ktcat4002
Jan 9, 2010
Undergraduate / University of Michigan Long Essay - Brothers Karamazov [5]
ok..Here's my current draft ..just pretend the book titles are italicized:
In the beginning, there were six of us. I was mildly surprised, because just about fifteen people had picked up The Brothers Karamazov, thus unofficially pledging their loyalty to the class. After the second day there were five, and we were sitting around a small table joking and wondering who was going to be the next to leave. But no one did, and we became the Russian Literature class of 2010. The students in other electives were baffled at how we had the time to read 200 pages of Dostoevsky a week, and the answer was that we did it because we wanted to. Those few weeks in which I read Fyodor Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov were some of the most remarkable weeks of my life, and I'm sure my classmates would agree when I say that the experience was one that cannot be regretted.
The Brothers Karamazov follows the story of three brothers, Dmitri, Ivan and Alyosha, and their father. It was saturated with philosophy that didn't inhibit the characters' abilities to stand out as developed and utterly real human beings with flaws of their own. It was often a humorous book, but there were times when I would be shaken from my reverie and acknowledge the fact Karamazov was not only the joyful book described in the introduction, but an examination of the human condition.
One of the characters I empathize with is Lise Khokhlazov. When we were first introduced to Lise, I disliked her immensely. She struck me as an tiresome, manipulative young girl who shot from two extremes: being deeply in love with the youngest brother, Alyosha, and outbursts of hysteria. After her encounter with Ivan, this mania was replaced by a deep seated resentment for the world. Lise's volatile nature became stuck in one gear, allowing her manic side to create a cesspool of misguided anger in which she was overwhelmed. Instead of trying to fix anything through thought or action, Lise let herself fall completely into her morbid fantasies. She ceased trying to separate the good things from the bad and ended up loathing all ideas and peoples, including her fiancé, Alyosha.
I am somewhat ashamed to say that I related to this character, and I find it a bit of a paradox that I can say this. Having as many philosophical mood swings as Lise, I seldom find a character that can pull me out of my frequent emotional gutter. I change my stance on the very topics Lise was struggling with (such as her fluctuating sense of morality) just as often as she. When I read the culmination of Lise's story-line, it resonated with me so thoroughly that I was half convinced Dostoevsky could read my mind. But after it was over, and Lise was seemingly gone forever, I couldn't stop wondering what became of the girl last seen bitterly slamming her finger in a door.
At last I realized I had to let her go. Another thing I loved about The Brothers Karamazov was the incredible range of characters Dostoevsky has laid out before us. Seeing Lise next to the "public slut" Grushenka, and watching the different paths they took to absolve themselves from suffering allowed me to put Lise in perspective and in turn, help me absolve myself from her suffering. The Brothers Karamazov's wonderful characters taught me a lesson I never really knew I needed, a lesson that took months to make itself obvious. Even if the big picture is not clear, there is no reason to stop trying to find it. Thought and intellectual stimulation are keys to growth and happiness, and I look forward to the years of higher education to come.
ok..Here's my current draft ..just pretend the book titles are italicized:
In the beginning, there were six of us. I was mildly surprised, because just about fifteen people had picked up The Brothers Karamazov, thus unofficially pledging their loyalty to the class. After the second day there were five, and we were sitting around a small table joking and wondering who was going to be the next to leave. But no one did, and we became the Russian Literature class of 2010. The students in other electives were baffled at how we had the time to read 200 pages of Dostoevsky a week, and the answer was that we did it because we wanted to. Those few weeks in which I read Fyodor Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov were some of the most remarkable weeks of my life, and I'm sure my classmates would agree when I say that the experience was one that cannot be regretted.
The Brothers Karamazov follows the story of three brothers, Dmitri, Ivan and Alyosha, and their father. It was saturated with philosophy that didn't inhibit the characters' abilities to stand out as developed and utterly real human beings with flaws of their own. It was often a humorous book, but there were times when I would be shaken from my reverie and acknowledge the fact Karamazov was not only the joyful book described in the introduction, but an examination of the human condition.
One of the characters I empathize with is Lise Khokhlazov. When we were first introduced to Lise, I disliked her immensely. She struck me as an tiresome, manipulative young girl who shot from two extremes: being deeply in love with the youngest brother, Alyosha, and outbursts of hysteria. After her encounter with Ivan, this mania was replaced by a deep seated resentment for the world. Lise's volatile nature became stuck in one gear, allowing her manic side to create a cesspool of misguided anger in which she was overwhelmed. Instead of trying to fix anything through thought or action, Lise let herself fall completely into her morbid fantasies. She ceased trying to separate the good things from the bad and ended up loathing all ideas and peoples, including her fiancé, Alyosha.
I am somewhat ashamed to say that I related to this character, and I find it a bit of a paradox that I can say this. Having as many philosophical mood swings as Lise, I seldom find a character that can pull me out of my frequent emotional gutter. I change my stance on the very topics Lise was struggling with (such as her fluctuating sense of morality) just as often as she. When I read the culmination of Lise's story-line, it resonated with me so thoroughly that I was half convinced Dostoevsky could read my mind. But after it was over, and Lise was seemingly gone forever, I couldn't stop wondering what became of the girl last seen bitterly slamming her finger in a door.
At last I realized I had to let her go. Another thing I loved about The Brothers Karamazov was the incredible range of characters Dostoevsky has laid out before us. Seeing Lise next to the "public slut" Grushenka, and watching the different paths they took to absolve themselves from suffering allowed me to put Lise in perspective and in turn, help me absolve myself from her suffering. The Brothers Karamazov's wonderful characters taught me a lesson I never really knew I needed, a lesson that took months to make itself obvious. Even if the big picture is not clear, there is no reason to stop trying to find it. Thought and intellectual stimulation are keys to growth and happiness, and I look forward to the years of higher education to come.
