Resurrection · Question
How does Resurrection develop the theme of Land Ownership and Economic Injustice?
Answer
Resurrection by Leo Tolstoy develops Land Ownership and Economic Injustice across the chapters the companion marks for this theme.
Nekhlúdoff's decision to give his land to the peasants and his reflections on private property as theft underscore Tolstoy's critique of the economic foundations of serfdom and capitalism, linking material inequality to spiritual corruption.
Nekhlúdoff's internal conflict over inheriting large estates while believing in the injustice of private landholding, as argued by Henry George and Herbert Spencer.
Nekhlúdoff's reading of Spencer leads him to recognize the injustice of private land ownership and to resolve to give up his inherited land.
Nekhlúdoff grapples with the injustice of land ownership and decides to implement Henry George's theories by giving land to the peasants, highlighting the economic inequality between landowners and peasants.
Evidence in the book
- III
Nekhlúdoff's internal conflict over inheriting large estates while believing in the injustice of private landholding, as argued by Henry George and Herbert Spencer.
- XII
Nekhlúdoff's reading of Spencer leads him to recognize the injustice of private land ownership and to resolve to give up his inherited land.
- Book II
Nekhlúdoff grapples with the injustice of land ownership and decides to implement Henry George's theories by giving land to the peasants, highlighting the economic inequality between landowners and peasants.
- I
Nekhlúdoff confronts the exploitative rental system on his estate, where peasants pay high labor rents, and decides to let the land at a low rent.
- Chapter II
Nekhlúdoff offers land at a low rent, yet the peasants remain dissatisfied, highlighting the deep economic inequalities and distrust between landowners and peasants.
- III
Nekhlúdoff's intention to arrange land reform with the peasants highlights the ongoing struggle over land ownership and economic inequality.
- IV
The old peasant explains that he has only enough land for three people, forcing him to hire out as a laborer and borrow money, illustrating the systemic economic injustice faced by peasants.
- V
The imprisonment of Martha's husband for cutting birch trees on Nekhlúdoff's land illustrates the systemic economic injustice faced by peasants.
