Novel "The Idiot" By Fyodor Dostoevsky

In the name of ALLAH, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Novel "The Idiot" By Fyodor Dostoevsky

Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (November 11, 1821 at Moscow - February 9, 1881 at Saint Petersburg, Russia ) was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist. He is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in both Russian and world literature. Fyodor Dostoyevsky also spelled Dostoevsky, is one of the most influential western novelists of the nineteenth century. Many of his works are considered highly influential masterpieces and the most famous are the novels Crime and Punishment and The Brothers Karamazov. He was a prolific writer who composed novellas, short stories and edited magazines. 

Fyodor Dostoevsky's books are glimpses of innate truth. They awaken the reader's desire for any concrete evidence that hope is not madness. No one has ever shown better; how far our acts transcend our little conscious lives; how vital it is to live them lucidly, with clear eyes. The main theme of the book "Idiot" is the concept Dostoevsky has mentioned in his other works as well: “Beauty will save the world.”

The Idiot is a novel by Fyodor Dostoevsky, which was first published serially in the journal "The Russian Messenger" in 1868–1869. 

Fyodor Dostoyevsky's The Idiot is an immaculate portrait of innocence tainted by the brutal reality of human greed. Its climax is mysterious and chilling, but it is not a thriller. At some 600 pages, Dostoevsky's favorite work, The Idiot is about kindness and innocence in the world of cynicism and moral decay. It is the story of Prince Myshkin, a naive man (who others call an 'idiot') who returns to Russia after being abroad for epilepsy treatment (note that Dostoevsky himself was an epileptic).

The main character of Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel "The Idiot" is Prince Myshkin, who was a good-hearted but naive young man returning to 19th-century Russian society after being treated for epilepsy. His purity and compassion are seen as "idiotic" by the cynical, materialistic world around him, leading to his involvement in a tragic love triangle and ultimately causing a devastating breakdown. The novel is a story which explores themes of innocence, morality, love, and idealism in a corrupt society, culminating in "Naive Idiotic" Person's return to a sanatorium, a symbol of society's inability to tolerate his unwavering goodness. The novel "Idiot" depicts a world corrupted by money and greed. At a time when moral and religious values—along with social hierarchies and norms—are in flux, greed becomes a powerful force driving people's actions.

The Idiot is a novel by Fyodor Dostoevsky, depicting 19th-century Russia that analyzes a "positively Christ-like" man, Prince Myshkin, navigating a corrupt Russian society driven by money, greed, and status. The novel explores universal themes of good versus evil, love, and suffering, particularly in the face of a man whose innocence and kindness are met with scorn and exploitation, leading to tragic outcomes. Key themes include the destructive nature of societal corruption, the struggle between spiritual and materialistic values, and the inevitability of death. 

The main character of the novel "Idiot" Prince Myshkin is a clean-hearted, pious individual who speaks plainly about whatever he wants to say. He cannot even think of doing something bad to anyone and will forgive everyone. For that reason, people call him an idiot, thinking he does not know anything. (Why in a world of humans living in a society believing in "human greatness" will despise truth speaking individual as naive and idiot?)

The writer Fyodor Dostoevsky speaks through the main character Prince Mushkin, and reflects that Catholicism is an un-Christian faith that preaches antichrist. He believes they fight just for political supremacy, which gives birth to atheism. He opines that there is no difference between the Roman Empire and the Catholic Church; both exploit humans just for earthly gains.

Sickness, both spiritual and physical, is a common theme in The Idiot, and no character is more emblematic of this than Ippolit Terentyev. Ippolit is a young man who struggles to find comfort before consumption takes his life. He is a socialist, nihilist, and atheist; his illness is a physical manifestation of his own philosophy, and a reflection on the poisonous politics emerging out of pre-revolutionary Russia as Dostoevsky viewed it. He spends the last weeks of his life at the mercy of the prince’s hospitality despite Ippolit’s continuous belittlement and harassment of Myshkin; here Myshkin continues to display a Christ-like love of his fellow man, while Ippolit reveals a selfishness born from his nihilistic nature. Ippolit’s emotions towards the prince often resonate between an intense disdain and a familial love, possibly echoing the sentiments of pre-revolutionary Russians as the new tenets of western philosophy began to challenge the existing orthodoxy. 

The Ideal Human Being:  In the novel "The Idiot" Fyodor Dostoevsky attempts to portray the ideal man—a "positively beautiful individual." Prince Myshkin represents all the qualities Dostoevsky deems the best aspects of a human being. First, he is frank and open; and does not hide his true feelings behind a veneer of friendliness in order to gain something or to merely maintain appearances. The prince always says what is on his mind, regardless of whether it is perfectly appropriate for the social setting. Myshkin is very altruistic. Not only is he humble, but he is also very giving and compassionate. These seemingly perfect traits of man come into headlong collision with a corrupt world.

The Clash Between Good and the Real World:  What happens when the ideal human being comes into the real world? In Dostoevsky's view, the ideal man does not bring good, but rather his own goodness is inverted and manipulated, leading to the destruction of both himself and his ideal. The world that Prince Myshkin enters is one of moral corruption and decay, with money as the object of principal importance. In this world, money only makes one a better human being. In the novel, the writer reflects that beautiful, intelligent women such as Nastassya Filippovna, are dishonored and consequently destroyed.

High society is full of superficial nothings along with others. Though Myshkin is infinitely morally superior to the world he enters, his effect on this world is ultimately zero—a mix of positive and negative. The failure of Myshkin's compassion to save those about whom he cares most, especially his beloved Nastassya Filippovna, drives him to insanity.

Russian Christianity and Redemption:  Prince Myshkin is a Christ figure, though Fyodor Dostoevsky adds what he believes to be a Russian element to this messiah. Myshkin describes religion as an immensely strong feeling similar to the joy God feels for his creation—a feeling he recognizes when he sees a young mother joyously nursing her baby. Much like the idea that religion is a feeling rather than a set of rules that one follows, Myshkin Christ-like character can also be reduced to a feeling: his immense compassion and love for others.

Fyodor Dostoevsky also explores the idea of redemption in the novel "The idiot" through a series of characters who are condemned. The Idiot is also full of sinners, and Prince Myshkin spends a considerable amount of time with all of these sinners, even after many of them have committed offenses against him. They need the prince morally and spiritually; his attempts at assisting them even after their affronts represent the ultimate in selfless compassion.

Fyodor Dostoevsky lived through early part of 19th century Russia which was struggling through Czar's Rule. The Russian Empire was politically, economically and socially backwards as compared with Western Europe. There was little industry and the vast majority of the population were peasant farmers. They worked in an agricultural system that had changed little since the Middle Ages and most of the population were illiterate. Russia then was predominantly Russian Orthodox Christian, with the Russian Orthodox Church being the official state religion; and the philosophy of western civilization was penetrating Russia as well. 

Fyodor Dostoevsky, like all other great writers keep a clear pulse of the society living in front of them and take a conscious view based on universal moral and ethical principles. The writings penned with conscious attempts of differentiating morality and immoral acts of human beings always shine and survive through times. Such novels as "The Idiot" will always reverberate through the reader's feelings and conscience and will be appreciated across all living societies. Such novel will always reflect the good and bad in any society or nation that is struggling through greed and corrupt practices. The unfortunate truth of the history is that most of human societies represent and exhibit the plot of the story in the novel "The Idiot" by Fyodor Dostoevsky. All the characters of the novel "The Idiot" can be found in the country called Pakistan today, which came into being after about seventy years of the death of Fyodor Dostoevsky.  

NOTE: Such are the must read novel if one wants to analyze the crisis of his society. This write up has been arranged with the help of material available at free web net.