In the story "How Much Land Does a Man Need" by Leo Tolstoy, Tolstoy employs Pahom, the protagonist, to endure a fatal flaw of excessive greed and power that leads to his downfall. It touches the human nature to which we are bound and which we must resist in order to become interconnected and be one with the universe. Tolstoy challenges people of different social classes in relation to their morals and their approach to life, which is, in the same sense, their approach to death. Recognizing that it is similar to a fable, it is assumed that it is designed to enlighten the reader with a moral. Although the moral can be perceived as indicating the false relationship between money, or more specifically land and contentment, Tolstoy complicates this with the inclusion of the devil in the story, favoring the story to contain a religious or symbolic interpretation rather than a literal one . While the devil may represent the human condition and the weakness that is greed and power, Pahom portrays the human soul and free will being questioned in decision making. Recognizing that there are many references to the Devil and many to God, he highlights the presence of evil that we may not be aware of. At the same time, Tolstoy emphasizes the necessity of God and spiritual needs in one's life, even during times of materialistic indulgences. Pahom's death is caused by abandoning his home and, without realizing it, his own life and God as he creates his own destiny by neglecting everything he once had as a landless servant. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get Original Essay The story opens with a conversation between a younger sister, who is the wife of a farmer, Pahom, and an elder sister, who resides in the city, rich and indulges in materialistic lifestyle. They discuss whether they prefer city life or country life. The older sister boasts of her better clothes, good food, entertainment, and generally a more comfortable and luxurious lifestyle. However, the younger sister seems to be grateful for her, even though she is a humble sister who is near the farms. He mentions the many risks of the richest lifestyle, such as losing everything one can earn, indulging in such temptations, and engaging in foolishness. The younger sister further supports her position that although the peasants do not live so comfortably, they are “free of anxiety” and do not crave materialistic possessions and, in essence, do not indulge in the temptations of the Devil. Pahom, listening to the conversation, agrees with his wife that the peasants are loaded with work and therefore have no time for nonsense. However, he exclaims that their only problem is that they do not acquire enough land. He states, “If I had a lot of land, I wouldn’t be afraid of the devil himself!” The Devil is first introduced when he is recognized as inferior by a simple servant. The juxtaposition of Pahom's contradiction between his greed for land and acceptance of peasant life challenges the Devil to tempt him with his desires. Listening to Pahom's weakness from behind the oven, the Devil takes the opportunity to tempt a farmer "satisfied" with the land. “We're going to have a fight. I will give you enough land; and through that land I will put you in my power. The Devil wanted to challenge Pahom and provide him with the land he needed, but he knew Pahom would only want more. The series of unfortunate events for Pahom begins as the plot progresses. Shortly thereafter, Pahom purchased 40 acres from a small landowner with a 300-acre estate. He was very happy, but then the animals of the neighboring farmersthey began to wander through its meadows. After forgiving them several times, he finally lost his temper and started fining people and filing complaints in the district court. Even as Pahom gained more land, he also gained more problems to deal with, engaging in nonsense that he hadn't dealt with before acquiring more land. Even though Pahom thought that getting more land would provide him with security and protection, it was the exact opposite. The peasants have no time for nonsense because they are full of work to keep busy, but since the upper classes have already acquired the basic necessities for survival, they shift their attention to things like temptation, pleasure, and even profit without realizing it. the more they earn, the more they can lose. The devil attempts to lure Pahom after providing him with the necessary land he asked for earlier. After hearing rumors that people were migrating to different areas, Pahom decided this was good news as he could expand his property and live in peace. A farmer passing by at night tells Pahom that many people have migrated beyond the Volga, where there are 25 acres of land for each settler as he further explains how thick and tall the sown rye grew. Compared to the land he "owned" now, Pahom wished to start over and hopefully get even better land there. The Devil, dissatisfied with Pahom's decision to stay, disguises himself as a farmer to tempt him to emigrate and because he knows that Pahom would be unable to employ his free will and resist materialistic indulgences. Although Pahom should have been content with his 40 acres of land, as he had previously noted, problems arose and his greed for more land grew to become even greater, drawing him into the Devil's realm and distancing him from God. Pahom's ownership of land and wealth pushes him to move and eventually forget a place he calls "home" to settle down. He does not realize that Pahom begins to abandon his possessions and eventually learns to abandon God for his land. In the same way that Tolstoy abandoned his home because he could not bear his luxurious lifestyle, Pahom abandons his peasant lifestyle even though it could lead to his death. After Pahom settled on the Volga, he realized that the rumors were true, eventually acquiring 3 times more. like his previous home and is 10 times better than before. At first Pahom was quite happy, but as he began to get used to his wealth, he realized that he still did not have enough land. Having satisfied his needs, he realized that it was exasperating to rent other people's land every year and decided that he wanted to own his own land and become independent. He met the Devil again, this time disguised as a merchant, who told him that he had purchased 13,000 acres of land, all for just 1,000 rubles from the land of the Bashkirs. Once again abusing his free will to tempt the devil, he reached land and the Bashkir tribal leaders agreed to offer him as much land as he wanted per day for just 1000 rubles. In this case, the Baskirs were essentially paying Pahom to be part of their community rather than for the land, but Pahom's vision and intention were different from theirs, indicating how distant he was from God. However, there was one condition in the agreement: he had to return to his original place before sunset, otherwise his money would be lost. The night before marking his territory, he had a dream. He dreamed that the Baskir chief was outside his tent chuckling at him, only to see him transform into the merchant, the farmer, and finally the Devil. Before the Devil he was a dead man prostrate on the ground, for thenrealize it was himself. Completely blinded by wealth, Pahom failed to perceive this dream as a final warning from God. His subconscious was aware of the Devil's temptations while his consciousness was only concerned with the earth. Therefore, Pahom dismissed it as a daily dream instead of a harbinger of his death. Recognizing Pahom's greed, one can assume that human nature is greedy and blinded only by wealth. They are never satisfied with what they currently possess because it will only make them want more. This concerns Adam and Eve and since that incident we are all considered sinners at birth who must seek redemption to be forgiven. The human condition and its inability to never be satisfied is explored, especially if one is a slave to materialistic values ​​compared to those who focus on external values ​​that are permanent. “The grass is greener on the other side” is Pahoms' mentality as the Devil subjects him to a series of events that will ultimately lead to his death. While the peasants are happy and empty, Pahom and the rich are not empty, but simply dissatisfied. Pahom calculates how much ground he is capable of scoring and as the end of the day approaches, he realizes that it is too late. The theme of abandonment reappears as he abandons his possessions and clothes to officially reclaim his land. With this, he runs to the original spot using only the scalpel and makes it. As he approaches death and the truth, his possessions remain only temporary. Furthermore, the distance from the original place exemplifies his isolation from the community due to such temptations. Readers recognize that he can barely walk back, a sign that the Devil has overcome him because even “his legs gave way as if they did not belong to him.” Pahom's greed gets the better of him and causes him to drop dead from exhaustion. Ironically, the scalpel he uses to mark his 'ownership' of the land is used to dig his grave, bringing readers the answer to the title. “Six feet from head to heels was all he needed. Tolstoy suggests that the land should not be entitled to and owned by anyone except its creator, who is God. The fact that Pahom wants ownership of the land exemplifies his desire not only to gain wealth and power, but to essentially be God. Even after reclaiming his territory, the only territory he now truly "owns" is the land he is buried deep within. This is important because asking the question, how much land does a man need, presupposes that a person has a greedy mentality, therefore he must realize his limitations. Pahom acquired so much land that he almost couldn't see it beyond his eyes. The farmer who had the same similar agreement took only the land he needed. If everyone was like Pahom, there wouldn't be enough land to go around and people would have to pay just to wander the land. This being the case, people would be left to work for the land that greedy people have acquired for their own profit. Rousseau claims that civilization has had a corrupting influence because we fine people for owning property that we don't even own ourselves. Although he was able to mark a large amount of territory, he did not recognize that it was only temporary. When Pahom is alive, he will never get everything he needs, but when he is dead and gone, he will have finally acquired everything he needs. “I will never reach that point” Human nature is that if we focus exclusively on materialistic values, we will never be satisfied with what we have, as the saying goes, it is good where we are not. Tolstoy places ownership of land in opposition to God because he is essentially the true..