Eng 251 9/17 Lesson

The Corrupting Nature of Greed

The story begins when Pakhom unwittingly extends a dare to the Devil, claiming that with enough land he would have nothing to fear. Pakhom’s subsequent, insatiable pursuit of land leads him down a path of increasing selfishness and avarice, until he ultimately drops dead.

Tolstoy places a critical lens on the social hierarchy of Russian society, in which the poor are routinely deprived to ensure that the rich remain wealthy. Peasants in the story are depicted as second-class citizens, and Pakhom’s desire for more land stems in large part from a desire for upward mobility. 

God, the Devil, and Free Will

^{As one of only three named characters, the Devil plays a crucial role. Early on Pakhom declares that with enough land, he would “fear no one–not even the Devil himself!” The Devil, eavesdropping nearby, receives this statement as a personal dare and sets the events of the story in motion.}

^{Although Pakhom has free will, in the sense that he could deny the Devil if he wished, Tolstoy also presents God as wielding ultimate power over man. Pakhom may be free to decide how he will live his life; however, it is God’s will that decides his fate.}

When death comes for Pakhom during his attempt to walk the Bashkirs’ land, he repeatedly disregards it and shows surprisingly little fear. It is not simply greed that blinds Pakhom to the danger he is in, however, but also his own pride. Pakhom refuses to heed warnings of death and seems to fear the shame of losing his new-found material wealth and social standing more than his own wellbeing. By linking pride and death, Tolstoy suggests that the former, like greed, is a corrupting influence that leads only to ruin and moral decay.