The Inadequacy of the Principle of Individuality

Tolstoy brilliantly brings out the inadequacy of the principle that Ivani has lived his life for as he now encounters others treating him in his need as he had treated others by disregarding theirs. This is a story not about an individual, but about a process. And I think that's very important because no one has ever met someone like Ivani Leech. No one is indifferent. Probably no one is as lonely or and horrified as what happens afterwards. But it's all pulled out, the process itself is pulled out, is what structures the story.