Zossima was referring to an issue that another was struggling with, and this person said this:
"I love humanity...but I wonder at myself. the more I love humanity in general the less I love man in particular. In my dreams...I have often come to making enthusiastic schemes for the service of humanity, and perhaps I might actually have faced crucifixion if it had been suddenly necessary; and yet I am incapable of living in the same room with any one for two days together, as I know by experience...I become hostile to people the moment they come close to me. But it has always happened that the more I detest men individually the more ardent becomes my love for humanity." (Bk 2, Ch 4)
I have had some of the same worries, actually in the other direction. I have felt that my personal care for more people in particular has affected my love for a sense of humanity in a negative way. I think that we need to love actual flaws in those we care about particularly, or at least refrain from judging those flaws. A love for humanity seems to include high standards for what is possible for particular human beings, and the constant disappointment that comes from actual human beings hurts this sense of humanity. Sometimes our standards are incredibly high, sometimes incredibly unfitting (especially those that ignore the fact that we are more than rational beings); but most standards in general seem to face disappointment in actual people.
Moving back to our characters, I wonder if this dynamic will be faced in the brothers. I'm finishing Part I, and it seems as though it is safe to conclude that all three brothers have to face the utterly helpless hedonistic misery that has passed in some form from their father to them, although I haven't seen it in outer form yet (only inner-struggles). Alyosha seems to have a love for all individuals, including his father. Ivan probably has an unfulfillable standard for humanity...
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Dom-
ReplyDeleteI've been trying to get a grasp on what exactly it is that the brother's have in common (aside from their father) and how this affects each of them. I think dealing with 'utterly helpless hedonistic misery' might be part of it...
Also I think this notion of standards vs. love is very interesting. That is, it seems on the one hand in order to love people we're willing to relax our standards (or attempt not to let the standard get in the way). On the other hand, like Ivan and the doctor in question, our love of standards or felt need for them obscures the individual.
It seems to me that going to far in either direction is very problematic.
Very eloquent and right along with my thinking...
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