online-literature.com
What do you believe is the moral behind this story?
>Late in life, James Joyce wrote to his daughter that it is "the greatest story that the literature of the world knows";[1] Ludwig Wittgenstein was another well-known admirer.[2]
The moral is "be yourself."
no it's literally don't be greedy
This is too simplistic.
I interpret it as the search for God. Man has replaced materials goods for God and in doing so has led to their destruction. What man must realise is that God exists within him, The Kingdom of God Within YOU, it is internal. It is not something to search for externally thus disconnecting YOU from God, it must be found within.
>This is too simplistic.
Just because it's simplistic doesn't mean it's not correct user.
>Being this wrong.
>Anyone literate in English can clearly see the moral is "YOLO."
we've aleady had this exact thread and it was very constructive.
the moral can't reduced into a simple aphorism, or else it would be one instead of a short story.
It's about the balance between greed and need, maintaining a grounded mentality in your pursuits, and keeping your goals on your spiritual needs, not the mindless pursuit of material growth
That is a simplistic furthering of "don't be greedy"
The next step outwards in complexity would be a short story.
God damn pahom, i wanted you to succeed so much.
If only he had run faster, he really would have it all.
Tosltoy was a moralist and thought that art should always strive to morally educate man, thus, he many times liked the simplistic tales(and paintings) since they reached the understanding of many and usually espoused and convined of a moral life.
Which is why this story is a fable with a simple moral lesson.
How you doing, Butterfly? We have spoken on multiple occasion through the years but you do not know me.
What are you doing? No update pics?
I'm good. Getting over a cold. Been a busy year. I really shouldn't get back into the old habit of killing all my free time here. Oddly nice space to visit somehow. I should never've posted them in the first place.
Is this your real trip? It seems off? Is this a butterfly copycat?
His speed was relative to the amount of land he wanted
He was never going to make it
First trip, here, was "insecure" with only one #
Apparently one can hack it easily.
The last lines talking about 6 feet of dirt being all he needed makes me think that the message is less of "greed is bad" and more of "greed is futile"
I have read it. I thought it was one of the best pieces of literature I've ever read.
This.
here
was just joking, though.
Moral? Isn't it just a jab at the transient nature of this first life? A man needs only as much land to cover his bones before his journey to heaven, I would guess.
Maybe it's just a readiness to accept that it doesn't really matter how hard you try, because in the end, it doesn't even matter.
He just got old and knew that you couldn't read all the books, you couldn't have all the land, you couldn't fuck all the muzhik daughters.