Theme of Life and Death in Anna Karenina

I hesitated a bit before starting to write about this topic because it was a bit uncomfortable, but I ultimately saw no rational reason not to write about it.

The interaction of Levin and his brother Nicholas during Nicholas's dying moments in Anna Karenina was, I think, a crucial one because it reshaped Levin's spiritual attitudes towards the ending of one's life. The motif of death is a salient one throughout the novel, and many characters come into contact with the idea (Levin, Nikolas, Anna, Vronsky).

I'm not quite sure what the meaning behind the Nicholas's slow expiration (to use mild terminology) was. But, it was a dramatic one, as can be expected from the narrator describing a moment of heightened emotional state for the characters.

Nicholas suffered for a long time and wished himself for his inevitable death to come quickly in his most agonizing moments. The fluctuations in his health and the hope other characters such as Levin and Kitty had that he might recover further strained their emotions and led to mental weariness. Difficult as it was for they themselves to bear, they were wishing for their brother to die quickly so that they could stop suffering too.

On the other hand, Vronsky wishes to end his life quickly to escape from his anguish. He is ashamed, and does not wish to bear the consequences of the situation he put himself into, which he knows will be unpleasant to say the least. He cannot bear to rationalize his decisions even to his own conscience, and much like Catherine in East of Eden, he wishes to shrink physically and disappear entirely from the life he has ruined.

Oblonsky, on the other hand, seems like the perennial happy-go-lucky guy. As far as I can tell, he's a mostly flat character, and shows little variation in his thoughts and attitudes, but is consistent in his tendency to socialize frequently and to commiserate with and comfort those of his friends in distress. He's the kind of guy whom no one knows about because people only care about him as long he's providing entertainment value. He reminds me of Guillermo from Jimmy Kimmel. I don't really know how Guillermo lives or lived his life, nor do I wish to know. I only take interest in him because of his jokes and unwavering sense of humor. My prediction is that nothing in the way of death or suffering will face him as far as the novel is concerned.