CONFESSION – TOLSTOY

Confession

MY COMMENTS :

The work, written by the famous writer Tolstoy, discusses the author's thoughts on the meaning of life and religious beliefs.

Written in the 1870s, the author's own confessions about his changes in faith from childhood are recounted. The work sometimes proceeds in a conversational tone with the reader, and at other times, the author spontaneously produces abstract narratives and essays.

The author's constant changes in religious beliefs appear to have played a role in his evolving perspective on the meaning of life. Although a devout Orthodox Christian from a young age, in his youth, he and his schoolmates lost their belief in God and came to believe that all religions were lies to society. It's clear that this belief stemmed primarily from the influence of his schoolmates and friends. During this period, the author stated that he distanced himself from religion because people constantly praised evil and, succumbing to their everyday ambitions, disparaged good and virtuous actions. Here, he specifically addresses those who appear religious but never practice the good and moral values implied by religion.

The author, who soon became consumed by suicidal thoughts, went through a period of profound depression, claiming that even if God existed, He hadn't sent them for any specific purpose and that everything was created by chance. During this period, he perceived himself as a worthless, evil person, and expressed the meaninglessness of the world and life.

During periods when suicidal thoughts intensified, the author claimed that the meaning of life lies in the search for God, and stated that he had refrained from killing himself because he had found the purpose of holding on to life. Following this section, the author offered numerous criticisms of Christianity, stating that religious figures and religious rules contained rules that could not be applied in reality. In this respect, the author, like other Russian writers, expressed his opposition to the Orthodox Church. Furthermore, it can be seen that in the period following Tolstoy's death, prior to the Bolshevik Revolt, many Russian writers supported this movement and attempted to spread the ideology of Socialism throughout the world.

Despite his lifelong search for faith, the author's search for faith reveals that even in his death, he still failed to fully grasp the purpose of life. However, as the son of a wealthy family and having friends from the upper classes, he made observations that also influenced the public. However, the so-called upper class, which has existed since ancient times, has failed to truly grasp the true nature of the people, making observations and pretending to emulate their simple lives, unfortunately leads to the clichéd characterization of the author in this work. Specifically, the author, who wishes to be as simple as them, demonstrates a shallow understanding, claiming that the faith of believers is at its current level because they lack intelligence without much reflection. In this regard, an examination of quote number 15 reveals that the detached yet contemptuous thoughts of the children of the wealthy, the subject of many films and television series today, are equally intensely present.

As can be seen, in the work, Tolstoy manages to reveal to the reader a lost, lost man, lost in the meaning of life and unable to see any purpose in his own life. This weakness of faith, evident in both Russian and Western writers, leaves many people today struggling aimlessly through life. It is known that this understanding has led to the creation of a belief system called agnosticism. Unfortunately, this understanding, which lacks any underlying religious belief but merely acknowledges the existence of a Creator, not only undermines human values, but also stretches the boundaries of moral values. It also leads to a pointless, lazy mass of people who wander aimlessly, following whatever the wind may carry them.

Moreover, it's quite possible that the author, as a result of this understanding, sees no meaning in life. Therefore, the consequences of being seduced by the notions of purposelessness and nothingness, put forward in an attempt to stretch religious values as supposedly modern but fundamentally underdeveloped individuals, are clearly demonstrated in the work. The baseless nature of this belief in emptiness, which has gained popularity both in our country and around the world, becomes even more apparent when research into our religion is conducted. As our religion teaches us, it's clear that the true meaning of our lives lies primarily in self-actualization, becoming more beneficial to society, and reaching the level God desires for humanity.

As a result, the work clearly shows that it is one of the books that can be examined with some awareness and social observations and important lessons can be learned.

MY QUOTES(*) :

1. People live a life like everyone else, but far from being associated with religious rules, everyone lives according to principles that are largely contrary to them; religious rules are not incorporated into life, they are never encountered in relationships with other people, and people do not observe them in their own lives; these religious rules are declared in a place distant from life and independent of it.

2. Whenever I tried to demonstrate my innermost desires—that is, to be a morally good person—I was met with scorn and ridicule; yet whenever I indulged in repulsive passions, they praised and encouraged me. The desire for position, the lust for power, self-interest, lust, arrogance, anger, revenge—all of these were respected. When I indulged in these passions, I resembled a grown-up and felt appreciated.

3. Everything that exists is rational. Everything that exists improves. And everything improves through education. Education is measured by the prevalence of books and newspapers. They pay us and respect us for writing books and newspaper articles, and that's why we are the most useful, the best people.

4. Whatever I do, it will all be forgotten, and sooner or later, I won't be around either. So why all the effort and hard work? How can someone fail to see this and continue living? That's the amazing thing!

5. I knew that art was an ornament of life, something that attracted people to life.

6. I was searching in all knowledge, and not only could I not find it, but I was convinced that all those who, like me, were also searching for answers in knowledge, found nothing, and that not only could they not find it, but they openly admitted that what had driven me to despair, namely, the meaninglessness of life, was the only indubitable knowledge that man could attain.

7. The approach of experimental sciences to questions about life can be generally expressed as follows: Question: “ What do I live for ?” Answer: “ In an infinitely large area, in an infinitely long time, infinitely small particles change with infinite complexity, and when you understand the reason for these changes, you will also understand why you live .”

8. To understand what one is, one must first understand what humanity is, which is full of mysteries and consists of people who, like oneself, do not understand themselves.

9. The subject of experimental science is the causal link between material phenomena. When experimental science questions the ultimate cause, absurdity emerges. Theoretical science, on the other hand, accepts the essence of life without questioning its cause. When we begin to examine phenomena with a connection between cause and effect as social and historical phenomena, another absurdity emerges.

10. Philosophy not only does not answer this question but also asks it itself. If it is strictly committed to its task, it can give no other answer to the question, " What am I and what is the world? " than "Everything and nothing." To the question, " Why does the world exist and why do I exist? " it can give no other answer than " I don't know ."

11. According to the theoretical side of knowledge, the world is infinite and incomprehensible. Human life is an incomprehensible part of this incomprehensible whole.

12. Humanity is a whole that has lived and lives pretending to understand because it is impossible to live without understanding the meaning of life; but I say that all of life is nonsense and that it is impossible for me to live.

13. Therefore, the meaning of life and the possibility of living can only be found in faith. And I realized that faith, in its most important sense, is not merely " the bringing to light of the unseen ," not merely inspiration, not merely man's relationship with God, not merely accepting what is told to man about how faith is understood more fully; faith is knowledge about the meaning of human life, which enables man to live, not to destroy himself. Faith is the power to live. If a person lives, they believe in something. If they did not believe that they should live, they would not live. If they do not see and understand that finite things are deceptive, they believe in that finite thing; if they understand that finite things are deceptive, they must believe in the infinite. It is impossible to live without faith.

14. We subject all these concepts—God, freedom, and goodness—to a logical examination, equating the finite with the infinite and achieving the meaning of life. These concepts cannot hold up against the criticism of reason.

15. Unlike those I saw in our circle, where life was spent in idleness, amusement, and dissatisfaction, I saw that these people lived their entire lives in hard work and were less dissatisfied with life than the wealthy. While our peers defied fate and became angry about their hardships and suffering, these people accepted illness and sorrow without surprise or resistance, calmly and with absolute certainty that all this was necessary and could not have been otherwise, that all of this was good. While the wiser we become, the less we understand the meaning of life, and the more we view suffering and death as a cruel mockery, these people lived, suffered, and moved toward death with serenity and, moreover, joy.

16. “ Live seeking God, and there will be no life without God .” Everything within me, everything around me, became illuminated more strongly than ever before, and this light has never left me.

17. The shore was God, the direction was devotion, the oars were the freedom to row toward the shore shown to me, that is, the freedom to join God. Thus, the power to live was revived within me, and I began to live again.

18. God created man in such a way that every human being can either kill or save his soul. Man's duty in life is to save his soul; to save his soul is to live according to God's commandments, and to live according to God's commandments is to abstain from all pleasures of life, to work, to submit, to be patient, and to be merciful.

19. “ Whatever people truly believe must be true; this truth may be expressed in different ways, but it cannot be a lie, so if this truth seems like a lie to me, it simply means that I do not understand it .” I also said to myself: “ The essence of every belief is that it gives life a meaning that will not disappear with death .”

20. Both lies and truth were told by what is called the church. Both lies and truth were in tradition, in the oral and written traditions called sacred.

MY EVALUATIONS:

Subject : The work deals with the author's thoughts on the meaning of the world and religious beliefs.

Style: Unlike the author's situation-based novels, a simpler and clearer narrative appears to greet the reader, as expected. The intended messages are conveyed through a direct and didactic style. In this respect, the work possesses a stylistic quality that is neither more nor less than required for its genre. It should also be noted that narratives can sometimes be more effective if abstract concepts are conveyed to the reader through concrete examples or other narrative styles. While the lack of fully concretizing the element in essay-style works can sometimes have a more negative impact, thanks to the author's simple narrative, this element does not have a significant negative impact.

Originality : The work, due to its genre, does not aim to meet this category. Therefore, while it will be evaluated, it should be reiterated that, specifically for the book, fluency and style are the most important categories.

Character : The work will not be evaluated in this category due to its nature.

Fluency : Considering the points mentioned in the style section, it's clear that the work has a generally fluid narrative. It's clear that fluency would be even higher if the message concretization element was fulfilled. However, it should be noted that due to its genre, it's unlikely to offer compelling elements to the reader.

General : In the evaluation made out of 10 in accordance with the criteria stated above:

Topic: 8

Style: 8

Originality: 4

Fluency: 7

The overall average score of the work, which received 6.8 points, is 6.8 . The work clearly shows that it is one of the essay books worth examining, as it almost reaches the 7 threshold for its genre.

(*) : All parts in the Quotations heading:

ADMISSION

Author : Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy

Publisher : Türkiye İş Bankası Cultural Publications

Edition : 4th Edition – October 2023

The photo used on the cover was used as a quote from the book.