Category: FICTION

CREATIVE GENIUS

A reader/listener of this audio collection of Edgar Allan Poe’s prose illustrates his imaginative genius.

Audio-book Review
By Chet Yarbrough

(Blog:awalkingdelight)
 Website: chetyarbrough.blog

The Edgar Allan Poe Audio Collection

By: Edgar Allan Poe

Narrated by: Vincent Price & 1 more

Edgar Allan Poe (American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic.)

This photograph of Poe reminds one of characters in his macabre tales. This audio collection of the most famous Edgar Allen Poe’ short stories shows how creative, poetic, and disturbing his imagination is to an unwary listener. Short stories like “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Pit and the Pendulum” are beautifully poetic but terrifying tales of life and death. Two of the chosen stories are haunted and terror filled narrations by Vincent Price or Basil Rathbone with voices that resonate with macabre messages about living and dying. From guilt that cannot be escaped to the impossibility of eternal life, Poe writes two stories to explain what it means to be a human being.

The hearts and minds of humanity.

“The Tell-Tale Heart” is of a murderer of an old man whose body is hidden under the floorboards of a house where two men live together. The murderer perceives his victim had a “vulture eye” that, when it looked at him, made his “blood run cold”. He murders the old man who has this “…eye” and is confident that when the police arrive, the victim will not be discovered. However, as the police arrive to investigate, the murderer can’t help but hear a beating heart of the dead old man that is hidden below the floorboards. Of course, what he is hearing is his own heart from the guilt he feels for having murdered the old man. He confesses to the police because he cannot escape his own conscience. Or as Poe is famous for having written: “A guilty conscience needs no accuser.”

Russian murder room during Stalin’s rule in a visit to the Baltic states of Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania. (It is not a dungeon with a pendulum, but it speaks to the truth of man’s inhumanity to man.)

“The Pit and the Pendulum” is a clever story about the inevitability of death. Most human beings do not know why, from what, or when they will die but like the swing of a descending pendulum’s blade, life’s end will come. Poe makes it clear that even though we know death will come, most people have a will to survive.

Anthony Ray Hinton (Spent 28 years on death row for a crime he could not have committed.)

To some, the fear of death is worse than death itself. For others, because of not knowing where you are in life, what will happen in the future, and what one will die from makes fear an irrational way to live life. Descent of a blade’s pendulum, whether slow or fast, is a brilliant symbol of time as life’s executioner. As a human being, we look at our surroundings whether in a dungeon or not, the luck of an animal gnawing through ropes to help keep us alive reminds one of doctors trying to cure our illnesses or an attorney freeing a man from death row. Whomever ties us down in life are the people and circumstances of the life we live. The walls of the pendulum’s chamber are the boundaries of human existence.

A reader/listener of this audio collection of Edgar Allan Poe’s prose illustrates his imaginative genius.

HUMAN RELATIONS

Celibacy, marriage, infidelity, and the experiences of education, financial security, and life make human relationships unpredictable. Watson’s story shows how unpredictable life can be.

Audio-book Review
By Chet Yarbrough

(Blog:awalkingdelight)
 Website: chetyarbrough.blog

Before I Go to Sleep (A Novel)

By: S. J. Watson

Narrated by: Orlagh Cassidy

S. J. Watson (English author, writer, audiologist.)

“Before I Go to Sleep” is a terrifying novel about human relationship. On the one hand, it is a story about memory and identity, trust and deception, power and control. On the other, it is about the immense harm that may come from a psychotic episode of one who has lost control of their temper and behavior. Watson writes a story about a wife, Christine, who is married to Ben. They go through a rough patch in their marriage and Christine has an affair with a man named Mike whom she meets at a coffee pub. Through several meetings and conversations, Christine is seduced and chooses to have an affair with Mike.

Relationship building.

Christine chooses to end the affair, but Mike reacts to her rejection by beating her into unconsciousness. She loses her memory from the brutalization, and in a mysterious way, Christine reconnects with Mike who takes care of her during a long and extended recovery. Her husband, Ben, seems both absent and present during Catherine’s recovery. Mike assumes the role of Ben as Christine’s husband when Ben is not present. Because of Christine’s lack of memory, she remembers neither the faces nor behaviors of what are essentially caregivers in her life. Mike takes Ben’s place by living with and caring for Christine when the real Ben is not present. Mike chooses to become Ben and changes the story of Christine’s brutalization from his attack to an automobile accident as the cause of her injuries. Mike purposefully misleads Catherine about events in her life. He re-establishes an intimate relationship with Catherine as her husband named Ben.

Threats to relationships in life.

Mike’s deception becomes threatened when an interested psychiatrist named Nash wishes to help her recover her memory. Dr. Nash is interested because of the unusual nature of Christine’s memory loss. In one sense, this heightens the mysteriousness of the author’s story because a reader/listener wonders why Nash involves himself in Christine’s life. Presumably, Nash knows something about what really happened to Christine and advises her not to say anything to Mike about his aid because he believes she is not being told the truth about what happened to her. He advises Christine to keep a secret journal of everything that happens in her life to aid recovery of her memory.

Violence against women.

Violence against women by men is a tragic truth that is magnified in patriarchal societies. Of course, women can also be violent, but their history is less often physical, and more often verbal and/or psychological abuse. The author creates a story that draws one into an engrossing thriller about male physical assault that makes a listener/reader want to find out how Christine recovers her memory of what really happened. Christine is lovingly cared for by the man who had brutalized her. This imaginative social relationship gives a tension to the writing that keeps one engrossed in Watson’s story.

Human nature.

What Watson reminds reader/listeners of is the nature and development of human beings. Relationships between people who care for each other are complicated by genetic inheritance, learned experiences, physical characteristics, and emotional stability. Celibacy, marriage, infidelity, and the experiences of education, financial security, and life make human relationships unpredictable. Watson’s story shows how unpredictable life can be.

Mid-Life Crisis

Some listener/readers may put the book aside before completing it. Other’s may stick with it to see if there is anything new being written about the meaning of life.

Audio-book Review
By Chet Yarbrough

(Blog:awalkingdelight)
 Website: chetyarbrough.blog

I See You’ve Called in Dead (A Novel)

By: John Kenney

Narrated by: Sean Patrick Hopkins

John Kenney (American author, copywriter.)

“I See You’ve Called in Dead” is a mid-life crisis story about an obituary writer who is fired by his employer for writing his own obit as though he had died. Kenney’s story is not particularly revelatory or enlightening for one who is past their mid-life. Every human being lives life with joys and sorrows. For this reader/listener, most of Kenney’s story is only a reminder of a typical American middle-class life.

The author’s story is of a forty something writer who is divorced, suspended from his job, wandering through life, and commiserating over mistakes he may or may not have made in his life. Some listener/readers may put the book aside before completing it. Other’s may stick with it to see if there is anything new being written about the meaning of life. One wonders who will complete John Kenney’s story or move on to something else.

MORALITY

“The Road” is a brilliant story about educating society about caring for others.

Audio-book Review
By Chet Yarbrough

(Blog:awalkingdelight)
 Website: chetyarbrough.blog

The Road

By: Cormac McCarthy

Narrated by: Tom Stechschulte

Cormac McCarthy (American author.)

There is never any explanation of the cause for an apocalypse in the chilling story by Cormac McCarthy’s in “The Road”. The apocalypse could have been anything from a nuclear war to a cataclysmic event that turns the world environment into a perpetual winter or, in today’s concern, a boiling planet. Either from human action or ignorance human morality, spirit, and society may collapse.

Despite our current American president’s reversal of environmental regulations, global warming is a clear and present danger to the world.

Today’s concerns are global warming, fear of nuclear war, and now–Artificial Intelligence which is capable of creating a technological or medical virus that could destroy humanity. “The Road” is an intimate portrait of a wasteland where the only trust that exists is between a father and his son. Their peripatetic wandering is through an environmental wasteland in search of food and warmth to sustain their fragile lives. The only bond they have is to each other and it is nearing an end. The age and deteriorating health of the father is advancing as Cormac’s story evolves.

A father’s love for a son.

What makes Cormac’s story compelling is the intimate relationship of a father’s love for his son. It is the meticulous building of that relationship that mesmerizes a reader/listener; keeping them in the story. The dire condition of humanity is balanced against the love of a father trying to educate his son about what is important about living a moral life even in the face of societal despair and certain death.

Living a moral life.

One gathers from Cormac’s story that in the face of calamity, whether it is world environmental collapse or the loss of the most important person in your life, the only hope for human beings is to remind oneself of the lessons they learn about being moral and acting morally. The only chance for humanities survival, when civilization is at risk, is for human goodness to survive. The young boy’s father focuses on teaching his son how to be a good and decent human being. Without caring for others and oneself, society will not survive. The foundation of society is in how humans treat each other.

Something more than religion.

Some may argue this is simply a Christian belief, but Cormac is showing it goes beyond religion and is based on human-to-human relationship. Of course, Cormac’s story is about the relationship of father to son, but the fundamental lesson is that every person is related to others as a member of the human race. We are all responsible to and for each other. “The Road” is a brilliant story about educating society about caring for others.

HUMAN FLAW

“Gilead” is a difficult story to listen to or read because one begins with attachment to its main character but ends with recognition that we are all human which by definition makes us flawed.

Books of Interest
 Website: chetyarbrough.blog

Gilead (A Novel)

Author: Marilynne Robinson

Narration by: Jim Jerome

Marilynne Robinson (Author, born in 1943, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2005. Time magazine lists her among 100 of the most influential people in America.)

As one grows older, Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead reflects on what it is like to be nearer the end than the beginning of life. Some thought is obviously given to Robinson’s title for her book. Considering the fame of Robinson’s writing, one might look up the word Gilead and find it has a biblical meaning as a place of healing and a place of iniquity. Robinson’s point seems that we live in a world of profound moral wrongdoing that is always in the process of healing. One looks back on life and presumes they know Robinson’s reason for writing “Gilead” as a picture of one who tries to be a healer of humanity for our imperfect, sin-burdened lives.

Being a preacher who is also a father, husband, and fellow human being.

“Gilead” is a story of an older husband and father who is heir to generations of preachers in a small mid-western town. The author’s subject is a preacher who is nearing the end of his life. It is about a preacher who lives among people who live in a town populated with educated atheists and deeply serious believers in God and heaven. Putting aside its argument about the value of belief in existence beyond death, it is an entertaining story of a preacher in his 70s. Whether one believes in God or not, Robinson’s story of old age is a reminder of our imperfect lives.

In a marriage, one wonders how any husband and wife might respond in a crisis. Who would take command and who would follow in a crisis?

The preacher falls in love twice in his life. His first wife dies in childbirth. The preacher marries a second time, and his new wife bares a son. He loves his life and hopes to raise a son who he hopes will carry on the tradition of a preachers’ life. However, his son seems disinterested in becoming a preacher. The pains of an older life are detailed and show how even a believer in God and good will toward others does not protect one from the faults of human judgement and society.

There are heroes and villains in America’s Civil War. 

At this point in the story, one sees the preacher as a good man with a family history that shows his grandfather served in the civil war as a union soldier that fought for the freedom of enslaved Americans. In returning to civilian life, he is guardedly received by his adult son (also a preacher) for his role in the war. One actively served in the Union army while his son polished his credentials as a town preacher. This town preacher appears to disagree with his Preacher father’s decision to fight for racial justice; presumably because of reservations about killing fellow Americans for the cause of racial justice. A tension between the son and the returning father is evident in the way the town preacher buries his father’s gun and disposes of his father’s presumed clothing from the Union army. The town preacher shows a level of judgementalism that hints at unspoken prejudice and an emotional reserve that hides a human flaw; i.e. namely, disbelief in the equality of all human beings.

The remainder of “Gilead” addresses the town preacher’s son who becomes a preacher and is the main character of the book.

The catalyst of the story is a returning son of the preacher’s closest friend of 40 years who is also a preacher in this small Iowa town. The prodigal son is viewed as a “good for nothing” highly intelligent young man who broke many rules in his life in Gilead. He left town in disgrace for having impregnated a local girl without marrying her. In his life away from Iowa, he has a son from an interracial relationship that is revealed to the primary preacher of the author’s story. The prodigal son asks the preacher for his blessing. At first the preacher seems reluctant but eventually offers God’s blessing to the now 40 something man who is leaving town. His initial reservation of offering a blessing shows the limits of the preacher’s character. In the end, the preacher shows the boundlessness of his belief in God and heaven with his compassion for what he seems to view as a lost “boy-man”.

“Gilead” is a difficult story to listen to or read because one begins with attachment to its main character but ends with recognition that we are all human which by definition makes us flawed.

ETHNICTY

Roth shows acculturation is both an opportunity and danger in “The Plot Against America”.

Books of Interest
 Website: chetyarbrough.blog

The Plot Against America

Author: Philip Roth

Narration by: Ron Silver

PHILLIP ROTH (WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR FICTION, MAN BOOKER INTERNATIONAL PRIZE AND MORE)

Roth’s “The Human Stain”, and “The Plot Against America” are troubling fictional stories of American society. Roth’s imagination seems somewhat out of control in “The Plot…” but his point is that American democracy, like all forms of government, is flawed by the nature of human beings. Popular election is no guarantee of government probity because the public is as easily led by lies as the truth; i.e., something we see in today’s American government. “The Plot Against America” creates a fictional story of the advance of a racist to the Presidency of the United States at the time of Hitler’s government putsch in Germany.

Charles Lindbergh (Famous aviator who expressed suspicion of Jews and is characterized as a supporter of Hitler.)

America had several famous supporters of Hitler’s ascension in Germany; i.e., not only Charles Lindbergh, but Henry Ford, Father Charles Coughlin, and Jospph P. Kennedy Sr., to name a few. Lindbergh believes in white supremacy but excludes those of Jewish ethnicity because he believes Jews are not a part of the American or Western racial community. He believes Jews are a separate people with separate loyalties. This conforms to Hitler’s view of German society as superior to all others. Added to Lindbergh’s racism is his belief that communism threatens individual liberty, a foundational democratic belief. Lindbergh is vociferously anti-communist even though Russia is led by white rulers. Lindbergh believes centralized state control, state suppression of dissent, and forced conformity are anti-American. This is an ironic view because Hitler insists on state control, suppression of dissent, and a forced conformity; i.e., beliefs Lindbergh infers he abhors.

Roth writes a story suggesting Lindbergh run against Franklin Roosevelt for President. Lindbergh wins in this fictional story. In truth, Lindbergh never runs for President. History actually shows the Republican party approaches Lindbergh in the late 1930s to run against Roosevelt because of his celebrity, anti-war message, and isolationist beliefs. However, Lindbergh turns the Republicans down.

There are many reasons why American Democracy continues to prosper despite elections of inept and unethical political leaders.

Wendell Lewis Wilkie becomes the nominee for President by the Republicans in 1940. (1892-1944, an American lawyer.)

Wendell Willkie is the Republican Party’s choice for President. What makes Roth’s story interesting is his concern for loss of Jewish ethnic identity from the influence of Americanization. Two fundamental points are made in the title of the book. There is the obvious “…Plot Against America” with Lindbergh as an America candidate for President who supports Hitler. A less obvious point is Roth’s more subtle “…Plot…” by American society to diminish ethnicity. In Roth’s story, Lindbergh is elected as President of the United States.

Human acculturation is a fact of life in any form of government.

Drawing the line between cultural disintegration and acculturation is different in an autocracy than in a democracy. A perfect democracy allows ethnicity to flourish within the boundaries of common societal norms while an autocracy demands conformity to specific societal norms that, in some autocratic countries, become demands. Roth’s point in “The Plot Against America” is that ethnic identity is a fundamental right of human beings that should not be denied by any government. This is not to say that ethnic identity is not influenced by society, but that ethnicity should only be a natural, not governmentally enforced influence. Roth’s story shows a fine line that is crossed by America in influencing Jewish culture to become less ethnic. He tells the story of a government endorsed program to offer Jewish children the opportunity to become laborers on American farms. That experience leads to a Jewish child’s exposure to eating pork which is explicitly forbidden by the Torah because it is considered unclean. Roth shows “old world” ethnic’ cautions are sometimes abandoned because of life experiences that diminsh ethnic taboos.

Discrimination based on ethnicity, race, or sex diminishes democracy.

Roth shows acculturation is both an opportunity and danger in “The Plot Against America”. One may read into Roth’s story that he regrets the Americanization of Jewish ethnicity. To the extent that the discipline of education may be harmed by acculturation, one is inclined to agree with Roth. On the other hand, ethnic identification has led to unequal opportunity based on ethnicity, race, or sex which should have nothing to do with innate capability.

VALUE OF JUSTICE

“Judge Stone” is a story about the conflicts accompanying personal trauma, public discontent, social violence, discrimination, individual integrity, and public responsibility. The ending is a surprise and makes the reading journey a pleasure.

Books of Interest
 Website: chetyarbrough.blog

Judge Stone (A Novel)

Author: Viola Davis & James Patterson

Narration by: Viola Davis

Viola Davis
James Patterson

“Judge Stone” is a legal thriller written by both its narrator, Viola Davis, and the famous and highly successful author, James Patterson. It is not a diatribe for or against abortion but a primer on the tension between those who agree or disagree with a woman’s or doctor’s right to end life in utero. It is about the morality, human conflict, and drama of addressing the right of the State of Alabama, or any government body, to make abortion a crime.

The story is made more troubling because of America’s history of discrimination.

It is a complicated story because it involves a young Black girl, born in the south where Black discrimination is a part of America’s history of slavery. It is further complicated by a girl being 13 years old who is raped by two white boys. Because of a pregnancy complication, she is taken to a local doctor because of abnormal vaginal bleeding. This is a view of abortion driven by drama rather than a polemic about right or wrong, legal history, or women’s rights. Davis and Patterson show how abortion is a source of bias while demonstrating the reality of gender and racial discrimination engendered by social inequality and how private rights often conflict with laws of the land.

“Republic of Lies” is a deeply troubling book that explains much about why lies and the law are often ignored.

The character of Judge Stone is one of stern moral seriousness who is emotionally offended by discrimination while showing herself to be a professionally formidable judge, elected by a majority of Alabamans in her district. She strives to be judicially neutral, disciplined, and intellectually sharp. Her goal is to be fair while being deeply constrained by the letter of the law. Like many Black and like-minded Americans, she struggles with race, ethnicity, and gender as something that affects success in life. She strives to be impartial and uphold the law even when it conflicts with her personal life and beliefs. Like all judges who wish to do the right thing, being neutral in the interpretation of the law is an inward journey with outward affects. She is a symbol of the best of what justice is intended to be, i.e., a system that attempts to channel human power into fairness.

Blind justice is a fiction.

The main characters are Mary Stone, the judge, Dr. Bria Gaines, the doctor, who performs an illegal abortion on Nova Jones, a pregnant 13-year-old who is treated for abnormal bleeding from her pregnancy. Starla Jones, the 13-year old’s mother, and Cocheta Bass, the nurse who led Nova to the doctor; both of which are witnesses to the doctor’s ministrations. Cocheta explains the desperation Nova has over her condition. The out-of-town attorney that represents Dr. Gaines is an important character but only to show Gaines is represented by a competent, unbiased attorney.

“Judge Stone” is a well written drama that is unlikely to change people’s minds about the morality of abortion. The story is an emotional journey, not a balanced opinion about abortion. “Judge Stone” is about judicial ethics, American discrimination, and social dysfunction. It is a story about the conflicts accompanying personal trauma, public discontent, social violence, discrimination, individual integrity, and public responsibility. The ending is a surprise and makes the reading/listening journey a pleasure.

REAPING WHAT WE SOW

The point Butler brutally makes is that every human being should have the hope and opportunity to adapt to their circumstances of life as long as they do no harm to others.

Books of Interest
 Website: chetyarbrough.blog

Parable of the Sower

Author: Octavia E. Butler

Narration by: Lynne Thigpen

Octavia E. Butler (Author, American speculative fiction writer. The first science fiction writer to receive a MacArthur Fellowship.)

“Parable of the Sower” is a dystopian novel about the future of civilization. One wonders if the author’s view of the future is influenced by personal experience of the many who are different from the majority of those in any nation-state. Ms. Butler writes about the future of society based on aspects of human nature experienced in today’s world. Her story is so relentlessly pessimistic it becomes difficult to complete. Butler writes of the consequences of fear, greed, distrust, empathy, and violence, with a sliver of hope for the future of society. Negative human traits lead to societal self-destruction. Positive human traits hold hope for improvement in human nature. The only hope Butler infers is in human beings’ ability to adapt to circumstances with recreation of empathy for others who choose human equality over ethnic, or racial inequality.

Adaptation based on age.

Adaptation based on Race.

Adaptation based on ethnicity.

The author’s story is about societal adaptability built on inequality reinforced by society and parental influence. Our ability to have empathy for others is key to creating social consciousness based on clarity, solidarity and refusal to dehumanize those who are different. Societal order comes from human empathy and understanding. Without empathy, social cohesion is lost when “I” becomes more important than “we”. Butler creates a future “dog eat dog” world based on parental influence, social belief, and the teaching and practice of human inequality.

Butler shows an evolution of cities into silos of cultural difference rather than communities of common interest.

Butler reduces human interest to protection from violence, shelter security, and the predictability of life. She implies belief for a nation with shared purpose and mutual protection but tells a story of society heading in the wrong direction. Loss of belief in something greater than oneself turns humans into tribes of interest rather than people with common interests and purpose. The desire for control “by the one” whether it is a father, mother, government agency, or political leader breeds rigid belief systems that create an “us” versus “them” world of conflicting interests. In a world of self-interest, Butler infers adaptation becomes more important than learning. Finding what is right or wrong assures human life’s equality. Too often, leaders pursue means to their own ends, rather than what is in the best interest of all.

The point Butler brutally makes is that every human being should have the hope and opportunity to adapt to their circumstances of life as long as they do no harm to others.

WISDOM

Levi makes we who follow rather than lead ashamed. “Theo of Golden” shows human value is in the kindnesses we offer other people.

Books of Interest
 Website: chetyarbrough.blog

Theo of Golden (A Novel)

Author: Allen Levi

Narration by: David Morse

Allen Levi (Author, songwriter, blogger, former lawyer, University of Georgia graduate.)

“Theo of Golden” offers a view of human society. It seems based on a conversationally gifted businessperson who reaches an age of maturity that encourages reader/listeners to contemplate belief in God and heaven. Allen Levi creates Theo, a name undoubtedly chosen because of its Greek language equivalent to God. The chosen name shows where the author and his main character stand in their beliefs.

“Theo of Golden” is about the value of life.

Theo is an independently wealthy octogenarian who has lost his wife and beloved child in an auto accident. After working through the grief of his personal loss, he chooses to use his wealth and remaining life to influence others by simple measures of kindness. Theo believes in the value of the life people live and the importance of small kindnesses they extend to others. Levi’s story illustrates a belief that even small kindnesses are a powerful influence on society. At the same time, he is setting a table for societal belief in God, heaven, and presumably an afterlife.

American immigrants.

In the age of Trumpism immigrants are treated poorly, bombing another country is acceptable, and wealth is considered a measure of human value. Levi’s story condemns the Trump-s, Putin-s, and Xi-s of the world. The power of national leaders multiplies the strength and weakness of societies. The leaders of America, Russia, and China are in the same age group as Mr. Levi but their impact on society is immense in comparison. Levi makes we who follow rather than lead ashamed. “Theo of Golden” shows human value is in the kindnesses we offer other people.

LOVE

True love is made of many parts; none of which make us better than what we are, i.e., love can be unconditional, but it can also be a path to self-destruction.

Books of Interest
 Website: chetyarbrough.blog

The Idiot 

Author: Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Narration by: Various Actors

Fyodor Dostoyevsky (Russian author.)

This L.A. Theater representation of Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s “The Idiot” is less entertaining than the book because it is incomplete. However, it gives one a sense of the author’s characterization of human relationship. The main character of “The Idiot” is Prince Myshkin, a recovering epileptic who has just been released from a treatment center in Russia. In some ways, the dramatization gives structure to what is a difficult book to follow. However, it diminishes the beauty and clarification of Dostoyevsky’s writing.

Compassion.

The main character, Prince Myshkin, is a vulnerable and compassionate young Russian who has inherited wealth from his family. He is released from an asylum meant to cure his ills. One of the first people he meets on a train as he leaves the asylum is Rogozhin, a passionate Russian who can become unruly and violent toward those around him. Rogozhin represents a divided soul; not unlike that which exists in Myshkin but in different and significant ways. Myshkin shows compassion, humility, and spiritual benevolence while Rogozhin is passionate, confrontational, and driven by emotion. They are kindred spirits with one who has reserved emotions and actions while the other fully expresses emotions and often acts in their fulfillment.

Eve Babitz as an example of a beauty like Natasya or Aglaya.

Myshkin meets a Russian beauty named Natasya Filippovna whom he loves in a self-sacrificial way. That acquaintance leads to a tragedy. The tragedy comes from the love he feels for Aglaya Yapanchina, an equally beautiful young woman. The irony is that Myshkin’s emotions attach him to Nastasya out of compassion. That compassion keeps him from expressing his underlying feelings for Aglaya. He cannot abandon Nastasya because of his compassion, even though a more fulfilling love appears likely with Aglaya.

Characteristics of outsiders.

Both Myshkin and Rogozhin are social outsiders. Myshkin because of his epilepsy and social isolation. Rogozhin because of his poverty and emotional instability. Both love Nastasya but in different ways and for different reasons. Myshkin loves Nastasya out of compassion and self-sacrifice while Rogozhin is obsessed with her beauty and sees her as his possession. Both are in love with Nastasya in different but committed ways. Myshkin loves out of goodness while Rogozhin loves out of passion.

Believing in yourself.

Nastasya is drawn to both men but feels she is not good enough for Myshkin. Rogzhin’s attention and love of Nastasya is based on being the object of one’s desire, i.e. a feeling she has felt from all men she has met in her life. The tragedy of Dostoevsky’s story is that Rogozhin murders Nastasya. Rogozhin is sent to prison and Myshkin collapses from the soul crushing murder. Myshkin returns to the asylum as a broken man. Dostoevsky is showing that pure goodness in life is a fiction. True love is made of many parts; none of which make us better than what we are, i.e., love can be unconditional, but it can also be a path to self-destruction.