After the Ball

Interesting Facts

• The story is based on real events that happened to Leo Tolstoy's brother, Sergey Nikolayevich.
• The main character, Ivan Vasilyevich, experiences a profound internal conflict caused by the contrast between the festive ball and the brutal punishment of the soldier.
• Tolstoy uses the contrast between high society and the cruelty of military discipline to highlight the hypocrisy and duality of human nature.
• The plot unfolds over the course of a single day, emphasizing the abruptness and suddenness of the changes in the main character's perception.
• The work is a prime example of Tolstoy's moral prose, where the author explores questions of morality and the human soul.