The Penitent Sinner

Leo Tolstoy (1828 – 1910) is one of the most famous Russian writers and thinkers and is considered one of the greatest writers in the world. His work marked a new stage of the development of the Russian and world’s realism and connected the literature of the XIX and the XX centuries. His short stories stated his thoughts on the God, the Good and the Evil and their place in our lives.


This story is a parable of a sinner trying to get past the Peary Gates having no good thing done during his lifetime. As different people answer his knocking on the Gates, he tries to persuade them to let him in facing one refusal after another. But what would be a real reason to let the sinner go into the Garden of Eden? Despite you may disagree, the story will definitely set you thinking.