![]() ![]() ![]() Although Tolstoy eventually returned to his maternal home, he never got over the sense of abandonment, betrayal and yearning that characterized his early years. For much of his youth, he felt like the biblical Joseph, yearning to return to the bosom of his family while making a life for himself elsewhere. Tolstoy was orphaned at any early age and he and his siblings were eventually forced to move from their childhood home, the family estate of Iasnaia Poliana, to the distant city of Kazan. Joseph, as the story goes, rises from slavery to a position of power and ends up being the one to save his family from starvation. It is easy to imagine that Tolstoy would have identified with the story of Joseph, a dreamy younger brother who was sold into slavery by his jealous brothers and forced to make it on his own in exile. Tolstoy singled out the story of Joseph from Genesis as one that was "enormously" meaningful to him in his early years. The Story of Joseph, from the Book of Genesis ![]()
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