Anna Karenina Ch. 222: Chapter 222

Summary

Sergey Ivanovitch and Katavasov reach the busy Kursk line station where volunteers arrive in four cabs with bouquets and a cheering crowd. The princess asks Sergey about eight hundred sent, subscriptions, and telegram victories; she requests a note for a young man Countess Lydia Ivanovna favors.

Stiva appears beaming, praises the patriotic speech, asks Sergey to encourage volunteers, and sends regards to Kitty with committee appointment news. Princess notes Vronsky going by this train; Stiva's face briefly saddens then he sees only hero and old friend. Vronsky, aged and stony, lifts his hat to Sergey and the princess, leaves his mother, disappears into a compartment.

Platform rings God save the Tsar, hurrah, jivio; hollow-chested volunteer bows conspicuously. Tolstoy contrasts public martial fervor with Vronsky's private wreck on the same train Sergey boards for Levin's country.

Volunteers arrive with bouquets; princess asks about eight hundred sent and Lydia Ivanovna's protégé. Stiva praises patriotic speech; Vronsky, aged and stony, lifts hat and vanishes into compartment as God save the Tsar rings.

Tolstoy closes the chapter on that beat without easy moral, only the next consequence waiting.

Platform rings hurrah and jivio; hollow-chested volunteer bows while Vronsky's private wreck rides the same train as public fervor.

In this chapter: Terms Characters Key Quotes Modern Story

Why This Matters

Reading Ritual Beside Grief

Send-offs can celebrate sacrifice while the departed person remains shattered. Vronsky disappears stony into a compartment while God save the Tsar and jivio rise on the platform.

When crowds cheer, ask who is hidden inside the train.

Coming Up in Chapter 223

The train will roll through Tsaritsino with Hail to Thee and provincial volunteer receptions. Sergey says goodbye to the princess and joins Katavasov in a carriage full to overflowing; train starts. At Tsaritsino young men sing Hail to Thee; volunteers bow while Sergey pays no attention, already familiar with the type..

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Original text

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Chapter 222

Sergey Ivanovitch and Katavasov reach the busy Kursk line station w...

Sergey Ivanovitch and Katavasov had only just reached the station of the Kursk line, which was particularly busy and full of people that day, when, looking round for the groom who was following with their things, they saw a party of volunteers driving up in four cabs. Ladies met them with bouquets of flowers, and followed by the rushing crowd they went into the station. One of the ladies, who had met the volunteers, came out of the hall and addressed Sergey Ivanovitch. “You too come to see them off?” she asked in French. “No, I’m going away myself, princess.…

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Critical Thinking Exercise

12 minutes

Map The Split-Screen Station

List public cheers, Stiva's shift, Vronsky's stony boarding, Sergey's country errand.

Consider:

•Include God save the Tsar
•Include disappeared into compartment
•Include hollow chest

Journaling Prompt

Write about a send-off where the crowd's mood did not match the traveler.

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Chapter 222

Summary