Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in God Sees the Truth But Waits, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Institutional Justice vs. Divine Judgment
Faith and Devotion
Family
Forgiveness
Summary
Analysis
Aksyonov, a well-to-do young merchant from the town of Vladimir, prepares to set off for the commercial Fair at Nizhny. Aksyonov’s wife urges him to say home, saying that she has had a bad dream in which his hair turned completely gray. Aksyonov assumes that she is worried he will drink too much (as he has a habit of binge drinking) and dismisses her concerns. He promises that he will “do some good business” at Nizhny and bring her back “expensive presents.”
The young Aksyonov’s drinking and materialism (for example, his pursuit of business profits and “expensive presents”) establish him as a casually sinful person who has yet to recognize the primacy of faith and devotion. Additionally, the ease with which Aksyonov dismisses his wife’s concerns shows that he takes his family, home, and as perhaps his other social connections somewhat for granted.
Themes
Halfway to Nizhny, Aksyonov meets a merchant friend at an inn, where they have tea and spend the night in adjoining rooms. After leaving the inn and continuing his journey to Nizhny, Aksyonov takes a break to rest, eat, and play his guitar. Suddenly, a district police inspector arrives with two soldiers, interrogates Aksyonov as to his whereabouts and actions the previous evening, and then announces that Aksyonov’s merchant friend has been found murdered at the inn.
The district police inspector appears on the scene as an immediately intimidating figure, for he is accompanied by two soldiers who represent the threat of force. Known only by his title, the inspector symbolizes the impersonal, overbearing state power that underlies the criminal justice system.
Themes
The police inspector orders a search of Aksyonov’s belongings and discovers a bloody knife. The inspector formally accuses Aksyonov of murder, and a terrified Aksyonov stammers and quakes with fear. Aksyonov is physically restrained and sent to jail.
The inspector’s accusation and arrest of Aksyonov illustrate the corruption of institutional justice. The inspector rapidly leverages state authority (and physical force) against Aksyonov without irrefutable evidence that he is the murderer, and Aksyonov is so overwhelmed that he is rendered unable to defend himself.
Themes
Aksyonov’s wife comes to visit him in jail. She collapses upon seeing her husband in prison clothes and fetters. After regaining her senses, she informs Aksyonov that the last of his appeals—a petition to the Tsar—has been rejected, and she then shocks Aksyonov by asking whether he actually committed the murder for which he was arrested. As a soldier separates Aksyonov from his wife and children for the last time, Aksyonov reflects upon his wife’s suspicion of his guilt and concludes that he can rely on God alone to know the truth and to offer mercy.
The failure of Aksyonov’s final appeal to the Tsar, along with his wife’s suspicion of his guilt, leads him to recognize God as the only entity who can be trusted to see the truth and deliver real justice. Aksyonov realizes that he must pivot towards seeking God’s forgiveness by living a more spiritual life, and this change in focus is reinforced by Aksyonov’s final physical separation from his family—his strongest earthly attachment.
Themes
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Aksyonov is flogged and then sent to a Siberian labor camp. He remains here for 26 years, developing a stoop and losing his youthful gaiety. While incarcerated, Aksyonov becomes devoutly religious. He prays frequently, reads religious literature, and sings in the church choir. Aksyonov’s fellow inmates refer to him as “Grandpa” and “Man of God.”
Aksyonov’s flogging and the breakdown of his body (for instance, his development of a stoop) during his incarceration highlight the focus of institutional justice on bodily punishment. Along with highlighting the brutality of the criminal justice system, this contrasts with God’s judgment of the soul. Through his religious activities in prison, Aksyonov transforms into an ideal holy man, or a model for readers’ emulation. Like many Christian saints, Aksyonov responds to his earthly persecution and suffering by strengthening his faith, or by trusting that real justice comes from God, and not from any source on Earth.
Themes
During Aksyonov’s 26th year at the Siberian prison, a new group of convicts arrives. One of them, Makar Semyonov, has been imprisoned for allegedly stealing a horse from a sledge. He says he comes from Vladimir, and Aksyonov asks for news of his family. Makar says that he has heard of Aksyonov’s family as prosperous merchants whose husband (or father) is locked up in Siberia. Makar asks Aksyonov why he was imprisoned, but Aksyonov will say only that his 26 years of penal servitude have been payment for his sins.
Aksyonov’s instinctual questioning of Makar about his wife and children shows the power of family as a source of earthly attachment that keeps Aksyonov’s thoughts on the world, rather than on God. At the same time, however, Aksyonov’s insistence that he is paying for his sins enhances his image as a model “Man of God.” Aksyonov treats his earthly suffering as inspiration to atone for his spiritual transgressions (or to seek God’s forgiveness) and as a test through which he can prove himself worthy of salvation.
Themes
Other inmates tell Makar about the merchant’s murder and Aksyonov’s wrongful arrest. Makar’s reaction to this information leads Aksyonov to suspect that it was Makar who framed him for murder. Aksyonov is overwhelmed with anger at Makar, and he thinks longingly of his family. Aksyonov becomes so depressed that he considers either attacking Makar or committing suicide.
The anger Aksyonov feels towards Makar indicates that Aksyonov’s path towards becoming an ideal “Man of God” is not without its setbacks and its trials: the actions Aksyonov contemplates—suicide or a violent assault on the man who framed him—would both amount to a terrible regression into sin. Additionally, that Aksyonov’s thoughts rush to his family shows that even despite Aksyonov’s intense devotional activities in Siberia, he has a hard time letting go of his most powerful worldly or societal attachments—attachments that might jeopardize his fulfillment of a purely spiritual life.
Themes
One night, Aksyonov discovers Makar digging an escape tunnel. The next day, the authorities discover the hole, and the Governor arrives on the scene to question the prisoners as to who was trying to escape. Reasoning that he does not wish to see Makar flogged (and that his suspicion of Makar for the merchant’s murder may be misplaced), Aksyonov tells the Governor that he knows nothing about who dug the tunnel.
Like the district police inspector who accused Aksyonov of murder, the Governor is a state official known only by his title; he serves as a symbol of institutional justice. Aksyonov’s desire to spare Makar from flogging—and his decision to blatantly lie to the Governor—represent a rejection of the state justice system that the Governor represents. Importantly, forgiveness of Makar does not factor into Aksyonov’s reasoning; Aksyonov’s actions are principally a rejection of the Governor’s authority.
Themes
The following night, Aksyonov finds Makar sitting at the foot of his bunk. Makar, overwhelmed by Aksyonov’s goodness in protecting him from the Governor, confesses to having framed Aksyonov for murder 26 years earlier and begs his forgiveness. Makar offers to admit his guilt to the authorities and thereby exonerate Aksyonov.
Makar seeks Aksyonov’s forgiveness as a way of easing the burden (or moral imbalance) he feels for having done harm to a man who has done good to him. Moreover, Makar hopes to acquire Aksyonov’s forgiveness as part of a negotiated exchange; if Aksyonov will forgive him, Makar promises, he will exonerate Aksyonov by sharing his confession with the authorities. This suggests that true forgiveness for one’s sins is more fulfilling and meaningful than falsely asserting one’s innocence.
Themes
Aksyonov responds to Makar’s confession with indignation, claiming that even if Makar were to help him secure his release from prison, he would have no home or family to which he could return. However, Makar continues to seek Aksyonov’s forgiveness and breaks down sobbing. Aksyonov is moved by Makar’s genuine guilt and pain, and he too breaks down in tears.
Aksyonov imagines that the social life—life outside prison—would not be worthwhile if he did not have his family. The extent to which he values his family during his imprisonment contrasts with his attitude at the beginning of the story, when he seemed to take his wife somewhat for granted. Aksyonov continues to withhold forgiveness from Makar, as he judges the terms of exchange Makar offered him—confession and exoneration in return for forgiveness—to be inadequate. Aksyonov does, however, cry in sympathy with Makar, a reaction that portrays him as somewhat of a forgiving, Christlike figure. Aksyonov begins to feel solidarity with his fellow prisoner as he recognizes their shared pain and common situation as sinners desperate for forgiveness. (Aksyonov, of course, is seeking the forgiveness of God).
Themes
Aksyonov tells Makar that God will forgive him. Aksyonov feels a weight off his shoulders and no longer “pines” for his freedom or for his family. Instead, Aksyonov thinks only of his “last hour.”
Aksyonov finally orients himself fully towards God and the afterlife. He does so in two key steps. First, he recognizes that only God can forgive, thus easing the burden of anger that he previously felt towards Makar and relieving his uncertain thoughts over justice on Earth (for example, his deliberations as to whether Makar deserves his forgiveness). Second, Aksyonov at last jettisons all earthly attachments, including his aspiration for freedom in the outside world (beyond the walls of the prison) and his fixation on his family—his strongest social bond.
Themes
Makar confesses to the authorities that it was he who murdered the merchant, not Aksyonov, and Aksyonov is officially exonerated. However, by the time permission arrives for him to be released from the labor camp Aksyonov has passed away.
Makar, unlike Aksyonov, continues to buy into the legitimacy of institutional justice (rather than waiting for true justice from God) and confesses to the authorities that he set Aksyonov up for murder. Aksyonov’s resulting exoneration—an attempt at official justice by the state—proves utterly meaningless as Aksyonov has already died. All that matters after Aksyonov’s passing is God’s judgment; Tolstoy uses the final lines of the story to emphasize the total superiority of divine judgment to corrupt earthly attempts at justice. Aksyonov finally achieves his status as a true spiritual icon, or “Man of God,” by passing away, having shed all of his worldly concerns (including thoughts of family and freedom) and given full attention to the fate of his soul.
Themes
