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How Much Land Does Man Need?

 The Title

The title of the story is in the form of a question that jogs our minds even before we start reading the story. We, ourselves, wonder whether there is a standard amount of land that each person needs before he/she is satisfied. 

In the story, Pahom already owns 123 acres of land but still desires to have more. This desire to have more land is what makes him to readily travel to a distant land to have more land. 

Plot Summary

Pahom is a farmer who is already in possession of 123 acres of land in which he has built a house where five members of his family live. However, he still has an insatiable appetite for more land because he believes the 123 acres are not enough.

So, when he meets a dealer who informs him about the land of the Bashkirs, where land as much as 13,000 acres can be acquired for as little an amount as 1,000 roubles, he readily travels to this place, the long distance notwithstanding. 

Pahoms gets to the land of the Bashkirs after seven days. This shows how far the place is from his home and his commitment to get there in order to add more acres to his name. 

He is surprised by their willingness to give him any amount of land for only 1,000 roubles. He is even more shocked that land is measured in terms of the amount of land one manages to walk around per day instead of the amount of land that is equivalent to the amount of money they can afford. Nonetheless, he goes ahead to mark off his piece of land with the help of a spade.

As he walks round the land, greed incites him to continue marking off more and more land instead of going back to the hillock where he started while he's still strong. 

In the end, he has to rush back after realizing that he is running out of time, risking losing all the land he had already marked off. In this process, he hurts and even wares himself out. 

Even the items he had carried to help him become too heavy for him and he has to throw them away in order to be light enough to finish his journey back: "...he threw away his outer coat, his shoes, his flask and his cap." (P. 25)

He gets back to the hillock when it's almost too late and his hosts are impressed by the amount of land he has acquired. 

He, however, collapses and dies. His servant buries him there. The question in the title of the story is, therefore, answered by the affirmation that six feet from his head is all he needed.

Setting 

The story is set in a rural area where farming, both crop production and cattle rearing, is practised. The presence of large tracts of land is enough proof for this. Some of the land is set aside for pasture while the rest is for settlement and crop production. 

Characterization 

Pahom

Pahom is a very greedy man. When we meet him, he's already rich, and we expect him to be contented with what he has. On the contrary, he wants to have more land. This is the reason he walks for seven days to the land of the Bashkirs.


 Worse still, when he is shown the land from which he is supposed to cut himself a piece, he wants to have too much. He marks off too much an amount that it takes him the whole day to go round it.

 It's too big that walking round it wears him out to the point of dropping dead the moment he finishes walking around it. How avaricious! 

He is foolhardy. This is in the sense that he leaves behind a large track of land and goes to kill himself trying to acquire more.

 He stupidly disregards all the signs of danger in his quest for more land: "Pahom went of running ...his mouth was parched...his heart was beating like a hammer...his legs were giving away as if they did not belong to him....Pahom was seized with terror lest he should die of the strain" (P. 25). 

The Dealer

The dealer is forthright since he tells Pahom the truth. He does not hide anything from him. In fact, he proves to him his genuinity by showing him the title deed he was given by the Bashkirs upon buying his land. 

He is also selfless. We expect him to keep his knowledge about the Bashkirs' land to himself but he shares it with Pahom and even encourages him to go and buy himself a piece.  

The Leader of the Bashkirs

He is a generous man. He tells Pahom to ask him for anything in exchange for the presents he brings them. 

Besides, when Pahom makes it known that he wants land, the leader of the Bashkirs tells him to get himself any amount of land provided he finishes marking off his part within the time he stipulates. 

He also proves to be dependable since he does not change his position regarding his business with Pahom. In fact, he and his people encourage Pahom to move on to the finish when they realize that he is almost giving up. 

Pahom's Servant 

He is loyal to his boss because he does not abandon him when he dies. He digs a grave for him and burries him in the land he had acquired just before he died. 

Themes 

Greed/Avarice 

Pahom epitomizes extreme greed and its consequences. Despite having 123 acres of land, he is looking for a way to get more land:" All day, Pahom kept thinking about only one thing. How can I have more lands?" (P.21).

So, the dealer who passes by and tells him about the land of the Bashkirs is God-sent. When he informs Pahom about the availability of cheap land, he quickly journeys to the land of the Bashkirs in order to add more acres to what he already had. 

Styles 

Satire 

Leo Tolstoy ridicules human avarice through the decisions Pahom takes and their consequences. Considering that he already had 123 acres, a reasonable man would not have desired to have more land in a manner similar to Pahom's. 

His wanting to continue marking off more land despite the weakening of his body is also a ridicule to human beings and how avaricious they can be. Common sense would have directed him to choose health over land.

The writer is simply criticizing too much ambition and greed among human beings.

Irony

It's is ironic for Pahom, and many other human beings, to work so hard looking for large tracts of land only to end up being buried in a piece that's only six feet long. 

It is also very ironic for Pahom to walk for seven days, then later the whole day around the piece of land he wants to own then die just when he finishes marking off this piece of land. 

Symbolism

Pahom is the embodiment of greed and too much ambition. Walking for seven days to the land of the Bashkirs and later throwing away many of the things he had carried with him symbolize the extents to which human beings are ready to go in order to acquire wealth. 


Commentary 

The writer seems to advance the socialist philosophy of life, where individuals are contented with what they have and are ready to share with others. 

This is demonstrated by the dealer and the Bashkirs. The former readily informs Pahom about the availability of cheap land in the land of the Bashkirs while the later gives away land to fellow human beings very cheaply.

Tolstoy also satirizes greed and too much ambition through the fall of Pahom. If he were satisfied with the 123 acres of land he had, he would not have died. 


Also read an analysis of Hitting Budapest

The Folded Leaf

Stones Bounce on Water

Missing Out


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