Analyzing short story characters can be difficult—you meet someone for just a few pages, and suddenly, you’re just supposed to know everything about them? However, with a little focus and a simple, four-step framework, you can learn how to talk circles around any protagonist and answer questions, such as “What is Pahom’s main flaw?”
Now, let’s dive into Leo Tolstoy’s 1886 short story, “How Much Land Does A Man Need?” and discover how you can become a short story expert.
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The Author: Leo Tolstoy
Twentieth-century Russian author Leo Tolstoy is perhaps best known for his novels—War and Peace and Anna Karenina. However, he was an equally prolific writer of short stories, many of which maintained the same level of ideological certainty and excising social critique of his long-form work.
In his later years, Tolstoy underwent a crisis of faith, reinventing his image of morality and becoming a fervent Christian and pacifist. As such, his 1886 “How Much Land Does A Man Need” reflects this realignment of values, plying Christian imagery against the selfish, greedy behaviors Tolstoy saw reflected in so many.
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The Work: ” How Much Land Does A Man Need?”
Inside a quaint country home, two women—two sisters, one from the city and the other from the country—discuss their ways of life. The first extolls the virtues of the city. The second argues the value of the country, explaining that countryfolk are less likely to be tempted by the Devil. Her husband, Pahom, boastfully agrees, saying that peasants are too busy to fear temptation. Instead, their only concern is owning enough land.
Unfortunately, the Devil overhears Pahom’s confident claims and decides to test matters for himself. Circumstances (and the Devil’s subtle influence) push Pahom to make increasingly questionable choices, all in the name of acquiring the land he so desperately desires. Without ever realizing it, Pahom falls prey to the Devil’s machinations. Soon, he discovers exactly how much land he truly needs: Six feet, measured head to foot, for his grave.
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The story follows Pahom through a series of mistakes and misdoings, ultimately culminating in his death. Although readers know certain things about the ill-fated protagonist, it might seem difficult to draw concrete conclusions about him.
But analyzing characters doesn’t have to be complicated. Say you’re asked: “What is Pahom’s main flaw?” Let’s walk through how to accurately answer this question (and others) using the framework below:
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The Practice: “What is Pahom’s Main Flaw?”
Step 1: Take Note Of Motivations
The first step to understanding a character is to identify the things that make them tick. Consider:
- What are their goals?
- What do they wish for or desire?
- What drives their actions, dialogue, and behavior?
In the case of Pahom, his goal is quite simple. As a peasant, he is motivated by his ability to farm efficiently and produce enough crops to support himself and his wife. But, to do so, he must have enough land to farm, leading him to often wish for additional land. This central desire is the driving force behind his choices throughout the short story.
Answering these questions can help you distill a character down to nuts and bolts. It can help clarify what they wish to achieve and why they wish to do so. With this information in mind, you can then take the next step and evaluate how these motivations influence their behavior.
Step 2: Focus On Behavior
Now that you know what guides the character, you can unravel how and why they behave as they do. Find a few examples that answer the following:
- How do these motivations appear in their speech, habits, or actions?
For example, Pahom alienates his neighbors and betrays his fellow peasants in the pursuit of land ownership. The thought of acquiring more land begins to occupy his every thought, leading him to behave poorly and unlike himself.
Identifying internal and external behaviors are key factors in understanding any character. And, as you consider them further, these idiosyncratic behaviors can help you better describe and evaluate Pahom’s main flaw.
Step 3: Consider Their Morality
Then, take the motivation(s) and behavior(s) you identified in the previous steps and consider them through the lens of conventional morality. Ask yourself:
- Who would behave like this?
- What does this behavior say about them?
To achieve his goals, Pahom hurts his neighbors and makes a deal with the Devil (albeit unknowingly). His motivations are understandable, but his behavior is, by most standards, immoral. Understanding how these two aspects work together illuminates certain aspects of Pahom’s character: He is selfish to be sure, but he is also persistent and dogged.
By considering the real-world morality of the character’s motivations and behavior, you contextualize who they are, making it easier to assess and describe them in familiar terms. From there, all that remains is to identify how these aspects relate to the question at hand.
Step 4: Apply Your Findings
Finally, take your findings about the motivations, behaviors, and morality of the character and weave them together. This will provide you with a clear portrait of who the character is and will help you answer any question about them.
First, we know Pahom is motivated by land. We also see him hurt others (and himself) in his relentless pursuit of land. Additionally, we know his behavior is, by many standards, villainous. As such, we could argue that Pahom’s main flaw is greed, caused by his unsatisfied yearning for more land, a better farm, and a better quality of life.
But we could also argue that Pahom’s main flaw is hubris. Only after he derides the Devil, saying that he could not be tempted, does he fall prey to the motivations that haunt him and begin to exhibit his thoughtlessly greedy behavior. If he had not spoken with such overconfidence, perhaps none of this would have happened.
Regardless of which interpretation you find most fitting, this four-step framework makes it simple to analyze a character—even one who appears in just a few pages—and answer any questions about who they are, how they behave, and why they do so. While we’ve discovered how to identify and discuss Pahom’s main flaw, you can use this strategy for any short story, on any subject. We hope you do!
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Learn More
Looking for more insight into character study? Check out our 8-step process for writing character comparisons, or peruse our top eleven steps to write a character analysis.
For more tips and tricks, be sure to dive into our How-To series!