A Divine Gift: Leo Tolstoy’s Short Story ‘God Sees the Truth, But Waits’

An innocent man’s position on revenge is sorely tested after nearly three decades in the gulag.

Prisoners of a gulag at work, circa 1936–1937. Public Domain

In his short story “God Sees the Truth, But Waits,” Leo Tolstoy highlights the important lesson of forgiveness and repentance by presenting a man wrongfully convicted of murder and sent to Siberia for the rest of his life. In such a case, how can a man not be angry? How can he not seek revenge upon those who wronged him?

“Leo Tolstoy,” 1882, by Nikolai Ge. Public Domain

Richer to Poorer

Ivan Dmitrich Aksionov is a very prosperous merchant who lives in the town of Vladimir, Russia, with his wife and children. One day, as he prepares to go to the Nizhny Fair, his wife stops him, saying: “Ivan Dmitrich, do not start to-day; I have had a bad dream about you. ... I dreamt you returned from the town, and when you took off your cap I saw that your hair was quite grey.” Aksionov laughs off his wife’s worries, packs up, and begins his journey to the fair.

While on the road to the fair, Aksionov meets with a fellow merchant. The two travel together and, when night arrives, they enter the same inn, where they sleep in adjoining rooms. Aksionov wakes early the next morning and, not bothering to wait for the other merchant, continues on.

A little later on, a police officer and two soldiers stop Aksionov on the road. The official interrogates Aksionov, asking where he spent the night, if he spent it with a fellow merchant, and if he had seen the merchant that morning. Aksionov grows nervous when he hears that this other merchant was murdered in the night. To his horror, he then watches as the officer draws a bloodstained knife from his own bag. With such incriminating evidence against him, the officer and soldiers seize Aksionov and conduct him to prison.

A Divine Gift

With all evidence against him, Aksionov is quickly convicted and taken to Siberia. Separated from his wife, children, and wonderful life, he thinks to himself: “It seems that only God can know the truth; it is to Him alone we must appeal, and from Him alone expect mercy.”

He subsequently spends 26 years in Siberia, praying and growing white-haired. The guards and authorities prefer him to others because of his piety and meekness, and his fellow prisoners respect him, calling him “Grandfather” and “The Saint.”

Yet Aksionov’s piety and saintliness are tested when a man named Makar Semyonich arrives in the camp. Aksionov quickly realizes that Semyonich murdered the merchant and pinned the guilt on him. After so many years, Aksionov’s past arrives to haunt him.

Anger and the desire for revenge overwhelm Aksionov. When the chance to reveal Semyonich’s escape tunnel to the prison authorities arises, Aksionov must decide whether to cling to the past and revenge, or to repent and forgive.

Through this story, Tolstoy illustrates the healing power of forgiveness and repentance. Tolstoy’s story has the spirit of Alexander Pope’s words in “An Essay on Criticism”: “To err is human, to forgive, divine.” Thus, with such a divine nature, forgiveness provides a healing which transcends human ability, delving to the deepest part of the human soul and providing a refreshment beyond words.

With such aid, how can a man not heal from anger, remorse, and revenge? All sorrow drifts away, replaced by a beautiful wholeness.

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