Father Sergius
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The moral development of Father Sergius takes place in a society filled with a range of stereotypes, from the highest members to the lowest. The main character is, initially, the stereotype of an ambitious young soldier who has caught the eye of the emperor, whom young Stepan Kasatsky adores for his royal trappings. These include a military overcoat, brisk step, and "sonorous voice." His fiancée is a typical young beauty, "the personification of innocence and love." The abbot of the monastery he joins is a "gentleman by birth, a learned writer" who belongs to "a succession of monks," one in a long line.
Leo Tolstoy
Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) was a Russian author of novels, short stories, novellas, plays, and philosophical essays. He was born into an aristocratic family and served as an officer in the Russian military during the Crimean War before embarking on a career as a writer and activist. Tolstoy’s experience in war, combined with his interpretation of the teachings of Jesus, led him to devote his life and work to the cause of pacifism. In addition to such fictional works as War and Peace (1869), Anna Karenina (1877), and The Death of Ivan Ilyich (1886), Tolstoy wrote The Kingdom of God is Within You (1893), a philosophical treatise on nonviolent resistance which had a profound impact on Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. He is regarded today not only as one of the greatest writers of all time, but as a gifted and passionate political figure and public intellectual whose work transcends Russian history and literature alike.
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