The
Dream of a Ridiculous Man is a short story by Dostoevsky. The narrator-protagonist
is a total misfit in the human world. “Oh, how hard it is to be the only one
who knows the truth!” He reflects. The truth he knows makes him a ridiculous
man first and later a mad man.
He
knows that human life is absurd. That is the truth he knows. He is incapable of
loving that life. He cannot accept the normal human jealousies, greed,
mendacity, and so on. He is utterly frustrated and wants to kill himself. He
buys a revolver and wants to fire the bullet right into his brain.
One
day, while walking towards home in the night contemplating suicide, a little girl of eight tugs at
his elbow frantically. The girl’s mother is in some danger and wants urgent help.
The girl looks absolutely miserable wearing tattered clothes and torn shoes.
The protagonist does not feel any sympathy for the girl. He pushes the girl
away and walks off.
At
home, the girl rises in his consciousness. He wonders why he did not feel pity
for that helpless little creature. Why was he not even able to feel shame at
his behaviour? Thinking about the wretchedness of human life, he falls asleep.
He has a dream.
In
the dream he picks up his revolver and shoots at his heart. Heart, not the
brain as he had planned originally, he reassures us. When the coffin shakes on
the shoulders of its carriers to the grave, our protagonist who is lying in
that coffin realises without any doubt that he is dead. He is buried now.
Lying
in his grave, he challenges the supernatural power, if there is any, saying
that he would not surrender to its tyranny. After a while, he is carried to the
space by a mysterious creature to a world that looks similar to the earth and
yet is entirely different.
There
are men and women in that world. But they are innocent. They are like children
in their gaiety and playfulness. They sing songs and eat fruits and honey. There
is no jealousy or quarrel of any sort among them. On the contrary, they
appreciate one another for what they do. There is hardly any illness among
them. Death is a peaceful affair like sleep. They have no temples or idols. Yet
they have a sense of spirituality, a sense of oneness with the whole universe. Theirs
is a utopia, the protagonist realises. Is it heaven?
The
protagonist teaches those people to lie. To utter falsehood. Just for fun. It doesn't ever occur to him that the “fun” he introduces in that utopia will turn it into a
dystopia so quickly. The heaven becomes a hell sooner than anyone could
imagine. The people enjoy telling lies. They love “the charm of falsehood”.
They deceive each other. They begin to view things as “mine and thine”. They
divide themselves into us and them. Temples and idols come up soon for the different factions among them. A few become
the custodians of knowledge and knowledge gains precedence over tender
emotions. Slavery becomes a virtue. Those who talk of love and harmony are
ridiculed and even tortured. Soon enough, wars start in the erstwhile utopia.
All because of the frivolous falsehood that our protagonist introduced for fun.
The
protagonist tries his best to make them understand that their earlier world was
far, far superior. But they refuse to listen to him. He asks them to crucify
him for his sin of corrupting them. They think he is mad. They conspire to throw
him in a madhouse.
The
protagonist wakes up from his dream. He is now a transformed person. He has
seen both heaven and hell. He has seen how a heaven can be converted into a
hell easily. Falsehood is a catastrophe. Falsehood enchants too. The
protagonist wants to teach his new knowledge to people. He starts preaching. He
preaches that we can be “beautiful and happy” easily.
People
don’t believe him, however. They scoff him for being a dreamer. They think he is
under a hallucination.
The
story ends with our protagonist finding out that little girl who had approached
him that other night for help.
He
won’t need his revolver anymore. Better still, he will live a happy life
because he has learnt the secret of genuine happiness. He has seen the border
between truth and falsehood. He has learnt that the charms of falsehood are
delusions.
PS.
You can download Dostoevsky’s story here: The
Dream of a Ridiculous Man
PPS. Praful
Khoda Patel’s Lakshadweep reminded me of this story.
Very nice. Enjoyed reading this one with a great message.
ReplyDeleteDostoevsky never disappoints.
DeleteHari OM
ReplyDeleteI am a fan of Dostoevsky - as you say, never disappoints!
The subject certainly touches upon the subjects I have chose to write about today and tomorrow on Aatmaavrajanam, for I sense there is a rising tide of concern about how the world is now - yet we lack a blanket 'dream' to return our full humanity! YAM xx
We need to relearn to dream, dream big...
DeleteI'll definitely go through your posts related to the theme.