The next day Nikolay receives the sacrament and extreme unction; he prays with such desperate hope that it is awful for Levin to see. He understands that this will make Nikolay even bitterer about leaving this life. This sudden return to religion is not a legitimate one, inspired by his intellect; instead it is a temporary and desperate hope for recovery. As the rite is performed, Levin makes a familiar deathbed request that if God exists He should save them both.

After the ritual, Nikolay becomes suddenly much better. He seems strong and even has an appetite. Despite the fact that he seems so hopelessly ill he will never recover, Levin and Kitty are both happy in that first hour. The self-deception is short-lived when Nikolay is awakened by his familiar cough. The reality crushes all of their hopes, and even the memory of hopefulness is gone. When Kitty leaves the room, Nikolay tells Levin he performed the farce of hope for her sake.

That evening, Marya comes breathlessly to announce that Nikolay is dying. They run to his room, and he tells them he believes the end is near. After a silence, he tells Kitty to leave the room. Nikolay continues to say he feels that he is “setting off”; Levin sits next to him and they ponder what is happening. While Nikolay’s face begins to reflect what is becoming clearer and clearer to him, everything is still dark for Levin.

Nikolay says “Right!” and seems reassured by something; then he says “O Lord!” and sighs deeply. As Nikolay’s body slowly shuts down, Levin feels that if he exerts enough mental effort he can understand what it is that is right. He only thinks about everything that must be done once his brother dies. Strangely, he does not feel sorrow, loss, or pity. If he feels anything, Levin feels envious that the dying man now has knowledge which he cannot have. But Nikolay does not die. Every time Levin prepares to leave for a moment, Nikolay grasps his hand and asks him to stay.

The situation is unchanged at dawn and Levin withdraws to sleep. When he wakes, Nikolay is as he was before, alive and angry at everyone and everything. He reproaches them for not getting him a better doctor and says he is suffering intolerably. In the days that follow, even Kitty cannot soothe him. They all know Nikolay’s death is inevitable, that he is half dead already, and they wish the end would come. To hide these feelings, they continue to try everything they know.

Levin wrote to their brother Sergey Ivanovitch, and he writes back begging for Nikolay’s forgiveness. The sick man says nothing. Only when under the influence of opium does Nikolay admit he wishes the end were here. On their tenth day at the hotel Kitty is sick, and the doctor says she is fatigued and must rest; however, that afternoon she resumes her nursing duties. Nikolay seems to be trying to snatch something away from his body, and Kitty sends again for the priest. Nikolay dies after his face brightens in a smile.

Levin feels helpless in the face of death but he is not reduced to despair because of Kitty’s presence. Later the doctor tells them Kitty is pregnant.