A common theme I see between Master and Man and The Cossacks is that of what it means to be “truly happy”. At the end of both of these short stories, Olenin and Vasili appear to believe that a life rooted in altruism is most promising for leading a happy and fulfilling life. First, we have Vasili, a rich landowner that is predominantly concerned about buying land, and his peasant, Nikita, whom he treats poorly and often exploits. After a long and strenuous voyage together, Vasili leaves Nikita to die in the cold but ultimately returns out of a sense of duty. Vasili lies on Nikita to keep him warm and dies to save Nikita. During this Vasili exclaims, “‘I have been frightened. That is clear, and have lost my nerve’”, followed by Tolstoy’s narration: “But this weakness came not as an unpleasant sensation; rather as a notable, and hitherto unknown, delight” (525). To me, this quote explains Vasili’s newfound desire to act in service of others – this once “unknown delight” is now the very reason he sacrifices his life for another.
After his life seemingly flashes before his eyes, Vasili has passed away at last, yet is not disturbed by this; rather, he finds peace in knowing he is no longer alive. I discussed the importance of Vasili’s death in itself above but now want to move on to his “after death” thoughts and reflections, at least how Tolstoy tells it. He writes, “He remembers his money, the shop, the house, the buying and selling, the Mironovs’ millions; and he really cannot understand why that man, called Vasily Brekhunov, had troubled with all those things which he has troubled himself” (527), reminding me of how Olenin feels about his own past. He expresses boredom with his life of riches and purges himself from high society. Olenin makes an effort to leave behind the selfish life he once led to become less egocentric and find purpose in life through giving to others. Both Olenin and Vasili come to realize that the materialistic aspects of their lives are not what gives them purpose and turn to altruism to somehow reverse this. Lastly, Tolstoy writes, “…all his beings speaks joyfully and tenderly. And he feels himself free” (527). This reminded me of how Olenin finds a sense of freedom among the natural environment in the Cossacks. On a similar note, there were elements of nature in both stories that seemed similar to me. Vasili exposes himself to the natural and harsh realities of nature – the cold, wind, ice and snow – to save the life of his peasant. Olenin, too, exposes himself to his natural environment and expects that this will bring peace and happiness to his life. Vasili died in the natural elements while Olenin lived, but both were able to find some sort of inner peace through this experience.