rifle

The rifle is the most visible instrument of the coercive power that pervades Resurrection, appearing at every point where the state enforces its will over the bodies of prisoners. It is not a weapon that is frequently fired in the narrative; its function is primarily symbolic and deterrent. The rifle marks the threshold between the world of the free and the world of the condemned, and its constant presence—carried by sentinels, convoy soldiers, and gendarmes—creates an atmosphere of latent violence that defines the prison experience.

Appearance and Symbolism

The rifle first appears in the novel as part of the formal apparatus of the law. When the prisoners are brought into the courtroom, they are accompanied by gendarmes holding naked swords, but the rifle is the weapon of the sentinel who guards the prison gate and of the soldiers who escort the convicts through the streets. In the courtroom itself, the portrait of the Emperor in uniform, with one foot advanced and holding a sword, establishes the visual link between military authority and judicial power. The rifle is the practical extension of that authority: it is what prevents escape, what enforces the boundary of the prison yard, and what reminds every prisoner that resistance will be met with lethal force.

The Rifle in the Convoy System

The most sustained presence of the rifle occurs during the long march of the convicts to Siberia. The convoy soldiers, dressed in white blouses and carrying rifles, form a moving cage around the prisoners. When the gang sets out from Moscow, the soldiers take their places in a large, exact circle in front of the gate, a maneuver that is described as evidently a usual, often-practiced one. The rifles are not used to shoot, but their presence is the ultimate guarantee of order. When a convict collapses from sunstroke and dies on the road, the soldiers do not fire; the rifle's work is already done in the mere fact of its being carried. The weapon embodies the state's willingness to kill, and this implicit threat is what makes the prisoners compliant.

The Rifle and the Logic of Deterrence

Nekhludoff's reflections on the prison system repeatedly return to the question of why such violence is necessary. He observes that the entire apparatus of guards, rifles, chains, and prisons does not reform criminals but instead depraves them further. The rifle, as the most visible symbol of this apparatus, becomes part of what he calls the "terrible evil" that rules and triumphs. In his final spiritual awakening, Nekhludoff comes to see that the attempt to correct evil by using evil—the rifle being the ultimate expression of that logic—is itself the root of the problem. The rifle is not a solution but a symptom of the deeper failure of a society that believes it can punish its way to justice.

The Rifle and the Old Man's Defiance

In one of the novel's most striking scenes, an old man imprisoned for lacking a passport refuses to stand when the inspector enters the cell. He calls the inspector a servant of Antichrist and declares that the seal of Antichrist is on his forehead. The old man's defiance is directed not at the inspector personally but at the entire system of authority that the inspector represents—a system whose ultimate sanction is the rifle carried by the sentinel outside the door. The old man's words echo Nekhludoff's own growing conviction that the law is merely an instrument for upholding the interests of the ruling class, and that the rifle is the final argument in a system that has no moral legitimacy.

Narrative Significance

The rifle in Resurrection is never fired in anger, but its presence is felt on nearly every page that describes the prison or the convoy. It is the silent partner in every act of coercion, the unspoken threat that makes the chains and the barred windows effective. By keeping the rifle mostly unused, Tolstoy emphasizes that the violence of the state is not exceptional but structural: it does not need to be enacted to be real. The rifle is the permanent possibility of death that hangs over every prisoner, and it is this possibility that Nekhludoff ultimately rejects when he embraces the commandment to forgive without limit and to resist not evil.