How Much Land Does a Man Need Essay

Realism, as the word implies, deals with reality as its subject, that is, putting emphasis on what is happening in the real world, rather than stressing emotions as a source of aesthetic experience. In literature, it often focuses on moral or ethical choices such that it gives emphasis on the actions by the characters rather than the actual plot of the story. Characters atomic number 18 also portrayed with motive, more often than not, in relation to the placement of their social class. In realism, sensationalistic and dramatic elements that are often found in naturalism and romances are avoided.The short stories The Bet and How Much Land Does a Man withdraw? are examples of literature in the style of realism which focuses on the ethical choices of the characters in relation to their social class. The Bet focuses on the materiality of the world. It gave contrasts to the materialistic world view of the banker, and the simplicity of the young man in the story. Although the question at the beginning is whether or not the end penalty is worse than life imprisonment, the story has not given an answer to it (it was not its intention to answer this anyway), but rather, it presented views of morality.It altogether despises materiality. The young man at the end of the story proclaimed It is all worthless, fleeting, illusory, and deceptive, like a mirage I marvel at you who exchange heaven for earth. I dont want to understand you (Chekrov). Like The Bet, How Much Land Does a Man Need? criticizes the human sense of materiality. The story, however, shifts its focus on voracity. It differs with The Bet in the sense that while How Much Land Does a Man Need? does not necessarily condemn acquiring material possession in this world, it presented a question of how much of this material possession does man really need. Pahom, the briny character in the story, was given the opportunity to acquire land of his own, but was overcome by greed many times throughout the story. I n the end, this greed was the cause of his death. The moral of the story is that man should only take what is necessary for living, nothing in excess. The story also implies that man cannot take in death what man possess in life.Works CitedChekrov, Anton. The Bet Tolstoy, Leo. How Much Land Does a Man Need