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The Devil
Pakhom’s unnamed wife, and sister of the elder sister. The younger sister is proud of her simple life as a peasant, vastly preferring country living to the more complicated city life her sister leads. Believing that “Loss is Gain’s elder brother,” she alludes to the notion that loss is inevitable whenever wealth is obtained. She openly disapproves of her elder sister’s more luxurious lifestyle and considers hard work a staple of morality. The younger sister claims that, as peasants, her family is “afraid of no one,” and rely only upon themselves to survive. Her defense in the face of her sister’s insults encourages Pakhom to dare the Devil. Pakhom consults his wife in his early attempts to buy land. However, as Pakhom gains more wealth, he interacts with his wife less and less, until she is left behind altogether when he travels to the Bashkirs’ land.
The Younger Sister/Pakhom’s Wife Quotes in How Much Land Does a Man Need?
The How Much Land Does a Man Need? quotes below are all either spoken by The Younger Sister/Pakhom’s Wife or refer to The Younger Sister/Pakhom’s Wife . 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:
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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.”
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This quote appears in response to the elder sister’s criticism of her younger sister’s life as a peasant. The elder sister brags about her urban life, insinuating that she is a better person because of her wealth and access to other luxuries. From the younger sister’s perspective, however, the wealthy must work constantly to ensure their way of life, and they could easily lose it all, quickly becoming poor. This is a moment of foreshadowing that gestures to Pakhom’s eventual fate. The younger sister highlights the precarious nature of wealth, while also drawing attention to the social differences between the Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus
“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!”
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This is Pakhom’s own response to the elder sister’s criticism of his peasant life. Pakhom’s wife, the younger sister, maintains that city life is little more than the Devil’s playground, tempting husbands left and right with drink and women. Pakhom agrees with his wife, and his own life is proof of the comparative safety of country living. Pakhom does not regret his simple life of hard work; however, he is too proud to allow his sister-in-law’s insults go unchallenged. This pride causes Pakhom to boast that enough land would protect him from evil, and it sets off the chain of Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperior
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The Younger Sister/Pakhom’s Wife Character Timeline in How Much Land Does a Man Need?
The timeline below shows where the character The Younger Sister/Pakhom’s Wife appears in How Much Land Does a Man Need?. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
An elder sister from an unnamed town visits her younger sister in the country. The elder sister boasts about her city life, finding it superior to...
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The younger sister adamantly defends her life as a peasant. Believing that loss always follows gain, she prefers...
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Pakhom, the younger sister ’s husband, soon joins the debate. He values his life as a peasant and does...
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