Summary
Levin throws himself into physical labor on his estate, working alongside his peasants in the fields from dawn to dusk. He's desperately trying to exhaust himself physically so he won't think about his spiritual crisis and suicidal thoughts. The backbreaking work of mowing hay becomes almost meditative - his body moves in rhythm with the scythe while his mind goes blank. For brief moments, he finds peace in the simple, repetitive motions and the camaraderie with the workers. But even this escape is temporary. During breaks, when his mind has space to wander, the dark thoughts creep back in. He's still haunted by the same questions that have been tormenting him: What's the point of living? Why do we exist? What happens after death? The physical exhaustion helps him sleep at night, but it doesn't solve his deeper problem. Tolstoy shows us how people often try to outrun their emotional pain through activity and distraction. Levin's attempt to lose himself in manual labor is relatable - we've all tried to work ourselves into numbness when facing difficult feelings. But the chapter also reveals that you can't permanently escape existential questions through physical means alone. The work gives Levin temporary relief, like a painkiller, but the underlying wound remains. This reflects a common human pattern: when we're struggling with big life questions or depression, we sometimes think we can solve it by staying busy or changing our external circumstances. But internal conflicts require internal solutions. Levin's story reminds us that while physical activity and meaningful work can be part of healing, they're not complete answers to spiritual emptiness.
Coming Up in Chapter 192
Despite his efforts to find peace through physical labor, Levin's spiritual crisis deepens. A chance conversation with a peasant about living 'for the soul' will spark a revelation that changes everything.
Share it with friends
An excerpt from the original text.(~500 words)
G“o, please, go then and call on the Bols,” Kitty said to her husband, when he came in to see her at eleven o’clock before going out. “I know you are dining at the club; papa put down your name. But what are you going to do in the morning?” “I am only going to Katavasov,” answered Levin. “Why so early?” “He promised to introduce me to Metrov. I wanted to talk to him about my work. He’s a distinguished scientific man from Petersburg,” said Levin. “Yes; wasn’t it his article you were praising so? Well, and after that?” said Kitty. “I shall go to the court, perhaps, about my sister’s business.” “And the concert?” she queried. “I shan’t go there all alone.” “No? do go; there are going to be some new things.... That interested you so. I should certainly go.” “Well, anyway, I shall come home before dinner,” he said, looking at his watch. “Put on your frock coat, so that you can go straight to call on Countess Bola.” “But is it absolutely necessary?” “Oh, absolutely! He has been to see us. Come, what is it? You go in, sit down, talk for five minutes of the weather, get up and go away.” “Oh, you wouldn’t believe it! I’ve got so out of the way of all this that it makes me feel positively ashamed. It’s such a horrible thing to do! A complete outsider walks in, sits down, stays on with nothing to do, wastes their time and worries himself, and walks away!” Kitty laughed. “Why, I suppose you used to pay calls before you were married, didn’t you?” “Yes, I did, but I always felt ashamed, and now I’m so out of the way of it that, by Jove! I’d sooner go two days running without my dinner than pay this call! One’s so ashamed! I feel all the while that they’re annoyed, that they’re saying, ‘What has he come for?’” “No, they won’t. I’ll answer for that,” said Kitty, looking into his face with a laugh. She took his hand. “Well, good-bye.... Do go, please.” He was just going out after kissing his wife’s hand, when she stopped him. “Kostya, do you know I’ve only fifty roubles left?” “Oh, all right, I’ll go to the bank and get some. How much?” he said, with the expression of dissatisfaction she knew so well. “No, wait a minute.” She held his hand. “Let’s talk about it, it worries me. I seem to spend nothing unnecessary, but money seems to fly away simply. We don’t manage well, somehow.” “Oh, it’s all right,” he said with a little cough, looking at her from under his brows. That cough she knew well. It was a sign of intense dissatisfaction, not with her, but with himself. He certainly was displeased not at so much money being spent, but at being reminded of what he, knowing something was unsatisfactory, wanted to forget. “I have told Sokolov to sell the wheat, and...
Master this chapter. Complete your experience
Purchase the complete book to access all chapters and support classic literature
As an Amazon Associate, we earn a small commission from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you.
Available in paperback, hardcover, and e-book formats
Intelligence Amplifier™ Analysis
The Road of Productive Avoidance
Using intense activity or busyness to temporarily escape emotional pain while avoiding the underlying issue.
Why This Matters
Connect literature to life
This chapter teaches how to identify when we use activity to avoid processing difficult emotions.
Practice This Today
This week, notice when you reach for your phone, extra work, or any repetitive activity immediately after feeling upset—that's your avoidance signal.
Now let's explore the literary elements.
Terms to Know
Scythe mowing
A traditional method of cutting grass or grain using a long curved blade attached to a wooden handle. In Tolstoy's time, this was backbreaking manual labor that required skill and rhythm. The work was often done in groups, with workers moving in synchronized patterns across the fields.
Modern Usage:
We see this same pattern in repetitive physical work today - assembly line jobs, construction, or even intense workout routines that help people zone out and forget their problems temporarily.
Existential crisis
A period of intense questioning about the meaning and purpose of life, often accompanied by feelings of anxiety, depression, or despair. The person struggles with fundamental questions about why they exist and whether life has any real meaning or value.
Modern Usage:
This happens to people during major life transitions, midlife crises, or after traumatic events when they question everything they thought they knew about their purpose.
Physical labor as escape
Using demanding physical work to avoid dealing with emotional or mental problems. The exhaustion and focus required can temporarily quiet troubling thoughts, but doesn't address the underlying issues causing distress.
Modern Usage:
People today do this through intense exercise, workaholism, or throwing themselves into demanding hobbies when they're avoiding dealing with relationship problems or depression.
Peasant class solidarity
The sense of community and shared understanding among agricultural workers in 19th century Russia. Despite their harsh living conditions, peasants often found meaning through working together and supporting each other through difficult times.
Modern Usage:
We see this same bond in blue-collar work environments where people doing tough jobs look out for each other and find dignity in their shared struggles.
Meditative repetition
The calming effect that comes from doing the same physical motion over and over again. The rhythm and focus required can quiet mental chatter and create a peaceful, almost trance-like state of mind.
Modern Usage:
This happens today through activities like knitting, running, chopping vegetables, or any repetitive task that helps people clear their heads and find temporary peace.
Spiritual emptiness
A feeling that life lacks deeper meaning or connection to something greater than oneself. It's different from sadness - it's more like a hollow feeling that nothing really matters or has lasting significance.
Modern Usage:
Many people experience this today despite material success, feeling disconnected from purpose even when their basic needs are met.
Characters in This Chapter
Levin
Protagonist in crisis
He's desperately trying to escape his suicidal thoughts and spiritual emptiness by exhausting himself with physical farm work. The chapter shows him mowing hay alongside his workers, finding brief moments of peace in the rhythm and camaraderie, but unable to permanently silence his existential questions.
Modern Equivalent:
The successful person who throws themselves into extreme workouts or manual projects when their life feels meaningless
The peasant workers
Unwitting healers
They work alongside Levin in the fields, providing him with temporary companionship and a sense of shared purpose. Their acceptance of him and their natural rhythm of work offers him brief respite from his tormented thoughts, though they're unaware of his internal struggle.
Modern Equivalent:
Coworkers or gym buddies who provide distraction and community without knowing someone is struggling with depression
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: Describing Levin's experience as he loses himself in the repetitive work of mowing
This shows how physical labor can create an almost meditative state where conscious thought disappears. It's Levin's temporary escape from his tormented mind, but also reveals how he's trying to lose his sense of self entirely rather than confront his problems.
In Today's Words:
The longer he worked, the more he got into that zone where his body just moved automatically and his brain finally shut up.
"He felt himself, and did not want to be himself."
Context: Describing Levin's internal state as he struggles with his identity and existence
This captures the essence of severe depression and suicidal ideation - the desire to escape from one's own consciousness and existence. It shows how Levin's physical labor is really an attempt to stop being himself rather than to solve his problems.
In Today's Words:
He was so tired of being in his own head that he just wanted to disappear completely.
"Work, death, work, death - these thoughts came to him, and he tried to think of something else."
Context: During a break in the mowing when Levin's mind starts to wander again
Shows how his dark thoughts keep returning despite his attempts at distraction. The repetition mirrors the repetitive work, suggesting that his mental patterns are as stuck as his physical ones. It reveals that avoidance strategies only provide temporary relief.
In Today's Words:
Work until you die, work until you die - he couldn't stop his brain from going to these dark places no matter how hard he tried to think about something else.
Thematic Threads
Identity
In This Chapter
Levin seeks identity through physical labor, trying to find meaning in simple work
Development
Evolution from his earlier intellectual searching to desperate physical escape
In Your Life:
When you define yourself by how busy you are rather than who you're becoming
Class
In This Chapter
Levin finds temporary peace working alongside peasants, blurring class lines through shared labor
Development
Continued exploration of his complex relationship with his social position
In Your Life:
When you feel most authentic doing work that others might consider beneath your status
Personal Growth
In This Chapter
Physical exhaustion becomes a false substitute for spiritual development
Development
Deepening of his spiritual crisis despite attempts to escape through action
In Your Life:
When you mistake being busy for being productive, or tired for fulfilled
Human Relationships
In This Chapter
Levin finds brief connection with workers but remains emotionally isolated in his deeper struggles
Development
Shows his continued inability to truly connect despite surface camaraderie
In Your Life:
When you're surrounded by people but still feel fundamentally alone with your problems
You now have the context. Time to form your own thoughts.
Discussion Questions
- 1
What specific strategy does Levin use to try to escape his dark thoughts, and how well does it work?
analysis • surface - 2
Why does physical exhaustion provide only temporary relief from Levin's existential crisis?
analysis • medium - 3
Where do you see people today using busyness or intense activity to avoid dealing with difficult emotions or life questions?
application • medium - 4
How could someone use physical activity as part of healing while still addressing their underlying emotional issues?
application • deep - 5
What does Levin's experience reveal about the difference between managing symptoms and solving root problems?
reflection • deep
Critical Thinking Exercise
Map Your Escape Routes
Think about a difficult emotion or life question you've been avoiding. List three ways you typically distract yourself from it - work, exercise, social media, cleaning, helping others, etc. For each distraction, honestly assess: Does this actually help you process the issue, or does it just delay the reckoning? Rate each strategy as 'helpful tool' or 'temporary escape.'
Consider:
- •Notice patterns - do you always choose the same type of distraction?
- •Consider timing - when do these distractions stop working?
- •Think about energy - which activities drain you vs. restore you?
Journaling Prompt
Write about a time when staying busy actually made a problem worse by letting it fester. What would have happened if you'd faced it directly instead?
Coming Up Next...
Chapter 192
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.