In Leo Tolstoy’s “Master and Man” novella, Russian businessman Vassili Andreyich and his peasant Nikita get stuck in a blizzard on the way to make a deal for land. Up to this point, they have gone in circles searching for the place they were supposed to be, and the night has grown dark and snow thick. They have settled in one spot for the night and are huddled in the small wooden sledge together, with their horse, Mukhorty, standing patiently just outside of it, still attached to the wooden sledge. As he tries to fall asleep, Vassili Andreyich is thinking, thinking, and overthinking to himself, hyper aware of his surroundings. After a wolf passes by them without conflict, he starts to think about whether he will end up freezing to death. In his head, he thinks,
”What’s the point of lying here, waiting for death to come? To get on horseback and ride off now—“ it suddenly occurred to him. “The horse won’t stop if I’m on his back. As for him,” he thought, of Nikita, “he’s going to die anyway. What sort of a life has he got? Even his life hardly matters to him—but as for me, thank God, I’ve got something to live for….”
This quote stood out to me because rarely in a book have I or do I ever see such narcissism from a character, let alone the disregard for another human life. This quote shows the true extend of Vassili’s privileged lifestyle and how little he really cares about Nikita, even if we knew he didn’t care for him much as it was. The author is true oh skilled at making characters appear a certain way. The meaning, emotions and thoughts behind Vassili’s shallow words are almost relatable through situations I’ve seen others in, but the extent and scale they appears on make it amazingly impossible to relate to. It does, however, remind me of the situations and mindsets that some people in the world do have. The sad reality is, some people still think like this. And this is why the world needs to change. Disregard for human life and general apathy will be the downfall of many people, well-known or not. If only we’d be more humane, even as humans…