Mystery Theme Analysis

Tolstoy’s “What Men Live By” abounds with mysteries and unanswered questions. When the shoemaker Semyon and his wife, Matryona, take in a naked stranger, Mikhail, they are unable to glean concrete information from the man about his past and identity. In addition to Mikhail’s mysterious history, his behavior bewilders Semyon and Matryona: in the six years he lives with them, he smiles only three times. (Moreover, it is not clear to the couple what exactly prompts these rare and puzzling smiles.) Even though they don’t understand Mikhail’s origins or behavior, however, the couple accepts his mysterious presence in their lives, even coming to love him. And although at the end of the story Mikhail finally does reveal his identity as an angel—and explains to Semyon and Matryona the reason for his three smiles—the idea of mystery remains central to the moral that he delivers. Each of Mikhail’s three life lessons in some way involves an open question—a crucial element of life that it is not “given” to men to know. Both Mikhail’s presence and his lessons suggest that what people don’t know is more significant for a life of love and faith than what they do know. Through his religious parable, then, the story suggests that living with mystery—that is, accepting what one doesn’t know—is an essential part both of loving one’s neighbors and of knowing God, because it forces people to live with greater trust and generosity than they would otherwise.

Through Semyon’s relationship with Mikhail, the story suggests that love should not depend on perfect understanding. Semyon and Matryona don’t know anything about Mikhail when they meet him, which at first disturbs them. When Semyon first encounters a cold and naked Mikhail outside of a church, he is frustrated by Mikhail’s refusal to tell him where he is from. Semyon presses him with other questions, asking how he came to be by the side of the church and whether some men harmed him. When Mikhail also refuses to answer these questions concretely, Semyon finally accepts the lack of knowledge, conceding that “anything can happen in this world” and inviting the stranger to come home with him. In fact, after Mikhail has been living at the shoemaker’s for six years, Semyon “th[inks] the world of his workman and no longer inquire[s] where he [is] from.” Semyon’s decision to love and care for Mikhail, then, seems to operate in tandem with his decision not to push him further on elements of his past, and instead to accept the man in spite of his mysteries.

For Matryona, too, loving Mikhail means accepting a lack of knowledge about him. After the angel refuses to answer her questions, she, like her husband, gives up and decides to love him despite his mysteries. Although Matryona, on the first night, voices a slight concern about Mikhail’s mysterious identity, pointing out that he “seems to be a good man, only he doesn’t tell us anything about himself,” after this moment, the couple entirely stop pressing Mikhail on his past. The next day, in fact, Semyon gives Mikhail explicit permission not to reveal anything about himself, as long as he will work to earn his keep. Over the course of the next six years, as Mikhail becomes a full-fledged member of the family, Semyon and Matryona’s attitude toward him becomes both more loving and more accepting of his mystery.

Beyond its lesson about accepting and loving mysterious people, the story also suggests that it is important to have faith in the world’s mysterious processes. Things tend to work out in mysterious ways, and it is unproductive to try to predict or control the future. One example of this is Matryona’s initial worry about feeding her family: after giving the last slice of bread to the stranger, Matryona worries aloud to Semyon about how she will get food the next day. Semyon does not provide a concrete answer but instead says vaguely that he is sure they’ll get by and won’t starve. This mysterious premonition of Semyon’s comes true: not only does Matryona manage to borrow bread from the neighbor the next day, but Mikhail’s help in the shoe business means that the family actually faces far less insecurity as time goes on. Later, the story presents another lesson in trusting life’s mysterious processes. As Matryona watches Mikhail cut the leather for the gentleman’s boots, she is mystified and concerned to see that he is cutting the leather for soft slippers rather than firm boots. However, she does not interfere, trusting Mikhail’s expertise. A few minutes later, this mystery also resolves itself better than anyone could have guessed: the rich gentleman’s servant returns to the shop to tell them that the man has died unexpectedly and will now need soft slippers instead of hard boots. In both cases, the family’s inexplicable good fortune suggests that people should accept the world’s (or God’s) mysterious workings rather than worrying or trying to create a certain outcome.

Finally, Mikhail’s lessons at the end of the story explicitly explain the importance of mystery and the unknown. Mikhail explains that the episode with the gentleman’s shoes taught him the second of God’s truths: “what is not given to man.” Since all people are mortal, they face a fundamental mystery about when and how they will die—and for this reason, it is useless to try to predict what one will need a year from now. Mikhail also explains why God forces people to live in darkness about this fundamental part of life: if God showed each person exactly what they needed, people would not have to help one another. Instead, God forces people to lean on one another and face the mystery of mortality with each other’s help. Mikhail’s lessons suggest that what God doesn’t allow people to know is actually more important than what He does allow them to know, because mystery forces people both to love more generously and to rely on one another. The story’s commentary on mysterious people and mysterious processes likewise suggests that people who have faith even in the face of uncertainty will be rewarded.