Profile of a Genius

   The term “genius” refers to something or someone embodying exceptional intellectual ability, creativity, or originality, typically to the degree that is associated with the achievement of unprecedented insight.¹  This term has been used  to describe various people throughout human history.  For example, in the realm of science, men such as Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727), Albert Einstein (1879-1955), and Galileo Galilei (1564-1642), were declared to be geniuses because of their contribution to their field. 

    Genius can take many forms.  Based upon the definition given, there are some people who can be considered a financial genius, a political genius, or a musical genius.  Men such a Ludwig von Beethoven (1770-1827), Wolfgang Mozart (1756-1791), Pyotr Tchaikovsky (1840-1893), Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), and others are considered to be musical geniuses.  Their contributions to music have passed the test of time.  The music they wrote is still performed by orchestras and studied by music students after all of these centuries. 

    Philosophy has produced its share of geniuses.  The contributions of Aristotle (384 BC-322 BC), Plato (424 BC-348 BC), Socrates (469 BC-399 BC), Moses Maimonides (1135-1204), Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109), Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), Martin Heidegger (1889-1976), Edmund Husserl (1859-1938), and others have had a profound impact on Western culture.  Their contributions in the area of ethics, metaphysics, and epistemology are still read by Philosophy students and discussed by philosophers to this day.  

    The title of genius extends to the field of literature also.  Writers such as Mark Twain (1835-1910), Charles Dickens (1812-1870), Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849), Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961), Albert Camus (1913-1960), Lev Tolstoy (1828-1910), Anton Chekhov (1860-1904), Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930), Mikhail Bulgakov (1891-1940), Mikhail Lermontov (1814-1841), and Walt Whitman (1819-1892) are each considered to be literary geniuses by countless generations. 

     One author, in particular, was a literary genius who has had a profound impact on future generations and whose philosophical insights spoke not only to his own generation, but to the present generation.  His name was Fyodor Mikhaylovich Dostoevsky (1821-1881). 

     Dostoyevsky was born in Moscow to Mikhail and Maria Dostoevsky, the second of seven children. The family lived in a small apartment on the grounds of Marinsky Hospital. The hospital was located in one of the city's worst areas near a cemetery for criminals, a lunatic asylum, and an orphanage for abandoned infants. This urban landscape made a lasting impression on the young Dostoevsky, whose interest in and compassion for the poor, oppressed, and tormented was apparent in his life and works. Although it was forbidden by his parents, Dostoevsky liked to wander out to the hospital garden, where the patients sat to catch a glimpse of the sun. The young Dostoyevsky appreciated spending time with these patients and listening to their stories.²

     From the age of nine, Dostoevsky suffered sporadically from epilepsy throughout his life and his experiences are thought ³ to have formed the basis for his description of Prince Myshkin's epilepsy in his novel The Idiot and that of Smerdyakov in The Brothers Karamazov, among others.  In fact, Dostoevsky’s son died as a result of epilepsy while Fyodor was in the process of writing The Brothers Karamazov.

     His genius was evident in regard to his ability to develop his characters in his novels and use these characters to discuss the important philosophical and social issues which were being discussed during his lifetime.  This is particularly true in The Brothers Karamazov. 

     In one particular scene in the novel, two of the brothers, Alyosha and Ivan, are having a discussion about God. Ivan is the embodiment of Enlightenment ideas. He does not believe in God and sees himself as a completely autonomous person who does not have to rely upon anyone. However, he also deeply resents his father because he realizes that he is dependent upon his father, to a certain extent, and this dependence goes against his notion of personal autonomy. Alyosha is a novice at a local monastery. He believes that we are completely dependent upon God and finds a sense of belonging and purpose for his life by being a member of a religious community.⁴

     This novel not only shows the dynamic of the relationship between the three brothers (Dmitry, Ivan, and Alyosha) and their father, Fyodor, it is also a murder mystery.  Fyodor is murdered and the reader has to determine which of his sons is responsible for murdering him.  In addition to his three sons, there is also a half-brother, Smerdyakov, who is treated very poorly by Fyodor.

      What was the patriarch of this family like? Fyodor Karamazov is portrayed as a rather self-absorbed man who believes in the notion that he is an autonomous human being; however, he too craves the attention of others. However, instead of receiving such attention in a positive way, he chooses to act like a clown. It has been said that there is no such thing as “negative attention” because any attention at all is better than no attention for someone who craves it so badly.

     Dmitry is very much like his father; however, instead of taking on the role of a clown, he takes on the role of a scoundrel. Throughout the novel, the only thing that is important to Dmitry is his own well-being and happiness. However, everything changes for him while he is in prison.

     After being convicted of the murder of his father, Dmitry is sent to prison and one evening he has a dream in which he encounters a little child who is suffering. Dmitry is moved with pity for this child and wants to find a way to relieve his suffering, but, instead, the little child kisses Dmitry on the head and comforts Dmitry.

    Dmitry tells his dream to Alyosha and declares that he is willing to suffer in prison if it means that others can be happy. Dostoevsky is asking a profound question. Does someone’s happy have to come at the expense of someone else’s suffering? Dmitry has spent his life thinking only about himself and now he is prepared to offer himself as a “martyr for happiness”.

   Alyosha, moved by his brother’s new found compassion, said that there is an alternative to this idea. The novel ends at the grave site of Illyusha Snegiryov, a child who had been mistreated and emotionally abused by his classmates. Illyusha’s father, Captain Snegiryov, had earlier been publicly humiliated by Dmitry and this brought shame on the entire family.

   IlIyusha was excluded from any “community” developed by the other boys in his village and his suffering became a source of amusement for them. All of these things contributed to Illyusha becoming more and more ill.

    At one point, Illyusha becomes convinced that he had killed a little dog. His caretaker, who knew the truth, refused to tell Illyusha that the dog had recovered. However, as Illyusha was close to death the other boys in the village experienced a sense of conversion. Instead of excluding Illyusha, they chose to include him in their “community” and his caretaker brought the little dog to him. Seeing how happy this made Illyusha was a source of joy for these little boys.

    IlIyusha was excluded from any “community” developed by the other boys in his village and his suffering became a source of amusement for them. All of these things contributed to Illyusha becoming more and more ill.

    While at the gravesite, Alyosha tells these boys that they will never forget IIlyusha. Illyusha was a fine, caring, loving, young boy who wanted to be happy. He tells the boys that they should love each other and that they will always remember when they were at the grave stone. The twelve boys, now in tears, take each other by the hand and return to the Snegiryov family home. ⁵

     Another novel which tells us something about life in Russia during the late 19^th Century was The Idiot.  The main character, Prince Myshkin, not only suffered from epilepsy, but was thought to be rather naïve.  He is such a beautiful soul that he is often taken for an idiot, and indeed, he considers himself to be stupid. However, while he suffers from mental illness, he is only “simple” in the sense that he cannot grasp evil. He thinks good of everyone he meets and expects that everyone else does too. This simple acceptance of people, and his simple way of living, leads those around him to befriend him and yet to feel themselves smarter and better than him. ⁶

     He is compassionate, benevolent, patient and forgiving. He arrives in Russia at the age of twenty six having spent four years in Switzerland treating his epilepsy and mental illness. He refers to himself as an 'idiot' because of this illness. The reason for his arrival to St. Petersburg is to start a new life with the help of his distant relative, Yelizaveta Prokofievna Yepanchin, General Yepanchin's haughty yet sensible wife. At the General's house he is attracted to Aglaya, the General’s youngest daughter, as a new hope. He is, to some extent, an amateur psychologist who can find out a great deal about people looking at their faces, pictures or handwriting. This ability draws him compassionately toward Nastasya Fillipovna as he sees great suffering in her and he wants to save her from self-destruction.

     On the matters of the real world, the world which people find it necessary to operate in, the Prince is not able to detect the proportion of things- as he himself puts it. This is because his view of the world is of no deceit or make over. He views all the people as good and debases himself in comparison to them. He has no definite tact to go about his objectives and insists on going to it openly and frankly. His insistence on doing good to all the people crosses the boundary of human limitations and practicability. In the end his actions end up hurting more than doing good. He gets obsessed with trying to save Nastasya. Parfyon Rogozhin out of his love for Nastasya, and seeing she loves the Prince nearly tries to kill him. In the end, however, he stabs Nastasya to death. Prince Myshkin chooses Nastasya over Aglaya overlooking their engagement and her love towards him. This stains the family reputation of the Yepanchins and devastates Aglaya's true love.

     By contrast, there is Parfyon Rogozhin.  He is a rich merchant's son who meets the Prince on a train, by which they are both going to St. Petersburg. Rogozhin is going home from hiding because he squandered his father's money to buy presents for Nastasya. Now that his father had died he is going to claim his inheritance.

     Rogozhin is the sort of person who when they want something do not stop at anything and go to any extreme to obtain it. He is a man driven by passion. His fate is intertwined with that of the Prince and Nastasya Fillipovna. Rogozhin is a rich man so he is an indulgent in his passions. His love for Nastasya is a full fervor passion, with both love and hate. She totally possesses him. When she asks him to buy her something for one hundred thousand rubles he does without a word of protest. When Nastasya runs away from him to Myshkin he follows her swallowing reproach and humiliation from her. He is totally mastered by this passion and to fulfill it squanders his wealth, time and energy. In the end when he knows for sure that he can never have Nastasya forever he kills her. He isn't totally bad, as many of his conversations with the Prince reveal, it is only that the passionate love for Nastasya that ruins him. ⁷

     Dostoevsky was very supportive of traditional Russian values.  Dostoevsky’s The Idiot is about an imaginary second coming of Christ, personified by Prince Myshkin, who is ridiculed, persecuted, and ultimately crushed by the Russian society of the 1860s, just as his predecessor in Judea had been centuries earlier.  Myshkin is therefore an unlikely ‘positive hero’ conjured up primarily for the edification of the Russian youth.  However, as Dostoevsky’s didactic intent had been somewhat disguised to increase the novel’s artistic value, his message was not altogether easy to unravel.⁸

   Russia underwent many cultural changes during the reign of Peter the Great (1672-1725).  Czar Peter desired to make Russia similar to Western Europe which included forcing men to shave off their beards, introducing European clothing, and changing the existing governmental structure.  One of the major challenges was that the structure which had existed up until that point was directly tied to Orthodox culture.  One thing which Czar Peter did was assume control of the Russian Orthodox Church by appointing an archbishop who was loyal to him. 

    The tie between Russian culture and the Orthodox Church is essential. Everything we know about Russian society is directly tied to their understanding of the importance of community.  Dostoevsky's ideas about the Russian soul are closely connected with Eastern Orthodox Christianity, its ideal of Christ, His suffering for others, His willingness to die for others, and His quiet humility about it. The Russians do not understand suffering for the sake of suffering. Depressed people have a dampened spirit and are without inner strength.  Without a healthy spirit the Russians would not have survived through the most tragic history among living nations. They would have perished like so many other nations. They love to share everything and especially joy of living. Folk music depicts that aspect of the Russian soul (chastushka). ⁹

      In The Idiot, Prince Myshkin represented the ideal Russian soul.  He represented the best aspects of Russian culture.  In contrast, there is Parfyon Rogozhin.  He is a rich merchant's son who meets the Prince on a train, by which they are both going to St. Petersburg. Rogozhin is going home from hiding because he squandered his father's money to buy presents for Nastasya. Now that his father had died he is going to claim his inheritance.

    Rogozhin is the sort of person who when they want something do not stop at anything and go to any extreme to obtain it. He is a man driven by passion. His fate is intertwined with that of the Prince and Nastasya Fillipovna. Rogozhin is a rich man so he is an indulgent in his passions. His love for Nastasya is a full fervor passion, with both love and hate. She totally possesses him. When she asks him to buy her something for one hundred thousand rubles he does without a word of protest. When Nastasya runs away from him to Myshkin he follows her swallowing reproach and humiliation from her. He is totally mastered by this passion and to fulfill it squanders his wealth, time and energy. In the end when he knows for sure that he can never have Nastasya forever he kills her. He isn't totally bad, as many of his conversations with the Prince reveal, it is only that the passionate love for Nastasya that ruins him.

    Parfyon Rogohzin can represent Russian society without its connection to the Church.  This society can easily be understood as a giant ship without a rudder.  This ship runs the risk of running aground without the proper direction and we can see in Rogohzin’s life that his life was moving out of control. 

    Nastasya Fillipovna can be seen as representing the transition from Orthodox culture to a culture where the Church has very little significance.  She finds Prince Myshkin’s personality and values to be appealing, but she is drawn to Rogohzin.  At one level, she knows that Rogozhin is not right for her, but she believes that Prince Myshkin is too good for her. 

    Another Dostoevsky novel which displays his genius was Crime and Punishment.  The main character, Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov, has developed a theory that people are divided into two “camps” namely the ordinary and the extraordinary.  Rodion Raskolnikov believes that the “ordinary” person must pay the consequences for their actions, but this is not true for the “extraordinary” person. 

     An impoverished former law student, Raskolnikov considers himself to be one of the “extraordinary” people. He decides to test his “theory” by robbing and murdering Alyona Ivanovna, a local unpleasant and elderly pawnbroker, with an ax which he stole and theorizes that this robbery is justified because the money will be used for a “higher purpose”.  While attempting to flee from this woman’s apartment he is confronted by her half-sister, Lizaveta Ivanovna, whom he also kills.  He manages to steal a few items, but the majority of the old woman’s wealth and possessions are left untouched.

    Following the murder of these two women, Raskolnikov begins to descend into madness.  Prior to the murder he had begun losing his grip on reality, but the double murder has only made him worse.  His suspicious behavior points to him as the primary suspect of this crime, but there is no proof of his guilt. 

   Based upon the available evidence, Raskolnikov could “get away with murder”, if it were not for the fact that his conscience is tearing him apart emotionally. He does not want to confess to this double murder and have to pay the penalty for his actions, but he is finally confesses his actions to Sonia, a prostitute who has very strong Christian values and only becomes a prostitute because of her family’s financial state. 

    While he is confessing his crime to Sonya, this confession is overheard by Arkady Ivanovich Svidrigaïlov, a former employer of Avdotya Romanovna Raskolnikova, Rodion’s sister.  Arkady Svidrigailov, who was considered a suspect in the death of his own wife, attempts to seduce and rape Rodion’s sister, who convinces him not to.  He spends the night in confusion and despair and in the morning he shoots himself.

    The only person besides Sonya who knows what Raskolnikov did has committed suicide.  He could simply leave St. Petersburg and begin a new life somewhere else, but Raskolnikov goes to the police station and confesses his crimes. 

    The epilogue tells of how Raskolnikov is sentenced to penal servitude in Siberia, where Sonya follows him. Avdotya and Dmitri Prokofich Razumikhin, Raskolnikov’s friend, marry and are left in a happy position by the end of the novel, while Pulkheria Alexandrovna Raskolnikova, Raskolnikov's mother, falls ill and dies, unable to cope with her son's situation. Raskolnikov himself struggles in Siberia. It is only after some time in prison that his redemption and moral regeneration begin under Sonya's loving influence. ¹⁰ Sonia can be understood as representing traditional Orthodox values. He is plagued by horrible nightmares of what he had done and this young girl encourages him to do the right thing. 

    The specific concerns that spurred Dostoevsky to write this novel grew out of a larger pattern of reform and reaction that dominated Russian history throughout the nineteenth century. This pattern, in turn, stemmed from increased exposure to Western European ideas by the Russian upper class. Unlike Western Europe, Russian society continued to consist largely of peasants and lords, with a small, economically weak middle class. Dostoevsky was alone among Russia's major nineteenth-century novelists in terms of belonging to that middle class, for the others all came from the small, but powerful ruling class, or nobility. His contemporary, Lev Tolstoy, for example, was a count.

    Amounting to about one percent of the population, the nobility included large landowners whose estates subsumed entire villages, and who controlled vast numbers of serfs, the laboring peasants whose position resembled that of the slaves in the southern United States. Though nominally free, the serf was, in fact, bound to the land and the service of a lord. The character of Svidrigaïlov, a landowner and serial child rapist, who beats and sexually abuses his serfs which represents this system's worst abuses. Serfdom remained the leading issue for Russian intellectuals until its abolition in 1861, but even afterwards Russian leaders continued the pattern of alternating between reforms aimed at modernizing on the European model, and harsh, oppressive reactions against those attempted reforms.¹¹

   Each of the people mentioned displayed their genius in a particular way.  Fyodor Dostoevsky was certainly no exception.  Instead of simply challenging philosophical positions which he did not agree with, Dostoevsky brought those philosophical positions to life by placing them on the lips of his characters and showing what happens when those positions are taken to their logical conclusion.  

    A devoutly religious man who underwent a religious conversion while in prison in Siberia, it was obvious that he loved his country and understood that Russian culture must remain tied to the Orthodox Church if that culture was going to remain.  It could be said that life in post-Communist Russia confirms that Dostoevsky was correct.  The fact that people still read these novels is proof that there are still people who believe in the beauty of the Russian culture and that his novels support their beliefs.  Since the time of Peter the Great there have been debates over the influence of Western European culture on Russian society.  It appears that, thanks to men like Fyodor Dostoevsky, this debate continues. 

                                                            End Note 

1)     “Genius”  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genius  (accessed 2/1/12)

2)     “Fyodor Dostoevsky” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fyodor_Dostoyevsky (accessed 2/1/12)

3)     Dostoyevsky, Fyodor, Richard Pevear, and Larissa Volokhonsky The Idiot (New York: Vintage, 2001), Introduction pp. xix

4)     “Suffering and Community in Brothers Karamazov” http://heideggerm1.blogspot.com/2011/08/suffering-and-community-in-brothers.html (accessed 2/3/12)

5)     “Suffering and Community in Brothers Karamazov”

6)     “The Kindness of Others” http://heideggerm1.blogspot.com/2011/06/kindness-of-others.html (accessed 2/3/12)

7)     “The Kindness of Others”

8)     Angela Brintlinger and Ilya Vinitsky (ed.) Madness and the Mad in Russian Culture (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2007), p. 242

9)     “The Beauty of the Russian Soul” http://heideggerm1.blogspot.com/2011/10/beauty-of-russian-soul.html (accessed 2/4/12)

10)  “The Great and the Lowly” http://heideggerm1.blogspot.com/2011/09/great-and-lowly.html (accessed 2/4/12)

11)  “Crime and Punishment: Events in History at the time of the Novel” http://www.answers.com/topic/crime-and-punishment-events-in-history-at-the-time-of-the-novel (accessed 2/5/12)

The Desire to Overcome Loneliness

   Loneliness is an unpleasant affect, combining sadness and anxiety, a felt response to the absence of sufficient relational contact. Isolation is the condition of being separated from all important persons, things, and relationships.

   The relationship between loneliness and isolation is often stated simply, “If a person is isolated, that person will experience loneliness.”  The reality is more complex, as different conditions are required to produce loneliness in different people.¹ 

    What makes us happiest in life? Some people may point to fabulous fame and fortune. However, hands down, surveys show that friends and family are the real prize. Yet even though our need to connect is innate, some of us always go home alone. You may have people around you throughout the day or you may even be in a lifelong marriage, yet you may feel a deep down loneliness. Not surprisingly, isolation can affect one's mental and physical health to great detriment.²

   This is a very common theme in our modern culture, especially in light of the fact that many more people are living alone than ever before.  This theme also played a major role in the novel, Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak (1890-1960).  The novel begins with the death of Yuri Zhivago’s mother, who dies when Yuri is a young man.  He goes to live with Alexander and Anna and their daughter, Tonya.  Eventually, Yuri becomes a medical doctor, he marries Tonya, and they have two children together, a son, Alexander, and a daughter, Anna. 

   Another major figure is Larissa Feodorovna Guishar. Born the daughter of a Belgian factory owner, Larissa's family, like Zhivago's, has fallen upon hard times. She ultimately becomes engaged to Pavel "Pasha" Antipov, an idealistic student who sympathizes with Lenin's Bolsheviks. Lara simultaneously has a discreet affair with her mother's lover, Viktor Komarovsky. A deeply corrupt lawyer, Komarovsky's connections extend to senior figures in both the Tsarist State and its revolutionary opponents. Despite her intense resentment of Komarovsky, Lara becomes very adept at using her sensuality to manipulate her besotted lover. Suspecting the worst, Lara's mother, Amalia Guishar, attempts suicide. Zhivago, along with his fellow medical student Misha Gordon, visit with a doctor and successfully save Amalia's life.

   Ultimately, Pasha Antipov is declared missing in action during World War I, but is captured by the Austro-Hungarian Army. After escaping from a POW camp, Antipov joins the new Red Army. He becomes notorious as General Strelnikov ("The Hangman"), a fearsome commander who summarily executes both captured Whites and many civilians. Meanwhile, Larissa becomes a battlefield nurse in order to search for her husband.

    Following the February Revolution, Larissa and Yuri serve together in a makeshift field hospital and fall in love. Neither, however, is willing to admit their feelings for the other. As he prepares to return to his wife and children in Moscow, Yuri expresses dismay to Larissa that, "the roof has been ripped off," the nation he loves.

    After the October Revolution and the subsequent Russian Civil War, Yuri and his family flee by train to their estate at Varykino, in the Ural Mountains. During the journey, he meets with General Strelnikov, who informs him that Larissa has returned to their daughter in the village of Yuriatin. Soon after, Larissa and Yuri meet and consummate their relationship.

    While returning from an encounter with Larissa, Yuri is abducted by Liberius, commander of the "Forest Brotherhood", the Bolshevik guerilla band. Liberius is a dedicated Bolshevik and highly effective leader of his men. However, Liberius is also a cocaine addict, loud-mouthed, and narcissistic. He repeatedly bores Yuri with his longwinded lectures about the glories of socialism and the inevitability of its victory.

    Subsequently, Yuri deserts and returns to Larissa; however, Komarovsky reappears. Having used his influence within the government, Komarovsky has been appointed Minister of Justice of the Far Eastern Republic, a Soviet puppet state in Siberia. He offers to smuggle Yuri and Larissa outside Soviet soil. They initially refuse, but Komarovsky states that Pasha Antipov is dead, having fallen from favor with the Party. Stating that this will place Larissa in the crosshairs of the Secret Police, he persuades Yuri that it is in her best interests to leave for the West. Yuri convinces Lara to go with Komarovsky, telling her that he will follow her shortly.

    Meanwhile, the hunted General Strelnikov returns for Larissa, who has already left with Komarovsky. After having a lengthy conversation with Yuri, Antipov commits suicide. Yuri finds his body the following morning.

    After returning to Moscow, Zhivago's health declines. He then lives with another woman and fathers two children with her. He also plans numerous writing projects which he never finishes. Meanwhile, Larissa returns to Russia for Yuri Zhivago's funeral. She persuades General Yevgraf Zhivago, Yuri illegitimate half-brother, to assist in her search for her daughter by Yuri. Ultimately, however, Larissa is arrested during Joseph Stalin's Great Purge and dies in the Gulag.

    During World War II, Zhivago's old friends Nika Dudorov and Misha Gordon meet up. One of their discussions revolves around a local laundress named Tanya, a Civil War orphan, and her resemblance to both Yuri and Lara. Much later, they meet over the first edition of Yuri Zhivago's poems.

    Yuri is a sensitive man with a poetic nature which is nearly to the point of mysticism. Zhivago's idealism and principles stand in contrast to the brutality and horror of World War I, the Russian Revolution, and the subsequent Russian Civil War.  The contrasts between his poetic nature and the events which have destroyed his country have led to a sense of loneliness and isolation. 

    Even though Yuri married Tonya and had two children with her, there is very little passion in their relationship.  This is in stark contrast to his relationship with Larissa.  He has a very deep connection with Larissa which seems to help him deal with his loneliness; however, this relationship eventually comes to an end also. 

    While fathering children out of wedlock might not be the ideal way to deal with overcoming loneliness, the need for human companionship is a very strong natural desire and if it is not met within a marital relationship it will be met somewhere else.  A major theme of the novel is how mysticism and idealism are destroyed by both the Bolsheviks and the White Army alike, as both sides commit horrible atrocities.³

    This is a novel that must be read not only because of Pasternak's unmistakable talent to depict the conflicts in the human mind, the suffering of doing something that largely contradicts your personal ethical norms, and the great love between two souls, but also because it questions the validity of the Communist revolution. At first it was a struggle for social equality and justice. Politically, this became a perverse struggle for power and control over the body, mind, and soul.⁴ Even though the Soviet government would not allow him to accept the award; Boris Pasternak won the 1958 Nobel Prize for Literature for this novel.

                                                     End Notes

1)    Rodney J. Hunter (ed.) Dictionary of Pastoral Care and Counseling (TN: Abingdon Press, 1990), p. 663

2)    “Loneliness” http://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/loneliness 

3)    “Doctor Zhivago” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Zhivago

4)    “The Loneliness of the Individual in the Collective Society: Doctor Zhivago, The Russian Revolution, and Civil War” http://readwithstyle.blogspot.com/2011/07/loneliness-of-individual-in-collective.html

The Beauty of the Russian Soul

   The term Russian soul (Русская душа) has been used in literature to describe Russian spirituality. The writings of many Russian writers such as Nikolai Gogol, Lev Tolstoy, and Fyodor Dostoevsky offer descriptions of the Russian soul.

    The Russian word "душа" (dushá), is most closely translated into the word “soul”. The Russian soul can be described as a cultural tendency of Russians to describe life and events from a religious and philosophical symbolic perspective. This word's widespread use and flexibility of its use in everyday speaking is one way in which the Russian soul manifests itself in Russian culture. In Russia a person's soul or dusha is the key to a person's identity and behavior and this cultural understanding that equates the person with his soul is what is described as the Russian soul. Depth, strength and compassion are general characteristics of the Russian soul. According to Dostoevsky, "the most basic, most rudimentary spiritual need of the Russian people is the need for suffering, ever-present and unquenchable, everywhere and in everything" ¹

   Dostoevsky's ideas about Russian soul are closely connected with Eastern Orthodox Christianity, its ideal of Christ, His suffering for others, His willingness to die for others and His quiet humility about it. The Russians do not understand suffering for the sake of suffering. Depressed people have a dampened spirit and are without inner strength.  Without a healthy spirit the Russians would not have survived through the most tragic history among living nations. They would have perished like so many other nations. They love to share everything and especially joy of living (folk music depicts that aspect of the Russian soul (chastushka).

   The Russian soul has been described as: sensitive, imaginative, compassionate, patient, strong (well-known for survival in unbearable circumstances), poetic, mystical, fatalistic, introspective, mistrusting of rational thought, trusting intuition, fascinating, having ability to feel a wide array of extreme human emotions (from absolute joy and peace to the darkest despair) — the list goes on. Russians maintain their integrity in a way that conforms to their inner notion of what a human being should be, with a blatant honesty and integrity seldom seen elsewhere in the world. Above all they have an appreciation for wholeness or complete commitment and faith, no matter what that faith might be related to. 2

    While studying English on busuu.com, many of the people I know from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and other nations of the former Soviet Union are asked if it is true that “Beauty demands victims”.  It is quite common for people from the former Soviet Union to say that inner beauty is more important that outer beauty.  This is not the typical answer that one would receive from someone in the West.   In the West, if a man tells a woman that she is beautiful the normal response is “Thank you”.   If this same comment is made to a woman from the East, the traditional response is, “How do you know that, you don’t even know me?”  This would agree with the idea that the soul is the key to a person’s identity. 

   It has been said that we do not speak of a German soul or English soul or American soul; however, we do speak of a Russian soul.  The concept of a Russian soul arose in the 1840s chiefly as a literary phenomenon. Famous author Nikolai Gogol and literary critic Vissarion Belinskii (1811-1848) jointly coined the term upon the publication of Gogol’s masterpiece, Dead Souls, in 1842. At the time landowners often referred to their serfs as “souls” for accounting purposes, and the novel’s title refers to the protagonist’s scheme of purchasing claims to deceased serfs. Apart from this literal meaning, however, Gogol also intended the title as an observation of landowners’ loss of soul in exploiting serfs.

   Vissarion Belinskii, a noted radical critic, took Gogol’s intentions a few steps farther and inferred from the novel a new recognition of a national soul, existing apart from the government and founded in the lives of the lower class. Indeed Belinskii used the term “Russian soul” several times in his analyses of Gogol’s work, and from there the phrase grew in prominence, and eventually became more clearly defined through the writings of authors such as Fyodor Dostoevsky. This famous brand of nationalis; however, was the product of a continuous effort by Russia’s various classes to define a national identity.³

   The Russian soul evolved and entered into Western consciousness in the following decades, most famously through the work of Fyodor Dostoevsky. In his novels and stories, Dostoevsky often exhibited an anti-European nationalism and frequently suggested a “people’s spirit” held together by “unexpressed, unconscious ideas which are merely strongly felt.” By the time of Dostoevsky's death in 1881, the “Russian soul” had completed its evolution in Russia.³

   
    From about 1880 to 1930, thanks largely to Dostoevsky, the “Russian soul” concept spread to other countries and began to affect foreign perception of the Russian people. For many Europeans the idea offered a positive alternative to the typical view of Russians as backward, instead depicting the Russian people as an example of the innocence the West had lost. The popularity of the “Russian soul” continued into the 20th century, but faded as Soviet power increased. By the 1930s the concept was slipping into obscurity, but it would survive in the work of the numerous writers who devised it.³ 

   The concept of the “Russian soul” may have gone out of fashion as Soviet power increased; however, now that the Soviet Union is no longer a reality, it is my contention that this concept is returning.  Even among those who do not profess a faith in the Orthodox Church, the ethos of Orthodox spirituality is very much a part of the daily life of the Russian, Ukrainian, and Belarusian people.        

   Since the fall of the Soviet Union, life has been very challenging in these various countries; however, there is hope that things will improve over time. What has helped the people to deal with these major changes is their Russian soul which is their source of inner strength allowing them to cope with so many things that would have probably destroyed them, had it not been for their soul.

  
    How is beauty and kindness understood in modern Russia? They can be understood in relationship to modern Russian women. Kindness, sincere delicacy of the Russian women, readiness to understand other people in many respects are defined by the life of the Russian people. Many foreigners still consider Michael Zoshchenko (1895-1958), who described the life of Russians of the 1920s and 30s, a science fiction writer. Meanwhile, municipal apartments, where several families live in the small area divided into tiny rooms, with one toilet and a bath for all is not such a rarity, even now. Not everyone has a separate apartment. According to the western parameters these apartments are considered small, even for one person. Russian families of 4-5 people live in a modest two-room apartment of the area of 58 square meters. Quite often some generations simultaneously live in a tight small-sized flat. In Russia the saying "In narrowness, but not in insult" is popular. The Russian conditions of residing give rise to feeling of special unity when it is necessary to reckon all time with others, to accept others such as they are. The Russians are used to being patient with other people. The Russian people grow in conditions of dependence on the others' needs. Russians possess a unique ability of adaptation, especially where it concerns women. These conditions, seemingly intolerable for foreigners, are perceived by the Russian people as due. For this reason, Russian wives are very patient and always ready to compromise in their home life. The situation which will be regarded by the Western woman as an infringement of her interests may be ignored by a Russian woman. The Russian wife is always ready to a compromise. This sincere mobility and patience is peculiar to Russians which is often lacked by Westerners. ⁴   

   The impact that men such as Fyodor Dostoevsky, Nikolai Gogol, Leo Tolstoy, and others have had on Russian culture has been profound.  These men were certainly products of their generation, but they also influenced and continue to influence countless generations that have come after them.  

    As long as the spirit of these men remains alive in the East the “Russian soul” will also remain alive.  Suffering for its own sake makes no sense, but since suffering is a part of human life it is easier to suffer knowing that one’s suffering is united to the suffering of Jesus than believing that it has no point at all.  This is one of the aspects of a Russian soul.  It is an indication of the resilience of the human spirit and confirmation of the words of Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) who said, “Anything which does not kill you, will only make you stronger.” ⁵

    The Russian woman not only personifies the “Russian soul” but provides a setting within which the beauty of this soul can be expressed. Coziness and a warm home atmosphere is a point of honor for the Russian housewife. She considers her house a continuation of herself, as a symbol of a happy home life. In Russia they still do so without the service of servants. The majority of Russian women are engaged in cleaning of an apartment and cooking. They often do manual repairs. Russian beauties are capable of improving a dwelling with a painting brush or spatula. A Russian woman always tries to make her house light, clean, and joyful. Going to restaurants and cafes in Russia are considered, to be social events. Ordinary citizens do not go to restaurants "simply to eat". The majority of the Russian families eat at home. It can be explained both by the material reasons and the habit of Russians to eat tasty home food. Besides, it is a rare Russian woman would make an uninvited person stand at the threshold. She would necessarily feed him; ask about his life, and share news. Russians try to always have food at home and long years of deficiency have accustomed them to do food stocks. The Russian woman is inventive in when cooking. Many recipes of Russian cuisine were not born from abundance, but from the shortage of products on the shop shelves. The Russian housewife seldom strictly follows the recipe. If it is possible she replaces missing products with others, having transformed the recipe from available products. Russian women are famous for their skill in preparing a tasty dish "from nothing". A lot of Russian families have a country house which does not serve as vacation spot, but a place where greenery, vegetables, and fruits are grown. Usually, they are some distance from the house where they go by car or bus. The Russian woman knows how to correctly plant and grow up potatoes, onions, and carrots. In many apartments in the early spring there are boxes on the windowsill with sprouts of tomatoes and peppers. The Russian woman is capable to work all days off in the country site, being even sturdier than a man. On Monday she comes to work with a manicure, elegantly dressed, and gracefully brushed. From the products which have been grown in the country site, the Russian woman makes preparation for winter - compotes, jam, vegetable salads, and marinated peppers, cucumbers, and tomatoes. Jars with these culinary masterpieces wait for winter in pantries and cellars. Russians are hardworking and hardy. They can have two jobs; have time to be engaged in household, education of their children, work on a personal plot of land, but at the same time look attractive and feel like a heroine. The Russian woman perceives these loadings as due; she does not feel she is doing something special. Russians got used "to survive" in heavy conditions and joke about difficulties. Owing to features of the life in Russia, these women are remarkable for their raised psychological mobility, endurance, patience, and ability to understand others.⁶   

   The notion of the beauty of the Russian soul is not simply a product of the late nineteenth century, but is alive and well today in the lives of Russian women.  It might have a different appearance than it did at the time of Leo Tolstoy or the other classic Russian novelists, but it is still alive.  Each successive generation will have its own manifestation of this reality; however, the beauty of the Russian soul will never die.

                                                           End Notes

1)    Ries, Nancy  Russian Talk: Culture and Conversation During Perestroika, (NY: Cornell University Press, 1997)

2)    “Russian Soul” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_soul

3)    Robert C. Williams, "The Russian Soul: A Study in European Thought and Non-European Nationalism," Journal of the History of Ideas 31 (1970): 573-588, accessed October 27, 2011.

4)    “About Russian Women” http://www.single-russian-woman.com/russianwomen.php (accessed 11/7/11)

5)  Nietzsche, Friedrich Twilight of the Idols (NY: Penguin Book, 1990), p. 76

6)    “About Russian Women” 

Love and Be Loved

   In 1964 The Beatles recorded a song entitled “Can’t Buy Me Love”.  The premise of the song is that money cannot buy love.   It has also been said that money cannot buy happiness either.  However, this certainly does not prevent people from attempting to prove this theory wrong.  In every age there are people who believe that if they only had money then people would treat them differently.  They believe that people who respect them and they would be considered important. 

    While it is true that the wealthy receive a certain amount of respect by virtue of their money, the fact remains that simply having money does not guarantee that someone is worthy of such respect.  This is particularly true of those who win the lottery.  They suddenly acquire money and now they expected to be accepted by high society.

    Study after study has shown wealth has surprisingly little effect on how happy you are. Most of us tend to think that if we just made a bit more money, we'd get more satisfaction out of life or have a greater sense of well-being. But on the whole, this turns out not to be true. So why doesn't money make us happy? Recent research suggests the answer lies, at least in part, in how wealthier people lose touch with their ability to savor life's pleasures.

   Savoring is a way of increasing and prolonging our positive experiences. When we focus on what we are doing in the moment, when we eagerly anticipate something or relish our memories of it, and when we relive it by describing it to others, we are savoring -- and in the process we are enhancing our own happiness. Taking time to experience the subtle flavors in a piece of dark chocolate, imagining the fun you'll have on an upcoming vacation (and leafing through your trip photos afterward) and telling all your friends on Facebook about the hilarious movie you saw over the weekend -- these are all acts of savoring, and they help us squeeze every bit of joy out of the good things that happen to us.

   Why, then, don't wealthier people savor if it feels so good? It's obviously not for a lack of things to savor. The basic idea is that when you have the money to eat at fancy restaurants every night and buy designer clothes from chic boutiques, those experiences diminish the enjoyment you get out of the simpler, more everyday pleasures, like the smell of a steak sizzling on your backyard grill or the bargain you got on the sweet little sundress from Target.

   These new studies show people who have higher incomes spend significantly less time savoring their experiences than their relatively poorer peers do. Interestingly, just being exposed to images of wealth can dampen your savoring skills! In one study, college students who had recently seen a photo of a stack of money spent far less time eating a bar of chocolate -- gulping it down rather than relishing each bite -- and displayed far fewer signs of enjoyment than those students who hadn't seen the money. Just thinking about wealth can make us lose sight of the good things happening to us right now. ¹

      Russian society in the nineteenth century was well known for the importance which it placed upon social standing.  Actually, this was not unique to Russian society; however, in his novel War and Peace, Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy (1828-1910) made a point of emphasizing this fact. 

    The main character, Pierre Bezuhov is a large-bodied, slightly overweight, and socially awkward illegitimate son of an old Russian grandee. After being educated abroad he returns to Russia as a misfit. His unexpected inheritance of a large fortune makes him socially desirable. Pierre is the central character and often a voice for Tolstoy's own beliefs or struggles.  Initially he is rejected by Russian high society; however, upon receiving his father’s substantial inheritance he is suddenly accepted by all who meet him.  He ends up becoming the most eligible bachelor in Russia.

    Pierre proposes marriage to Princess Elena Vasilyevna (Hélène) Kuragin, a woman he is sexually attracted to, but is rumored to be having an incestuous affair with her brother, Prince Anatol.  Hélène marries Pierre, but informs him that she will not bear him any children.  She appears to have married him for his money and she spends it freely on fashions and jewels to enhance her image as the most beautiful and desirable woman in St. Petersburg. However, she ends up lonely and unloved.

    Pierre becomes concerned because his new found wealth has not given him the happiness he seeks.  Pierre joins the Freemasons, and becomes embroiled in Masonic internal politics. Much of Book Two concerns his struggles with his passions and his spiritual conflicts to be a better man. Now a rich aristocrat, he abandons his former carefree behavior and enters upon a philosophical quest particular to Tolstoy: how should one live a moral life in an ethically imperfect world? The question continually baffles and confuses Pierre. He attempts to liberate his serfs, but ultimately achieves nothing of note. ²

   He decided that he wants to experience what war is like, so he leaves home and takes part in a quest to assassinate Napoleon. He becomes an anonymous man in all the chaos, shedding his responsibilities by wearing peasant clothes and shunning his duties and lifestyle. The only people he sees while in this garb are Countess Natasha Rostova and some of her family, as they depart Moscow. Natasha recognizes and smiles at him, and Pierre, in turn, realizes the full scope of his love for her.

    Our main character saves the life of a French officer who fought at Borodino, yet is taken prisoner by the retreating French during his attempted assassination of Napoleon, after saving a woman from being raped by soldiers in the French Army. He becomes friends with a fellow prisoner, Platon Karataev, a peasant with a saintly demeanor, who is incapable of malice. In Karataev, Pierre finally finds what he has been seeking: an honest person of integrity (unlike the aristocrats of Petersburg society) who is utterly without pretense. Pierre discovers meaning in life simply by living and interacting with him. After witnessing French soldiers sacking Moscow and shooting Russian civilians arbitrarily, Pierre is forced to march with the Grand Army during its disastrous retreat from Moscow in the harsh Russian winter. After months of trial and tribulation—during which the fever-plagued Karataev is shot by the French—Pierre is finally freed by a Russian raiding party, after a small skirmish with the French that sees the young Petya Rostov, the youngest member of the Rostov family, killed in action. Given the fact that Leo Tolstoy chose to spend most of his time on his estate in central Russia surrounded by his serf, it is not surprising that a serf becomes the most honorable person that Pierre meets.

   As the novel draws to a close, Pierre's wife Hélène dies ambiguously. Pierre is reunited with Natasha, while the victorious Russians rebuild Moscow. Natasha speaks of Prince Andrei's death and Pierre of Karataev's. Both are aware of a growing bond between them in their bereavement. With the help of Princess Maria, Pierre finds love at last and, revealing his love after being released by his former wife's death, marries Natasha.

   Pierre finds love and happiness, not through acquiring wealth, but as a result of living the life he chose for himself.  Money does not bring Pierre any happiness.  His wealth brought him into contact with people that he would not have otherwise met, but this was no guarantee of happiness.  In fact, Pierre seemed to be genuinely unhappy surrounded by people of St. Petersburg high society who lacked integrity.  

   Money can assist in many ways.  It eliminates the issue of paying for the basic necessities of life; however, this does not guarantee happiness.  There are numerous accounts throughout history of people who had more money than they could ever possibly spend; however, they were miserable.  The Beatles informed us that money cannot buy us love and it cannot buy happiness either.  Lev Tolstoy provides a wonderful quote, which gives us some insight into his understanding of happiness, when he says, “Seize the moment of happiness, love and be loved! This is the only reality in the world, all else is folly.”

                                                       End Notes

1)    “Money Can’t Buy Happiness at All” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/heidi-grant-halvorson-phd/money-happiness_b_884975.html

2)    “War and Peace” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_and_Peace