Anna Karenina - Week 143 / Part 8, Chapters I - XIX

[Gem , Moderator]

Week 13 covers Part 8 (Chapters I - XIX).

1. Were you surprised this part began talking about Sergei's book, after the dramatic conclusion of Part Seven? Talk about why you think the author made this choice.

2. Do you agree that even the death Anna chose was "mean and low?" What were your initial thoughts about how Vronsky's mother says he reacted to it? Did anything he says to Sergei change your opinion?

3. Vronsky says, "As a man, I am good in that life has no value for me." Do you believe this statement from him? Do you feel life ever held value for him—even while Anna and he were happy?

4. Levin returns to his land and struggles to find meaning in his life. Was this something you could relate to? If so, in what ways?

5. How do you feel about the fact that Dolly and her children are now also in Levin's charge? How does Dolly's example as a mother affect Kitty and Levin's choices as parents?

6. In the end, how do you feel about Levin's relationship with Kitty? Are they a happily married couple? Thinking back on the passage that opens the novel, would you think they are an example of a happy or unhappy family?

7. What do you think about the final passage, where Levin's ultimate life philosophy is revealed?

8. What are your favorite passages in this book—the ones you remember the most clearly. How did they touch you? How do you feel Tolstoy's writing relates to who you are and how you live?

9. Now that you've experienced each character's journey fully, which character do you feel you identify with most...and why?

10. Is there anything that stood out to you that we did not touch during our read and discussions about this selection?

This is the final post for Anna Karenina. Thank you to everyone who participated in these conversations. I'll continue to check back over the next few weeks for anyone who feel behind in the reading.

Once again, thank you enjoyed this book and the insights from all of you.

[Bonnie]

6. In the end, how do you feel about Levin's relationship with Kitty? Are they a happily married couple? Thinking back on the passage that opens the novel, would you think they are an example of a happy or unhappy family?

7. What do you think about the final passage, where Levin's ultimate life philosophy is revealed?
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I don't know, I don't think I understand Section 8. Levin and Kitty seem middle, not happy or unhappy.
The LitCharts study guide says...

He is still disturbed by the relationship of God to the rest of mankind, but then he realizes the he can’t think about all of the incredibly small, intricate variables; rather, he has to just trust that God takes care of everyone.

Levin’s turn to the skies allows Tolstoy, in the end of the novel, to open back into the rest of the world. He uses Levin’s spiritual revelation to make the reader understand that though the story depicted here might appear to be a domestic tale of a few interwoven individuals, the emotional resonances and moral epiphanies are a part of the larger world of nature and of man.

I certainly do think the book resonates and speaks to greater issues of Humanity than the narrative story! but what do the chapters in the last section speak to, and how do the connect to the rest of the book?

[Alice]

Gem wrote: "6. In the end, how do you feel about Levin's relationship with Kitty? Are they a happily married couple? Thinking back on the passage that opens the novel, would you think they are an example of a happy or unhappy family?

7. What do you think about the final passage, where Levin's ultimate life philosophy is revealed?

8. What are your favorite passages in this book—the ones you remember the most clearly. How did they touch you? How do you feel Tolstoy's writing relates to who you are and how you live?

9. Now that you've experienced each character's journey fully, which character do you feel you identify with most...and why?"

Well, I'm having very complicated feelings about this book which I did not expect, after loving it so much earlier in life. But I think having "bought in" so completely as a child, and to a lesser extent as a young adult, is part of what is making me feel so bitter about it now.

I do feel that Tolstoy is offering two life paths to readers. One is misguided and leads to misery, as exemplified by Anna (ending in suicide) and Vronsky (voluntarily walking into war, for lack of anything better to do with what's left of his life after her suicide). The other path is a path of "goodness," humility and faith, and leads to domestic happiness. I do feel that Kitty and Levin are as happy as any couple will ever be, and as a child and to a lesser extent as a young adult, I think I really took this in and accepted it. Tolstoy's message is incredibly powerful, and as a young person I absolutely believed that by making the right choices in life, I could become like Kitty: a happily married wife and mother. Why wouldn't I believe this? But now, bringing actual lived experience to this rereading, I think my earlier acceptance of the book's message might have been more destructive than helpful, as the happiness Kitty and Levin experience is based, fundamentally, on privilege; and good luck; and--well--this is not a true story. It's fiction. Possibly lived by some, but absolutely not possible for all who choose goodness and faith.

The real harm in this line of thinking lies in the implication for those with imperfect lives. If what Tolstoy presents has merit, if it's true, then those with lives less ideal than Kitty's and Levin's must be to blame for what they experience. Of course we are all responsible to some extent for the lives we live, but we also do not all have the same opportunities.

I guess I just feel that the either-or choice Tolstoy seems to be presenting in this extraordinary, even monumental, book can degenerate quickly into intolerance.

[Alice]

Bonnie wrote: "but what do the chapters in the last section speak to, and how do the connect to the rest of the book?"

Levin decides to believe in God. He adopts faith as a Christian. He has (almost) always made good choices throughout the book, and his choice to adopt faith at the end is a final good choice, sealing the deal so to speak. It's as though Tolstoy is saying that even for an unbeliever such as Levin was, good life choices will eventually lead to the divine grace which allows for faith to emerge, flipping the faith switch on eventually.

Two choices exist for humans here: goodness (leading inevitably to Christian faith, if it is not already present) and wrongheadedness (leading to sorrow and confusion). Levin has consistently chosen goodness, and it has led to faith. Which in turn, he hopes, will lead to further improvement as a person (increasing his share of goodness).