Of the two characters under discussion, Levin is the one who most exemplifies Tolstoy's values. Like his creator, Levin is a landowner with progressive principles. He leaves his post in local government in protest at its unwieldy, bureaucratic nature. In his own life, Tolstoy became deeply disillusioned with government in general, actually going so far as to become an anarchist. Levin may not be an anarchist—at least not yet—but he certainly shares his creator's thoroughgoing disillusionment with government and its institutions.

Though highly intellectual, Levin is also of a practical bent, putting his brilliant mind to the task of dealing with real-life issues such as agriculture. Tolstoy himself used to spend a lot of time dealing with such matters. The land question was very important to him as it was to many Russian intellectuals, and he made a number of practical suggestions as to how it could be addressed.

Karenin shares very few characteristics with Tolstoy. A stiff-necked member of the imperial Russian government, he epitomizes the political and social establishment from which Tolstoy turned away in disgust.

Nevertheless, there are some similarities all the same. For one thing, Karenin has a profound sense of duty towards Anna, despite her betrayal of him. Tolstoy too had a sense of duty, albeit to humanity as a whole rather than to specific individuals, including members of his own family. Certainly, the way he treated his wife Sophia does not exactly invite admiration.