The Meek One by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
"A Gentle Creature"
Pub. 1876
Star Rating: ★★★★✰ (4/5)
“Is there a living man in the country?" cried the Russian hero. I cry the same, though I am not a hero, and no one answers my cry.”
A short story written by one of the most well-known Russian novelists, The Meek One was published in The Diary, a publication written entirely by Dostoyevsky. The Diary was largely considered an eclectic work, consisting of an infinite number of different kinds of writings, handling different topics, with some being interconnected and others completely solitary. Many struggle to define The Diary as there wasn’t anything in the publishing world like it, though the name can assist the reader in figuring it out for themself.
[SPOILER ALERT]
The Meek One is as Dostoyevsky as it gets, with brutal themes of child abuse, suicide, and cruelty all jam packed into less than 60 pages. The unnamed narrator is struck by the death of his wife and begins to explain the circumstances of their marriage and her eventual decline. He tells of how they first met, him being a pawnbroker and her being a desperate young girl trying to crawl out of her unbearable circumstances. The pawnbroker marries the girl and through his avoidant, cold, and even harsh behaviors, drives the girl to eventually commit suicide.
Thoughts, opinions, and more…
A short, must-read for any Dostoyevsky enthusiast. Full of every essential topic associated with the Russian novelist. I expected a little more harshness within this work but was pleasantly surprised to read the tinge of maddening remorse sprinkled throughout the pawnbroker’s stream of thought. As he recounts his mistakes, we can feel the bitterness of changing too late.
“Who can say that I did not love her! Do you see, it was a case of irony, the malignant irony of fate and nature! We were under a curse, the life of men in general is under a curse! (mine in particular). Of course, I understand now that I made some mistake! Something went wrong. Everything was clear, my plan was clear as daylight: "Austere and proud, asking for no moral comfort, but suffering in silence." And that was how it was.”
Although our narrator takes responsibility for his behavior, there is still a slight inability to accept all of his baggage. The death of his wife was the product of months and months of suffering, of feeling trapped within her own skin, of being driven mad by a man who is intentionally withholding his affections. If his silence and coldness were intentional, then how did he realize too late that he had made a mistake? There was an intent, but perhaps he just didn’t expect his wife to fall victim so easily? Or in the moment, he was blinded by his own intentions and failed to realize the inevitable?
I definitely enjoyed this work, it’s a quick dose of Fyodor to spice up your reading week. It’s a very quotable work, every few sentences struck me, and I spent a majority of my reading time conscious of the beautiful language I was consuming. Not the most impactful short story I’ve read, but one I’m glad to have gotten to!