The Symbols in “Anna Karenina”

Question: Write a note on the symbols in “Anna Karenina” by Leo Tolstoy

            Answer: “Anna Karenina” is the Russian novel in English composed by Leo Tolstoy, a distinguished Russian novelist. A symbol is usually something concrete – an object, a place, a character, an action – that suggests something abstract and universal. In other words, a symbol stands for something else in literature. Here in the novel, the novelist uses symbols in a dynamic way. He uses them to convey his expected meaning to his readers. Here in the novel, the major symbols he uses are: Vronsky's racehorse, Levin and Kitty's marriage, trains, the sale of the forest by Oblonsky and so on.

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy!

            Vronsky's racing horse is one of the most important symbols in “Anna Karenina”. The expensive horse is a clear symbol for the relationship between Anna and Vronsky. The horse appears in the novel just shortly after the relationship between Anna and Vronsky has become serious. However, learning about the dangers in the officer's race, Vronsky decides to continue the race despite the death of several horses and riders in the event. Vronsky's willingness to confront the dangers creates another connection between the horse and Anna. The horse also represents Anna's strength and courage while showing that she is under Vronsky's control. Although Vronsky faces the dangers by entering the horse in the race and continuing his affair with Anna, both the horse and Anna face a greater threat because they would die soon. In the end, the horse dies and the unfair death of the horse foreshadows and symbolises Anna's tragic death.

            Levin's courtship and marriage to Kitty is of paramount importance to Anna Karenina. Tolstoy frames the marriage as a stubborn individualist's commitment to another human being with all the philosophical and religious meaning. Levin is an alienated man throughout the early part of the novel. His views alienate him from noblemen and peasantry alike. He is frustrated by Russian culture and unable to feel comfortable with European ways. He suffers from an inferiority complex, as it is seen in his self-doubts in proposing to Kitty. Devastated by Kitty's rejection of his marriage proposal, Levin retreats to his country estate and renounces all dreams of family life. We wonder whether he will remain an eccentric isolationist for the rest of his days, without family or nearby friends laboring over a theory of Russian agriculture. But when the flame of Levin's and Kitty's love suddenly rekindles leading to marriage, it represents more than a mere engagement. Rather, the marriage is an affirmation of Levin's connection with others and his participation in something larger than himself and he attains the cornerstone of the religious faith after marriage. Although he is cynical toward religious dogma, during his confession, the priest asks him a set of questions that lead him through a crisis and then to spiritual regeneration. So it is his marriage with Kitty that regenerates him.

            Trains are the most important symbols in the story of “Anna Karenina” due to their prominence in the Anna or Vronsky story line. More specifically, trains are a destructive element throughout the novel. Vronsky and Anna first meet at a train station where a drunken guard is crushed to death. So Anna calls the death an omen of evil because her first encounter with Vronsky is thus overlaid with the specter of death. Again, Vronsky too uses a train as the engine of his death as it carries him to a war which will bring him death. Thus the train is shown in a negative light in the novel. The train also symbolises not only the destruction of Anna and Vronsky, but Russia's old way of life in favour of an industrial capitalist system. It is symbolic as transportation too, which takes Anna away from her duties and responsibilities as Madame Karenina.

            The hasty sale of the forest in the novel by Oblonsky is symbolic too. He inherits it during his marriage with Dolly. Oblonsky is a sensuous man in the novel who is caught red handed by his wife involved in love making with a French governess. After the incident, he is planning to sell the forest but cannot without the consent of his wife, Dolly. Later on he decides to sell it. The sale of the forest symbolises the loss of emotion, love and respect for the most valuable gifts or property left by their forefathers but the gifts have no value to the Oblonsky as he does not feel any longing for it.

Md. Saiful Alam

B. A. Honours and M. A. in English

Lecturer of English

Queen’s College, Dhaka

E-mail: suman64924@gmail.com

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