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The influence of Tolstoy
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Tolstoy’s Influence
Leo Tolstoy was an author, anarchist, critic, pioneer, visionary, and a world changer. He wrote many great novels and various other literary works in his time, but that only scratches the surface of how and what he did to change the world. Leo Tolstoy changed the world by starting schools which allowed peasants to get an education, influencing leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr., and changed the world through his writings.
Leo Tolstoy was a Russian author who was born September 9, 1828 at Yasnaya Polyana, Russia and died of pneumonia in the winter of 1910. Today Tolstoy is buried at his Yasnaya Polyana estate in Russia. Both of his parents died when he was just a child, and he was raised by relatives. Tolstoy was married to Sophia Tolstaya and had thirteen children with his wife however, only a handful survived past childhood. Tolstoy built up debts from gambling and joined the military to run from his debts. He began writing shortly after. He started writing letters to family and friends. Tolstoy “matured into a masterful novelist who, over the next decade and a half would write War and Peace and Anna Karenina” (Heims, p. 75). He really became inspired to start writing after he met Victor Hugo and read his book Les Miserablés, written in 1862. Leo Tolstoy borrowed the title for his best and most famous novel War and Peace, which was published in 1869, from French anarchist Pierre-Joseph Proudhon. Proudhon also influenced Leo Tolstoy becoming an anarchist, after Tolstoy read his publication called “La Guerre et la Paix”, which is French for war and peace. War and Peace was not Tolstoy’s only famous work though, he had numbers of others. Tolstoy’s second most notable book was Anna Karenina,...
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...sant Schools at Yasnaya Polyana By Eric M. Souder." . Vestnik: The Journal of Russian and Asian Studies. , 18 Oct. 2010. Web. 5 May 2014. .
"The Kingdom of God Is Within You." . Dover Publications , 8 Sept. 2006. Web. 5 May 2014. .
"Tolstoy's Biographical Information." . N.p., n.d. Web. 11 May 2014. .
Weber, Thomas. "Tolstoy and Gandhi's Law of Love." . N.p., n.d. Web. 5 May 2014. .
Wood, Paul. "The Unbroken Chain Tolstoy’s legacy of nonviolence influenced many great leaders. Tolstoy." . N.p., 1 Jan. 2009. Web. 5 May 2014. .
The readers discover that Tolstoy’s motivation for writing “Sevastopol in May” was to provide Russia with an honest war narrative, not a literary cornerstone or a piece of light reading material. This realization is the clean ending that gives readers the they closure desire. By including an explicit declaration of theme and purpose at the
Tolstoy transports the reader through these examples of sociological thought with the suffering of his hero. Ivan likely mirrors the thoughts that Tolstoy has in reference to his own life, shunning institutions of society, education and religion. It is in these examples of conformity that the reader sees err, and the justification of that err not to return to a life of perpetual discontentment and conformity, but to move ahead through the pain that Ivan experiences to learn a lesson of accepting freedom, not only on the terms of the freedom itself, but in the burden with which freedom presents itself.
Tolstoy, Leo. "The Death of Ivan Ilyich." Norton Anthology of World Literature: 1650 to the present. 3RD ed. Volume E. Puchner, Akbari, Denecke, et al. New York, London: W. W Norton, 2012. 740-778. Print.
Tolstoy, Leo, and Charles E. Moore. Leo Tolstoy: spiritual writings. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 2006. Print.
Tolstoy, Leo. "The Death of Ivan Ilych" and Other Stories. Afterword by David Magarshack. Trans. J. D. Duff and Aylmer Maude. New York: NAL/Signet Classic, 1990.
Leo Tolstoy was a Russian author whose ideals were popular in the late 19th century and was the author of War and Peace which McCandless gifted to a person, a friend, he went on with his travels. Tolstoy's beliefs were that people should live off the land, practice chastity, refrain from owning private property and using money. Chris seemed to be strongly influenced by these ideals. “He arranged all his paper currency in a pile on the sand... and put a match to it”- page 29, Which McCandless did with all of his money and cards and even changed his name. He burned everything and started over with a new name which was Alex and a new beginning. Chris idolizes Tolstoy and forgives his faults because Tolstoy didn’t try to hide and cover up his flaws and mistakes from the world. On the other hand, his father, Walt McCandless had an affair and betrayed him and his family. Chris didn’t hold people to the same standards. As much as he hated his father he still had very high expectations of him. The relation with Leo was accustomed to Chris’ life. The relation they shared made Chris look up to Leo. He also read books from him which made him close to what Leo had felt inside of
Leo Tolstoy as one of Russia’s great writers, wrote marvelous pieces looking at societal questions and playing with the minds of his readers. The Death of Ivan Ilych is one of Tolstoy’s best written short stories and a popular story for the world on the topic of death and the process of dying. This story is about a man confronting death and in a way bringing life to him during the process of his death. Ivan Ilych fell onto the inevitable trail of death and had realized the true meaning of living along the way. The concept of writing about death is not in any way a new concept nor was it obscure to read in Tolstoy’s era; what makes this short story special is the way that Tolstoy illustrates his character. Ivan Ilych goes through a journey of discovery while he is dying. This story attempts to tackle the questions that cannot be answered; what makes a man happy in life, what makes life worth living?
Joseph Stalin transformed the Soviet Union into an industrial Superpower that we are still learning about today in basic history
1. Lenin: Vladimir Lenin, born Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, on April 22, 1870, in Simbirsk, Russia, died at the age of 53 in Gorki-Leninskyie, Russia on January 21, 1924. Lenin was a well-educated lawyer and revolutionary who was one of the most influential leaders in the 20th century. Lenin crafted the Bolshevik Revolution and ultimately became the first leader of the Soviet Communist Party and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR). Lenin was a follower of the works of Karl Marx and his socialist ideas of “Dialectical Materialism.” He modified them to become what is referred to as Marxism-Leninism, which advocates for the worker in a classless society and abolished the bonds between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat.
Merriman, C.D.. "Leo Tolstoy." - Biography and Works. Search Texts, Read Online . Discuss.. Jalic INC., 1 Jan. 2007. Web. 16 May 2014. .
The Kingdom of God has a similar meaning. It exists wherever God's will is at work. And God's will is at work wherever people are faithful to the command ...
Anna Karenina is a novel by the prominent Russian author Leo Tolstoy. It was published in serial installments between 1873 and 1877. Tolstoy himself claimed that Anna Karenina was his first novel. Despite criticism that the novel was indeed two separate novels, there was much acclaim. Fellow Russian author Dostoevsky hailed it as “a flawless work of art” (En8848.com.cn).
Gandhi also was deeply influenced by Tolstoy's writing on non-violence in The Kingdom of God is Within You. Tolstoy strongly believed in nonresistance (nonviolence) when faced by conflict. The goal of non-violent conflict is to convert your opponent; to win over their mind and heart and persuade them that your point of view is right. “Tolstoy’s The Kingdom of God is Within You overwhelmed me. It left an abiding impression on me. Before the independent thinking, profound morality, and the truthfulness of this book, all other books given me by Mr. Coates seemed to pale into insignificance.”
Although it is difficult to be certain of Tolstoy's motives, this essay will argue that he so named the novel because of the utterly pivotal and essential fu...
...rovided by the text itself establishes firmly the conclusion that Tolstoy’s “God Sees the Truth, but Waits” is perhaps the epitome of short story literature with its deep, engaging plot, dynamic character personalities, and relatable theme. The parallel transmigrations of Ivan and Makar’s characters from sin and hopelessness towards virtue and faith carry with them the essence of character dynamism and plot depth that takes readers into a deeper relationship with the story itself. By these standards, Tolstoy’s story is indeed effective as a short story, and his inclusion of the moral that “the right thing will eventually transpire” is perhaps as strong in its ability to grab the attention of readers and instill inside of them a sense of mystery as much as it is able to inspire them to seek the more spiritual side to every situation they may be faced with in life.