Twenty Years at Hull House · Chapter
XII: Tolstoyism explained
Jane Addams reflects on the moral and practical challenges of charity work in Chicago after the World's Fair, leading to a crisis of conscience about the value of settlement work.
What happens
Jane Addams reflects on the moral and practical challenges of charity work in Chicago after the World's Fair, leading to a crisis of conscience about the value of settlement work. She travels to England and Russia, seeking guidance from Count Tolstoy, and grapples with the tension between idealistic labor-sharing and the complexities of modern urban life.
Free preview opens on this chapter — companions, themes, and character notes appear beside the text.
Narrative arc
Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Rising action.
- Setup
- Escalation
- Breaking point
- Aftermath
- Closing
The emotional and psychological peak occurs when the exhibit reveals the "pathetic evidence" of the older immi…
Full beat labels and climax notes unlock in the reader.
Follow the arc while readingThemes in this chapter
- Class and Economic Inequality
Addams grapples with her own comfort amid poverty and Tolstoy's insistence on sharing physical labor.
- Moral Development and Ethical Living
Tolstoy's example of living by conscience challenges Addams to reconcile ideals with urban complexity.
- Social Reform and the Settlement Movement
Addams questions the efficacy of settlement work compared to direct labor-sharing.
Characters to notice
- Jane Addams
Narrator; reflects on her charitable work, illness, and journey to meet Tolstoy.
- Count Tolstoy
Central figure; Addams visits him to seek clarity on poverty and labor.
- Miss Eleanor Smith
Travels with Addams to England and Russia.
- John Hobson
Lecturing on modern capitalism during Addams' visit to England.
- John Burns
Shows Addams civic accomplishments in Battersea.
Key passages
“The dealing directly with the simplest human wants may have been responsible for an impression which I carried about with me almost constantly for a period of two years and which culminated finally in a visit to Tolstoy—that the Settlement, or Hull House at least, was a mere pretense and travesty of the simple impulse 'to live with the poor,' so long as the residents did not share the common lot of hard labor and scant fare.”
Addams felt that Hull House was hypocritical because residents didn't share the physical hardships of the poor, a feeling that drove her to visit Tolstoy.
Highlights Addams' crisis of conscience about settlement work.
“I was but one of thousands of our contemporaries who were turning toward this Russian, not as to a seer—his message is much too confused and contradictory for that—but as to a man who has had the ability to lift his life to the level of his conscience, to translate his theories into action.”
Addams saw Tolstoy not as a prophet but as someone who lived by his principles.
Explains Addams' admiration for Tolstoy's integrity.
“Was Tolstoy more logical than life warrants? Could the wrongs of life be reduced to the terms of unrequited labor and all be made right if each person performed the amount necessary to satisfy his own wants?”
Addams questions whether Tolstoy's simple labor-sharing solution is too rigid for real life.
Shows Addams' critical reflection on Tolstoy's philosophy.
