ipl-logo

Dostoevsky's Dichotomy

1563 Words7 Pages

In his short story, The Dream of a Ridiculous Man, Fyodor Dostoevsky illustrates a perfect society using several diverse teachings about love. Firstly, Dostoevsky fills the ridiculous man’s dream with Mahayana Buddhism’s compassionate philosophy. Further, the dream society follows Christianity’s rule of neighborly love. Dostoevsky also infuses the dream with Søren Kierkegaard’s philosophies about the dichotomy of love. Each philosophy provides an explanation for the dream society’s downfall and also an allegorical connection between Petersburg and the possible corruption of traditional Russia. Dostoevsky creates the ideal dream society by pulling compassionate, neighborly, and dichotomous ideas about love from Buddhism, Christianity, and Kierkegaard’s meditations. He juxtaposes these philosophies with the character of the ridiculous man to illustrate St. Petersburg’s corruption of Russia. Dostoevsky alludes to Buddhist philosophy in the ridiculous man’s …show more content…

This is, [perhaps, the most obvious religious allusion in the text. From the beginning, the dream people seem to live in an Eden where “they [do] not strive to gain knowledge” and “[live] peaceably” with the animals and nature around them (Dostoevsky 730). Furthermore, their food comes from their surroundings and they eat “the fruit of their trees,” just as Adam and Eve “eat fruit from the trees” (Dostoevsky 731; Genesis 3:2). They are “innocent and beautiful” like “children” because of their immense love and compassion towards one another (Dostoevsky 729-731). The peace in their society comes from inherently knowing “love your neighbor as yourself,” which is a direct quote from the bible (Dostoevsky 738; Leviticus 19:18). Furthermore, The ridiculous man corrupts the dream people with a lie, just as the serpent deceives Eve. Therefore, Dostoevsky illustrates how society demolishes this peaceful and holy way of living because of its selfish

Show More
Related

Dostoyevsky's Grand Inquisitor

555 Words | 3 Pages

Although I think that the arguments Dostoyevsky’s Grand Inquisitor provide an insightful outlook on humanity, I don’t believe that overall story expresses Dostoyevsky 's own point of view. This type of narrative may seem peculiar considering many existentialists’ convictions regarding free will and autonomy. Nevertheless, it is important to remember that the Grand Inquisitor is simply a fictional character. Therefore, the reader cannot attribute his characters’ beliefs to his own view. As an existentialist author, he uses this story to emphasize the absurdity surrounding this ideology present in his community.

Read More

Violence In Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime

931 Words | 4 Pages

Violence is never the answer, unless it is in literature. The work of Crime and Punishment is one of the greatest examples of how violence moves along the storyline. The scenes of violence in Crime and Punishment contribute to the work because it drives the characters insane, impacts the lives of the characters, and finally it was used as a way for our main character to prove himself as an above-average person. The act of murdering the pawnbroker and her sister caused Raskolnikov’s to spiral into insanity. Soon after the crimes were committed Raskolnikov found it difficult to stay conscious because he experienced multiple fainting spells.

Read More

God And Christianity In The Idiot And The Brothers Karamazov

1588 Words | 7 Pages

Criticism of God And Christianity In The Idiot and The Brothers Karamazov Floyd Mikhailovich Dostoevsky is a renowned Russian author and philosopher who lived during the nineteenth century. Dostoevsky’s writings reflect human nature from his perspective. He focuses on the effects of removing God and sense of morality from society as well as man’s psychological response to suffering and oppression. Dostoevsky 's objective was to show that the West had lost Christ; “[a]nd that is why it is dying; that is the only reason” (Mcinerny, Ralph.

Read More

Space In Crime And Punishment

951 Words | 4 Pages

He uses descriptions of spaces in St. Petersburg to morph protagonist Raskolnikov’s mind and his surroundings into an indistinguishable amalgamation of confusion and claustrophobia, showing the Westernized city’s stifling effect on the internal workings of a traditional Russian man bombarded by new ideas. Dostoevsky focuses on St. Petersburg on the scale of individual rooms as opposed to full cityscapes. This use of space is most evident in his repeated descriptions of the cramped living quarters which act as barriers to Raskolnikov’s achievement of his full potential. At many points in the novel, Raskolnikov appears stuck in his own mind as well as in his physical space. The first description of his living-quarters immediately conveys this feeling of entrapment: “His closet was located just under the roof of a tall, five-storied house, and was more like a cupboard than a room.”

Read More

Fyodor Dostoevsky's The Double

1102 Words | 5 Pages

Dostoevsky argues confinement and subjugation of the self—through Russian society, as personified in the dank St. Petersburg—is perverse, creating inhuman caricatures of men. Gothic techniques illustrate the extent of Golyadkin’s subjugation. As in Poor Folk, Petersburg is a city with intention; it punishes and ravages. Dostoevsky’s Petersburg is negatively personified in The Double to heighten the idea that the city itself creates the unnatural ‘rational egoist’. Gothic technique features in this concept of Petersburg-as-villain: the physical and psychological confinements of hierarchy result in a ‘doubling’ of the self.

Read More

Of Myshkin In Fyodor Dostoevsky's Idiot '

816 Words | 4 Pages

The Beauty of Myshkin’s Spirit The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky invites the reader into a world dominated by lust, greed, and human depravity. However, throughout it all, Myshkin stands out as a virtuous glimmer of hope for mankind. In the assigned passage, the reader can see the immense extent to which Myshkin contrasts with the other people in the novel. In the excerpt we discussed, Dostoevsky provides a prime example of Myshkin’s characterizing charm and appeasing demeanor.

Read More

Faith In Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov

526 Words | 3 Pages

Every individual, especially those devotedly religious, has a differing perspective on God and the true nature of faith. Fyodor Dostoyevsky, in The Brothers Karamazov, bluntly displays the exploration into opposing notions of faith’s essence through two distinctly divergent religious characters, Zosima and Father Ferapont. Zosima represents a traditional, moral center that preaches love and faith as the catalyst to miracles where as Father Ferapont highlights the unorthodox through the expression of a physical and regimented approach to faith by propagating the importance of obeying religious rituals. Throughout interactions with other characters, Zosima displays an orthodox, spiritual hub.

Read More

Research Paper On Fyodor Dostoevsky

3608 Words | 15 Pages

Fyodor Dostoevsky was a famous Russian writer who influenced countless literary writers. A considerable amount of his work focuses on suffering in a psychological context with focuses on politics, spirituality, and social aspects of 19th century Russia (Martin et al). Dostoevsky’s work had a profound influence on philosophy. A great deal of scholars consider him to be the father of existentialism, even though he is not considered to be a philosopher.

Read More

The Underground Man In Dostoevsky's Notes From Underground

1370 Words | 6 Pages

‘“Let him come, if he wants to so much, “But we have our own circle, we’re friends,”. . . Maybe we don’t want you at all”’ (Dostoevsky 65). The Underground Man invites himself to an expensive dinner with his peers who do not want him present, rather than anticipating a nice evening, he torments himself about it. “I dreamed of getting the best of them, winning them over, carrying them away, making them love me” (Dostoevsky 70).

Read More

Comparison Of Dostoyevsky And Paul On The Problem Of Evil And Suffering

566 Words | 3 Pages

Dostoyevsky and Paul on the Problem of Evil and Suffering In 1880, Russian philosopher Fyodor Dostoyevsky published The Brothers Karamazov as a commentary on the ethical and religious dilemmas of his time. In this novel, we are introduced to Ivan and Alyosha, two brothers discussing the problem of evil and suffering. Ivan successfully shows this problem through the examples of children suffering during his time. In doing so, Ivan rejects Alyosha’s view of a just benevolent God by arguing that the suffering of children necessarily demonstrates the injustice of God by showing a contradiction between a God with an omnibenevolent nature and a God who allows tremendous suffering to guiltless children.

Read More

Religion In Dostoyevsky's Crime And P

1142 Words | 5 Pages

The function of religion is a very important yet subtle theme in Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment, and is presented through the novel’s characters and their various associations with religious allusions. The presence of religion in the novel offers a unique paradox; on one hand, the text circulates around a godless person who committed a reprehensible and sinful crime, while on the other hand the importance of religion and how each individual understands it is emphasized. Due to this, the idea of ‘Holy Sinners’ arises, in which there are characters that take part in appalling actions, but symbolize purity as well. The most prominent characters to demonstrate this paradoxical take on religion are Sonya, for her being praised for her purity but shunned for her occupation, and Raskolnikov, for committing a terrible crime but coming to terms with it in the end. First and foremost, a character that displays this paradoxical view of necessary wrongdoing is the saintly prostitute, Sonya Marmeladov.

Read More

St. Petersburg In Crime And Punishment

1052 Words | 5 Pages

Saint Petersburg, the setting of Crime and Punishment, plays a major role in the formation in Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s acclaimed novel. Dostoyevsky’s novels focus on the theme of man as a subject of his environment. Dostoyevsky paints 1860s St. Petersburg as an overcrowded, filthy, and chaotic city. It is because of Saint Petersburg that Raskolnikov is able to foster in his immoral thoughts and satisfy his evil inclinations. It is only when Raskolnikov is removed from the disorderly city and taken to the remoteness of Siberia that he can once again be at peace.

Read More

Pessimism In Gooseberries

1205 Words | 5 Pages

(Chekhov 492) emphasizing the problems in society. The chaos in society can be felt through Ivan’s passionate, yet disturbing speech leaving the readers in a state of discomfort and restlessness, the same note on which the

Read More

Anna Karenina Setting Analysis

1585 Words | 7 Pages

Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina depicts the lives of the upper class in nineteenth century Russia. Specifically, the novel centers around the stories of Levin and Anna and their relationships with other key characters. Tolstoy’s descriptions of the setting, and how the characters interact with it, aid the reader in better understanding the characters. Character’s relationships with physical objects, environment, and other aspects of the setting emphasize the qualities and behavior of each character. The setting, in Anna Karenina, exemplifies Stiva’s self indulgence, Levin’s simplicity, Nikolai’s immorality, and Anna and Vronsky’s ugly truth.

Read More

Summary Of Nikolai Gogol's Dead Souls

2141 Words | 9 Pages

An Examination of the Russian Upper Class Through the Lens of Gogol’s Dead Souls Nikolai Gogol’s Dead Souls is a satirical criticism of the early 19th century Russian character and mentality. In the novel, the reader follows the protagonist, Chichikov, who is attempting to purchase “dead souls” in order to achieve his dream of owning his own estate. However, the focus of the novel is not on the plot, which does not really exist in the traditional sense of a novel, but rather on Gogol’s depiction of Russian life and people through a highly comical lens. Chichikov attempts to purchase “dead souls” from various landowners, all of whom highlight various negative characteristics of the Russian gentry. By following Chichikov, who is not exactly a respectable character, the reader is exposed to the lives and

Read More

More about Dostoevsky's Dichotomy

Related Topics

Open Document