In Tolstoy's 'God Sees the Truth, But Waits', the Maude translation says Aksyonof's 'voice was broken, his face pale, and he trembled with fear as though he were guilty.' What does the moment show?

The Governor asks who dug the tunnel. Aksyonof thinks, 'Why should I screen him who ruined my life? Let him pay for what I have suffered.' Which type of conflict does this moment turn on?

Aksyonof is innocent, yet the court convicts him on the blood-stained knife found in his bag, has him flogged with the knout and sends him to Siberia. Which type of conflict does his trial turn on?

After meeting Makar Semyonitch, Aksyonof lies awake seeing his young wife, his small children, the guitar in the inn porch and the place where he was flogged. What does this rush of memory do?

Forgiving the man who framed him, Aksyonof says, 'God will forgive you! Maybe I am a hundred times worse than you.' What does the line reveal about how Aksyonof now sees himself?

A reader says Tolstoy's story teaches that 'crime never pays, because the law catches the guilty.' How well does the story support that saying?

After Aksyonof forgives Makar, the story says 'his heart grew light, and the longing for home left him.' Which claim about human experience does this moment support?

A student argues that Tolstoy's story shows 'the truth always comes out in time to save the innocent.' Is that a fair reading of the ending?

In prison Aksyonof's wife asks him, 'Vanya dearest, tell your wife the truth; was it not you who did it?' Why does this question wound him more than the trial did?

Aksyonof knows Makar dug the tunnel, but he tells the Governor, 'I cannot say, your honor. It is not God's will that I should tell!' What best explains this silence?

Tolstoy writes that the other convicts called Aksyonof 'Grandfather' and 'The Saint', made him their spokesman, and came to him to settle their quarrels. Which method of characterization is at work?

Near the start of the story, the narrator says: 'Aksyonof was a handsome, fair-haired, curly-headed fellow, full of fun, and very fond of singing.' How does the reader learn these traits?

Aksyonof's wife dreams that his hair has turned gray, and twenty-six years later 'his hair turned white as snow.' What does this repeated detail work as in the story?

Tolstoy's story begins with Aksyonof at home in Vladimir, before the journey, the false charge and the prison years, then moves forward. Which term names this kind of opening?

When Makar jokes about the knife, Aksyonof's anger is so great that he 'longed for vengeance, even if he himself should perish for it.' What does this add to the reader's view of him?

The narrator reports what Aksyonof thinks while the Governor waits for an answer, but never enters Makar's mind. How is the story's point of view best described?

The title of Tolstoy's story states a general idea: God sees the truth, but waits. Which claim about the world does that idea put forward?

In Tolstoy's story, Aksyonof is already dead when the order for his release arrives.

Makar seizes Aksyonof's hand near the tunnel and says, 'Just you keep quiet, old man, and you shall get out too. If you blab they'll flog the life out of me, but I will kill you first.' Which conflict is this?

A study guide says the story proves that 'suffering always makes a person better.' Which detail from the story most complicates that claim?