Dostoevsky's Early Tale, "A Faint Heart"

Abstract

astonishingly perceptive story, A Faint Heart (1848), belongs to Dostoevsky's apprentice years, when he himself was only twenty-seven. Its subtle psychology and the perfected art of his treatment of his subject relate it with special force to the novels of his latter years, in particular, Idiot and Eternal Husband. It is usually described as the tragedy of a young man whose dream of universal happiness is so powerful an influence on him that he cannot allow himself to accept the personal happiness of marriage to a young, beautiful, and devoted girl-therefore he goes insane. It is true that Dostoevsky presents this interpretation explicitly in the story, but this is all the more reason for doubting it. When has a great writer ever presented the reader with a somewhat mysterious theme and then shattered the mystery by a blunt and direct statement of purpose? In this case we must seek another explanation. It exists and is found in the many clues scattered throughout the story. 'What has sent him out of his mind?' asks his employer, Yulyan Mastakovich. answer was, 'Gra-gra-gratitude.' Everyone heard this with amazement, and it seemed strange and incredible to everyone that a man could go out of his head with gratitude. And indeed it is incredible, unheard of. Had this been the real reason, Dostoevsky would never have stated it this bald way. It would have been uncharacteristic of his artistic method and his sense of style. real diagnosis is much more human and plausible and is related to Dostoevsky's own self-scrutiny at this period. In brief, the story is of two young men, as devoted as Damon and Pythias: Vasya Shumkov and Arkady Ivanovich Nefedevich, thus named, the one with a patronymic, the other not. On the very first page, Dostoevsky calls the reader's attention to this paradox: The