Demons - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
(Translation by : Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky )
*****
Dostoyevsky's Demons had reference to it in another book completed recently. The book in question is Camus' "The Myth of Sisyphus". The philosophical reference to Kirilov as the man, who takes the path that appears to be the next logical step, in the face of the Absurd, makes Demons an almost essential reading, for one who reads "The Myth of Sisyphus". Yet, for all the importance that Kirilov holds in this context, he is but one of the richly constructed characters found in this work - and not even one of the main characters. Originally published back in 1872, it has originally been inspired by the death of a comrade, of a group of agitators led by Sergey Nechayev. Russia, back then was troubled by moral and political nihilists, as well as youth with other revolutionary ideas. Dostoyevsky had initially aimed this to be a pamphlet in the form of a novel, an anti-Nihilist one, to caution about the dangers of the ideals, then in fashion. But make no mistake this is much more than a mere political pamphlet.
Take the following debacle voiced by Kirilov. It is but one important philosophical point of view, which served Camus, seventy years later.
“God is necessary, and therefore must exist...But I know that he does not and cannot exist...Don't you understand that a man with these two thoughts cannot go on living?”
Yet, Kirilov isn't the only interesting character in this novel. Take for instance, Shatov, who accepts the existence of God, but is unable to believe in him. Shatov, for all the important philosophical stance he represents, is the man who is always present in the outer-skirts of the main dialogues. Sometimes even when present in dialogues, he contributes little. Yet there is enough of the man as represented by a dialogue he has with Stavrogin, which portray the thinking of the man:
"not a single nation has ever been founded on principles of science or reason. There has never been an example of it, except for a brief moment, through folly. Socialism is from its very nature bound to be atheism, seeing that it has from the very first proclaimed that it is an atheistic organisation of society, and that it intends to establish itself exclusively on the elements of science and reason. Science and reason have, from the beginning of time, played a secondary and subordinate part in the life of nations; so it will be till the end of time. Nations are built up and moved by another force which sways and dominates them, the origin of which is unknown and inexplicable: that force is the force of an insatiable desire to go on to the end, though at the same time it denies that end. It is the force of the persistent assertion of one's own existence, and a denial of death. It's the spirit of life, as the Scriptures call it, 'the river of living water,' the drying up of which is threatened in the Apocalypse. It's the æsthetic principle, as the philosophers call it, the ethical principle with which they identify it, 'the seeking for God,' as I call it more simply. The object of every national movement, in every people and at every period of its existence is only the seeking for its god, who must be its own god, and the faith in Him as the only true one. God is the synthetic personality of the whole people, taken from its beginning to its end. It has never happened that all, or even many, peoples have had one common god, but each has always had its own. It's a sign of the decay of nations when they begin to have gods in common..."
There are other characters that are presented with much depth. The main two characters of Stavrogin and Pyotyr Verkhovensky, are useful to the arguments that Dostoyevsky appear to have stood for, though not as proponents. Stavrogin, who is possibly the main character, is most ill-revealed. For all the central attraction that the chapter carries, we are given but brief peeps into the man's mind, which is build with large gaps. There is a chapter called "At Tikhon's", which is present as part of an appendix. It is the most revealing chapter on Stavrogin. Yet this most important three sub-chapters were discovered as late as 1921, in a tin box of Dostoeyevsky's papers, and not been included in the previous publications of the book. It is this all essential chapter which makes the reader discover the mindset of Stavrogin, how he is eternally restless, the cause of his restlessness, and how his biggest enemy is himself. In essence, his life could be understood as a fight against himself. It is useful also with respect to understanding Stavrogin's relationship with religion.
The most diabolical of characters, bent on building chaos, ( yet giving the impression that he himself would be found wanting if asked what his own goal was,) has to be Pyotyr Verkhovensky. He is a schemer, a manipulator, cruel to the core, finding others' lives dispensable, yet hardly nurtured with any charisma that a man of his aims would be expected to have. This character built with a style of speech ridden with haste and impatience, reminded me of a hyena. Yet Stavrogin, Kirilov and Shatov, the three characters with a higher level of intelligence see though this devious man. But they are so engaged fighting their own demons, that Pyotyr, dedicated towards creating chaos and disorder, succeeds to a large scale.
It is pertinent too, to understand that Dostoyevsky probably intended the reader to appreciate the roles played by the mother and father (respectively ) of Stavrogin and Pyotyr. The latter, neglected all his life show not an ounce of affection to his father, and is openly insulting in his behaviour. The former, burdened by a silly mother, may have had a negative impact somewhere along his adolescence.
Each of these characters, plus a handful not mentioned here make this book a complex, structure show casing how human minds work, how different they are from one another, and how what appears to be a random act, is due to the decision making process of another mind - another world as it were.
If asked to state in a sentence it is clear that Dostoyevsky grieves the lack of faith in Christianity and Morals , of the then materialistic and progressive Russia, and this was his way of portraying the heavy price to pay. Yet, this is not propaganda by even the most round-about way. It is here that the genius of the author is obvious. It is not an easy read, and nor is it a book to be read only once - This is the third title by Dostoyevsky that I completed ( Brothers Karamazov and Crime and Punishment being the other two - will start "Idiot" soon ), and these are books that deserve to be in your bedroom book shelf, so that one could deep dive into any chapter and start reading - and these are books I might opt for hard copies of.
I conclude by saying that if one is lover of reading - please do yourself the favour of reading Dostoyevsky's essential work!
“God is necessary, and therefore must exist...But I know that he does not and cannot exist...Don't you understand that a man with these two thoughts cannot go on living?”
Yet, Kirilov isn't the only interesting character in this novel. Take for instance, Shatov, who accepts the existence of God, but is unable to believe in him. Shatov, for all the important philosophical stance he represents, is the man who is always present in the outer-skirts of the main dialogues. Sometimes even when present in dialogues, he contributes little. Yet there is enough of the man as represented by a dialogue he has with Stavrogin, which portray the thinking of the man:
"not a single nation has ever been founded on principles of science or reason. There has never been an example of it, except for a brief moment, through folly. Socialism is from its very nature bound to be atheism, seeing that it has from the very first proclaimed that it is an atheistic organisation of society, and that it intends to establish itself exclusively on the elements of science and reason. Science and reason have, from the beginning of time, played a secondary and subordinate part in the life of nations; so it will be till the end of time. Nations are built up and moved by another force which sways and dominates them, the origin of which is unknown and inexplicable: that force is the force of an insatiable desire to go on to the end, though at the same time it denies that end. It is the force of the persistent assertion of one's own existence, and a denial of death. It's the spirit of life, as the Scriptures call it, 'the river of living water,' the drying up of which is threatened in the Apocalypse. It's the æsthetic principle, as the philosophers call it, the ethical principle with which they identify it, 'the seeking for God,' as I call it more simply. The object of every national movement, in every people and at every period of its existence is only the seeking for its god, who must be its own god, and the faith in Him as the only true one. God is the synthetic personality of the whole people, taken from its beginning to its end. It has never happened that all, or even many, peoples have had one common god, but each has always had its own. It's a sign of the decay of nations when they begin to have gods in common..."
There are other characters that are presented with much depth. The main two characters of Stavrogin and Pyotyr Verkhovensky, are useful to the arguments that Dostoyevsky appear to have stood for, though not as proponents. Stavrogin, who is possibly the main character, is most ill-revealed. For all the central attraction that the chapter carries, we are given but brief peeps into the man's mind, which is build with large gaps. There is a chapter called "At Tikhon's", which is present as part of an appendix. It is the most revealing chapter on Stavrogin. Yet this most important three sub-chapters were discovered as late as 1921, in a tin box of Dostoeyevsky's papers, and not been included in the previous publications of the book. It is this all essential chapter which makes the reader discover the mindset of Stavrogin, how he is eternally restless, the cause of his restlessness, and how his biggest enemy is himself. In essence, his life could be understood as a fight against himself. It is useful also with respect to understanding Stavrogin's relationship with religion.
The most diabolical of characters, bent on building chaos, ( yet giving the impression that he himself would be found wanting if asked what his own goal was,) has to be Pyotyr Verkhovensky. He is a schemer, a manipulator, cruel to the core, finding others' lives dispensable, yet hardly nurtured with any charisma that a man of his aims would be expected to have. This character built with a style of speech ridden with haste and impatience, reminded me of a hyena. Yet Stavrogin, Kirilov and Shatov, the three characters with a higher level of intelligence see though this devious man. But they are so engaged fighting their own demons, that Pyotyr, dedicated towards creating chaos and disorder, succeeds to a large scale.
It is pertinent too, to understand that Dostoyevsky probably intended the reader to appreciate the roles played by the mother and father (respectively ) of Stavrogin and Pyotyr. The latter, neglected all his life show not an ounce of affection to his father, and is openly insulting in his behaviour. The former, burdened by a silly mother, may have had a negative impact somewhere along his adolescence.
Each of these characters, plus a handful not mentioned here make this book a complex, structure show casing how human minds work, how different they are from one another, and how what appears to be a random act, is due to the decision making process of another mind - another world as it were.
If asked to state in a sentence it is clear that Dostoyevsky grieves the lack of faith in Christianity and Morals , of the then materialistic and progressive Russia, and this was his way of portraying the heavy price to pay. Yet, this is not propaganda by even the most round-about way. It is here that the genius of the author is obvious. It is not an easy read, and nor is it a book to be read only once - This is the third title by Dostoyevsky that I completed ( Brothers Karamazov and Crime and Punishment being the other two - will start "Idiot" soon ), and these are books that deserve to be in your bedroom book shelf, so that one could deep dive into any chapter and start reading - and these are books I might opt for hard copies of.
I conclude by saying that if one is lover of reading - please do yourself the favour of reading Dostoyevsky's essential work!
