Leo Tolstoy Essay ⋆ Political Science Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

Leo (Lev) N. Tolstoy (1828–1910) was one of the world’s greatest novelists and exercised great social influence in his native Russia. In addition to fiction, his writings touched upon politics, religion, history, and philosophy, and he also lobbied for social and political reforms in Russia.

Tolstoy was born in Yasnaya Polyana, south of Moscow, into a family of the Russian nobility. His parents died when he was a child, and he was brought up by relatives. In 1844 he started his studies at Kazan University, but he dropped out, eventually joining the army in 1851.

Tolstoy began his literary career in the 1850s, and his first stories were based on his military experiences in the Caucasus region and in the Crimean War (1853–1856). Afterward, he traveled in Europe but returned to Yasnaya Polyana, where he started a school for peasant children. With the exception of a brief period in the 1860s, Tolstoy did not move in Russian literary circles, which were dominated by Western-oriented progressives. Tolstoy, in contrast, put his faith in the Russian peasantry.

His most famous work, War and Peace, appeared between 1865 and 1869. It is centered on Russia’s experience during the Napoleonic invasion and includes over five hundred characters, including French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte and Russia’s tsar Alexander I. Considered an exemplar of realistic fiction, the novel celebrated Russian traditions and the common citizen while advancing the idea that history cannot be shaped by even the most powerful leaders. Instead, Tolstoy suggests that all is predetermined and that humans only believe they have free will. Tolstoy’s other epic work is Anna Karenina (1873–1877), a critique of the life of the gentry and a reflection on the quest to give meaning to life. He produced numerous other novels and short stories, many of which, such as The Death of Ivan Ilyich (1886) and Master and Man (1895), stress the virtues of the Russian peasant and how individuals must assume a social responsibility beyond themselves.

In his later life, Tolstoy’s writings acquired a more explicitly philosophical, social, and religious orientation. He acquired a worldwide reputation as a great moral thinker, adopting pacifism; Christian anarchism, for which he was excommunicated by the Russian Orthodox Church; and utopian communism. He committed himself to the belief that, as quoted in the 1978

Edmonds translation of War and Peace, “The one thing necessary, in life as in art, is to tell the truth.” He ran afoul of the tsarist authorities for his political and moral views, and some of his publications were banned. Despite having over a dozen children, he railed against the institution of marriage, and in 1884 he left Yasnaya Polyana with the idea that he would become a poor, celibate peasant. His religious beliefs, gathered in such works as A Confession (1884) and The Kingdom of God Is within You (1894), sought to turn to the moral teachings of Jesus, emphasizing compassion toward others and rejecting the authority of the church insofar as it was linked to an oppressive state. His estate became a place of pilgrimage for many who admired him, and he gained great moral authority. His writings on pacifism and the example of his life would influence American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. and Indian pacifist Mahatma Gandhi. Tolstoy died of pneumonia in 1910 while following his urge to become a poor, wandering ascetic.

Bibliography:

Christian, Reginald Frank. Tolstoy: A Critical Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1969.
Figes, Orlando. Natasha’s Dance: A Cultural History of Russia. New York: MacMillan, 2002.
Jones,W. Gareth, ed. I Cannot be Silent: Writings on Politics, Art, and Religion by Leo Tolstoy. Bristol, UK: Bristol Press, 1989.
Tolstoy, Leo. A Confession and Other Religious Writings, translated by Jane Kentish. New York: Penguin Books, 1987.
War and Peace, translated by Rosemary Edmonds. New York: Penguin Books, 1978.
Wilson, A. N. Tolstoy. New York:W.W. Norton, 1988.

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