A Confession

A Confession is written in a first-person autobiographical format. What does this writing style achieve that only this style can achieve? How would the impact of the narrative change if this work was written as an academic essay or fictionalized as a novel? How might the impact of this work either improve or diminish if the genre changed?

Tolstoy makes class distinctions in terms of how people worship and who possesses the more authentic faith. He indicates that relatively affluent people like him have less grasp on the meaning of life than poor laborers. Is this a fair assessment? How does Tolstoy justify this position? What, if anything, does the author’s perspective omit?

At the beginning of Chapter 13, Tolstoy explains that he “renounced the life of our class and recognized that this is not life but only the semblance of life, that the conditions of luxury under which we live make it impossible for us to understand life, and that in order to understand life I must understand not the life of those of us who are parasites but the life of the simple working people, those who create life and give it meaning” (76-77). Did Tolstoy successfully take on the view of the “simple working people” in A Confession? What is the evidence for this? In what ways did Tolstoy fail to adopt this perspective?

In this work, what is the relationship between education and intelligence on the one hand, and faith on the other? In your view, does Tolstoy present an accurate picture of the relationship between these things? Outline Tolstoy’s overall opinion regarding the tension between faith and education, then argue the opposite.

Is Tolstoy a reliable narrator of his own experiences? What evidence does he provide in A Confession of sharing authentic opinions, experiences, and thought processes? Where, if anywhere, is Tolstoy’s sincerity in doubt? What do you make of, for example, Tolstoy’s assertion that he spent 15 years “writing as a trivial endeavor” (25), during which time he wrote War and Peace, one of the most celebrated novels in history?

Discuss the author’s assessment of the sciences. What are the sciences good for? What are the differences between the sciences? Where does science shine and where does it fail? Do you agree with Tolstoy’s view of the scope and rightful place of science?

Discuss Tolstoy’s engagement with the great minds of previous generations including Socrates, Schopenhauer, and the author of Ecclesiastes. Why does Tolstoy invoke them? Is Tolstoy in agreement with these great minds? Do the points of agreement and disagreement between Tolstoy and these authors change over the course of his narrative? Why?

Tolstoy outlines “four means of escaping the terrible situation in which we all find ourselves” (49). What are they? What terrible situation is Tolstoy referring to, and for whom do these four escapes apply? Why are these escapes unnecessary for some people? How does Tolstoy assess these four escapes in terms of the honorability of each one? Do you agree?