Leo

Tolstoy
 Leo Tolstoy

Leo Tolstoy was a Russian author best known for his

novels War and Peace. Tolstoy is also regarded as world’s
best novelist by many. In addition to writing novels,
Tolstoy also authored short stories, essays and plays. He
was born in 1828 and died in 1910. Tolstoy’s short story
“God Sees the Truth, but waits” was published in 1872.
 Characters

There are two main characters in Leo N. Tolstoy's

story "God Sees the Truth, But Waits." They are
Ivan Dmitrich Aksionov and Makar Semyonich.
Other minor characters include Aksionov's wife,
the soldiers, and the police officer.
 Main theme of the story
We find various themes here in this story "God Sees the Truth,
but Waits". The major themes in the story are guilt,
forgiveness, faith, conflict, freedom and acceptance. The story
has presented all these theme. Among these themes,
forgiveness is one of the greatest theme. Here, we find
forgiveness of Aksionov for Makar Semyonich. Although
Aksionov has spent his twenty-six years in prison for a crime
he didn't commit, he is able to forgive Makar who committed
the crime. This story has shown the best form of revenge
which is forgiveness.
The story "God Sees the Truth, But Waits" has been written by
Leo Tolstoy, a Russian philosopher. The story has revealed the
importance of forgiveness in our life.

This story is about the life of Ivan Dmitrich Aksionov who was
a young, handsome and jovial merchant of Vladimir, a town in
Russia. Before marriage, he used to drink much and even
become riotous. He was the best singer. He had virtuous
qualities such as faith, forgiveness, freedom, acceptance etc.
One day, his wife dreamt bad about him. She dreamed that Aksionov had returned
his town with grey hair. She became afraid of him and tried to stop him from going
to the Nizhny fair.

But, Aksionov went to the fair against his wife's will On his way, he met a merchant
of Ryazan and spent his night with him in an inn. The merchant was found out dead
the next morning. Aksionov was accused of killing the merchant and stealing
twenty thousand roubles from him. His release petition was even rejected. His wife
also asked questions to him being suspicious. He was severely tortured in the
prison and finally sent to Siberian prison to work in the mines for twenty-sir years.
He grew old there. In Siberian prison, he was completely changed. He
devoted his every day in the name of God. The book The Lives of the
Sainte changed his life. He participated in the prison's church doing
religious activities. He was liked and respected by others.

One day, Aksionov met Makar Semeyonich, the real murderer in prison.
He knew the truth about Makar. But, he saved Makar from the
govemor in the crime of digging a tunnel under the prison's wall. Makar
felt ashamed of himself and asked for an apology to Aksionov. He
confessed his crime and got an excuse from Aksionov. Aksionov got self-
realization and died peacefully in prison.
Thus, the title reflects in this story that every decision of God needs
enough time. We should wait for the truth to win. Faith in God gives us
the answer to all our problems as the title says 'God sees the truth but
waits.'
The End
Exercise
Answer these questions.
a. What bad habits did Aksionov have before his marriage ?
b. What can be the meaning of his wife’s dream ?
c. Why did Aksionov think of killing himself ?
d. Why did Makar disclose that he had killed the merchant ?
e. Why doesn’t Aksionov wish to return to his family at the end of the
story ?
Reference to the text
a. “Well, old man,” repeated the Governor, “tell me the truth: who has
been digging under the wall ?”
i. Who is that old man ?
ii. Which truth is the speaker asking about ?
iii. Which wall does the speaker mean ?
b. Describe Aksionov’s character.
c. What is the theme of the story ?
d. Which symbols are used in the story and what do they indicate ?
Reference beyond the text
a. What role does religion play in Aksionov’s life? How does he
undergo a spiritual transformation in the story ?
b. What does the story tell us about the existence of unfair system of
justice ?