In Tolstoy’s “Three Deaths,” the parallels used between nature and human life illuminate some details in the story. Reading through the story, it is first a bit unclear as to what the three deaths are, as only two humans die in the story. But, the personification used in the fourth chapter of the story to describe the cutting down of the tree makes it clear that this tree is the third death. As Seryoha cuts down the tree, it “trembled with all its body, leaned over, and quickly straightened itself, shuddering with fear on its base” (Tolstoy 247). The word “trembled,” “leaned,” “straightened,” and “shuddering” are all active verbs typically used to describe human behavior. So, their use reckons the reader back to the human deaths in the story. The other trees in the forest are also personified in their reaction to this “death”; Tolstoy described that they “more joyously than ever, extended their motionless branches over the new space that had been made in their midst” (Tolstoy 247). In chopping down this tree, Seryoha makes a cross for Khveodor’s grave; this “joy” of the fellow trees mirrors the reaction of Khveodor’s acquaintances to his impending death. Seryoha benefits off of the fact that Khveodor does not need his new boots anymore because he is dying and Nastasya benefits from the fact that Khveodor is no longer taking up space in the oven. I was disturbed by the eagerness which people took advantage of Khveodor’s dying condition when I read this story; perhaps by comparing his death with that of the tree, Tolstoy emphasizes the natural necessity of death? I do not quite know what to make of this parallel.