The Idiot

My favorite character from Fyodor Dostoyevsky's The Idiot is the protagonist, Prince Lev Nikolayevich Myshkin. Throughout the book, the majority of which takes place in 19th century Russia, Prince Myshkin is referred to as an idiot because of his prior illness that caused him to act strangely and awkwardly. While he is mostly cured of his illness, many characters in the novel continue to call Myshkin an idiot because of his innocence and unconventional behavior. However, despite his reputation, Myshkin is actually a perceptive and uncommonly intelligent character, whose primary strength and weakness is that he is a kind and forgiving person who always sees others in their best light. For the most part, Prince Myshkin is a static character, and it is this lack of change that hurts the story and causes the reader to pity him. Nevertheless, Myshkin's character develops somewhat as he encounters new situations and meets new people, but many of these events function to highlight what is already a part of Myshkin's character instead of changing who he is.

I connected with this character because it made me think about whether or not I am changing, and if I am, then by how much; and if I am not changing and developing my character, then will I continue to make the same mistakes, and will I be aware of these habitual actions? But if I am continually changing and growing, then how can my character clearly be defined since I am not the same person at any given moment in time? I also felt a connection to Prince Myshkin because of his noticeable absentmindedness that causes him to wander off at various points in the novel. I noticed that I, too, am prone to getting lost in my thoughts at random times. As I was reading this novel, I couldn't help but notice my own irrationality and eccentricity that could be termed idiocy. But then again, who is not an idiot even three days out of the week because the people that pretend to know exactly where they are and where they are going and what they are doing have no better guess than the rest of us.

- Maximilian Kallas