Theme in “God Sees the Truth, but Waits": Forgiveness

After we read "God Sees the Truth, but Waits" in class, we were asked by our teacher to think whether the message of this short story is Christian or not, and if not, what kind of message it is. At the beginning I was not sure because as everybody knows, Tolstoy developed a radical anarcho-pacifist Christian philosophy which led to his excommunication from the Russian Orthodox Church in 1901. So, I did not think that such a person could write a short story with a Christian message. However, after a thorough analysis I came to the conclusion that this short story actually has a Christian message. I think it is a support for Christianity because the topic is forgiveness, which is one of the characteristics of Jesus Christ and his followers. This short story gives a wonderful example of forgiveness. Aksionov, the main character in the work, is accused of murder and sent to Siberia where he is forced to work in a mine for twenty six years. Therefore he loses everything, absolutely everything, including his family. Worst of all is the fact that the accusation and punishment are false; that is, Aksionov did not kill the merchant who was found dead. This is one of the most painful experiences one can have, the one of being unfairly accused of something. When someone experiences something like Aksionov does, what one wishes is that truth may be known by everybody, particularly the truth about the crime. Besides this desire, there is another desire which is directed towards the person who actually committed the crime. This desire can take many different forms, but only one is the perfect one, the sublime one; that is, forgiveness. It is sublime, but difficult in these circumstances. Nevertheless, Aksionov forgives the person who actually committed the crime, Makar Semenyonich. This is a high level kind of forgiveness because what is forgiven is a lot; that is, the lost of one’s job, family, external freedom, friends, house, city, and so on. How can be possible to forgive something like that? Why on earth should someone forgive a person like Makar Semenyonich? The only answer is found in the teaching of Jesus Christ. That’s why I do believe that this short story has a Christian message.

If you haven’t read the story yet, please click the following link:  http://www.online-literature.com/tolstoy/2061/