I ONLY HAVE THE PROMPT - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages In Solzhenitsyns Matryona’s Home, Matryona is a victim of circumstances in an exploitative and highly inefficient collective farm system since her illness has secluded her from taking part in the farm’s work (Potts); according to the narrative, “she was all alone in the world and when she began to be seriously ill she had been dismissed from the Kolkhoz as well (Solzhentsyn 431).” The rest of the workers on the farm exploit Matryona by sending her on errands and assigning her jobs that further exhaust her little energy; the writer says, “not a garden could be ploughed without Matryona’s help” (Solzhentsyn 436). The writer generally critics the socialists’ communistic way of life that promotes existence of the group while seriously restricting independence of the individual. Ironically, the collective communist way of life eventually excludes the individual as it does to Matryona who is locked out of the social activities such as communal work due to her illness; the rest of the characters are greedy, corrupt and selfish, virtues often associated with a capitalist society. Ideally, the writer strongly opposes the view that in a communist society, an individual acts in the universal interest of the group rather than in the best interest of themselves; for instance, in Solzhenitsyns article, the selfishness and greed of the other characters eventually destroys Matryona, as was the case in the communist era that led to the suffering of many (Aron 67). The other characters demolish Matryona’s outhouse to obtain timber for their own construction since they could not get the needed timber from elsewhere; Faddei, in particular, relishes the thought of pulling down Matryona’s house and carrying it away since it was inherently destined to be his initially, as the eldest son. The story reveals that he (Faddei), “was furiously taking it apart, board by board, to carry it out of ...Download file to see next pagesRead more