The Deception of the Thrush

Elder Zosima:

Remember especially that you cannot be the judge of anyone. For there can be no judge of a criminal on earth until the judge knows that he, too, is a criminal, exactly the same as the one who stands before him, and that he is perhaps most guilty of all for the crime of the one standing before him. When he understands this, then he will be able to be a judge. However mad that may seem it is true. For if I myself were righteous, perhaps there would be no criminal standing before me now. If you are able to take upon yourself the crime of the criminal who stands before you and whom you are judging in your heart, do so at once, and suffer for him yourself, and let him go without reproach. And even if the law sets you up as a judge, then, too, act in this spirit as far as you can, for he will go away and condemn himself more harshly than you would condemn him. And if, having received your kiss, he goes away unmoved and laughing at you, do not be tempted by that either: it means that his time has not yet come, but it will come in due course; and if it does not come, no matter: if not he, then another will know, and suffer, and judge, and accuse himself, and the truth will be made full. Believe it, believe it without doubt, for in this lies all hope and all the faith of the saints.

The beloved elder Zosima! Very nice. Let me see if I can reciprocate:

My brother asked the birds to forgive him; that sounds senseless, but it is right; for all is like an ocean, all is flowing and blending; a touch in one place sets up movement at the other end of the earth. It may be senseless to beg forgiveness of the birds, but birds would be happier at your side -- a little happier, anyway -- and children and all animals, if you yourself were nobler than you are now. It's all like an ocean, I tell you. Then you would pray to the birds too, consumed by an all-embracing love, in a sort of transport, and pray that they too will forgive you your sin. Treasure this ecstasy, however senseless it may seem to men.

I noticed that Elder Zosima often adds to his ideas "however mad that may seem it is true" and "that sounds senseless, but it is right".

I also noticed how Mitya would often seem to make contradictions, though maybe they are simply unexpected juxtapositions of phrases . . . He's a self-proclaimed scoundrel, but he's satisfied with himself. Yet he's tortured by his own thought of being a scoundrel, but he's satisfied. So many "yet"s and "but"s with Mitya - My Brother's K book is packed in a box from moving to a new place (though of course it will soon be opened) but I recall Mitya speaking with Alyosha about how, despite the fact he's associated with drinking and whoring etc, he actually is always thinking of the suffering of humanity. . . I'll find the quote to be more specific - but it reminded me of your post.

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*and thank you for replying to my comment - i just stumbled upon your blog as i was looking for a particular sartre quote. i discovered that I have many kindred thoughts and feel a certain joy upon knowing there's someone out there who i can relate to on this level - i've never found anyone I could relate to on this level about literature, philosophy, life . . . - so i hope my random comment with no proper introduction was okay!

Hey Vivek,

So as for Father Zossima and madness -- I was actually thinking of writing a post somewhat related to that topic. I may still yet do that, one of these days.

Leave it to Dostoyevsky to construct characters who do horrifying things and yet somehow make you feel sympathy for them. Interestingly, one of the more contemporary authors that I've been interested in -- Kurt Vonnegut -- also has written his novels in that way. And, if you look in Slaughterhouse-Five, his character Eliot Rosewater will tell you that the most important book you can ever read is the Brothers Karamozov.

Anyways, feel free to post random quotes -- that's what I do half the time myself! If you're looking for some really thoughtful literary & cultural thought, you should click on the link on my main page, "If you enjoyed this blog, may we also recommmend..." That will get you to John Barner's "Slow Learner", which I don't think has been updated for a while but you should find plenty of good stuff amongst the archives.

When I stumbled upon your blog I checked out John's blog via your link after reading some very interesting conversations you two had and saw a good bit of Derrida, which also piqued my interest . . . Sartre, Dostoyevski, Derrida . . . exciting philosophy and literature. That you mentioned Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five is a funny coincidence. There were a bunch of literary classics I packed away as I was moving out, and one of them was that very book. I made a note in my head to read it next, and now that it's been the topic of a dinner conversation and also mentioned in your reply all in the same day, I'm just going to have to read it!

I would be pleased if this blog inspired someone to read Vonnegut :-) I would be curious to know how Slaughterhouse-Five came up in a dinner conversation.

One of my favorite parts of Slaughterhouse-Five is actually not from the narrative itself, but from the introduction that Vonnegut provides. He cites a conversation with a friend, in which Vonnegut says that he is in the process of writing an 'anti-war' novel. The friend replies that he is wasting his time, that he might as well be writing an 'anti-glacier' novel. The point was that human violence is just as natural, inevitable and uncontrollable as a glacier, so an 'anti-war' novel isn't going to accomplish much. Throughout the whole book, I think Vonnegut is trying to wrestle with this comment. Or at least, I know I was.

Thought I might just pop in with this bit of information about John Barner. He can also be found at http://slowlearner.vox.com. Alas I don't have the updated electronics to enjoy his posts there.

Ah, thanks! I was actually beginning to worry a bit about him. But he looks to be quite active on this new site. Very enamored of the YouTube links. :-)