What Is The Use Of Satire In 'How Much Land Does A Man Need?'?

The unwritten standards of society can play a large role in shaping the content of a work, and that shows in “How Much Land Does a Man Need?”, by Leo Tolstoy, and “The Story of an Hour”, by Kate Chopin. Both authors explore and send criticism to their societies in late 19th century Russia, and United States, by using irony and hints of satire to demonstrate the negatives of the social order. In “How Much Land Does a Man Need?”, Pakhom, a villager strives for a large amount of land and believes that if he has a lot of land he has nothing to fear, but while trying to obtain land he ends up dying, while never being satisfied. Through the use of irony in “The Story of an Hour” and “How Much Land Does a Man Need?”, Kate Chopin and Leo Tolstoy display

Today our country runs on money, as money makes the world go around, and not a lot was different in the 19th century. Land was equivalent to money, and Pakhom, the main character in “How Much Land Does a Man Need?” strives to keep getting a vast amount of land. However, as he gets more land he becomes more unsatisfied, “As Pakhom obtains more and more land, it satisfies him less and less. Numerous references to his feeling ‘cramped’ or ‘confined’ (tesno) reinforce the irony (10:360-63) and perhaps also suggests the devil’s influence: Pakhom’s heart burns with desire as he feels cramped by lack of land” (William M. Rowe 104). Pakhom is a fiend for a vast amount of land. Leo Tolstoy, who was known for his ways of thinking, especially his disdain towards private land ownership, uses irony to show how having a lot can corrupt you. As Pakhom gains more and more land, he feels even more “cramped”. His desires have taken him over as he feels he just needs more and more, eventually leading to his death while attempting to obtain more land. Greed, one of the cardinal sins, brings Pakhom close to the devil, as well as the end of his life. Greed is the underlying cause of death for our main character. Pakhom also believed that with the more amount of land he obtains, he would become resistant to the devil, “Our only trouble is that we haven't land enough. If I had plenty of land, I shouldn't fear the Devil himself!" (Tolstoy). The only thing is that the devil was present in different forms throughout the story, and he was always close by. In today’s capitalist society, all people care about is money and land, and that is the same with 19th century Russia. Money and land does not make one invincible, unfortunately Pakhom believed that. Tolstoy uses Pakhom as an example of the consequence of