# Chapter XX explained — Resurrection

> Chapter companion for Resurrection by Leo Tolstoy.

## What happens

The trial continues with the reading of the medical examiner's report on Smelkoff's autopsy, which is lengthy and gruesome. The president tries to skip parts to save time, but the public prosecutor insists on reading everything. Nekhludoff feels a growing sense of loathing and connection between Katusha's life, the corpse, and his own past actions.

## Themes in this chapter

### Injustice of the Legal System

The trial is prolonged by the public prosecutor's insistence on reading the full autopsy report, despite its irrelevance to the jury's decision, highlighting the system's inefficiency and procedural rigidity.

### Moral Awakening and Redemption

Nekhludoff's growing disgust and his association of Katusha's life with the corpse reflect his moral awakening and guilt over his past treatment of her.

## Character check-ins

### Prince Dmitri Ivanovich Nekhludoff

Sits in the jury box, feeling disgust and a sense of connection between the corpse, Katusha's life, and his own actions.

### Theropont Smelkoff

The deceased merchant; his autopsy report is read in detail.

### Katerina Maslova

The defendant; Nekhludoff associates her life with the gruesome details of the corpse.

### The Judges

The president tries to expedite the proceedings; one member with a beard suffers from catarrh; another with gold spectacles looks gloomy.

## Key lines

> The indefinite loathing that Nekhlúdoff felt was increased by the description of the corpse. Katúsha’s life, and the scrum oozing from the nostrils of the corpse, and the eyes that protruded out of their sockets, and his own treatment of her⁠—all seemed to belong to the same order of things, and he felt surrounded and wholly absorbed by things of the same nature.

Nekhludoff's vague disgust grows as he hears the autopsy details; he sees a connection between Katusha's suffering, the corpse's decay, and his own past cruelty, feeling engulfed by a single, oppressive reality.

_This passage captures Nekhludoff's moral awakening and the thematic link between the trial's grim details and his personal guilt._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/resurrection_se/chapters/xx
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/resurrection_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/resurrection_se/chapters