The Epileptic Loophole: Self-control and the Judiciary in Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov
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published 03/06/2008
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SummaryEpilepsy and the punitive system—two seemingly unrelated items that Fyodor Dostoevsky juxtaposes in order to make a point about Russia and the futility of the judiciary. In his giant oeuvre The Brothers Karamazov, Dostoevsky exemplifies the tension between rational and irrational behavior by putting Dmitri Karamazov and Pavel Smerdyakov at trial. Though they are to a large extent very different, both have something in common: their actions and thoughts are somewhat out of their control. It seems that “impulses” often govern the course of their lives. Interestingly, the epileptic Smerdyakov has an incredibly ironic function in the novel; his condition should render him an impulsive mess, subject to unpredictable fits, but he is often more successful at achieving his ends and keeping his “disease” under his own control than Dmitri. Ultimately, the ironic contrast between Dmitri’s impulsivity and Smerdyakov’s rationality is crucial in conveying Dostoevsky’s message that the judicial system and, by extension, the Russian notion of justice are flawed. From this, a Dostoevskian system of universal justice emerges.
Table of Contents
- Mitya is impulsive - he is almost more 'epileptic' than Smerdyakov.
- Smerdyakov's condition is manageable and somewhat loopholeical.
- His disease of impulsivity is suspicious in the abruptness of its onset and the benefit that accompanies it.
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