Leo Tolstoy uses many literary devices to bring out the numerous themes in his novel Anna Karenina. One of the things he does is use brief appearances of minor characters to bring out different qualities and characteristics of the more major players in the novel. A great example of this is found in how we the readers get to know Constantine Levin through the way he behaves around his two brothers, Nicolas and Koznyshov.
Koznyshov appears a few times throughout the novel, although his character is not integral to the main plot lines. He does, however, play one of the most important roles in the novel. Koznyshov is first introduced to us at the beginning of part three, when he pays a visit to Levin at his country home. There, we learn a great deal abo
The characters in Anna Karenina are so deep, so complex, that it would have been a nightmarish task for Tolstoy to build them without the aid of outside characters to illuminate certain aspects of them. Not only that, but it would have made for a horribly boring read. Tolstoy does an excellent job of using this technique, especially by incorporating Levin’s brothers in this manner.
Levin’s other brother Nicolas also served to illuminate him. Although Tolstoy didn’t use Nicolas himself to do this, his death had a profound effect on Levin and the way he dealt with it tells the reader much about him. Tolstoy writes: “From the moment Levin saw his beloved brother dying and for the first time looked at the problems of life and death in the light of what he called the new convictions…he was
Example Essays Home
