The resolution of Leo Tolstoy's story "The Penitent
Sinner" shows how the penitent sinner, after pleading his case to St. Peter, King David,
and John the Divine, is finally allowed in heaven.
The
story reads,
And the gates of Paradise were
opened, and John embraced the penitent sinner, and admitted him into the Kingdom of
Heaven.
This, however, was no easy feat. At all
times that the sinner would request to be allowed in the Kingdom of Heaven, each of the
men he encountered would deny him entrance because the man is a sinner. They would argue
that heaven is for saints and good people, and that he-the sinner- would not be allowed
in.
At each of these arguments, the sinner would reply how
each of those great saints in heaven once were sinners too. He would then relate to each
of the saints which specific sins they have committed and how God was so merciful upon
them. This would end up granting him a closer step inside
Heaven.
The final encounter with John the Divine is what
seals the deal. Just when John is about to tell the sinner that the sinner cannot get
inside the gates of heaven, the sinner takes a different approach and reminds John that,
because Jesus loved him the most, he is sure to have learned how to have mercy on
others.
And the sinner rejoiced and said: “Now
thou can'st not refuse to let me in. Peter and David might have let me in because they
knew the weakness of man and the mercy of God. And thou wilt let me in because thou
lovest much. Didst not thou, oh, John the Divine, write in thy book that God is Love,
and he that loveth not knoweth not God? Didst thou not in thine old age say this one
sentence to the people: ‘Brethren, love one another’? How then can'st thou now begin to
hate me and drive me away? Either deny what thou thyself hast said, or else let me into
the Kingdom of Heaven.”
Therefore, the resolution
of the main character's problem is that his plea aided him to be able to enter
Paradise.
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