My Thoughts on “The Idiot” by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
“I am a fool with a heart but no brains, and you are a fool with brains but no heart; and we’re both unhappy, and we both suffer.”
Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Idiot
This novel perplexed me. I was quite excited to read this book as I had previously read Crime and Punishment; and it was one of the best pieces of literature I had ever laid my eyes upon. So I had similar expectations for The Idiot. It wasn’t a bad book, it was just so much dialogue between characters which ended up being boring at times. Regardless, I still think there were good themes and concepts brought up in the book. Subjects such as the moral decay of society, christlikeness, and materialism.
Here is a brief summary from ChatGPT:
“The Idiot” by Fyodor Dostoevsky tells the story of Prince Lev Nikolayevich Myshkin, who returns to Russia after living in Switzerland. Myshkin is a man of remarkable goodness and purity in a society filled with moral decay and corruption. The novel explores his interactions with various characters, including the enigmatic Nastassya Filippovna and the self-destructive Rogozhin, both of whom are central to a complex love triangle.
Throughout the novel, Prince Myshkin’s innocence and compassion clash with the cynicism and worldly desires of those around him. The story delves into themes of love, spiritual redemption, and the conflict between idealism and realism. It offers a critical examination of Russian society during Dostoevsky’s time and poses profound questions about the nature of goodness and the complexities of human relationships. The novel culminates in a tragic and emotionally charged climax, reflecting the moral and emotional dilemmas faced by its characters.
The theme of moral decay is ever present in the novel. The higher class Russians have much internal strife, and there is little reason in their affairs. They argue based off of impulses, and have no problem gossiping about others behind their backs. Even worse, they often exploit those under them, and they take their generational wealth for granted. I have heard before that this is Dostoyevsky’s most personal novel; it contains many themes on which he based his personal philosophy. One I believe specifically shown in this novel is the critique of capitalist society. Dostoyevsky famously hated modern freedom (liberalism), and loved ancient freedom. He said modern freedom was based off of greed, and ancient freedom based off of duty. And it is vividly pictured in this novel. The only individual who has any sense of responsibility to help the weak or oppressed is Prince Myshkin, and he seems like an alien. Everyone else around him has self interest as their defining quality, while he is selfless through and through.
He is a Christlike individual, when others do wrong to him he responds in a way that seems unnatural to human nature. I think this is intentional by Dostoyevsky outlining that human nature is not the same everywhere, and that different societally adopted ideas can play a massive role in the individual thinking process of people; I.E. changing their nature. Prince Myshkin is much like Jesus, when others do wrong to him he returns them with righteousness, I.E. turning the other cheek. And to add further to the point of Dostoyevsky’s critique of capitalism, in Jesus’s day many people were able to recognize that his selflessness and duty towards others was a good principal. But when Prince Myshkin shows up, they cannot even recognize his goodness. Their minds are so twisted and perverted towards their pursuit of self interest that they have lost all sight into what is true, good and worth living for.
After reading Crime and Punishment, I can tell that Dostoevsky’s narrative is not solely focused on the idea that higher class are evil. Rather it is everyone who has been corrupted. The poor and wretched people seen in Crime and Punishment seem to have the same self interest and greedy desires as the wealthy in The Idiot. Both sides have no sense of final fulfillment to their desires, their internal materialism is never gratified. They always want more. Whether it be exploiting, lying, cheating, or stealing, money seems to be the despotic master of all people. Prince Myshkin is the protagonist of the story but ultimately it ends up bad for him, he’s taken advantage of. His light is smothered by darkness, and no one knows the difference.
Overall, this was a pretty good book, after thinking about it a bit I believe the themes were very valuable. I am definitely glad I read it and would recommend to others – though it requires some context on the personal philosophy of Dostoyevsky, or else many themes may be missed.
AI Art Showing Prince Myshkin as Jesus, in St Petersburg
Eternity on Trial 
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