God Sees the Truth But Waits Lesson Plan

What kinds of authorities usually dispense with justice in human societies? What seems to be Tolstoy’s message about these authorities in this story?

Given what students know about the Russian Empire, some may think at first that this was first and foremost what Tolstoy intended to critique in his story. The teacher should encourage them to think more broadly, however. The men who arrest and sentence Aksionov are all rendered as opaque, impersonal dispensers of justice—readers never learn much about any of them, and yet they wield extraordinary power over Aksionov’s fortunes. Some students may also point out that, given the evidence, the verdict would not have...