What do the Bashkirs represent in "How Much Land Does a Man Need?"?
The Bashkirs represent the almost mystical relationship to the soil that Pahom, as a Russian peasant, used to have. Since being emancipated, however, his whole attitude towards the ground beneath his feet has changed dramatically. Instead of seeing it as his ancestral homeland—as an extension of his soul—he looks upon...
Unlock This Answer Now
Start your 48-hour free trial and get ahead in class. Boost your grades with access to expert answers and top-tier study guides. Thousands of students are already mastering their assignments—don't miss out. Cancel anytime.
Already a member? Log in here.
it purely as a commodity: an object to be bought and sold.
Pahom's so obsessed with acquiring as much land as possible, so blinded by greed, that he fails to see the dangers involved in the seemingly auspicious bargain offered him by the Bashkirs. The Bashkirs haven't abandoned their traditional relationship to the soil; unlike Pahom, they have the correct attitude towards the land on which they live. They represent the time-honored peasant mentality that Pahom left behind when he embarked upon his epic land grab.
How do the Bashkirs measure land for sale in Tolstoy's "How Much Land Does a Man Need?"
By Chapter 6 of Leo Tolstoy's "How Much Land Does a Man Need?," we learn
from the Chief of the Bashkirs that the tribe sells their land
at the price of "one thousand roubles a day." The Chief continues further to
explain that they sell as much land as can be marked
out on foot in one day, from sunrise to sunset.
However, he also discloses one stipulation: all money is lost if the purchaser
does not return to the exact spot he started walking from on the same day,
meaning before sunset.
While this sounds like a good deal to Pahom, little does he realize how easy it
is for a person to get carried away and be unable to return to the exact same
spot. Because of his greed, Pahom tries to walk much more of a
perimeter than he is physically capable of handling. Because he walks
too great a distance, he is unable to make it back in time before sunset
without pushing himself even harder physically. By the time the end of the day
is nearing, he must run back to his starting point after having already pushed
himself beyond what he could physically endure by walking. He pushes himself so
hard that, by the time he reaches his starting point, he collapses and dies,
probably of heart failure, showing us that the Chief of the Bashkirs' deal was
really just a scam.