How Much Land Does a Man Need?

                         –   Leo
Tolstoy

Q. Answer the following questions in
about 80 words

Q. 1. What is the dream Pahom had and
why is it significant?

Ans. The story
‘How Much Land Does a Man Need?’ is written by Leo Tolstoy. It is about greed,
ambition and how death makes them all irrelevant. Pahom is a hero in the story.
He is a small farmer. His dream is to have enough land. He speaks with himself
if he has plenty of land, he would not fear the Devil himself.

          Pahom’s
dream for plenty of land aroused from his wife and her sister’s conversation.
He is just a peasant. He has to be with pigs and calves. Howsoever hard-work he
would do, he and is children would have to die on a dung-heap. He has to work
for landowner just for a handful of rice. If he has his own land, he would be
free from this struggle. Therefore, his dream becomes significant for him.  

Q.2. Explain the line ‘Six feet from his
head to his heels was all he needed’.

Ans. When a
human being dies, he needs just six feed land to bury himself. This line makes
one aware that there is no need to have greed and ambitions in life. In the
pursuit of happiness and false prestige, a human being forgets to live life
happily and comfortably. In the story, “How Much Land Does a Man Need?”, it is
shown that greed and ambitions are the greatest enemies of a human being.

          Pahom
becomes extremely greedy. He undertakes a very large rout to cover maximum land
to obtain. In that attempt, he ignores the heat, hunger and thirst. He cannot
reach the decided spot before sunset. He tries hard for that and finally loses
his own life. In the attempt to obtain a large piece of land, he loses his
life. It is ironical that his servant buries him in the same piece of land. He
needs just six feet of land to take a permanent rest.