What Men Live By Flashcards
by Leo Tolstoy — tap or click to flip
Flashcard Review
Flashcards: What Men Live By
Why does Simon set out on his journey at the beginning of the story?
He goes to the village to collect debts and buy sheepskins for a winter coat that he and his wife desperately need.
What does Simon spend his twenty kopeks on instead of saving it?
He spends it on vodka, leaving him without money for the sheepskins and slightly drunk on his walk home.
Where does Simon find the stranger Michael?
Sitting naked and freezing behind a roadside shrine (chapel), leaning motionless against it.
What does Simon give Michael when he first finds him?
His cloth coat and felt boots, keeping only his wife's wadded jacket for himself.
What does the wealthy nobleman order from Simon's shop?
A pair of high boots made from expensive German leather that must last a full year without losing shape.
What does Michael make instead of the nobleman's boots, and why?
He makes soft slippers because he sees the angel of death behind the nobleman and knows the man will need funeral slippers, not boots.
What happens to the nobleman before he reaches home?
He dies in his carriage on the way home, and his servant returns to request funeral slippers -- exactly what Michael had already made.
How long does Michael live with Simon and Matryona before revealing his identity?
Six years. He works as a skilled shoemaker the entire time, speaking little and smiling only three times.
What is Simon's occupation and economic situation?
He is a poor shoemaker with no house or land of his own, living in a peasant's hut with his wife and children.
How does Matryona initially react when Simon brings Michael home?
She is furious -- she accuses Simon of drinking, complains he wasted money, and refuses to feed "naked drunkards."
What causes Matryona to change her attitude toward Michael?
Simon asks, "Matryona, have you no love of God?" She looks at the stranger, her heart softens, and she feeds and clothes him.
Who is the woman who brings the twin girls to the shoemaker's shop?
A peasant woman named Mary who adopted the orphaned twins after their parents died within the same week, nursing them alongside her own baby.
Why is one of the twin girls lame?
When Michael took the mother's soul, her body rolled over in bed and crushed the baby's leg, twisting it.
What does the nobleman's death on the same day he orders year-long boots illustrate?
That humans cannot know their own future needs -- material planning is futile because death comes without warning.
How do the orphaned twins' survival demonstrate the story's central message?
They thrive not through their biological mother's care but through a stranger's selfless love, proving that love -- not blood ties -- sustains human life.
What spiritual danger does Michael perceive in Matryona when she first refuses the stranger?
He senses "the spirit of death" coming from her, suggesting that a lack of compassion is spiritually fatal.
How does the story contrast material poverty with spiritual wealth?
Simon and Matryona have almost nothing materially, yet their willingness to share makes them spiritually rich -- while the wealthy nobleman dies despite all his possessions.
What type of dramatic irony surrounds Michael throughout the story?
The reader gradually suspects Michael is supernatural while Simon and Matryona remain unaware for six years that they are sheltering an angel.
What is the significance of the story's triadic (three-part) structure?
Three smiles, three truths, and three encounters mirror the pattern of folk tales and biblical parables, reinforcing the story's moral framework.
What do the sheepskin coat and boots symbolize in the story?
Material concerns and self-interest -- Simon's obsession with the coat gives way to compassion, and the nobleman's boots become useless funeral slippers.
What narrative purpose do the biblical epigraphs from the First Epistle of John serve?
They establish the story's thesis -- "God is love" -- before the narrative begins, framing everything that follows as illustration of this principle.
What is "kvas" as mentioned when Matryona serves supper?
A traditional Russian fermented beverage made from rye bread, mildly alcoholic and commonly drunk by peasants.
What are "kopeks" and "roubles" in the story's context?
Russian currency -- 100 kopeks equal one rouble. Simon's inability to collect even a few roubles underscores his extreme poverty.
What does "nankeen" refer to in the description of Simon's clothing?
A durable cotton fabric, originally from Nanjing, China. Simon wears his wife's wadded nankeen jacket as a layer under his coat.
Who says "Matryona, have you no love of God?" and what effect does it have?
Simon says it to his wife when she refuses to help the stranger. It is the turning point that softens her heart and triggers Michael's first smile.
What is the angel's final declaration about what sustains human life?
"All men live not by care for themselves but by love" -- Michael's summary of the three divine truths he learned on earth.
What does the dying mother say to the angel that causes him to disobey God?
"Children cannot live without father or mother" -- her plea convinces Michael to spare her soul, leading to his punishment and earthly exile.