AUTHORS BACKGROUND

Life

On September 8, 1828, Leo Tolstoy was born in Yasnaya Polyana, a family

owned estate located in Tula Province, Russia. He came from a well-known family of Old
Russian nobility. He was the youngest of four boys and he lost his parents at a very young age
making his Aunt as his legal guardian. He received his primary education at home by some
German and French tutors. In 1843, he enrolled at the University of Kazan majoring in Oriental
Languages but he doesnt excel much and had low grades so he was forced to shift in to an
easier program and in 1983 he left the university without earning a degree. He went home and
actually considered to become a farmer and lead the serfs on their estate but soon failed
because of his several absences on social visits to Tula and Moscow but he did however
succeed in writing and keeping a journal, a habit that became the basis of some of his works.

Early works

When his brother who worked for the military came visit him, he managed to
convince Leo Tolstoy to join the army as a junker for the army. While working in the army he
wrote his trilogy autobiographical books titled childhood, the boyhood and youth.

Personal Life

He married Sofya Andreyevna Bers in 1862, who was sixteen years his junior.
They had thirteen children.

Major Works

Two of the most widely known novels of Leo Tolstoy are War and Peace (1869)
and Anna Karenina (1878). Anna Karenina was partially based on current events while Russia
was at War with Turkey. Like his work War and Peace, it also fictionalized some true events
from Toltoys Life.

The conversion

Tolstoy suffered a spiritual crisis and grew depressed. Struggling to uncover the
meaning of life, he became a radical Christian anarchist and rejected ownership to his works.
He still wrote short stories though and in 1872, he published God sees the truth but waits.
SUMMARY

God sees the truth but waits is about a man named Aksionov who was wrongly
convicted of murder and served many years in the Siberian prison where by chance he met the
real murderer. The murderer upon meeting Aksionov admitted his crime to the authorities but
when the order of his release came, Aksionov was already dead.

ANALYSIS

1. God sees the truth but waits was written at the time after Leo Tolstoy suffered a spiritual
crisis and depression. It was also the time when he renounced the words literary and
artistic. That means that he has already denied his writing profession and continued to
his spiritual life by making religion as a major theme on some of his works.

2. This story somewhat represents the life of Leo Tolstor. Firstly, he gained prominence in
Russia because of his literary expertise and his major works and it is the very same
fame Aksionov experienced in the story. But when Tolstoy read Arthur Schopenauers
The World and Will as Representation, his morality slowly became ascetic and
renounced almost all of his works and even his fame as a writer.

Same goes with Aksionov because based on the story, he was somewhat innocent of
the world and when he was imprisoned he realized that being materialism and worldly
can never help him to be free from that prison but religiousness on the other hand will do
that job for him. He believed that being alone; being like almost a hermit will save him
from his sins and that is the very same thing that Tolstoy did. (Gagno, 2013)

Aksionov is somewhat a portrayal of Tolstoys life as a Christian radical and anarchist. It

tells us that material things or possesions could never save a person. Leo Tolstoy and
Aksionov shared the same belief and that is Religion alone can do what material things
cannot.
3. Leo Tolstoy said that art aims to unite and God sees the truth but waits is under the
religious art. The religious art aims to share the love for God and for man. "It seems that
only God can know the truth; it is to Him alone we must appeal, and from Him alone
expect mercy, it shows that the main character have a greater faith to God. It is when
 his wife doubted him too. This shows the religious art. The feelings of Aksyonov turn
towards God; God became his armor during his trials in the jail. He was even named in
the jail the Saint because he gave up his life to God. (NIKKI)

4. God will forgive you....Maybe I am a hundred times worse than you." Throughout the
story, Aksionov was depicted as anything but pure of heart. It seems puzzling that he
said that he was worse than the murderer and afterwards he also told Makar Semyonich
that God will eventually forgive him. Then after saying those words his heart grew light
and his longing for home left him it is very evident here what Tolstoy wanted us to know
what our attachments to material things such as our home, businesses and families are
what makes us sinners. Even if there is nothing bad about these things, being attached
itself makes us sin and ties us to earth and only when we give up those things can we
truly become free. (Bernardo, 2013)

5. In the beginning of the story, we can see that there is a foreshadowing technique used
by Tolstoy to suggest that something bad will happen to Aksionov. That part is when his
wife dreamt that his hair was quite gray at the time he returned from the town. And with
that we already have a hint what will happen to Aksionov in his journey

6. 3. Leo Tolstoy said that art aims to unite and God sees the truth but waits is under
the religious art He was imprisoned because of the evil deed of other person. He spent
his 26 years of his life in jail paying for the crime he did not do. He was accused of killing
another merchant he met; he was forgotten by his family and friends because he was in
jail. (NIKKI)

7. We can see the drastic change of heart of Makar Semyonich when Aksionov did not
condemn him from escaping the prison. I cannot say, your honor. It is not Gods will that
I should tell upon hearing this words from Aksionov, Semyonich felt really guilty and he
instantly felt the agony that Aknionov went through while hes in jail.

8. The real meaning of life and death are some of the themes of the story. The story shows
that life is unfair. You have to suffer until the end that makes you accept the pain and
continue the life you must not be living with. Like Aksyonov he lived the life that he does
not deserve and on the other hand the murderer lived the life of a free man. Faith for
 God is the only way to have a fair life. Aksyonov gave his life to god because he
believed in Him. It was really unfair life because when it was time for the real murderer to
confess the truth Aksyonov died. Death gave him justice, once he knew the truth god
gave him the time to stop suffering from the life he lived in. But after all, even it was an
unfair life for him Aksyonov was able to make a meaningful life. He lived his life as he
was free as a true man.

9. By just merely reading the title, you are somewhat given a hint on what the story is all
about. God knows the truth, he will always know the truth but in some ways he will do
nothing or sometimes his answers can be no but God wants us to be a mediator of
Justice and to be an instrument in transforming and touching other peoples lives. It is
not really clear why aksionovs release came after his death, it isnt clear why he should
wait that long before the truth prevails but in this story it made us realized that God
always have a reason and this reason however hard it is to understand it always
transforms us to become a better person.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/23190895/Analysis-and-Interpretation-of-God-Sees-the-
Truth-But-Waits-by-Tolstoi

http://www.biography.com/people/leo-tolstoy-9508518?page=3

http://www.storybites.com/book-reviews/god-sees-the-truth-but-waits-by-leo-tolstoy.php

Tolstoy's "God Sees the Truth, but Waits": A Reflection

Dermot J. Archer

Religious Studies , Vol. 21, No. 1 (Mar., 1985), pp. 75-89

Published by: Cambridge University Press

Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20006140

God Sees the Truth but Waits

Leo N. Tolstoy

Litigation , Vol. 22, No. 1, EVIDENCE (Fall 1995), pp. 76, 72-74

Published by: American Bar Association

Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/29759822