Authors value

With several of the stories we have stopped to ask , What does the author seem to value ' Many stories are open ended , not advocating a position so much as reflecting on a problem or question , so that a more accurate way to ask the question might be , What values does the story reflect on ' For any one of the stories , what value (or values ) does the story express or reflect on , and what is it about how the story is written that leads the reader to this /these value (s

Tolstoy 's stories

are deceptively simple at first glance probably because of his use of simple language , commonplace characters ordinary events , and a straightforward down to earth style . However , at second glance we realize that his works are all a deep study of human nature , which can hardly be termed simplistic . What makes his work more interesting is that he does not patronize or hammer home the moral but provokes the reader to think . Tolstoy wrote After the Ball in 1903 , at the age of seventy-five , and by this time , he felt that it was his responsibility as a writer to persuade his reader over to his point of view . After the Ball on the surface seems to be about love , but at a closer look , we realize that though love is a theme , the story also mirrors Tolstoy 's distrust of the state , his revulsion for the decrepit Russian society of the day , and his horror at corporal punishment...