God Sees the Truth But Waits

God Sees the Truth, but Waits begins takes place in the Russian Empire in the late 1800s. The story begins in the town of Vladmir, where the main character, Ivan Dmitrich Aksionov, a young merchant, owns two shops and a house. The mood of the story is light and happy as it describes Ivan as being a decently attractive man with a fairly carefree life, but begins to transition into an ominous mood as his drinking problem and his wife’s frightful premonitions are brought up. The setting shifts slightly as Ivan makes his way to the fair and stays in an inn, but the mood still seems light. It is not until he is accused by the police and sent off to prison that the setting, and in turn the mood, begin to darken. The story shifts from light and carefree to suppressed and in agony, as is mirrored by the transition from a nice merchant village to a dimly lit prison. These changes of setting help carry along the mood of the story and draw in the reader to the reality of what is happening and allow an understanding of how Ivan’s world is crashing in upon him.

The protagonist of the story is clearly Ivan, and the antagonist is the man who framed him for murder, Makar Semyonich. Ivan begins the story as an innocent, carefree man who doesn’t really have worries about anything and who just lives to have fun. The false accusations against Ivan and his imprisonment make it so Ivan has to work hard and he loses his wife and he loses his children and he grows old and haggard and bitter. His whole life falls apart and he can do literally nothing. The story does a good job at showing his utter deterioration as a character. Not only mentally does he fall apart, but his fair and curly hair turns gray and limp and his body just loses all signs of life,...

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... act when you want him to, but it can be trusted that all injustices will be made right in time, even if you yourself cannot solve them. After Ivan comes to this conclusion, he is finally allowed to pass on out of this life.

The story is told using a limited omniscient point of view, particularly through the eyes of Ivan. This allows Ivan’s thoughts and feelings to be thoroughly expressed to the reader throughout the story. Ivan’s internal conflict is heavily emphasized using this point of view. An objective third person point of view would not have allowed there to be that personal connection between Ivan’s struggles and themselves. Also, a fully omniscient point of view would have caused the focus to be too wide. With this point of view, Makar’s feelings probably would have been focused on to much in addition to Ivan’s and the focus would not be right at all.