can make you more depressed.
Scything
Cutting grain by hand with a long curved blade, requiring rhythm and physical endurance. In Russian culture, it was communal work that connected people to the land and each other.
Modern Usage:
Any repetitive physical work that gets you 'in the zone' - like mowing lawns, chopping wood, or assembly line work.
Spiritual emptiness
The feeling that life lacks deeper meaning or connection to something greater than yourself. It's different from sadness - it's a hollow feeling that nothing really matters.
Modern Usage:
What people describe when they say they feel 'empty inside' despite having a good job, family, or success.
Characters in This Chapter
Levin
Tormented protagonist
Throws himself into manual labor to escape his spiritual crisis and existential questions. He envies the simple faith of his workers while struggling with his own educated doubt and need for meaning.
Modern Equivalent:
The successful person having a midlife crisis who quits their office job to become a carpenter
The peasant workers
Foil characters
They work alongside Levin with apparent contentment and simple faith. Their unquestioned acceptance of life highlights Levin's internal struggle and makes him question whether ignorance might be bliss.
Modern Equivalent:
The coworkers who seem happy with simple pleasures while you're overthinking everything
Key Quotes & Analysis
"The longer Levin went on mowing, the oftener he experienced those moments of oblivion when his arms no longer seemed to swing the scythe, but the scythe itself his whole body, so conscious and full of life."
Context: When Levin loses himself in the rhythm of physical work
This describes the meditative state that comes from repetitive physical work. Levin finds temporary peace when his mind stops racing and he becomes one with the task.
In Today's Words:
The work was so rhythmic that he stopped thinking and just moved on autopilot, feeling completely in the zone.
"He envied them their health and strength, their good spirits and their simple acceptance of life."
Context: Levin observing his workers during a break
This reveals how education and privilege can sometimes be a burden. Levin's ability to question everything makes him miserable while the workers' simple acceptance brings them peace.
In Today's Words:
He wished he could be as happy and carefree as they were, not constantly worrying about the meaning of everything.
"But as soon as he began to think, he felt that old familiar ache in his heart."
Context: When Levin's mind wanders from work back to his existential questions
Shows that physical work only provides temporary relief from spiritual crisis. The moment his mind is free to wander, the pain returns, suggesting that action alone cannot solve deeper problems.
In Today's Words:
The second he stopped being busy, all his worries and sadness came flooding back.
Thematic Threads
Class
In This Chapter
Levin envies the peasants' simple faith and apparent contentment, seeing his education as a burden that creates doubt
Development
Evolved from earlier class tensions - now showing how privilege can create psychological suffering
In Your Life:
You might catch yourself romanticizing others' 'simpler' lives when your own feels complicated
Identity
In This Chapter
Levin tries to find himself through physical labor, seeking identity in work rather than thought
Development
His identity crisis deepens as intellectual pursuits fail to provide meaning
In Your Life:
You might define yourself entirely by your job or role, losing sense of who you are underneath
Personal Growth
In This Chapter
Levin's spiritual crisis forces him to confront fundamental questions about life's purpose
Development
His growth journey intensifies as external solutions prove inadequate
In Your Life:
You might resist personal growth because it requires sitting with uncomfortable uncertainty
Social Expectations
In This Chapter
Levin feels pressure to find meaning in socially acceptable ways - work, productivity, purpose
Development
Continues theme of characters struggling against societal definitions of fulfillment
In Your Life:
You might feel guilty for questioning whether the prescribed path to happiness actually works for you
You now have the context. Time to form your own thoughts.
Discussion Questions
- 1
Why does Levin choose to work in the fields with his peasants instead of dealing with his spiritual crisis directly?
analysis • surface - 2
What makes physical labor temporarily effective at silencing Levin's existential questions, and why doesn't this solution last?
analysis • medium - 3
Where do you see people using work or busyness to avoid dealing with difficult emotions or life questions in your own community?
application • medium - 4
How can someone tell the difference between healthy, purposeful work and using work as emotional avoidance?
application • deep - 5
What does Levin's envy of the peasants' simple faith reveal about the relationship between education, privilege, and happiness?
reflection • deep
Critical Thinking Exercise
Track Your Own Work Escape Patterns
For the next week, notice when you dive into work or busyness during stressful moments. Keep a simple log: What triggered the busyness? What were you avoiding? How did you feel before, during, and after the work session? Look for patterns in your own behavior that mirror Levin's response to his spiritual crisis.
Consider:
- •Pay attention to the difference between work that energizes you and work that numbs you
- •Notice if certain types of stress consistently drive you toward specific activities
- •Consider whether your busyness actually solves problems or just postpones them
Journaling Prompt
Write about a time when you threw yourself into work or activity to avoid dealing with something difficult. What were you really running from, and what might have happened if you had faced it directly instead?
Coming Up Next...
Chapter 165
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.