Resurrection

Author: Tolstoy
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2001-01-01
Features: The Resurrection is a monumental work that Tolstoy poured his heart and soul into over ten years in his later years, representing the culmination of his thoughts and art. It exposed and criticized Russian society with unprecedented intensity, primarily revealing the darkness of the courts, prisons, and government agencies, as well as the stupidity, cruelty, and reactionary nature of officials and the law. Lenin aptly described Tolstoy when evaluating him: "In his later works, Tolstoy fiercely criticized all modern state, church, social, and economic systems," achieving a "clear-eyed realism" that "tore off all masks," becoming a "genius artist who created a masterpiece in world literature." On the other hand, he was a fervent advocate of doctrines like "non-violent resistance to evil," earning the label of a "Tolstoyan—a、." Katerina Maslova was the daughter of a peasant woman. Her mother worked at the dairy farm of the noblewoman Sophia. Her father was a wandering Romani. When Maslova was three, her mother died. The noblewoman, impressed by her beauty, took her in. Thus, she lived a life half like a lady and half like a servant. She did housework, cleaned rooms, polished icons with white chalk, roasted meat, ground flour, brewed coffee, and washed light chores; sometimes she read to the mistress. At the age of sixteen, she fell in love with the young nobleman, the nephew of the noblewoman, who was a university student visiting his aunt for the summer. Two years later, went to serve in the army and passed by his aunt's estate on his way. He stayed for four days. On a Easter evening, he had a physical relationship with Maslova. As he left, he gave her one hundred rubles and went to the army. After that, never sent her a letter. She was pregnant. Once, Maslova learned that would pass by a station near the estate. The noblewomen had invited him to visit them, but he replied that he couldn’t come and would arrive in St. Petersburg on the specified date. Maslova was heartbroken, but she decided to go to the station to see him. It was a rainy, cool autumn night. Due to the darkness, she couldn’t see the path in the fields and got lost. By the time she reached the station, the train was about to leave. She saw sitting in the first-class carriage. But she didn’t even get a chance to say a word before the train departed. Maslova chased after the train along the platform, dropped her kerchief, and fell hard. Drenched by the rain and exhausted, she returned home. From that day on, she underwent a great change in her thoughts, realizing the unbridgeable gap between herself and the nobleman. She imagined "sitting in a velvet chair, in a brightly lit carriage, talking and drinking, having fun; while I, in the open air, with wind and rain, stood in the dark, crying." She no longer trusted people, believing everything was a deception. When the noblewoman learned that Maslova was pregnant, she drove her out of the house. To make a living, she had to work as a maid for others, but each time she was molested and humiliated by the master. The child she gave birth to also died. Later, she fell into the brothel Kizhevatova and became a prostitute. Ten years later, Maslova was involved in a murder case and put on trial by the court. The incident went as follows: A Siberian merchant, Similkov, went to the brothel for pleasure. The waiter Kalgin and the former maid Bochka saw that the merchant was rich and conceived a plan to kill him for his money. They gave a packet of powder to Maslova, asking her to put it in the merchant’s tea, pretending it was a sleeping pill. At the time, Maslova was being harassed by the merchant and wanted to get rid of him, so she did as they asked. The result was that the merchant was poisoned to death. After the incident, the waiter and the maid bribed the lawyer to place all the blame on Maslova. The court opened to try Maslova’s case., as a noble representative, participated in the trial. During the interrogation, the judges were only concerned with their own affairs, indifferent to the case. One judge, having just argued with his wife, was in a bad mood and worried that she wouldn’t feed him when he got home. Another judge, Matvey, was always late. He was preoccupied with his illness. He thought that if the number of steps from the door to his seat was divisible by three, his gastritis would improve. The distance could be covered in twenty-six steps, so he added a small step to make it twenty-seven. The assistant prosecutor, Plevov, had been drinking all night and was still not sober when he began to read the verdict against Maslova. The presiding judge wanted to finish the trial before six o’clock so he could meet a red-haired Swiss girl. recognized Maslova in the jury box, which shocked him. He recalled how he had seduced her and believed himself to be the cause of her misfortune. After seducing Maslova, he had once been plagued by guilt, but when he thought that everyone in high society did the same, he felt at ease. After completing his service, he visited his aunt’s estate but found that Maslova had already been driven out by the noblewoman. After that, to forget his mistakes, tried hard not to think about it. At the time, he was deeply involved with the nobleman Korchagin and his family. People were talking about his engagement to Maria, the daughter of Korchagin. However, he had no intention of marrying. He was having an affair with the wife of a nobleman from another county. The trial continued. The assistant prosecutor Plevov stood up and delivered a nonsensical speech. He judged Maslova guilty based on criminal genetics, believing that the lower class was inherently inferior and that inferior people were bound to commit crimes. As a prostitute, Maslova was an "inferior and degenerate example," and her crime was unquestionable. Later, the jurors wrote their verdict on Maslova. They believed she had no intention of robbing or stealing money, but forgot to add that she had no intention of killing anyone. also made a mistake. As a result, Maslova was sentenced to be exiled to Siberia for four years of hard labor. When Maslova was returned to prison, the prisoners greeted her with sympathetic words. When they learned of her sentence, one prisoner said, "In these times, truth has gone to the dogs." believed the court had made an unfair judgment. He went to find the lawyer Fanaly to appeal the case to a higher court. At the same time, he also went to see the prosecutor, admitting that he had seduced Maslova and asking to visit her in prison, preparing to marry her to make amends for his. He declared that he would no longer serve as a juror because the court’s "trials were not only useless but immoral." In prison, met Maslova and asked her to forgive him, telling her about his decision to marry her. However, Maslova could not forgive him. She angrily said, "Go find your countesses, my price is a ten-ruble note. I’m a criminal, you’re a count, there’s nothing for you here. You’ve played with me in this world, and now you want to use me to save yourself and get to heaven! I hate you—your glasses, your dirty fat face! Go, go!" was rejected, but he wanted to do what was right in his conscience. Even if Maslova didn’t want to marry him, he wanted to go to Siberia with her. Where she went, he would go. He began to criticize the life path he had walked and felt ashamed of his parasitic existence, wanting to break away from his class. To prepare for Siberia, returned to his estate—Kuzminskoye Village. He implemented measures to improve the lives of the peasants. He rented out the land at a low price (thirty percent cheaper than what the peasants rented from the nobles in the county) to the peasants, changing their dependence on the nobles. Then, he visited Panof (the estate he inherited from his aunt) and personally talked to the peasants, understanding their living conditions and sympathizing with their poverty and plight. He believed, "The main reason the common people are impoverished is that they have lost the only thing that can sustain them—the land." He agreed with the tax system proposed by the American Henry George, believing that "land cannot be the property of anyone; like water, air, and sunlight, it cannot be bought or sold. Everyone has an equal right to enjoy the benefits that land gives to humanity." Here, he rented out the land to the peasants as well and further used the funds collected from the peasants as public funds or taxes for their own use. He called a meeting of the peasant representatives. At first, the peasants were skeptical, not daring to believe the nobles’ kindness. After explained repeatedly, they finally accepted it. When returned to the provincial city from the countryside, he felt an immense sense of relief and a sense of wonder, as if a traveler had discovered new land. gave Maslova a family photo from his aunt’s estate that he had found in Panof, which included pictures of her and. He told her he was going to St. Petersburg for a trip, as the Supreme Court would be reviewing Maslova’s appeal case. At the same time, he also helped Maslova transfer from prison to a prison hospital for work. stayed with his aunt in St. Petersburg. His uncle, Count Ivan Mikhaylovich, was the former Minister of State. Through his introduction, visited several influential figures, including the Chief Justice Wolf, the member of the Appeal Committee, Baron von Frolov, and the head of the state-run church, Topolov. However, these high-ranking officials were just as concerned with their own interests as the others, indifferent to the prisoners’ fate. Through his visits, clearly saw that "these officials, from his aunt’s husband, the Chief Justice, Topolov, to the handsome, clean, dignified, and self-important gentlemen sitting at the desks of various ministries, although they clearly saw that this situation was causing innocent people to suffer, they didn’t care at all, only concerned with suppressing and eliminating all dangerous elements." Maslova’s appeal case was dismissed by the Supreme Court for insufficient grounds. left St. Petersburg and told Maslova the bad news. By then, Maslova had already left the prison hospital. She was falsely accused of having an affair with the medical assistant and was sent back to prison. once again expressed his determination to go to Siberia with her. Maslova fell in love with again, so deeply that she unknowingly did everything he wanted her to: quit smoking and drinking, and no longer acted flirты. But she also thought that this union would be a misfortune to him. She couldn’t accept the sacrifices he made for her. The prisoners being sent to Siberia set off. It was a hot July, and the streets were almost deserted, with only a few passersby walking in the shadows at the roadside. Some prisoners couldn’t withstand the intense sunlight and collapsed from heatstroke on the spot. Throughout the journey, campaigned for the prisoners’ poor conditions, almost becoming their protector. At the same time, under his influence, Maslova was transferred to the category of political prisoners. In this group, she was quiet and peaceful, no longer bothered by men. Maslova found the political prisoners to be "lovable good people" and learned that they stood with the common people, opposing the upper class. Some of them, though from the noble class, sacrificed their privileges and freedom for the common people, which made her particularly admire and respect them. She met a political prisoner named Simonsen. He was shy, modest, yet extremely determined. After graduating from university, he joined the Populist movement, served as a village teacher, and "openly criticized things he believed were false and unjust." For this, he was arrested. Soon after, Simonsen fell in love with Maslova. At that time, Maslova had to choose between Simonsen and. She felt, " was proposing out of generosity and because of what had happened in the past. But Simonsen loved her because of her in her current situation, just because he loved her." So, she accepted Simonsen’s love. With the help of his St. Petersburg friend, the assistant prosecutor Selinin, had Maslova’s case changed from hard labor to exile near Siberia. He told Maslova the news. At that moment, a need for family and children arose in his heart. However, Maslova had already decided to go with Simonsen. She didn’t want to "ruin"’s life. was rejected again, but he didn’t feel pain. He had done his best and made sacrifices to love her. He had paid enough to atone for his. Thus, he peacefully slept on a bench outside the prison, feeling a sweet and satisfying sleep. After that, Maslova and Simonsen left. was left behind. In the Gospel, he found five life principles: to be pious toward God, to swear no oaths, to endure humiliation, to love one’s enemies, and to resist no one. He believed that if people followed these five principles and constantly repented, they could "attain the greatest happiness, and the kingdom of heaven would be established on earth." He began to live a new spiritual life. His soul was saved.