Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in What Men Live By, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Mystery
Rationality vs. Generosity
Selfless Love
Summary
Analysis
Time passes; Mikhail has now been living with Semyon and Matryona for a year. Mikhail’s outstanding workmanship has made Semyon’s shoemaking business famous in the region. One day, an expensive-looking carriage appears unexpectedly in front of their house, and a wealthy gentleman in a fur coat gets out of the carriage and enters their home. Semyon and Matryona are dumbfounded, both by the man’s evident wealth and by his commanding figure. While Semyon, Matryona, and Mikhail are all quite thin, this man is heavyset and so tall that he barely fits through the door.
With his almost magical talent for shoemaking, Mikhail has more than earned his keep at Semyon’s. In this sense, Semyon and Matryona’s choice to be generous—even though they rationally believed that they couldn’t afford to—has paid off and led to prosperity. Meanwhile, the gentleman’s arrival highlights the social inequality between the landowning and peasant classes. This inequality is expressed in the characters’ bodies: the gentleman is so excessively well-fed that he can barely even fit into the house of the poor peasants. He appears to have never been hungry, whereas Semyon and Matryona have endured a long struggle for their family’s survival.
Themes
The gentleman asks if the master shoemaker is in. When Semyon introduces himself, the gentleman orders his servant to bring in the leather from the carriage. He shows the leather to Semyon and asks if Semyon understands what kind of leather it is. When Semyon responds that it appears to be expensive leather, the gentleman is unsatisfied. He belabors the point, informing Semyon that it is extremely expensive, worth 20 rubles and ordered from Germany. He offers Semyon 10 rubles to make him a pair of boots from the leather. However, he stipulates, the boots must be able to last a whole year without losing their shape or breaking — and if they fail to meet these conditions, he will have Semyon arrested.
Even though the gentleman is rich, he is entitled and greedy. Not only does he offer to pay Semyon only half the value of the leather, but he also has ridiculously high standards for the quality of the boots. The gentleman is also extremely rude. He seems to enjoy ridiculing Semyon and is intent on making it clear to these impoverished peasants just how wealthy he is. Given that Semyon and Matryona were rewarded (whether by luck or by God) for their generosity, it stands to reason that the gentleman may be punished for his selfishness.
Themes
Semyon is afraid of the gentleman and his high-stakes proposal. He looks to Mikhail to ask whether they should accept the job, and Mikhail nods. Then Semyon takes the gentleman’s measurements, although the gentleman’s calves are so meaty that Semyon’s measuring tape cannot wrap all the way around them. While his calves are being measured, the gentleman notices Mikhail. Semyon explains that Mikhail is his master craftsman, and that he is the person who will make the boots. The gentleman seems to find something displeasing or offensive in Mikhail’s attitude. He darkly warns Mikhail to make sure that the boots last a whole year.
The confidence with which Mikhail accepts the gentleman’s job seems to indicate that he knows something about this man that Semyon doesn’t. As his calves are being measured, the gentleman continues to treat Mikhail, Semyon, and his own servant very rudely, further intensifying a connection between greed and immorality. Moreover, the gentleman’s visible dislike of Mikhail seems surprising and significant. He appears to find Mikhail’s energy somehow disrespectful and unsettling, whereas Semyon and Matryona find Mikhail’s presence comforting.
Themes
Semyon turns to look at Mikhail and sees that Mikhail is staring blankly into a corner. Suddenly and seemingly without cause, Mikhail begins to smile. The gentleman furiously berates Mikhail, asking what he is smiling about and repeating his ominous warning about the boots. Then he leaves with his servant, promising to be back soon. After the gentleman leaves, Semyon and Matryona marvel at his size, strength, and violent temper.
Mikhail smiles mysteriously for the second time. This smile—and Mikhail’s general attitude—makes the gentleman very angry and slightly flustered, which seems to add to its mysterious power. Given that the only other time Mikhail smiled was when Matryona and Semyon learned a lesson about generosity, the fact that he smiles in this moment perhaps implies that there is a lesson to be learned from the gentleman’s behavior.
Themes
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