Part 8, Chapters 1-5
Tolstoy plunges into a political issue facing the Slavs. At the end of the 19th century, the Slavic people living in the Ottoman Empire fought against the Turks, who discriminated against them. Many Russians supported the Slavic cause, but many others did not.
Topic Tracking: City vs. Country 9
It's important to notice which characters support the Slavic cause: Levin's half brother Sergei, Stiva and Vronsky--characters shown as morally flawed in their lifestyles.
Back at the train station, Vronsky has a scene of grief. He seems to be disintegrating just as Anna had, suffering from all the grief he has experienced in his life. He is trying to hold onto the last semblances of honor. It seems he views war as the most honorable way to die. He is suffering here from a toothache of all things (not exactly a fatal pain). The thoughts and the reality are sarcastically juxtaposed here: a stalwart soldier who wants to die gallantly is crying from a toothache?
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