Chekhovs The Bet and the Tolstoys How Much Land Does A Man Need - Coursework Example

English Writing to Learn 5 Comparing Short Stories you want on the paper First Draft of “The Lies We Tell Ourselves and Call Them ‘Truth’” Outline for “The Bet” by Anton Chekhov Literary elements Settings: The banker’s study; the “lodge” Characters: The banker; the twenty-five year old lawyer Plots: A bet made at a party; the solitary confinement of the young man; the decline of the banker’s fortune; what happens to the confined “young” lawyer at the end. Themes: The arrogance of having wealth and the arrogance of having youth come together in a bet; the end result for both is wisdom and also contempt, of self for the banker and of the world what it considers wisdom for the young lawyer Stylistic Devices Tone of the story: The tone is factual with feelings being revealed only in the actual dialogue when the bet is made; realism is definitely the mode of literary choice in communication in this story. Imagery: “Flashback” method of imagery - the old banker looking back and remembering the events that led to night in which he was telling the story Figures of speech: Realism uses very few “figures of speech” to describe and illustrate; the illustrating is done with choices of words, such as adjectives and adverbs used to enhance the reality of the detail. For example, “free to cross the threshold of the lodge” is more illustrative of the details than “free to leave”. Concrete sensory details: In realism, sensory details are in the verbs and adjectives; some examples are: “A lively discussion arose”, “the rustling of the chilled trees,” “A damp cutting wind was racing about the garden” Repetition: Used in the first two paragraphs to accentuate the strength of the opinions against the death penalty; used again in the paragraphs detailing what the young man was allowed to have and what he was not to elucidate and intensify the solitary nature of the man’s confinement. Irony: Both men made a bet for greed and pride; both men lost the bet because of their greed and pride. Both men, each in his own way, gained a contempt for worldly ideas and a new awareness of divine wisdom. How the literary elements relate to major issues of the historical period This was the period of the industrial revolution, invention of electricity, reconstruction and resulting constitutional changes in post Civil War America, the Franco-Prussian war was occurring in Europe and the Russo-Turkish war in Russia, colonization of Africa was in full swing by England, France, Germany and Italy, Victorian England was at its height, and the “Gilded Age” was taking shape, thus a bet between a lawyer and a rich banker is the consummate mouthpiece for this story. With the combination of the industrial age and colonization expanding global awareness, it also is realistic that that the death penalty was a topic of debate amongst the sophisticates and the educated of the age. Outline for “How Much Land Does a Man Need?” by Leo Tolstoy Literary elements Settings: Peasant’s house in the country, 40-acre farm, 125 acre farm, land of the Bashkirs Characters: Two sisters (introductory characters only), Pahom (main), the Devil, peasants, Bashkir chief Plots: Pahom’s actions resulting from his ongoing feeling that what he possessed was inadequate Themes: Exploring the falseness of the human belief that having more brings contentment Stylistic Devices Tone of the story: Allegorical; the persons and actions have meanings which are both literal and symbolic and are pointing to contexts and ideas outside the story itself Imagery: Allegorical; the devil is personified briefly, human greed and discontent in Pahom Figures of speech: “temptation,” “the Evil One,” “the Devil” and his “tussle” with Pahom are all figures of speech revealing this story as an allegory speaking symbolically of beliefs and ideas beyond the story itself Concrete sensory details: The story is very realistically told with sensory details provided only where it was necessary to elucidate the feelings. Examples include: “the elder sister said sneeringly” “Pahom’s heart kindled with desire,” and nearly all of parts VII – IX in which the sensory details heighten the anticipation of the story’s climax Repetition: Repetition is used in this story to connect descriptive sentences to enhance the picture created in the imagination. An example from the last chapter: “The mares were milked, and from the milk kumiss was made. It was the women who prepared kumis, and they also made cheese. As far as the men were concerned, drinking kumiss and tea, eating mutton…” Irony: The younger sister’s peasant life was every bit as loaded with temptation in a different way, proving that no way of life is free of anxiety, temptation or pain. The more Pahom gained land, the more he lost in peace of mind, contentment and values. How the literary elements relate to major issues of the historical period The period in which Tolstoy lived and wrote was a period characterized by struggles and wars over land and territory and characterized by colonization of as yet unsettled parts of the world by those who considered themselves world powers at the time. Thus using land as the allegorical symbol of the human addiction to the need to have more was the perfect allegorical symbol of the time. Thesis: As industrialization and colonization brought more knowledge and wealth into the world it also brought with it the lie that more wealth brings more freedom and contentment. Both stories, through the use of irony, realism and realistically told allegory, and well-developed characters within their genres, illustrate this lie and its consequences for human beings who choose to call it truth. Final Draft of The Lie We Tell Ourselves and Call It ‘Truth’ As industrialization and colonization brought more knowledge and wealth into the world it also brought with it the lie that more wealth brings more freedom and contentment. Both stories, through the use of irony, realism and realistically told allegory, and well-developed characters within their genres, illustrate this lie and its consequences for human beings who choose to call it truth. While Chekhov uses nearly pure realism to unwrap an irony, Tolstoy wraps an irony in allegory told in realistic fashion. Thus in different ways both expose the lies we tell ourselves and call them truth. Both stories begin with a debate between two persons; however, one develops into a bet between those persons who become the main characters, while in the other the persons debating serve only to reveal the theme and then disappear as the allegory takes hold and spins that theme into a story. Although the actual stories themselves are quite different, their messages expose the same lie that happiness and freedom can be sought and found in having more wealth. While in “The Bet” the initial presence of wealth becomes its own snare for the characters (Chekhov, chapter 1), in “How Much Land Does A Man Need?” it was the continued acquisition of wealth that caught the main character, Pahom, in its deadly net. (Tolstoy, final chapter) Pahom, begins as the peasant husband of the younger sister embroiled in a competitive dispute with her older sister, the tradesman’s wife. He is listening to their debate and, at the point when his thoughts concluded, “If I had plenty of land, I shouldn’t fear the Devil himself!”, (Tolstoy, chapter 1) He becomes the symbol of everyman in the allegorical tale that from that point unfolds. The story of Pahom and his “tussle with the devil is told with realistic language and detail, reserving any expression of feelings for the last two chapters, when those are drawn in to heighten the drama of the climactic conclusion. For an example the following paragraph is a perfect illustration: “Pahom went on running, his soaking shirt and trousers stuck to him and his mouth was parched. His breast was working like a blacksmith’s bellows, his heart was beating like a hammer, and his legs were giving way as if they did not belong to him. Pahom was seized with terror lest he should die of the strain.” In contrast, “The Bet” has two main characters who are not given names; they are simply referred to as “the banker” and “the young lawyer”. (Chekhov, chapter 1) By way of the banker’s “flashback,” both characters introduce the story with a debate which leads to a bet. Coinciding with being unnamed, not much is revealed in detail about the characters themselves; it is the story itself that receives the detailed attention in the details of the thoughts of the banker, the confinement of the young lawyer, his thoughts and how they develop during his confinement and the concluding thoughts and actions of both characters. The sensory detail as in the other story emerges in the closing thoughts and actions of the characters. Here is an example from the thoughts of the confined man the night before his release: "For fifteen years I have been intently studying earthly life. It is true I have not seen the earth nor men, but in your books I have drunk fragrant wine, I have sung songs, I have hunted stags and wild boars in the forests, have loved women. . . . Beauties as ethereal as clouds, created by the magic of your poets and geniuses, have visited me at night, and have whispered in my ears wonderful tales that have set my brain in a whirl. In your books I have climbed to the peaks of Elburz and Mont Blanc, and from there I have seen the sun rise and have watched it at evening flood the sky, the ocean, and the mountain-tops with gold and crimson. I have watched from there the lightning flashing over my head and cleaving the storm-clouds. I have seen green forests, fields, rivers, lakes, towns. I have heard the singing of the sirens, and the strains of the shepherds pipes; I have touched the wings of comely devils who flew down to converse with me of God. . . . In your books I have flung myself into the bottomless pit, performed miracles, slain, burned towns, preached new religions, conquered whole kingdoms. . . .” The use of irony in both stories appears to be the key to their leaving a profound impact on the reader. In “The Bet” both men made a bet for greed and pride; both men lost the bet because of their greed and pride. Both men, each in his own way, were confined, one by deliberate choice, the other by his way of life and the attitudes of his heart the resulted from it. Both gained a new awareness of self, one in a contempt for worldly ideas that his confinement had given to him, the other in a self-contempt for what his life had given to him. Both became aware of the presence of something beyond themselves, of the divine (Chekhov, final chapter). In “How Much Land Does A Man Need?” the presence of something beyond himself finally occurred to Pahom at the end as well when he realized, “There is plenty of land but will God let me live on it? I have lost my life…” (Tolstoy, final chapter). In a sense, Pahom made a bet as well, a “bet” with the devil. He, too, made a “bet” for greed and pride and “lost” because of them. His wife’s peasant life that she had argued so vehemently as being temptation and anxiety free was every bit as loaded with anxiety and temptation. The irony of both stories is that the gain of more wealth produces the loss of what is truly life in a person and ironically, one often has to lose everything in order to finally grasp that wisdom. Thus, the ‘lie we call truth’ is that the more one has of material possessions the more one will have of happiness, contentment, and peace. The truth is that happiness, contentment, and peace have absolutely nothing to do with material possessions. They come from a divinely aided presence within human beings, and often, as illustrated by these two stories, human beings have to lose everything to truly find them. Sources Cited Chekhov, Anton. "The Bet." Classic Reader at Blackdog Media.com., 2007. http://www.classicreader.com/read.php/bookid.240/sec./ Tolstoy, Leo. “How Much Land Does A Man Need?” Katinka Hesselink.net., 2008. http://www.katinkahesselink.net/other/tolstoy.html Your Name Professor’s Name English Writing to Learn 6.2 Writing an Original Short Story Date you want on the paper Finding New Life in an Old Love Another day, another dollar. That was the first thought to emerge from the churning waters of her thoughts as she fired up her computer to begin her work. Ideas for her work were swimming in the background, but none were leaping to the surface and above it this day to give substance and life to her daily column. Being a writer, writing feature articles for a small daily newspaper, she needed ideas, but since her illness and the resulting collapse of her relationship with the man whom she was to marry, her ideas came slowly, if at all. Impeded by her sadness and loneliness, they remained buried, needing some stimulus, some energy to help them penetrate the heavy surface of her grief. Having been declared free of the cancer that had both interrupted and then changed her life completely, her body was restored to health but her soul was still struggling to recover and know the freedom that comes with experiencing joy in one’s life. Body and soul might have recovered together, she contemplated, had Robert stayed committed to her throughout her illness. But he had seen her illness as a liability for the future and an obstacle for the present and found someone else while she was still going to her daily radiation treatments. The one positive event in all this was that he had revealed the depth of his immaturity prior to their marriage, she reflected wryly. That had saved her from making the biggest mistake of her life. Yet a heaviness of heart still weighed down her thoughts and feelings. Life had become a lackluster routine through which she sluggishly trudged from one day to the next. Yet, she had still a flickering light of hope that one day her creativity and joy would return and with it, the possibility of love once more. This day, like the others, a gray cloud of dreariness was beginning to cast its shadows on her day. As the computer flickered to life, she felt empty, wondering how she could possibly continue to write her column. The ideas seemed to have been crushed under the weight of her burdened soul and, although everyday she gave much effort to her work, the flow of her creativity had dried up in a drought of depression that was beginning to characterize her life. As she stared at her monitor flashing its images of uploading programs, she thought to check her e-mail. With a few swift keystrokes the list appeared. A couple of work-related memos, a notice of a community meeting, a reminder from her pastor that, due to a meeting of church leaders, choir practice would be an hour later were listed, and a couple of advertisements that hadn’t been sent to her spam folder made it onto her e-mail list as well. And … what was this? The screen name listed was “captainJ”. With a click of her mouse, she opened this letter from “captainJ”. “Lilly,” it began, “I had to do a lot of detective work to find your e-mail address. I hope this is it. I have been stationed aboard an aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf, but I have returned home now. Where are you? I know it has been more than eight years since we last talked but if you receive this, please write me back. I have been thinking of you and I miss you. –John” In stunned surprise, she read the e-mail again. There was only one John that she had known in her life. He had been her very first love. Could it be? It had to be – he was the only John she had known eight years ago. Striking the keys with a vigor she hadn’t experienced for over a year, Lilly quickly tapped out a reply, “John, You do great detective work. This is indeed my e-mail address, both at work and at home. What a wonderful surprise to hear from you after eight years! I am guessing from what you wrote that you are in the Navy. Where are you stationed? How long will you be home? I am pleased you wrote to me and will eagerly correspond with you. Please write again. I miss you, too. –Lilly” She placed her mouse over “send” and clicked, then sat back in her chair. She wondered how long it would take for him to respond. She wondered if his screen name meant that he was a Navy captain; she wondered how he had come to join the Navy; she wondered what he looked like now; and with a bit more intensity than her other musings, she wondered if he was or had been married or had a girlfriend. She tilted back in her chair and closed her eyes reflecting back and remembering. Eight years ago they were but fifteen years old. He was tall and lanky with piercing, dark brown eyes. He had a head full of light brown hair that he was frequently pushing back out of his face and eyes. His deep voice made him seem older than his years. In evident contrast were her short stature, soft green eyes and reddish blonde hair, making them a striking couple when they were together. She remembered when they first met. He sat next to her in English class. They were both shy, preferring to exchange the occasional glance rather than words, until one day when the teacher asked the students to pair up to work on an assignment. She had thought she would like to have him for a partner, but they had never spoken. One or two of her girlfriends in the class seemed the easier, more likely choice. She arose from her desk to go ask one of them, only to come face to face with John who was blocking her way. “How about teaming up with me?” he asked quickly and breathlessly, as if he had to get the question out before he lost his courage. “Okay, sure” she had replied with a self-conscious half-smile, feeling her face redden into a blush. He had smiled back with his face radiating the relief he felt and his eyes gleaming with anticipation of their time together. From that shy beginning they worked together, completed their class assignment and their relationship blossomed into the romance of a first love. They shared a first kiss that led to many others. They enjoyed all the school events together and had shared many activities together away from school as well. They talked for hours about their hopes and dreams. Then one day, she recalled wistfully, John came to school very troubled. He was distant and seemed almost angry. He spoke to her only in clipped phrases and would not answer her when she asked what was wrong. She remembered that day as being one of the most anguishing days of her young life as she struggled through class after class wondering if she had said or done something to cause his pain. Then at the end of the school day, he had come to her locker and in a voice so gentle and quiet, it had touched her to the core of her being, he told her that his father’s job had been transferred to another city and that he and his father and sister were leaving in the morning to enroll in the new schools, look for a new place to live, and of course, his dad would be starting the new job. His mother would stay behind long enough to make sure the movers got everything in order and the realtor had listed their house, and then she would join them. He then apologized for having been so distant and angry. Neither he nor his sister wanted to leave but it was a big promotion for his father, and although John felt angry and hurt, he understood clearly why his dad had decided to make such a big decision that he knew would be hard on the family now, but would be much better for them financially in the long term. Then the tears John had been trying to hold back all day began to stream down his face, as he had taken her in his arms and told her how much he loved her and would miss her. She had cried and sobbed into his chest then, declaring her love with all her heart. They made a commitment to write and call each other, and then, clearly in agony, he had forced himself to release her. Then he turned and walked down the hall, through the doors and out into the late afternoon sunlight. She had run down the hall and through the doors then, and watched him as he walked to the corner; shoulders slumped and head down with his hands stuffed deep into the pockets of his jeans. There his mother was waiting to take him home from their school for the last time. Broken-hearted, she remembered just going through the motions of school and home life for many days after that horrible day. At first they had spoken on the phone frequently and exchanged many letters, but then with the passing of about three months the communication began to wind down and by the fourth month had stopped altogether. Sadly, she supposed he had found another girlfriend and she, too, decided to move on, although she had always felt she was really looking for him in the person of another. And now suddenly, here he was, reaching out to her again. Eight years had passed. Illness and broken promises had changed her and she supposed being in the Navy and being stationed in a war zone had changed him as well. Yet, time and circumstances had connected them once more. In pondering these things she recognized that as a writer she had learned to keep an open mind because “there are always possibilities.” And her time of illness had added to that learning that, where there are possibilities there is always hope. Suddenly, in an epiphanous moment of clarity, she had her ideas for writing her feature column. It was time, past time for the return of hope in her life. She was going to focus her column on stories of hope in the community and she was going to focus her life on hope. Whether John replied or not, she felt her hope in the future was restored, and with her hope, the desire to bring stories of hope and thus renewed life to her community. For Lilly had discovered that hope is the energy which propels life, and love is the force which brings life into being and renews it in its time. Read More