In “First Epistle to Tsar Ivan,” various motifs are employed to express the theme of suffering and imbue such suffering with religious significance. One of the most salient motifs in the text is that of the shedding of “christian blood like water.” This motif is also seen in the painting of Ivan the Terrible and his son, showing Ivan’s depraved and inhumane nature and the depth of suffering he caused. Blood is a physical manifestation of the suffering of the Russian people caused by Tsar Ivan’s autocratic rule. But by equating blood to water, it also has a religious and moral connotation. Water plays a role of cleansing and baptizing, and blood in this text takes meaning of duty and loyalty to one’s faith and country; the text states “if it is true that your blood has been spilled by the enemy, then you have done your duty to your country” (376). If one does not perform their duty to their country they would not be a true Christian, using the motif of blood and suffering as a way to mutually express devotion to both country and religion. The shedding of blood and self sacrifice are a way for Christians to prove one’s devotion and therefore play a spiritually cleansing and baptizing role, and thus tie religious faith to the idea of suffering for one’s beliefs. Blood also serves to highlight the relationship between Tsar Ivan and the Russian people; blood is spilled by Tsar Ivan, but “cries out against another,” implying that this suffering is not in vain and each life lost serves as a cry to the Lord against Ivan’s barbaric rule (376). The imagery of the blood of an innocent man stained on the church floor, representing suffering being literally stained into the physical site of worship, also shows how each death has religious significance. The implications of such imagery provide an almost hopeful tone to the otherwise bleak and morbid story. Every person’s suffering contributes to the greater moral opposition to Ivan and acts as a way to reach out to God for help and salvation. In this way, blood has the potentially to cleanse and wash away evils and to potentially end suffering for the rest of the Russian peoples, thereby imbuing blood and suffering with a universal and religious significance.