Suffering and Choice in Dream of a Ridiculous Man by Fyodor Dostoevsky - Essay Example

Suffering and Choice in “Dream of a Ridiculous Man” by Fyodor Dostoevsky

An essential aspect that underlies Existentialism expresses through the work of Albert Camus in his book The Myth of Sisyphus. The story casts a cloud of doubt of the meaning of existence with indifferences that exist in the world. It equates with the task of rolling a stone up a hill. Sisyphus embarked on the task of pushing a rock up a hill, with each instance making the rock roll down the hill. The revelations by Sisyphus reflect on the sense of existence and the ancient myth regarding existence. Living becomes useless, especially with the ridiculous nature of death at the end of it. The meaning and purpose of living get lost in the midst of this realization in the existence of a person. Despite the imminent death afterlife, a ridiculous fact is that human beings still engage in daily activities even with the fate of death in their mindset. Through suffering and choice in “Dream of a Ridiculous Man” by Fyodor Dostoevsky, the narrator exhibits the plight of human existence, as shown by Albert Camus. He further showcases the nature of our actions and gives a solution. The narrator poses a ridiculous contradiction in the way most people lived. Human beings have the freedom in selecting the type of lives to lead. However, death is the same, regardless of any of our assumptions.

The underlying situations that necessitated the writing of the book by Fyodor Dostoevsky have social, spiritual, and political aspects affecting Russia in the 19th century. The basis of the book has a heavy reliance on the Russian regime. It reflects much on the aspects of the narrator. While operating under the Russian regime, the narrator witnessed the level of suffering and alienation in society. The suffering motivated the narrator to analyze the psychological state of the oppressed in the society through different characters. The narrator shows light at the end of the tunnel for the oppressed in society. The narrator sees a form of purity and good in the heart of the suffering experienced by the oppressed. The way the oppressed lived paved the way for the formulation of the theory of Existentialism. The story is grounded in the theory while trying to figure out the true life’s meaning, its absurdities, and cases of suicide.

There is the element of choice by people and the extent of mortality. The story also borrows various concepts from the bible while tackling the world of Christianity. The narrator provides a different interpretation of the book of Genesis and paradise, where Adam takes the narrating role. The narrator further delves deep into the Serpent and Jesus. There is an evaluation of the concept regarding the Fall of Man from paradise and the effects of sin in the world. Religious concepts play a role in determining the growth of the paradise story. It helps to finds the meaning of the characters’ lives. The story furthermore explores the concepts with regards to peoples` choice in the way of living. It also reflects on the suicidal tendencies and the revelations.

The narrator of the book also confesses his being full of absurdities without finding any meaning in it. Through his confessions, he accepts the ridiculous nature in it and his awareness of them. He finds himself as different from others while drawing a line that differentiates humanity from other species. The ridiculous nature of the human existence separates them from other living creates is their awareness of their fate at the end of being. The first step in understanding one’s mortality, according to the narrator, is by finding this existential thought. The realization of the ridiculous nature by the narrator starts when he attends university. The more the narrator learns from the university, the more he becomes attached to his ridiculous nature. However, the narrator cannot find the genesis of the ridiculous, but he confesses it has been there for some time. There is little relevance with one realizing the start of the ridiculous behavior, according to the narrator. The further the story grows, the narrower it drifts away from reality. It reaches a point where it becomes evident to him that his friends and neighbors possess similar ridiculous tendencies in their way of living.

The narrator bears more belief in the ridiculous theory when he holds different conversations with friends and neighbors. The conversations reveal the true nature of Existentialism and the lack of awareness in their lives. The ridiculous arguments made by the neighbors show the lack of knowledge of one’s being while differing from the topic. The enthusiasm shown through the conversations indicates a lack of emotions and awareness for the drive-in living. A counterargument against the ideals held by the neighbors further elicits an amusing reaction by them. The reactions show that there is no purpose in people’s lives, and people mistake passion for their drive to survive. Despite the knowledge of the state of his friends, the counterargument shows the indifferences that exist gently. There are the indifferences even with the way of being with his neighbors in their homes and their relations with one another. The behavior of one neighbor does not elicit a reaction from the rest of the neighbors despite the alertness or annoying nature of the behavior to the other behaviors. The notions held are backed during his encounter with a girl who inquires for help from a total stranger. The narrator’s reasons that, despite the level of help, he can show the girl, her fate is already sealed. The fact that he turns his back on humanity, it further showcases the indifferences that exist even with knowledge of the extent of Existentialism. The narrator deeps himself into the notion of a ridiculous state, and his actions further reflect on it. Instead of opting for suicide, he opts to sleep living with the indifferences and absurdities that come with life.

A dream changes the entire ridiculous perspective about life in the book. The dream comes as a complete revelation that changes his reflection on different aspects of life. The revelations of the dream end up changing the narrator completely and his ridiculous beliefs. The dream gives purpose to his being and starts spreading the truth, according to him. The dream paints a different picture with the ridiculous realities with the world he comes from. However, he gains awareness to differentiate between evil and good with the dream. Before the fall of man, life was completely free, and evil did not exist. It is a haven where people live freely without any evil actions and complete happiness all round. The appearance of the narrator in the haven places a spell on the land and corrupts all that was good. The knowledge of right from wrong and good from evil further taint the world with the use of lies, war, and other evil actions that interfere with the balance that existed. The balance that once existed is interrupted with, and the state of happiness that once existed fades away. Despite the ridiculous downside that comes with the revelation, the good side of the curse is that people gain a sense of choice, knowledge, and humanity. Life in haven was not life at all; people lacked the ability to choose. The end shows that the ability of choice is the best.

The narrator reaches the realization that life is meaningless when a person cannot choose and the knowledge to do it. Living in paradise might seem a dream at first, but the realities of not having to make a choice make it hard. The people all do good but cannot do good as a result of their own choice. There is no evidence between living a good life makes it more worthwhile than living a bad life. There is something all people that live in paradise lack, and that is the ability to take charge of their actions. What is the point of living a good life in paradise with all good actions, when in the end, the fate for both good and bad life is the same; death. Therefore, the perpetuation of moralities common with a good life has the same extent to a bad life with bad decisions. Human existence is not made up of living a moral lane in paradise where your actions are predetermined. Human existence understands that every human being has a choice, and each of the choices we make has an equal share with the main aim of attaining happiness. In case the people of paradise have a taste of earth, it will be harder to return to their lives. However, life on earth is polluted more due to the extent of people’s choices compared to paradise.

The point when a human being does good, it should be as a result of their ability to choose their own choice and not a system which they live by. The choice by the human being should be as a result of rational thinking while understanding one’s consciousness. The narrator wakes from the dream while affirming the greatest quality is the ability to love others as we love ourselves for the greater good. The process of change takes steps for the narrator from a non-believer in the point of living and attempted suicide to a person who preaches the truth. The narrator becomes aware of the mistakes which his past, which he changes with the new revelations. However, through is a journey to find the meaning and purpose of life, there is no mention of God or life after death. Another revelation he makes that he can live a beautiful life without compromising his life on earth. Therefore, all the good decisions he makes on earth are a result of his ridiculous consciousness and not to attain eternal life after his death.

The book by Fyodor Dostoevsky is an epic story that questions the meaning of human existence to the point of one contemplating suicide. However, the story is not all about doom; a dream makes one reflect on his entire being as he finds the purpose and meaning of life. The story proves that it is possible to achieve happiness in life by attaining consciousness and understanding of their choices in life. There are further implications of the story that goes beyond the ability of knowledge of one’s existence. The book repaints a different picture, especially with commentary on Christianity and its depiction of paradise and Eden. The book turns down the notion of life after death or the existence of a paradise. For further clarity, the realities of an afterlife and paradise are inhuman since people will not be acting out of their own volition. Life without one making their own choices is not life at all. The book also emphasizes the evolving nature of civilization. The depiction of the paradise by the narrator bears close semblance with the depiction of humanity on earth. Paradise started for human beings, but it was corrupted, and next, humans embark on a mission to find happiness. The difference is that knowledge of one’s consciousness motivates them to do good and attain happiness. Therefore, the essence of civilization and finding paradise is attaining happiness and goodness through the consciousness of people. Civilization aims at people attaining consciousness, knowledge, and choice, which makes the purpose and meaning of existing.

The concept forwarded by Dostoevsky, however, shows a positive light with humanity in progressing towards paradise. God gave human beings the ability to do good; however, through our consciousness, we can decide to do good. The evolution of man from the paradise that progressed our functionality from unconscious beings to conscious beings with the ability to understand how to be happy. Furthermore, consciousness helps human beings understand the laws of happiness. Therefore, our choice to do good should not be a result of a promise of reward of a paradise which might not exist at all. However, we should do good because we have conscious and not because it is a command by God or a necessity for paradise. The point of human existence on earth is to overcome the absurdities of life to become better and not find paradise. We achieve this by gaining the ability to be conscious of our life, which goes above all things. Human beings have the knowledge, ability to choose, and consciousness to perpetuate the good throughout the world and find their own paradise.