Russian Society and the Fiction of Tolstoy
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This study will analyze several of the fictional works of Leo Tolstoy, discussing how his writing reflects the moral, cultural and political history of Russia in his time. Two major changes took place in Russian society during the time of Tolstoy's writing--the freeing of the serfs, and industrialization. Both changes brought great turbulence and confusion. The freeing of the serfs showed that morality had changed in Russia, and that it was no longer acceptable to own human beings. Industrialization promised a better life for all, but, like the freeing of the serfs, the results were not as good as many believed they would be. Also, the defeat of Russia in the Crimean War showed that Russia was not the great power its people believed it to be (Cracraft 313). These changes are important to Tolstoy not for the way they impacted on Russian society, but for the way they did not change the way people live and relate to one another. Although Tolstoy's fiction is deeply rooted in the real world of society, economics, politics, and culture, he is first and foremost concerned with morality and spirituality, and, in the end, with religion, especially the religion of Christianity. The many changes in Russia in Tolstoy's time did not change basic human nature. Great changes were taking place, but human beings were still greedy, lustful, and selfish, and still had to wrestle with that sinfulness. Tolstoy is most concerned with the things that remain the same for all people in all times: h
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s to think that he or she will not die. The small accident which leads to Ivan's sickness and death shows how at any moment any individual can begin to decline in life and finally meet his death. However, to Tolstoy, death is not a negative force but a positive change which can awaken the individual to the truth of life, even if it is at the last minute.
Facing death is what changes Ivan and makes him think about how he has lived his life. He is a man with no real connection to other human beings, to himself, or to God. He has wasted his life, but he is saved because his heart is opened by compassion for others. Tolstoy's judgment of Ivan's shallow life is also a judgment of the Russian society which has created Ivan and his petty life. Ivan is not a bad man, but he has been misled by believing what society has told him is the way to the good life. He has done everything Russian society has told him he should do in order to be happy, to be respected, to have power, to enjoy life. In the process, he has become a man incapable of feeling a single feeling for anybody but himself. Through Ivan, Tolstoy is questioning the meaning of all human existence. Ivan is simply an extreme example of a man who has lived his life with no spiritu
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Approximate Word count = 1762
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)
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