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The Brothers Karamazov
p303 ...at the first glance at him Ivan knew that it was Smeryakov who was on his mind, and that it was this man that he loathed. It all dawned upon him suddenly.
He remembered that before, when Alyosha had been telling him of his meeting with Smeryakov, he had felt a sudden twinge of gloom and loathing, which had immediately stirred anger in his heart... “Is it possible that a miserable, contemptible creature like that can worry me so much?” Ivan wondered.
One of the difficulties for me in blogging this book is the way points Dostoyevsky is trying to make are tied to the characters. I would like to skip this whole section about Ivan and Pavel, but it is too crucial to the story and to what Dostoyevsky is trying to say. (I apologize for any inconsistency in my spelling of the author's name. My spellchecker, and some sources, prefer "Dostoevsky" but my edition of the book and Wiki go with "Dostoyevsky".)
It was true that Ivan had lately come to feel an intense dislike for Smeryakov, especially during the last few years. He had even begun to notice in himself a growing feeling that was almost hatred for the man. Perhaps this hatred was heightened by the fact that when Ivan first came to his father’s house he had felt quite differently. Then he had taken a marked interest in Smeryakov, and had even thought him very original. He had encouraged him to talk, although he had always wondered at a certain incoherence, or rather restlessness, in his mind, and could not understand what it was that continually and insistently worked upon the brain of “the contemplative.” They discussed philosophical questions and even how there could have been light on the first day when the sun, moon, and stars were only created on the fourth day, and how that was to be interpreted. [A Big Bang theory interpretation of this (a bright, hot plasma before stars formed) could be interesting, though perhaps not that appealing to people defending the biblical Creation.] But Ivan soon saw that, though the sun, moon, and stars was an interesting subject, yet for Smeryakov it was of secondary interest. He seemed to be looking for something altogether different. In one way and another, he began to betray a boundless vanity, and a wounded vanity, too, and that Ivan disliked. This was the first thing that made him dislike Smeryakov. [Pavel has something about him of Don John, the “Bastard Prince” in Much Ado About Nothing.]
...
p304 ...But what irritated Ivan most and confirmed his dislike for Smeryakov was the familiarity which Smeryakov began to assume... he had obviously begun to consider -- goodness knows why -- that there was some sort of understanding between them. He always spoke in a tone that suggested that they had some kind of compact, some secret between them, that had at some time been expressed on both sides, only known to them and beyond the comprehension of those around them...
This is too much of a stretch (even for me) but I’m reminded here of the relationship between Adrian and his Mephisto in Doctor Faustus. I can’t find my notes on where Mann borrows from Dostoyevsky in that crucial scene in Italy, but is this more of that? (Possibly because I haven’t written them yet since that is near the end of the book when Ivan is suffering from “brain fever”.)
With a feeling of disgust and irritation Ivan tried to go through the gate without speaking or looking at Smeryakov... [But Pavel gets up and Ivan stops.] And the fact that he did stop, instead of passing by, as he meant to, infuriated him. With anger and repulsion he looked at Smeryakov’s emasculate, sickly face, with the little curls combed forward on his forehead. [The look of a lackey?]]
...
p305 “Get away, miserable idiot. What have I to do with you?” was on the tip of Ivan’s tongue. But to his surprise he heard himself say instead: “Is my father still asleep or is he up?”
He asked the question softly and meekly, and at once, again to his own surprised, sat down on the bench. For a moment he felt almost frightened; he remembered this afterwards... [Just yesterday I read an interesting piece about how our conscious minds are not in control of our decisions, which are actually the result of a subconscious process.]
Book V. 7. Ivan's self-laceration
p313 ...He [Ivan] felt that he had lost his bearings . He was worried, too, by all sorts of strange and almost surprising desires. For instance, after midnight he suddenly had an intense irresistible inclination to go down, open the door, go to the lodge and beat Smeryakov. But if he had been asked why, he could not have given any exact reason, except perhaps that he loathed the valet as one who had insulted him more seriously than anyone else in the world. On the other hand, he was more than once that night overcome by a sort of humiliating terror, which he felt paralyzed him. His head ached and he was dizzy. A feeling of hatred was rankling in his heart, as though he meant to avenge himself on someone. He even hated Alyosha, recalling the conversation he had just had with him. At moments he hated himself. Of Katerina he almost forgot to think, and he wondered at this afterwards, especially as he remembered perfectly that when he had protested so valiantly to Katerina that he would go away next day to Moscow, something had whispered in his heart: “that’s nonsense, you are not going, and it won’t be so easy to tear yourself away as you are saying now.”
Remembering that night long afterwards, Ivan recalled with peculiar repulsion how he had suddenly got up and stealthily, as though he were afraid of being watched, had opened the door, gone out on the staircase and listened to his father stirring down below. He had listened a long while -- some five minutes -- with a sort of strange curiosity, holding his breath while his heart throbbed. And why he had done all this, why he was listening, he could not have said. That “action” all his life afterwards he called “infamous,” and at the bottom of his heart, he thought of it as the basest action of his life. He felt no hatred for his father at that moment but was simply curious to know why he was walking around down there below and what he was doing... Ivan went out onto the stairs twice to listen like this.
Having finished the book does not help me understand Ivan’s feeling here. Even knowing that he will later blame himself for leaving the next day does not help me with what was so “infamous” about this listening on the stairs. I am at a loss.
Small Victories
p254 ...The problem with God -- or at any rate, one of the top five most annoying things about God -- is that He or She rarely answers right away. It can take days, weeks. Some people seem to understand this -- that life and change take time. Chou En-lai, when asked, "What do you think of the French Revolution?" paused for a minute -- smoking incessantly -- then replied, "Too soon to tell." ...
I love this Chou En-lai quote. And, No, I don't see any connection with Dostoyevsky.
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