SOURCE: "'Confession' and Death," in Leo Tolstoy, Twayne Publishers, 1986, pp. 87-105.

In the following excerpt, Rowe comments on Leo Tolstoy's varied approaches to the theme of death in his fiction.

The treatment of death in Tolstoy's works can be viewed as a gradual clarification of some of his primary concerns. His two greatest novels are similarly Tolstoyan in many ways, but they are also revealingly different. Despite its emphasis upon death, War and Peace celebrates life; despite its moments of hope and joy, Anna Karenina darkly anticipates death. Prince Andrew's death, seen as a quite positive "awakening," contrasts sharply with Anna's ugly demise. Still more revealingly, only one of the five major characters in War and Peace (Natasha) attempts suicide, and she regrets the impulse in time to set her own recovery in motion. In addition to Anna Karenina's long-anticipated suicide, Vronsky tries to kill himself, and his...