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/

Presentation In The Class

This picture was taking during our presentation on "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty."

Considerations on the theme of "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty"

Recently Jonatan, Jordan, and I were asked in class to deliver a presentation on the short story entitled, "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" published in 1939. This short story written by the American, James Thurber, is about a man, Walter Mitty, who lives a very simple life and is married with a nagging wife. However, the life of Walter Mitty sometimes gets exciting due to his daydreams. He has five daydreams during the short story. In the first one he is a pilot of a U.S. Navy flying boat in a storm, in the second one he is a famous surgeon, in the third one he is an assassin testifying in a courtroom, in the fourth one he is a Royal Air Force pilot volunteering for a suicide mission to bomb an ammunition dump, and in the fifth one he faces a firing squad. This short story presents an interesting question, which is how to face a hard life. Actually the life of Walter Mitty is not really hard, but it is true that he suffers because everybody nags him, especially his wife. So, what does Walter Mitty do to face this difficulty? The answer is, to escape from reality by daydreaming. Therefore, one of the topics of this short story is “escapism.” As a consequence Walter Mitty has a secret life.

After reading "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" I started asking myself whether I have a secret life. At first I thought it was not the case, but little by little I realized that actually I have a secret life. "How can this be possible?" the reader of this blog will ask. The answer is by reading literature. When we read a book, we are doing something deeper and greater than just looking at a number of words put together. We actually live the story we are reading, we become the protagonist of the story, and we can think and feel like the character of the story. By reading we visit new places where perhaps it might be impossible for us to go in the real life. Likewise we get acquainted with new people who in the case of biographies really existed or exist. So, this is the secret of my secret life and I really think that it is very beneficial because the number of things I can learn is unlimited. Besides, it is so fun.

Although I said that I have a secret life, I do not mean that I have a secret life as Walter Mitty does. The difference lies in the line separating the real life from the secret life. Walter Mitty does not have such a line, whereas I do have because I can distinguish between what is inside the books and what is outside the books. The difference might seem just a matter of perception, but it goes deeper because it influences our behavior. That is, when I read literature I escape from the real life, but I am fully aware of it and ready to face the problems of real life. On the other hand, Walter Mitty daydreams to escape from real life, and his daydreams become his real life. By doing that, he runs away from the problems of real life. I think we need to be brave and face our difficulties, instead of running away from them. By stating this, I do not mean that daydreaming is wrong, but rather I mean that to explode the line between real life and daydreams is wrong because it causes us to run away from our responsibilities and alienate ourselves from those people who surround us.