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Book Review: God Sees the Truth, But Waits by Leo Tolstoy

‘God Sees the Truth, But Waits’ is one of the very popular short stories by Leo Tolstoy. It was published in 1872. The story is staged against a small town of Russia called Valdimir. The story revolves around the protagonist, Ivan Demitrich Aksionov: he is a wealthy merchant with two shops and a house. He is leading a happy life with his family. Though he was addicted to drinking, well post marriage he gives up this habit. As a result, he becomes amiable and people normally like him.


One day he decides to go to a Nizhny fair on account of a business venture. As he is about to leave home, his wife tells him not to go because the previous night she have had a nightmare. Well, Ivan shrugs off her superstition and commences the journey.

Mid way, he meets a friend of him, who is also a merchant, and they continue the journey together. At night, they check in at an Inn and spend some time together, have had their dinner, and then go to their beds separately. Next day, Ivan wakes up early in the morning and does not want to disturb his friend's sleep, thus he commences his journey alone. After travelling some miles, he is being stopped and searched by the police. The police find a blood-stained knife in his bag. Next, he is taken into custody under the charge of murdering his friend. Despite his claims that he has not killed his friend, he is sent to imprisonment in Siberia.

In the prison his wife comes to see him and suspects of him as a murderer. After spending twenty six years in the prison, Ivan earns some reverence from other prisoners as well as from the guards of the prison. One day some new prisoners come in and one of them is Makar Semyonich. He starts mingling with others and often tells them his stories. Ivan gets the hunch that he is the man who had killed the merchant. Despite this he says nothing to him.

On one occasion guards notice that someone has been secretly digging a hole in the ground in order to escape. And Ivan knows that the hole-digger is none other than Makar Semyonich. Ironically, when the police ask him of the hole, Ivan keeps himself shut. Seeing this act of kindness, at midnight Makar comes to Ivan and confesses that is the one who had killed the merchant that night in the Inn. However, Ivan forgives him and feels as if a colossal burden has been removed from his chest. Markar confesses his crime to the authorities and the process of releasing Ivan kicks off. But, before he is set free, unfortunately Ivan dies in the prison. But more than his death, truth was important. He was proved that he was not a murderer and probably for this reason he died in peace.

This story is about truth, though it can be years and centuries but truth cannot be kept hidden. When truth comes out, it means that the God has made the justice.

Contributed by Sanjeev Kaushik
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