UNIT-1
SHORT
STORIES
3. God Sees the
Truth but Waits
Leo Tolstoy
Before Reading
Answer these
questions.
a. What does the
title of the story mean?
The title of the story “God Sees the Truth but Waits” means
that whatever deeds we do are being watched by the God. No matter we do good or
bad, one day god rewards or punishes. The true justice is in the hands of God
but He does not declare instantly, it takes time.
b. Is it fair to
punish the innocent people in the name of justice?
We see several innocent people get punishments of
imprisonment for the so-called crime they are charged off. The flaws of justice
can ruin the life of people who are trapped in crimes which they have not
committed. Innocent people may ruin their life in the name of justice.
c. Do you
believe dreams might predict the terrible fate of a person?
A
dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that usually
occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. The content and
function of dreams are not fully understood, although they have been a topic of
scientific, philosophical and religious interest throughout recorded history.
Most of the people across the country believe in dream interpretations because
there connections of dream contents to the real life incidents. Let it say some
coincidences or fulfillment of dream, I have also found some connections
between the dream contents and real life incidents so I believe dream predict
either the terrible of fruitful fate of a person.
About the
writer:
Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910)
v A
Russian writer of realistic fiction,
v Belongs
from a well to do family but he lost his parents when he was a child,
v He
was raised by his relatives and elder brother
v Studied
law and language at Kazan University, but he left the university in
dissatisfaction,
v Self
studied man
v Passed
tests for law from St. Petersburg in 1848,
v He
became an Army officer after taking military training,
v World
known as a moral and religious teacher
v His
works:
o
Autobiographical trilogy (Childhood
(1852), Boyhood (1854),Youth (1857)
o
Sevastopol Sketches (1855) on the
Crimean War experiences
o
War and Peace (1869)
o
Anna Karenina (1877)
o
The Death of Ivan Ilyich (1886)
o
Family Happiness (1859)
o
Hadji Murad (1912)
About the Story:
Type : Short Story (1872)
Language : Russian (Aylmer Maude translated it into
English)
Setting : Summer, Vladimir, Serbia
Narration : Third Person Point of View
Themes : Guilt, forgiveness, faith, conflict,
freedom, acceptance
Characters : Ivan Dmitrich Aksionov, his wife, Another
Merchant, Makar Semyonich, Governor, Policemen etc.
Summary of the Story
In the
Russian town of Vladimir, Ivan Dmitrich Aksionov lives
as a successful merchant with his wife and young children. One summer, as
Aksionov sets off for Nizhy Fair to sell his goods, Aksionov's wife warns him
not to go, for she has had a nightmare in which he returned with grey hair.
Aksionov laughs off her concern that the nightmare was a premonition and
interprets the dream as a sign of luck. Halfway to the town, Aksionov
encounters a fellow merchant, with whom he stops for the night at an inn. The
men have tea together and sleep in adjoining rooms. Aksionov rises before dawn
and sets off with his horses and coachman while the air is cool. After
twenty-five miles, he stops to feed his horses.
During this
break, two soldiers and an official arrive and begin questioning Aksionov about
his relationship with the man he had tea with the night before. The merchant
was found dead with his throat slit. Since the two rooms were next to each
other, it seems only natural that Aksionov might know something. Aksionov
trembles in fear when the official searches his belongings and removes a knife
streaked with blood.
The men
bind and arrest Aksionov. His wife visits him in jail and faints at the sight
of him dressed as a criminal. He says they must petition the czar, to which she
says she has already tried to no avail. She asks him if he committed the
murder, and Aksionov weeps. If even his wife suspects him, he thinks after she
leaves, then only God knows the truth and it is only to God that he should
appeal.
He puts his
faith in God and accepts his sentencing and ceremonial flogging. He is sent to
work in the Siberian mines. Over twenty-six years in Siberia, Aksionov
transforms into a pious old man. His hair turns white, his beard grows long, he
walks with difficulty, and he never laughs. He prays often and, among other
prisoners, he develops a reputation as a meek and fair man.
One day a
newly arrived inmate named Makar Semyonich, who is
about the same age as Aksionov and from the same hometown, gives an account of
what brought him to Siberia. He was suspected of stealing a horse when in
reality he had only borrowed it. Nevertheless, he was convicted and imprisoned.
The irony is that he had gotten away with doing something much worse earlier in
his life.
Aksionov
suspects the man is responsible for framing him. He questions Semyonich, who
cryptically responds in a way that confirms Aksionov's suspicion. Aksionov
remembers everything he has lost and is plunged into misery; he longs for a way
to get revenge but resolves to stay away from the man or even look in his direction.
After two weeks, unable to sleep, Aksionov takes a walk near the prison to
discover Semyonich digging a tunnel under his sleeping shelf. Semyonich angrily
offers Aksionov escape and threatens to kill him should he tell the authorities
about the tunnel. Aksionov says Semyonich has already taken his life, and he
shall do as God directs him.
Soldiers
discover the tunnel the next day. The governor arrives to question prisoners,
none of whom admit to knowing anything about the tunnel. After wrestling with his
desire for vengeance, Aksionov declines to say what he knows about Semyonich's
involvement, even if it means that he will be punished himself.
That night,
Aksionov is about to nod off in his bunk when Semyonich sits down beside him.
Semyonich bends over and whispers a plea for forgiveness. He confesses that it
was he who killed the other merchant and stole his money; he then planted the
knife so that Aksionov would become the suspect. He falls to his knees and begs
for forgiveness, promising to confess to the crimes so that Aksionov will go
free. The old man replies that his life is already over and he has nowhere to
go.
At the
sight of Semyonich's tears, Aksionov weeps himself. Semyonich begs again for
forgiveness. Aksionov tells him that God will forgive him, and that perhaps he
himself is a hundred times worse. Having said this, Aksionov feels a lightness
enter his body. He no longer desires to go home or leave the prison; he wants
only to die.
The story
ends with Semyonich confessing to the governor. By the time the officials
arrange Aksionov's release, Aksionov has already died.
Understanding
the Text
Answer these
questions:
a. What bad
habits did Aksionov have before marriage?
Aksionov, the principal character of this story, had habit
of having alcohol before his marriage. He used to be riotous when he used to
have too much alcohol.
b. What can be
the meaning of his wife’s dream?
Thought there is no scientific connection of the happenings
in dream to the real world. However people believe that there would be good or
bad incidents according to the objects, people or incidents they see in their
dream. Aksionov bade a good bye to his wife before he left for Nizhny fair
meanwhile she tried to stop him because of a bad dream she saw about him. She
saw his hair turned quite grey when he took off his cap after returning from
the town. In reality he was arrested for a crime which he had not committed and
spent his 26 years of his life in a jail in Serbia. That was really a great
misfortune to him. Before he was released from the jail he became so old, his
hair turned into grey. The dream was quite a bad dream because it was a premonition
of his tragic fate.
c. Why did
Aksionov think of killing himself?
When Aksionov was sure that Maker Semyonich had killed the
merchant he recalled all his memories of his past happy life, the floggings,
the chains, the convicts and all the twenty six years of his life in prison
making him premature old age. All these thoughts made him feel bad so he was
ready to kill himself.
d. Why did Makar
disclose that he had killed the merchant?
Makar Semyonich, the real murderer of another Merchant from
Ryazan, was brought in Siberia in a charge of stealing a horse. Makar was
secretly digging a hole under the wall which was seen by Dmitrich but he did
not tell to the Governor that Semyonich was the person who was digging the
hole. So Semyonich disclosed the truth to confess and to ask forgiveness.
e. Why doesn’t
Aksionov wish to return to his family at the end of the story?
During his 26 years of prison life, all had forgotten him
even his children. His wife is also dead. One reason why he doesn’t wish to
return his house is he is homeless. And another reason is he has dedicated his
life to god and was expecting angels of god to come down the Earth to take him
to heaven.
Reference to the
Context:
a. “Well, old
man,” replied the Governor, “tell me the truth: who has been digging under the
wall?”
i. Who is that
old man?
The old man is Ivan Dmitrich Aksionov.
ii. Which truth
is the speaker asking about?
The speaker is asking about the truth of digging a whole
under the wall of the jail.
iii. Which wall
does the speaker mean?
The speaker means the main wall of the prison.
b. Describe
Aksionov’s character.
Ivan Dmitrich Aksionov is the protagonist of this story and
the whole story revolves around him. He was a man of dashing personality, full
of fun having keen interest in singing. He had a habit of having alcohol and
would be riotous when had had too much. He was a merchant and after marriage he
left drinking habit. He didn’t believe in superstition but one day he was
arrested in a charge of murdering another merchant from Ryazan. He was found to
be guilty by the verdict as a strong evidence of the murder was found in his
bag. He was flogged and sent to a jail. He was also suspected by his wife who
made him feel sad. He dedicated his life to God, expecting only he knows the truth.
He was sent to a jail in Siberia where there is so cold and prisoners suffers a
lot. He grew old, never laughed and only prayed to God. Prison authority like
his meekness and other prisoners respected him. Later he found another prisoner
in the same jail who dug a hole to escape from there. The he knew the person
who dug hole under the wall of jail, he had pity on him. The real murderer of
the merchant disclosed the truth which made him feel sad and thought of killing
himself. At last he forgave Maker Semyonich and before he was about to release
after the confession made by Maker Aksionov died.
c. What is the
theme of the story?
The main theme of the story is Forgiveness. After Aksionov declines to
inform on Semyonich's tunnel-digging, Semyonich is so shaken by Aksionov's
demonstration of mercy that he seeks Aksionov's forgiveness for framing him.
With some reluctance, Aksionov finally grants Semyonich God's forgiveness,
simultaneously suggesting that, for all he knows, in God's eyes he himself may
be one hundred times worse than Semyonich. To utter these words eases
Aksionov's suffering. The act of forgiveness proves to be not only for
Semyonich: to forgive the man also frees Aksionov of his burden of resenting
Semyonich and wishing his life hadn't turned out as it had. After forgiving
Semyonich, Aksionov is free to move on to the afterlife.
d. Which symbols
are used in the story and what do they indicate?
The most
important symbols in this short story are Aksionov's house (and two shops) and
the Siberian prisons mine where he is sentenced to hard labor.
His house
and two shops represent his family, his material possessions, and his earthly
affairs. Aksionov's wife visits him when he is initially imprisoned in the
nearest town; having been accused of murdering the merchant who shared an inn
room with him, Aksionov can only wait for his fate. When his own wife doubts
his innocence, he is devastated. At this point in the story, we see that
Aksionov is starting to realize that he can no longer trust in any of the
things he has depended on in his life; he cannot depend on his material wealth
to prove his innocence and sadly, he also cannot depend on the woman he is
married to for loyalty in a time of great need.
The prison
itself is a symbol of his suffering and his eventual spiritual transformation.
When Aksionov realizes that Makar was the one who framed him for the merchant's
murder, he suffers all the mental agonies of the wronged: should he now expose
Makar (for his tunnel-digging escape project) and enjoy a belated revenge for
all the sufferings of the last twenty six years? Well, Aksionov eventually
decides that he's going to let bygones be bygones. He refuses to incriminate
Makar. Makar is so touched that he confesses everything to Aksionov and begs
for forgiveness. Through this simple act of forgiveness, Aksionov is
finally able to obtain peace. His focus is now towards the eternal.
Reference beyond
the Text:
a. What roles
does religion play in Aksionov’s life? How does he undergo a spiritual
transformation in the story?
Ivan Dmitrich Aksionov is the main character of the story.
The story shows a carefree person changing into a true religious person. In the
past Aksionov was relying on material things. He had two shops, one house of
own and dedicated to earn money selling goods. He had been living a happy
familial life with his wife and children. But one incident brings him changed
in his character. He becomes a victim of false conviction and injustice. He was
charged of killing another merchant from Ryazan and stealing his twenty
thousand rubles. For the supposed crime, he is sent off to a hard labor camp in
Siberia, where he meets the man who actually committed the crime. Aksionov's
piety causes the man to truly repent of his misdeed.
Aksionov does have a spiritual
transformation in the story, and, interestingly enough, it is when things seem
darkest. After the police arrest him and he is thrown into prison, his wife and
children come to visit him, and even his wife implies that she thinks he is
guilty. When she leaves, Aksionov realizes that only God can know the truth in
any situation and only God can grant mercy. Aksionov remains a convict in
Siberia for twenty-six years. His hair turns white; he loses his strength, he
no longer laughs, but he continues to pray. He reads a book called The Lives of the Saints and
goes to church on Sundays. He is respected not only by his fellow prisoners but
also by the prison authorities. When Aksionov realizes that the real murderer,
convicted of a different crime, has come to his camp in Siberia, he has a strong
desire for vengeance. However, he does not turn his nemesis in when the
authorities find an escape tunnel he has dug. When the governor of the prison
questions him, Aksionov only declares that he cannot say because it is not
God's will. Seeing Aksionov's sincerity and piety, the murderer confesses so
that Aksionov can be released, but by the time the release order comes,
Aksionov has died. We see, then, that Aksionov has a spiritual transformation
early in his ordeal, and it is his religion that sustains him through
twenty-six years of suffering in the Siberian prison camp.
b. What does the
story tell us about the existence of unfair system of justice?
No human can judge the best than the God. How
much educated and intellectual people are, sometimes they do mistakes in
imparting justice to people. Justice is made on the basis of evidences the
authority see through its eyes. There are various practices of unfair justices
in the world. Lack of proper investigation is also responsible for putting
innocent people in cells. In the story, the authority finds a blood stained
knife in Aksionov’s bag. On the basis of that evidence he was put into bars.
The knife was not properly investigated. The police authority could find finger
prints of the murderer but only on basis of finding of blood stained knife,
possible used for killing merchant, Aksionov was arrested, flogged, and kept in
bars in Siberia for 26 years. Even the Czar denied accepting the petition. His wife also suspected him. People spread a
rumor about him. This story better tells us about the existence of unfair
system of justice.
When the justice system of this world,
controlled by flawed humans, fails Aksionov, he puts his faith in God's plan.
He knows that only God knows the truth about him, and thus God is the only
authority to whom he should appeal. In prison, Aksionov transforms into a
humble and God-fearing figure, spending the little money he earns from making
boots on a book about the lives of saints. Officials and prisoners respect him
for his fairness in resolving disputes, as though he himself has turned into a
religious figure. Aksionov's faith in God's will is so strong that even when he
learns of the circumstances that led to his plight, he believes he must be
wicked to have deserved the torturous life God gave him.
Additional Activities
Questions
- Describe Ivan's
character. What are some of his prominent character traits? Explain.
Ivan is a man who seems to be at the
wrong place at the wrong time. He is unlucky, mentally strong, and religious.
He is unlucky because he is sentenced to prison for 26 years for a murder that
he did not commit. He is also mentally strong because he is able to endure many
unfortunate events, such as losing his home and his business. Finally, he
displays a strong religious devotion by growing closer to God during difficult
times
- Is Ivan a static
or dynamic character? Explain your reasoning.
Ivan is a dynamic character because, at
one point in his life, he is consumed by temporal and materialistic things.
However, by the end of the story, all he seems to care about is his faith and
being close to God.
- What role does
religion play in Ivan's life? How does it impact his decisions?
Ivan relies on God as he is the only
constant in his life. At the end of the story, he has no desire to return home.
His only desire is to be with God.
- Discuss Ivan's
relationship with his wife.
At the beginning of the story, Ivan and
his wife don't seem to have the best relationship as he leaves for Nizhny Fair
even after his wife asked him to stay. Later, she doubts his innocence after he
is convicted of murder.
- Why doesn't Ivan
wish to return to his family at the end of the story? Explain.
Ivan no longer has a desire for
temporal things. He only wishes to be with God in heaven.
- What is a
possible theme from the story based on Ivan's experiences? Explain the
theme thoroughly.
A possible theme is perspective. Ivan
lost everything after he is charged with murder and sent to prison in Siberia.
He could have completely given up, but he instead leans on his faith with God.
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