Dostoevsky & Tolstoy Writing Assignment

A discussion of modern news stories that seem to echo some of Dostoevsky's and Tolstoy's concerns about modernity.

Example # 1. The 2000 Presidential Election.

For those interested in pursuing this assignment, let me suggest that the 2000 presidential election has been a good news story to investigate from this standpoint. This news story is of particular interest because both Tolstoy and Dostoevsky believed that modern democracy was fundamentally misguided and would lead to chaos. They had theories about why this was so, and this election story may offer anecdotes that illustrate or develop these theories.

Recommended reading.

Much ink has already been spilled on this story, but from what I've seen, I'd especially recommend the following articles/editorials from the Washington Post. All of them appeared in the week immediately following November 7th, 2000; in other words, they begin with Wednesday November 8th, 2000 and go through Saturday November 11th, 2000.

"Hoping in Vain For Our Leaders To Help Us Soar," by Marc Fisher (Saturday the 11th, B1)

"Looming Fight Could Take a Painful Toll," by David Von Drehle & David S. Broder (Friday the 10th, A1)

Several editorials from Friday's paper (page A45), including "Burying the Hatchet," by David Broder, "Democracy and Legitimacy," by Charles Krauthammer, and "A No-Win Situation," by William Raspberry

"A Landslide Victory for Confusion" (Thursday the 9th A 31 +)

"An Election With Everything, Except a Winner," by Marc Fisher (Thursday the 9th. , B1 +)

"Florida, Where the Weird is Ordinary" by Gene Weingarten (Thursday the 9th, C1 +)

"One Nation, Divisible by Politics" by David S. Broder (Wednesday the 8th, A1+)

"Bizarre Twists Raise Fairness as an Issue," by David S. Broder (Thursday the 9th A1+)

"A Country Split Down the Middle," by Richard Cohen (Thursday the 9th A29)

"Bipartisan Melancholy," by Robert D. Novak (Thursday the 9th A 29)

And last but not least, check out this one:

"Tocqueville 2000," by Robert Samuelson (Wednesday the 8th, A27)

SOME THINGS ONE OR BOTH RUSSIAN WRITERS MIGHT HAVE SAID

  1. This proves that modern man can't pursue his own happiness because he doesn't know what he wants.
  2. This proves that most men can't judge what's in their own best interest.
  3. This proves men act mostly on impulse, not reasoned judgment.
  4. This proves large bureaucratic governments are inhuman, meaningless, absurd institutions.
  5. This proves that most men actively pursue chaos, disorder, and destruction.
  6. This proves that not everyone should vote. (Women shouldn't vote? The uneducated shouldn't vote? The overly educated shouldn't vote?)
  7. This proves that certain types of environments make men more reasonable than others. In particular, rural life produces more reasonable men than urban life.
  8. This proves that "common" men elect "common" leaders--that is, leaders who are "common" not only because they lack birth or breeding, but because they lack character. (Oddly enough, Bush and Gore actually have birth and breeding, but that may not guarantee that they have nobility of character.)

ASPECTS OF THIS STORY THAT MAY BE ESPECIALLY RELEVANT

  1. The foibles of modern democracy (whatever you think these are)
  2. The absurdity/reasonableness of the electoral college (consider not just how it affects the outcome, but how it affects the whole campaign and the issues raised)
  3. The roles of Ralph Nader & Pat Buchanan
  4. The roles of campaign financing & state/corporate power
  5. The questionable reasons why some people might have voted for Bush, like wanting a tax cut but not knowing how much they'd actually get, or like assuming that all Democrats have no morals and all Republicans have morals
  6. The questionable reasons why some people might have voted for Gore, like following union guidelines or the instructions of PACs or "leaders" who jumped into the fracas without being summoned
  7. The big government/small government debate, and other over-simplifications of political theory
  8. The issues few people (or in some cases no one) raised, especially those related to Supreme Cort appointments, or for that matter the role of the Supreme Court itself (see # 2, above)
  9. The real platform differences between the two sides (see # 7, above)
  10. The recent American tendency to deliberately split the government to avoid concentrating power, and the resulting gridlock (see "One Nation, Divisible by Politics," by David Broder)

So much for the 2000 election. What are some other examples of news stories that might illuminate Tolstoy's or Dostoevsky's beliefs about modernity?

 

Example # 2. a USA TODAY survey, published in June of 2000, that gave examples of the increase in rudeness and decline of civility in modern American society. The story discussed aggressive drivers, people who use cell phones in public places, brides who don't send thank-you notes, citizens who won't help strangers with directions, people who break ahead of others in line, and other everyday modern barbarians. You probably have examples of your own.

How could you use what you've read of Tolstoy's and Dostoevsky's work to explain what might have interested them about this story?

First of all, don't just say the most obvious things and stop. Don't say just that it's bad to be rude, it's nice to be nice, and modern Americans are more rude than we ought to be. Dostoevsky and Tolstoy would surely agree with these statements. But they're so obvious that they don't really need to be said. Instead, try talking about WHY we think Americans are rude, and/or what we think the consequences of this rudeness might be. Then talk about the different reasons why Dostoevsky and Tolstoy each thought modern people were growing ruder, and/or what they thought the consequences of that rudeness might turn out to be.

I suggested that you begin by listing all the reasons we can think of why our society might encourage rude behavior (or at least fail to discourage it). Here's what one class came up with:

  1. hectic pace of life
  2. low expectations of others
  3. prevailing spirit of cynicism
  4. undervaluing of personal friendships in favor of professional contacts
  5. working conditions that demand or foster rudeness
  6. tolerance of ego-mania
  7. fear of others, especially in heavily populated urban and suburban areas
  8. possessiveness
  9. vanity, self-importance, pride in career or social role

First make a list of the scenes in each of the two works where rudeness clearly surfaces as an issue.

Dostoevsky's Scenes of Rudeness

Tolstoy's Scenes of Rudeness

The controversy with the military officer who ignores the underground man, and whom the underground man later stalks

The inattentiveness and lack of seriousness of the funeral guests

The dinner with Zverkov & Simonov

The way Ivan's wife and daughter treat him while he's dying

The underground man's treatment of the cab driver and his servant Apollon

The way the doctors treat Ivan when he asks for the truth and for compassion

The underground man's treatment of us, his readers

His own past behavior as a judge

Then simply look at the causes of rudeness in the scenes listed in the chart, above.

For Dostoevsky, the causes might be seen as fear of others, a cruel school environment and an emotionally barren childhood, pride, and a need to dominate others in order to protect the self.

For Tolstoy, the causes might be seen as fear of others, impersonal working conditions that encourage manipulative relationships rather than true friendships, pride, and an undervaluing of intimacy.

If you want to write an essay exploring this issue, here are two of many possible thesis statements you could come up with.

XXX

Here are three other news stories you could choose to look at. (You can also find your own, of course.)

Eggen, Dan. "Death Finds Life on the Web: Sites Offer Caskets, Tributes, Posthumous E-Mail." Washington Post. 17 May 2000. A1+

Hockstader, Lee. "Pings and E-Arrows Fly in Mideast Cyber-War." Washington Post. 27 October 2000. A1+

O'Hagan, Maureen, and Josh White. "Lines and Crimes--All for a PlayStation." Washington Post. 27 October 2000. A1+

You'd most likely be looking for stories that emphasize the isolation and/or dehumanization of modern man. The first two of these stories show how it's now possible to go to a funeral and to conduct a war from your one-room basement, without ever leaving home. (This would obviously have intrigued Dostoevsky's underground man.)

The third story is about people who stood in parking lots overnight and then engaged in various forms of skullduggery, including mugging children, to steal the first available series of the new PlayStation game consoles. It might be worthwhile to examine this story in a little more detail.

 

"Lines and Crimes--All for a PlayStation," by Maureen O'Hagan & Josh White

(excerpts below)

"The demand for this year's most coveted Christmas gift--and the short supply in stores--created mayhem across the Washington region yesterday as teenagers, computer geeks and even a few crooks lined up to get first crack at the Sony PlayStation 2.

"Consider the scene at the Ellicott City Target early yesterday: A man trying to return to his place in line for the video game system was subjected to such heckling and shouting that he simply left the store.

"Or the Gaithersburg Best Buy, where a 15-year-old stayed in line all night only to have his system snatched outside the store.

"Or the Woodbridge Toys R Us, where a man wielding a baseball bat robbed a 12-year-old boy of the video console he had saved for all year.

"'They were going to get their system today without paying for it,' said the Rev. Vicky Yelton, whose son, John, was robbed. 'You don't think about jeopardizing your life to get a silly PlayStation. The item meant more to them than our lives meant, which is a sad thing…'

"Local police were called in the early morning to maintain order…at the (Columbia Target and) Ellicott City Wal-Mart, although no arrests were made. At the Ellicott City Target, one customer left the line briefly and was trying to return to his spot when the crowd turned on him. He eventually left the store.

"'They were pretty ugly this morning,' said a store manager, who gave her name as Kathy. 'It was mostly grown-ups, that's the sad part…'

"In Woodbridge, Vicky Yelton, of Engleside Church of God in Alexandria, said she and her son had just left Toys R Us with the video system when a man ran up and grabbed the bag, making a beeline out of the parking pot. As John screamed and tried to run after the attacker, another man threatened to hit him with a baseball bat.

"As soon as store officials learned of the robbery, however, they called the mother and son into the store and gave them a new PlayStation 2 with games and accessories to make up for their loss. Vicky Yelton suffered minor injuries in the attack--she said she bit her tongue in shock and hurt her leg running after the men. John Yelton wasn't physically hurt.

"Still, the incident could not help but leave an impression on young John. 'He went from extremely excited to terribly disappointed,' his mother said. 'They didn't rob an adult; they robbed the hopes and dreams of a child.'"

XXX

What strikes me as interesting about the PlayStation news story is that it bears comparison to different scenes in Dostoevsky and/or Tolstoy depending on what aspect of the story interests you most. If what interests you most is the mentality that causes men to steal what belongs to others, then you should examine the underground man's relationship with Apollon, whose wages he steals in order to pursue his quest for respect at Zverkov's farewell dinner. On the other hand, if what interests you most is the way in which adults ignore the needs and dreams of children, you could examine Ivan Ilyich's relationship with the son he comes to understand only in death. That might also mean examining Ivan Ilyich's relationship with his memory of himself as a child. (This is his relationship with what a modern psychologist might call his "inner child.")

At least one other thing might interest you here. You could be intrigued by the nature of the particular thing this long line of people craved. Bear in mind that it was craved alike by adults, children, thieves, and the family of a preacher. It was a machine that would allow you to play an assortment of electronic games with a remote "partner" or "opponent" via e-mail, much as you might chat with strangers using an assumed ID in a chat room. If the underground man had had such a game, it might never have occurred to him that anything was missing from his life. If this is the aspect of the story that most interests you, I suggest you focus more broadly on the way the underground man interacts with us.

 

And don't forget; you can also find relevant news stories on your own.

 SUMMARY

What are we looking for in the news? It strikes me that these stories are all about different issues, but they have the same kind of paradox at heart. They all involve oxymorons. That is, they're all about stories that involve essential contradictions in terms. What do we have here? We have:

 

Hmmm…Could this be a pattern? What do you think?

 

RETURN TO 252 SYLLABUS.