Greed and Envy When viewed through its main theme, ‘‘How Much Land Does a Man Need?’’ is not a complex or subtle story. It is about the sins of greed and envy as they manifest in one particular man, the peasant Pahom. Unlike his wife, Pahom has not learned to be satisfied with what he…
Tag: Russia
How Much Land Does A Man Need? – Characters
The Chief The chief is the leader of the Bashkirs. It is he who formally agrees to Pahom’s request to take some land, and he lays out the details of the agreement. Pahom dreams of the chief, seeing him sitting outside the tent laughing. Then when the exhausted Pahom nears the hillock where the chief…
How Much Land Does A Man Need? – Summary
Part 1 ‘‘How Much Land Does a Man Need?’’ begins with one woman who lives in a city visiting her younger sister in the country. The elder sister is married to a successful tradesman, while the younger sister is married to a peasant in the village. The elder sister boasts about the advantages of living…
The Grand Inquisitor – Analysis
The central conflict in “The Grand Inquisitor” is between the Inquisitor himself and his prisoner, Jesus. On the surface, it is a one-sided battle. The Inquisitor does literally all the talking, making accusation after accusation while Jesus refuses to defend himself. Perhaps “refuses” is the wrong word, for it implies a level of engagement that…
The Grand Inquisitor – Setting
The Russian Empire Russia in the 1860s and 1870s was in a great upheaval. Its ruler, Tsar Alexander II, had negotiated the end of the Crimean War in 1856, ending four years of conflict between Russia and an alliance comprising England, France, Sardinia and Turkey. Russia, at the time one of the greatest powers in…
The Grand Inquisitor – Literary Devices
Narrator Perhaps the most important thing to keep in mind when reading “The Grand Inquisitor” is that the long speech is spoken by a character in a novel. It should be obvious, but it is easy to forget, that this is not an argumentative essay by Dostoevsky, in which the ideas expressed can be traced…
The Grand Inquisitor – Themes
God and Religion The fundamental tension in “The Grand Inquisitor” is between God, in the form of Jesus, and religion, in the form of the Roman Catholic Church. According to the Grand Inquisitor, the two cannot coexist in the modern world; one must give way because they require different things from their followers. Jesus refused…
The Grand Inquisitor – Characters
Alyosha Alyosha listens to Ivan reciting the legend of the Grand Inquisitor, and twice interrupts the narrative to ask questions. He speaks only eight sentences in the story—all questions—but gives Ivan and Dostoevsky opportunities to explain and interpret for the reader. The Cardinal See The Grand Inquisitor The Grand Inquisitor The Grand Inquisitor, a ninety-year-old…
The Grand Inquisitor – Summary
“The Grand Inquisitor” begins with a set of opening quotation marks. An unidentified speaker says, “Fifteen centuries have passed since He promised to come in His glory, fifteen centuries since His prophet wrote, ‘Behold, I come quickly.’” The uppercase “H” in the word “He” is used conventionally to indicate that “He” is the Christian God;…
That in Aleppo Once by Vladimir Nabokov: Analysis
In his opening paragraph to V., the narrator of “That in Aleppo Once…” explains that he learned V.’s address from a mutual acquaintance who “seemed to think somehow or other” that V.”was betraying our national literature.” While the opinions of “good old Gleb Alexandrovich Gekko” matter little to V. or the narrator (who even slightly…