Restlessness

In the beginning, prior to Pakhon being a landowner, he never had the idea of even owning land until the elder sister mentioned it. This initial thought of having land for himself was just the beginning of Pakhon’s restlessness. Restlessness can be defined in many ways, but in this story it can be defined as not being satisfied with what you have. In other words, restlessness is when someone is not content with his/her possessions or with his/herself.

Pakhon originally said he would buy 20 acres from the mistress, but when he actually purchased the land he bought “40 acres and a small piece of timber land.” His decision in this moment shows that he is already unhappy with what he planned on having. Once Pakhon and his family settled in to their new home they began to feel cramped. Then a traveler came along explaining how there was better quality and cheaper land elsewhere. The higher quality of land allowed for higher quality crops, which in turn created a higher profit. The people that inhabited this land were also much kinder than the previous community. Each time as Pakhon was beginning to feel cramped in his new land, a traveler would come along. This traveler would describe land of even better quality and Pakhon would immediately be interested in it. Pakhon would back up his family and move to where ever the traveler described. After moving, Pakhon would begin to feel cramped again, and this whole cycle repeated itself. Pakhon never realized that he was already better off than what he first started off with, which was no land at all.

Pakhon never appreciated what he had. This behavior can be described as restless because he was always looking for more. He was unsatisfied with the quality of his land and the amount of crops that could be harvested on it. Every time he upgraded his land, he was making more money than he even had before, yet he was still unsatisfied. He could never settle down and enjoy what was given to him.

Another interesting point of this story was the Devils role in basically everything. He was there hiding behind the oven in the beginning, and he was there in the end when Pakhon died. The Devil was the traveler who was sparking Pakhon's interest in having more land. The Devil always wanted Pakhon to have that drive to be of a higher class with the most land he could own, and Pakhon kept falling for it. The Devil was the cause of Pakhon's restlessness.

Restlessness is also shown in the time leading up to Pakhon's death. Pakhon's final day on Earth was spent setting the perimeter of what he thought was going to be his new home. The whole time he was walking out into the fields, he was continuously changing his predetermined plan of changing directions at certain times during the day. Every time he saw land that looked of better quality, he wanted it. He never appreciated the offer of "1000 rubles a day." In the end, Pakhons greed, ambition, and restlessness took control of him, which ended up killing him. If Pakhon had just sat back and realized that every time he upgraded his land, he was still living much a much better life than what he was originally living.