“… And you say that a man cannot, of himself, understand what is good and evil; that it is all environment, that the environment swamps the man. But I believe it is all chance. Take my own case . .
.”. thus starts Tolstoy’s wonderful social commentary titled “After The Dance” or “After The Ball” which offers a psychological insight human soul and addresses two questions: Can a man not, on his own, differentiate between good and evil? Is environment the main determinant of making a man what he is?
These both are indeed the most important questions faced by human beings throughout their survival. Many people always blame their atmosphere and surroundings for their deeds as well as misdeeds. However, Count Tolstoy disagrees and he believes that only a moment is enough in human being’s life to change him.
Tolstoy’s name is known globally for his longer novel such as “Anna Karenina”, “War and Peace”, “Kreutzer Sonata”, “Hadji Murat”, “Family Happiness” and many others. Author’s shorter works are also no longer irrelevant. I got the opportunity of reading short works of Tolstoy and, believe me, I enjoyed them a great deal. Today, we are going to review for you Tolstoy’s short story titled “After The Ball”.
Like many of his other works, Tolstoy has also told this story via its protagonist who oppose with other companions on above mentioned statement and emphasises otherwise. Ivan Vasilievich, a decent Russian rich man, tells one of the anecdote from his life which changed him forever. After that he stops blaming atmosphere and surroundings.
One evening of his life, he is dancing in a party with a very beautiful woman. He likes that woman very much. Woman’s father was also there in the party. He was handsome, well-preserved old man and he behaved like a gentle man. Ivan likes that man greatly. But on the very next morning he sees the same person in a uniform and beholds a completely different man.
After this event, Ivan stops believing in people’s exterior faces and nature and he always tries to look beyond what seemingly appears to be. This was not the same person whom Ivan had seen last night at the ball. This one night completely changes Ivan’s life and he does not ever blame surroundings for ever.
Like many other of his stories, here too Tolstoy has shown a psychological aspect of human behaviour. And he has shown the ways how a man’s attitude and behaviour changes completely in different surroundings and power structures. This story is highly recommended for all those who are interested in 19th century Russian literature and those who seek to study fiction on human behaviour. I will rate it 4 out of 5 stars.
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