According to South African novelist
Imraan Coovadia, writing in 2020, the essay opens with a vivid depiction of a pig being slaughtered by a butcher, a scene Coovadia describes as characteristic of Tolstoy's style of "plainness and force." Although centered on the
rights of animals, the essay also adopts a distinctly religious tone, urging readers to practice self-abnegation, fasting, and renunciation of worldly pleasures. Ronald D. LeBlanc of the
University of New Hampshire notes that the essay is structured in two unequal parts: the first focused on religious and ascetic justifications for vegetarianism, and the second on humanitarian and ethical arguments. Tolstoy also asserts that vegetarianism strengthens one's ability to control sexual impulses, a claim that has been criticized by modern psychologists as "pseudo-erotic." The essay concludes with a psychological argument, asserting that the act of killing and consuming animals numbs human sensitivity to compassion, pity, and empathy for others. ==Legacy==