How Much Land Does a Man Need?

by

Leo Tolstoy

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Pakhom Character Analysis

The protagonist of the story, Pakhom is a peasant farmer turned landowner. Pakhom is at first depicted as a hard-working husband and family man, barely getting by according to society’s standards. Motivated by the elder sister’s criticism of country life and guided by the Devil, however, Pakhom progresses from a poor, yet happy, peasant to a greedy and prideful landowner. As Pakhom gains land and wealth, he becomes increasingly unhappy and, just as his wife predicts, increasingly fearful of losing it all. Although Pakhom claims that with enough land he would “fear no one – not even the Devil himself,” this proves untrue, as his greed is fueled by constant anxiety about returning to peasantry. The character of Pakhom illustrates the social and personal consequences of greed and pride, while simultaneously exposing the dangers of private landownership. He buys more land than he needs and proves unsympathetic to neighboring peasants left with insufficient property to farm and survive; he even fines them for trespassing. Pakhom’s character is largely allegorical, embodying many of the traits and behaviors that lead to the civil unrest and social inequality that plagued nineteenth-century Russia.

Pakhom Quotes in How Much Land Does a Man Need?

The How Much Land Does a Man Need? quotes below are all either spoken by Pakhom or refer to Pakhom. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
The Corrupting Nature of Greed Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1  Quotes

“l wouldn't care to change my life for yours,” she said. “I admit mine is dull, but at least we have no worries. You live in grander style, but you must do a great deal of business or you’ll be ruined. You know the proverb, ‘Loss is Gain's elder brother.’ One day you are rich and the next you might find yourself out in the street.”

Related Characters: The Younger Sister/Pakhom’s Wife (speaker), Pakhom, The Elder Sister/Merchant’s Wife
Page Number: 96
Explanation and Analysis:

“It's true what you say,” he said. “Take me. Ever since I was a youngster I've been too busy tilling the soil to let that kind of nonsense enter my head. My only grievance is that I don't have enough land. Give me enough of that and I'd fear no one—not even the Devil himself!”

Related Characters: Pakhom (speaker), The Devil, The Younger Sister/Pakhom’s Wife , The Elder Sister/Merchant’s Wife
Page Number: 97
Explanation and Analysis:

“Good,” he thought. “I'll have a little game with you. I shall see that you have plenty of land and that way I'll get you in my clutches!”

Related Characters: The Devil (speaker), Pakhom
Page Number: 97
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 2  Quotes

They met once, they met twice, but no progress was made: the Devil had set them at loggerheads and there was nothing they could agree upon. In the end they decided to buy the land in separate lots, each according to what he could afford.

Related Characters: Pakhom, The Devil, The Lady Landowner
Page Number: 98
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 3 Quotes

“The land is so fertile,” he said, “that rye grows as high as a horse and it's so thick you can make a whole sheaf from only five handfuls! One peasant arrived with a copeck and only his bare hands to work with and now he has six horses and two cows.”

Related Characters: The Traveling Peasant (speaker), Pakhom, The Devil
Page Number: 100
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 5 Quotes

Then they conferred again and started arguing about something. Pakhom asked what it was and the interpreter told him, “Some of them are saying they should first consult the elder about the land. They can't do anything without his permission, but some of the others say it's not necessary.”

Related Characters: Pakhom, The Bashkir Elder, The Bashkirs
Page Number: 104
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 6 Quotes

“Thank you for your kind words. Yes, you do have a great deal of land, but I need only a little. However, I would like to be sure which will be mine, so couldn't it be measured and made over to me by some sort of contract? Our lives are in God's hands and although you good people are willing to give me the land now, it's possible your children might want it back again.”

Related Characters: Pakhom (speaker), The Bashkir Elder
Page Number: 104
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 7 Quotes

And then Pakhom saw that it wasn't the peasant, but the Devil himself, with horns and hoofs, sitting there laughing his head off, while before him lay a barefoot man wearing only shirt and trousers. When Pakhom took a closer look he saw that the man was dead and that it was himself.

Related Characters: Pakhom, The Devil, The Traveling Peasant, The Passing Merchant
Page Number: 106
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 8 Quotes

On and on he went—but there was still a long way to go. He started running and threw away his coat, boots, flask, cap, keeping only the spade which he used for leaning on. “Oh dear,” he thought, “I've been too greedy. Now I've ruined it. I'll never get back by sunset.”

Related Characters: Pakhom (speaker), The Bashkirs
Related Symbols: Pakhom’s Spade
Page Number: 109
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 9 Quotes

Although he feared death, he could not stop. “If I stopped now, after coming all this way—well, they'd call me an idiot!” So on he ran until he was close enough to hear the Bashkirs yelling and cheering him on.

Related Characters: Pakhom (speaker), The Bashkirs
Page Number: 109
Explanation and Analysis:

Pakhom's workman picked up the spade, dug a grave for his master—six feet from head to heel, which was exactly the right length—and buried him.

Related Characters: Pakhom, The Bashkirs, The Workman
Related Symbols: Pakhom’s Spade
Page Number: 110
Explanation and Analysis:
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Pakhom Quotes in How Much Land Does a Man Need?

The How Much Land Does a Man Need? quotes below are all either spoken by Pakhom or refer to Pakhom. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
The Corrupting Nature of Greed Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1  Quotes

“l wouldn't care to change my life for yours,” she said. “I admit mine is dull, but at least we have no worries. You live in grander style, but you must do a great deal of business or you’ll be ruined. You know the proverb, ‘Loss is Gain's elder brother.’ One day you are rich and the next you might find yourself out in the street.”

Related Characters: The Younger Sister/Pakhom’s Wife (speaker), Pakhom, The Elder Sister/Merchant’s Wife
Page Number: 96
Explanation and Analysis:

“It's true what you say,” he said. “Take me. Ever since I was a youngster I've been too busy tilling the soil to let that kind of nonsense enter my head. My only grievance is that I don't have enough land. Give me enough of that and I'd fear no one—not even the Devil himself!”

Related Characters: Pakhom (speaker), The Devil, The Younger Sister/Pakhom’s Wife , The Elder Sister/Merchant’s Wife
Page Number: 97
Explanation and Analysis:

“Good,” he thought. “I'll have a little game with you. I shall see that you have plenty of land and that way I'll get you in my clutches!”

Related Characters: The Devil (speaker), Pakhom
Page Number: 97
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 2  Quotes

They met once, they met twice, but no progress was made: the Devil had set them at loggerheads and there was nothing they could agree upon. In the end they decided to buy the land in separate lots, each according to what he could afford.

Related Characters: Pakhom, The Devil, The Lady Landowner
Page Number: 98
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 3 Quotes

“The land is so fertile,” he said, “that rye grows as high as a horse and it's so thick you can make a whole sheaf from only five handfuls! One peasant arrived with a copeck and only his bare hands to work with and now he has six horses and two cows.”

Related Characters: The Traveling Peasant (speaker), Pakhom, The Devil
Page Number: 100
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 5 Quotes

Then they conferred again and started arguing about something. Pakhom asked what it was and the interpreter told him, “Some of them are saying they should first consult the elder about the land. They can't do anything without his permission, but some of the others say it's not necessary.”

Related Characters: Pakhom, The Bashkir Elder, The Bashkirs
Page Number: 104
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 6 Quotes

“Thank you for your kind words. Yes, you do have a great deal of land, but I need only a little. However, I would like to be sure which will be mine, so couldn't it be measured and made over to me by some sort of contract? Our lives are in God's hands and although you good people are willing to give me the land now, it's possible your children might want it back again.”

Related Characters: Pakhom (speaker), The Bashkir Elder
Page Number: 104
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 7 Quotes

And then Pakhom saw that it wasn't the peasant, but the Devil himself, with horns and hoofs, sitting there laughing his head off, while before him lay a barefoot man wearing only shirt and trousers. When Pakhom took a closer look he saw that the man was dead and that it was himself.

Related Characters: Pakhom, The Devil, The Traveling Peasant, The Passing Merchant
Page Number: 106
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 8 Quotes

On and on he went—but there was still a long way to go. He started running and threw away his coat, boots, flask, cap, keeping only the spade which he used for leaning on. “Oh dear,” he thought, “I've been too greedy. Now I've ruined it. I'll never get back by sunset.”

Related Characters: Pakhom (speaker), The Bashkirs
Related Symbols: Pakhom’s Spade
Page Number: 109
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 9 Quotes

Although he feared death, he could not stop. “If I stopped now, after coming all this way—well, they'd call me an idiot!” So on he ran until he was close enough to hear the Bashkirs yelling and cheering him on.

Related Characters: Pakhom (speaker), The Bashkirs
Page Number: 109
Explanation and Analysis:

Pakhom's workman picked up the spade, dug a grave for his master—six feet from head to heel, which was exactly the right length—and buried him.

Related Characters: Pakhom, The Bashkirs, The Workman
Related Symbols: Pakhom’s Spade
Page Number: 110
Explanation and Analysis: