God Sees the Truth but Waits
Leo Tolstoy
Summary
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.
Theme of God Sees the Truth but Waits
The story shows the importance of faith to face all kinds of
situations in life. The character of Aksionov suggests that prayers and
forgiveness give us relief from troubles, but anger, revenge and ill feelings
burden our soul.
Understanding
The Text
Answer The Following Questions:
a. What bad habits did Aksionov have before his marriage?
Ans: He had a drinking habit before his marriage.
b. What can be the meaning of his wife’s dream?
Ans: Her dream suggests something bad is going
to happen. Aksionov’s wife’s dream may be suggesting delay for years. On the
day of the business trip, she dreamed that his hair was grey on his return.
Later he was trapped for a murder and spent 26 years in jail.
c. Why did Aksionov think of killing himself?
Ans: Aksionov thought of killing himself because
he remembered his beautiful past. He remembered how he sat playing the guitar
in the porch of the inn where he was arrested, all the twenty-six years of his
prison life and how free from care he had been.
d. Why did Makar disclose that he had killed the
merchant?
Ans: Makar confessed about killing the merchant
because of regret. He was trying to escape from the jail. But Ivan saved him
from the guards by not telling the truth. This made Makar feel bad for trapping
a good man like Ivan.
e. Why doesn’t Aksionov wish to return to his family at
the end of the story?
Ans: Aksionov doesn’t wish to return his family
toward the finish of the story since he has gotten very old and weak. He has
consumed his whole time on earth in jail without carrying out any wrongdoing.
Reference
To the Text
A. "Well, old man," repeated the Governor,
"tell me the truth: who has been digging under the wall?"
1. Who is that old man?
Ans: That old man is Aksionov.
2. Which truth is the speaker talking about?
Ans: The speaker is asking about who has been digging a tunnel under
the wall of the prison?
3. Which wall does the speaker mean?
Ans: The speaker means the wall of the prison.
b. Describe Aksionov’s character.
Ans: The funny and carefree type of young
Aksionov with a drinking habit becomes a responsible man and a successful merchant
after marriage. He does not believe in superstitions. Therefore, he just
ignores his wife’s bad dream about his future. But then the turn of fate brings
a U-turn in his life, nature and character. After all hopes end, he falls in a
resigned mood, putting faith in God and prayers. In jail he gains respect and
popularity by the name ‘grandfather’. He also forgives the man for whose crime
he had to spend 26 years of life in jail.
c. What is the theme of the story?
Ans: The story shows the importance of faith to
face all kinds of situations in life. The character of Aksionov suggests that
prayers and forgiveness give us relief from troubles, but anger, revenge and
ill feelings burden our soul.
d. Which symbols are used in the story and
what do they indicate?
Ans: Major Symbols and Indications:
|
Symbols |
Meaning/Indication |
|
House and
Shops |
earthly
possession/temporary things |
|
Grey hair
of Aksinov |
suggesting
delay for years |
|
Prison |
suffering
and his eventual spiritual transformation /realization |
|
The Lives
of the Saints(Book) |
Means of
Transformation |
|
fair-haired,
curly-headed Aksinov |
Youth |
The main symbols in this short story are Aksionov’s home,
two shops and jail where he is condemned to hard work. His home and two shops
address his family, his material belongings, and his natural
undertakings. Aksionov is beginning to understand that he can presently
don’t trust in any of the things he has relied upon in his life; he can’t rely
upon his material abundance to demonstrate his honesty and tragically, he
likewise can’t rely upon the lady he is hitched to for devotion in a period of
extraordinary scarcity.
The actual jail is an image of his misery and his possible
otherworldly change. When Aksionov understands that Makar was the person who
outlined him for the vendor’s homicide, he endures every one of the
psychological miseries of the violated. Makar is contacted to such an
extent that he admits everything to Aksionov and asks for absolution. Through
this basic demonstration of absolution, Aksionov is at long last ready to
acquire harmony.
Reference
beyond the text
a. What role does religion play in Aksionov’s life? How
does he undergo a spiritual transformation in the story?
Ans: Religion plays a crucial role in Aksionov’s
life. During his 26 years of detainment in Siberia Jail, his hair became white,
his giddy character vanished, and his body started to debilitate; he never gave
any indications of satisfaction and he often petitioned God.
While detained, he turned into a boot-creator, in this
manner bringing in sufficient cash to purchase a book called The Lives of the
Saints. He read this book at whatever point conceivable. On Sundays he played a
conspicuous part in the strict administrations, and he sang in the ensemble of
the jail church. The superintendents and gatekeepers liked his quietude, and
different detainees respected him with deference, calling him “Granddad” and
“The Saint.” In this way, he transformed into a saint.
b. What does the story tell us about the existence of
unfair system of justice?
Ans: “God Sees the Truth, But Waits” tells us about the fundamental imperfection of the justice system, by which the innocent is often found guilty. This is not a story about institutional corruption, of a Les Misérables type situation, where the legal system itself is thoroughly unreasonable, given that Aksionov is found guilty of murder. This makes Tolstoy’s critique an all the more foundational one, relating to the fallibility of human justice itself.