The Forged Coupon

In The Forged Coupon Tolstoy assails a variety of figures representing a variety of evils, but his principal point is simple yet important: all people are brothers and the one thing needful in love is to love more. Two characters who discover this truth are Chuev and Stepan, both of whom ultimately personify Tolstoyan values―and both of whom go to prison, Stepan for murder and Chuev for his departure from orthodoxy.

Out of the initial act of counterfeiting a ruble note grows a series of evil deeds, in this, Tolstoy’s last short novel. His theme is the consequences of every human action, for both good and ill: our responsibilities run deep. The escalation of evil can be stopped only by one who humbly absorbs it, without passing it on.