How Much Land Does One Need?| Memories We Lost

 Moran (Ed), Memories We Lost and Other Stories

Basing your answer on Leo Tolstoy’s How Much Land Does One Need? Show how lack of contentment with what one has leads to destruction.

Introduction

Lack of contentment in life can lead to greed and even in some case death. Leo Tolsoy in the story, How Much Land Does One Need? reminds us that we do not need a lot in life and we should be content with what is enough. Pahom looks for more land yet he has more than what many people have.

Ci: Attraction

Lack of contentment can lead one to destruction as seen with Pahom. He is a farmer who owns 123 acres of land and pasture but he still wants more. He keeps thinking of how he wants more land. When a man tells him of the land of the Bashkirs and how cheaply it is sold, he is strongly attracted.

Cii: Sleep

Pahom learns from the Bashkir leader that he was to walk the whole day and return before sunset and all the land he had marked would be his for 1000 rubles. He is unable to sleep as he thinks of the large tract of land he will get if he covers a large area.

Ciii: Walking

When Pahom starts to cover ground, he sees more fertile land farther and farther away and all he thinks about is how to get all the land for himself. He keeps moving towards more land and he loses track of time. He is willing to even throw away what he has to get what he can see and unfortunately never have.

Civ: Running

Pahom removes his shirt and throws away his water bottle. He suffers because he wants to walk to more of fertile land that he can see, the more he sees, the more he runs towards it. It is almost sunset and he runs fast as he wants to beat the sunset deadline and own all the land he has marked. He is tired and his heart beats very hard. Unfortunately, he falls to the ground dead because he had lost a lot of energy. His servant buries him and says that all Pahom needed was six feet from his head to his heels.

Conclusion

Pahom dies because he is not satisfied with what he has. In his quest to acquire more fertile land, he missed out on time. In the end, it is greed that kills him, yet all he needed was some land.