What is the relationship of a man and land as depicted in the story "How Much Land Does a Man Need?"

Land is depicted in the story as primarily a source of wealth. The grasping peasant, Pahom, becomes obsessed with the ownership of land and the wealth and social status it will bring. In the process, he loses sight of land as a place to call home, to set down roots. He no longer has the kind of mystical kinship to the soil advocated so strongly by Tolstoy. In his desire to acquire as much land as he can get his hands on, Pahom comes to regard the ground beneath his feet as an object, an economic commodity, something to be exploited for all it's worth.
The Bashkirs have a much healthier, more traditional attitude towards land, and so have no hesitation in allowing Pahom to take as much as he can traverse by foot in a single day. In their naivety they are wise, and Tolstoy insinuates that Pahom should adopt the same attitude. Sadly for him he does not, and in his headlong pursuit of landed wealth, Pahom loses not just his soul but also his life. How much land does a man need? Just enough to bury a coffin. Tragically, greed and materialism had taken over Pahom's life so completely that he was only able to reestablish his lost contact with the soil in death.