God Sees the Truth, But Waits: A Leo Tolstoy Short Story

God Sees the Truth but waits has the subject matter that Dostoyevsky could have used. The difference is Dostoyevsky would have written it with a fist waving of anger and frustration leaping from the page while Tolstoy writes it with an accepting non-violent attitude relating to those abused with grievances. The protagonist has wrongly been accused of murder, separated from his family for 26 years, and by circumstance meets the real murder in Siberia. The protagonist has come to have an important role in the Siberian community, trusted by Warden and prisoners alike. He spies the murder trying to escape, is threatened, but still does not speak out when asked by the Warden. This profoundly moves the murderer who seeks forgiveness from the protagonist, who says, "Only God can give forgiveness." The protagonist becomes at peace with himself. The murderer confesses, the protagonist exonerated and ordered released from prison, but is dead when the notice comes. A classic Russian ending. Keywords: death, Siberia, Dostoyevsky, Gogol, Turgenev, Lermontov, merchant.