Prose Friction: How Much Land Does a Man Need?

Prose Friction: How Much Land Does a Man Need?
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Prose Friction: How Much Land Does a Man Need?
There is a thin line between what we want and what we need. Glausser (2019) says that we must get what we need, but wants are optional, although we often desire what we do not need. Therefore, want is what we desire to have or do, while a need is something we must have or do because it is a necessity of life. In How Much Land Does a Man Need? By Leo Tolstoy, Pahom brings out a distinct difference between a want and a need.
Pahom is the protagonist in the short story. He is obsessed about owning land to show off to peasants that he is rich, yet he is a regular peasant. The sister to his wife, who visited Pahom's family from the city and explained how life is right in the city, triggered his greed. He overhears the sisters chatting and tells them, “Our only trouble is that we haven’t land enough. If I had plenty of lands, I shouldn’t fear the Devil himself” (Tolstoy, 2015, pg 1). This only shows how much he wanted land against what he had and what he needed.
Pahom’s greed turned other peasants against because of taking them to court for trespass. This is a contrast to how he should be living with other neighboring peasants. When the landowner lady expressed her wish to sell her land, Pahom bought a piece of land from the lady and was happy that he now had a land. The contrast here exists where Pahom’s desire to own an ample land and keep other people away from it to show authority has pushed people far away from his life. He needs people, but he wants a vast land.
Determination is excellent when you know what you want and whether you are in a position to get it. Pahom leaves his farm, which he bought from the lady landowner, and travels to the neighboring village when a peasant traveler tells him that land is given for free. Despite getting a fair share of land in the new place, Pahom still wants more. This shows the degree of his desires; he is never satisfied. He is far from getting what he wants, but he does not back down. All he needs is a small piece of land that he can comfortably fund and cultivate without taking a huge loan.
The climax of the contrast in what Pahon wants and what he needs is when he dies struggling to get the largest piece of land he could in a day. Personal desires can be very poisonous and even kill a person. When Pahom settles in the new village where he was allotted a land three times the one he bought from the lady landowner, he still wants more. Greed takes him to Bashkir; he dies from his desire. The contrast here is seen when he wants the biggest he could grab but ends end taking a small piece of six feet deep, where he is buried.
This short story is a parable whose climax comes at the end. It carries a message that we should not put our wants before our needs. It is usual for people to want to get the most significant share of g...