God Sees the Truth But Waits by Leo Tolstoy

God Sees the Truth but Waits: in Modern Art

As said in my previous post on the District Doctor by Ivan Turgenev, I read two Russian short stories a couple of days ago and this post will be able the second, God Sees the Truth But Waits by Leo Tolstoy. It's my first Tolstoy since the unfortunate experience of reading the Demon. I am pleased to say that this story reignited my love for Tolstoy's work. Tolstoy the man is an entirely different story but I may touch on that in a different post. 

God Sees the Truth but Waits, published in 1872, is a very familiar story I have seen before. You have  man, a merchant named Ivan Aksionov, from a town in Russia called Vladimir, who is falsely accused of murdering a merchant he came across in his travels. He is later exiled to Siberia and and meets the man who was guilty of the crime. As I was reading I was experiencing a strange feeling that was reminiscent of Deja Vu. Later, when reading up on the historical context of the time in which it was written I came across an interesting fact which explained why. Stephen King, popular modern horror author, was inspired by Tolstoy's story while writing his novella "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption". It was very much an "ah-ha!" moment. The Shawshank Redemption, a 1994 film and one of my favourite films, was based on King's novella and shares very similar themes with God Sees the Truth But Waits. I should have known since everything I love somehow leads back to 19th century Russian literature...

God Sees the Truth But Waits opens with Ivan Aksionov, a merchant, leaving his family for a few days to go to a local fair to sell some of his goods. Ivan was prone to drinking when younger but since getting married and having children he was known locally as a good man. Before Ivan leaves his wife has a vision of Ivan's hair turning white and pleads with him not to leave but he does anyway. On the way to the fair Ivan meets another merchant and they check into an inn together and spend a happy night talking and drinking. The next morning Ivan leaves and continues onto the fair. Ivan is stopped by local police and they tell him the merchant he had met the day before has been murdered. They find the knife used to cut the merchants throat in his bag and it was covered with blood. Ivan is promptly arrested. Petitions are sent to the Tsar but to no avail. Ivan is in despair and when his wife comes to visit him and asks him whether he murdered the merchant he sends her away, hurt because she thought he was capable of murder. 

Eventually, Ivan is exiled to Siberia. Two decades pass and he has become passive and grey haired (like in his wife's vision). He has no hope left and is waiting for death but dedicates himself to God. A group of new convicts arrive, including a man named Makar, who turns out to be the man who had murdered the merchant 26 years previously. This instills a rage within Ivan and he plots revenge but due to being a man of God can't go through with it. Makar confesses but by the time the authorites sign Ivan's release he is dead. After everything had been taken from him he has nothing left to live for. 

God Sees the Truth but Waits is very much a Russian short story. It's a short but tragic tale that makes you really think and question your own life and how you treat people. The last line caused a shiver down my spine. I would recommend it to anyone who loves Russian Literature, Tolstoy, tragedy, great writing and people who love the Shawshank Redemption. It's definitely one of the best Russian short stories I have read.