Leo Tolstoy \"How Much Land

Leo Tolstoy "How Much Land Does a Man Need?"

Leo Tolstoy has written an excellent piece of literature that addresses to a characteristic of man which prevailed in him since the earliest recorded history till today and will be in him till the end of time. Tolstoy's "How Much Land Does a Man Need?" is a mechanical morality tale in its awesomely literal recapitulations (The Atlantic Monthly, p.126-131). It is greed that Tolstoy talks about in "How Much Land Does a Man Need" and the outcome as a result of acting on the temptations caused by greed. Set in Russia, the story reflects the nature of the Americans and how they would take advantage of the Indians there. The younger sister who was a peasant represents the Americans at that time and the elder sister was of course the European relatives of the Americans. The story begins with the elder sister paying her younger sister a visit and shows how the Europeans boasted about their high class lifestyle with money to spend on luxuries and buying comforts of life. The Americans were somewhat content with their simple lifestyle where they would make enough to feed themselves and their household not worried or tempted by evils of gambling, women and wine. The Europeans were indeed involved in these evils of society which was not very common in the Americans. It is interesting to note that although Tolstoy mentions that the peasants were content with their lifestyle but it was still not enough and this is seen in the character of Pahom, the husband of the younger sister. While Pahom did agree to whatever his wife told her elder sister regarding the ills of society in the lifestyle of the tradesmen, Pahom expressed his unhappiness and the desire to own more land to improve his lifestyle. This brings out the materialism found in the nature of human beings. Tolstoy has a fourth character present there in the opening scene, the Devil. The Devil is of course none other than greed itself and this story is "a parable about greed" (Daniel Akst, p.42).

If I had plenty of land, I shouldn't fear the Devil himself," is the thought that comes to the mind of Pahom and marks the beginning of his destruction. This thought itself installed the devil inside Pahom and although he thinks plenty of land will make him immune to the Devil, little does he know that his strive to gain plenty of land is the whispers of the Devil himself. Pahom is frustrated by the fines that he has to pay when his cattle wander off onto the lands that belong to his neighbor. With time he learns that some land is for sale and thus takes loan and finally purchases forty acres. "So he became a landowner," but still his heart was not content. Knowing how he felt when he was fined, Pahom ignored any legal action against other peasants when their animals would trespass his property but soon irritated by the fact that it happened often, he did take legal action and started fining other peasants. This part does show that Pahom soon became a hypocrite. Although his forgiving nature did die and he simply expressed his grudge and anger against Simon because of the suspicion that it was Simon who cut his lime trees. When the court declared Simon to be innocent, Pahom completely lost it and accused them of not being honest for "if you were honest folk yourselves you would not let a thief go free."

One day a peasant from beyond the Volga came to Pahom and was given food and a place to stay at Pahom's house. He told Pahom about the land from where he has come and the immense opportunities that are present there. People were getting 25 acres of land for joining the commune. Tolstoy described the height of rye to be "as high as a horse" to show the temptation that Pahom was facing as he heard this. The temptation is best described by Tolstoy with the words "Pahom's heart kindled with desire." Pahom just could not resist the temptation and soon went off to visit the place. When he went there he realized what he was told was true. Pahom drooling with desire disposed off his property and settled here with his family. He bought land and was doing very well. However man cannot resist devil and materialism is the nature of man. Tolstoy has expressed this well in his story. Tolstoy is a magnificent writer. He is never dull, never stupid, never tired, never pedantic, never theatrical. He is head and soulders over the others (Richard Ellmann, p.217).Tired by renting other people's land, Pahom aims to buy more land. His thirst for more land never seemed to be quenched. Soon his prayers were answered and Pahom was able to secure a deal of 1300 acres of land for 1500 rubles. Along came another man from a distant place who told him the story about this land far away where he had bought 1300 acres for a measly amount of 1000 rubles. Pahom opted for the second option and took presents for the tribesmen. The Chief agreed to give him as much land as he could cover by foot coming back to the starting point before the sun sets.

His greed did not let him sleep all night and he kept on thinking about the amount of land he would cover on foot. Pahom kept on walking in an attempt to cover as much land possible. He would come across a piece that promised good yield and would try to include that area as well. "It would be a pity to leave that out," Pahom would think and thus would walk to gain possession of that bit as well. "The sun waits for no man" and it began to set and at this point Pahom realized what he had done yet he kept on running in an attempt to acquire land.