Life in the Present: Time and Immortality in the Works of Tolstoy

This article examines the importance of time to Tolstoy's belief in immortality. After a brief overview of this belief, which is essentially to live in the present, be mindful of death, and be free from the tyranny of time, some examples of time in the narrative structure of Tolstoy's fiction are given. The study uses three case studies from Tolstoy's late fiction to explore the relationship to one's past and the link between memory and immortality; it concludes that one must remember the past only in order to let it go, be free from time, and experience immortality.