Prose Friction: The Contrast Between Want and Need in Tolstoy's How Much Land Does a Man Need?
Overview
This essay analyzes Leo Tolstoy's short story How Much Land Does a Man Need? to explore the philosophical distinction between human wants and needs through the protagonist Pahom's tragic pursuit of wealth. The paper argues that unchecked greed and the prioritization of desires over necessities leads to self-destruction, using Pahom's eventual death as a cautionary parable about materialism.
What this essay covers
- Introduction establishing the theoretical distinction between wants and needs using Glausser (2019)
- Analysis of Pahom's character development and initial trigger for greed from his wife's sister
- Examination of Pahom's progression from buying land to traveling for more, culminating in his death
- Conclusion interpreting the story as a moral parable about prioritizing wants over needs
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Prose Friction: How Much Land Does a Man Need?
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Prose Friction: How Much Land Does a Man Need?
There is a thin line between what we want and what we need. Glausser (2019) says that we must get what we need, but wants are optional, although we often desire what we do not need. Therefore, want is what we desire to have or do, while a need is something we must have or do because it is a necessity of life. In How Much Land Does a Man Need? By Leo Tolstoy, Pahom brings out a distinct difference between a want and a need.
Pahom is the protagonist in the short story. He is obsessed about owning land to show off to peasants that he is rich, yet he is a regular peasant. The sister to his wife, who visited Pahom's family from the city and explained how life is right in the city, triggered his greed. He overhears the sisters chatting and tells them, “Our only trouble is that we haven’t land enough. If I had plenty of lands, I shouldn’t fear the Devil himself” (Tolstoy, 2015, pg 1). This only shows how much he wanted land against what he had and what he needed.
Pahom’s greed turned other peasants against because of taking them to court for trespass. This is a contrast to how he should be living with other neighboring peasants.