The metaphysical intersects with the physical in Dostoevsky’s entire oeuvre, but most poignantly in his last novel, The Brothers Karamazov, in which a devil, dressed as a gentleman, makes an entirely casual appearance to Ivan. But the reader is especially encouraged to revisit The Grand Inquisitor section of the novel, which offers one of the most famous appearances by Christ in world literature and Dostoevsky’s most comprehensive rejection of benevolent tyranny in the human search for utopia. Ivan’s monologue exploring the nature of human freedom proved integral to the philosophical core of the most famous Russian dystopia of the twentieth century, Zamiatin’s We.
B1. Three Early-Modern Russian Utopias
Faddei Venedikovich Bulgarin
(1789–1859
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[Im-]Plausible Fantasies, or A Journey in the 29th Century
[ABRIDGED]
[From a Dialogue in Bulgarin’s Present]
I: I believe that the gradual process of education, from the Australian savage to the enlightened European, has its limits and cannot extend beyond a point drawn by Nature. < … > Enlightened ancient peoples devoted all their intellectual efforts to the perfecting of philosophy, morality, politics, the fine arts and the social arts. It must be admitted that they reached the highest level in all these spheres of human understanding. From the time of Socrates and Plato there has been hardly anything new in social morality and philosophy.
My friend: But on the other hand, we have far surpassed them in the physical sciences! More discoveries have been made in the last century than in the thousand years of ancient history. In our times chemistry, physiology, physics, mechanics, medicine, have been established; electricity and magnetism have been discovered; gases studied, etc. This will all advance us far in the field of discoveries and improvements …
[An Awakening in the Future]
When I came to consciousness, the darkness of night made it impossible for me to see where I was, but I could feel that I lay in a soft bed wrapped in blankets. Shortly afterwards light began to penetrate through the shutters—I opened them and was speechless with astonishment. The walls of my rooms, made out of precious porcelain, were decorated with gold filigree and bas-reliefs out of the same metal. The shutters were of ivory and all the furniture of pure silver. To assure myself that I was not asleep I pinched myself, bit my lip, and ran about the room, and finally assured that I was indeed awake, I thought my reason was affected and that in some strange fashion my imagination was supplying me with these objects. I opened the window and saw a splendid square surrounded by beautiful painted houses of various colors. Around the square and along the sides of the broad street which intersected the city were covered walkways for pedestrians, while the streets were equipped with iron ways for the carriages’ wheels. As yet the streets were still empty; I saw only one guard who stood at the fountain in the midst of the square. He was wearing a red velvet cape; on his head was a round straw hat with marabou feathers; in his hand he held a long staff on which about a dozen small pistols were attached on rings, while at the center of the staff was a long musket. Apparently this weapon was very light, because the guard turned it as easily as a feather. Finally, doors and windows were opened in the houses one by one. Imagine my astonishment when I saw gentlemen and ladies dressed in brocade and velvet who swept the streets or hurried with baskets to the market in little single-place two-wheeled carts, like easy chairs: with astonishing speed they rolled along the iron channels in the street without any visible source of power. Then large wagons with various cargoes appeared which also moved without any horses drawing them. Under the wagons were mounted iron boxes, from which rose pipes: the smoke which issued from them led me to surmise they were steam engines. The peasant men and women who rode on the wagons were dressed in the same splendid brocades and velvet; this sight more than ever convinced me that I had lost my mind and I began to weep bitterly for the loss of a not inconsiderable share of my reason. A half an hour later, a door opened in my chamber and a gentleman in a brocade coat and silk stockings and curling hair down to his shoulders entered. With a low bow he declared in good Russian that his master had sent him to inquire about my health and to ask if there was anything I desired.
“Tell me, for God’s sake, where am I and what is happening to me?” I said in a trembling voice.
The servant, it seemed, did not understand my question and therefore he did not answer.
“What’s the name of this city?” I asked.
“Hope City,” the servant answered.
“What country is it in?”
“In Siberia, on Cape Shelagski.”
At his words I burst into laughter. “How could this be Siberia!” I exclaimed.
“But it is,” the servant answered. “Permit me to report to my master that you are awake; he will come to see you and it would be better if you talked to him.”
The servant helped me dress in somewhat Asiatic clothing made out of a very delicate light blue fabric.
“And who is your master?” I asked. “Probably some kind of a prince, judging by his opulent home.”
“He is a professor of history and archaeology at our university,” said the servant as he left the room.
“Oh my poor reason,” I cried, “are you now to suffer from madness in the midst of wealth, perhaps because it has never concerned you? But let’s see what the professor will say, since he has collected in his home the wealth of all the learned men of all the world. Perhaps he will remove the veil which is covering my mind and eyes.”
At that moment he entered my room dressed in the same simple and light clothing as I wore, and bowing politely he asked me to sit next to him on the divan. Not allowing him to say a word, I repeated my question—where was I?—and I heard the previous answer and then I asked how had I come to be where I was?
“Yesterday,” the professor said, “men working on the seashore found you in a chalk cavern wrapped in a rare herb. Radix Vitalis (Root of Life), which we employ to revive drowning victims and others whose life forces have ebbed thanks to loss of breath but without vital damage to their organs. But tell me, how did you come to be in the cavern?”
“I don’t know how to answer you,” I said. “Yesterday, that is, September 15, 1824, I fell into the sea between Kronshtat and Peterhof not far from St. Petersburg, but today I’m in Siberia on Cape Shelagski in a magnificent city! I must admit,” I continued, “that I have doubts about my health and I think my powers of imagination are disturbed. Everything I see and hear astonishes me and leads me into perplexity.”
“There’s nothing in this world which is astonishing, except that people can find new things to be astonished of,” answered the professor. “The most astonishing thing is the creation of the universe, and there’s nothing astonishing about anything else. You should know that today is September 15, 2824 and that you slept a thousand years in that cave!” < … > but let us go to breakfast now; I will present you to my family.”
We descended to the lower floor of the house on a circular ivory staircase and entered a room magnificent beyond description. As we awaited the arrival of the ladies I spoke with the professor.
I: Who would have thought that Cape Shelagski which had only recently been described in our time and which consisted only of blocks of snow and ice would someday be inhabited? That the harsh regions of Northern Siberia would be transformed into a luxuriant tropical country, into an Eldorado; and that a professor would have more gold than all the pawnbrokers, money-changers, and usurers in our times?—incredible!
The Professor: And who in ancient Greece or Rome at the time of Herodotus or Tacitus would have thought that the Northern Wastes, covered with eternal mists, as the former described them; that the North, as I say, in a thousand years would be adorned with rich cities, inhabited by enlightened peoples and in their glory comparable to Greece and Rome? Compare Tacitus’ Germany or Julius Caesar’s Gaul with the situation of those countries in the
19th century: the climate and the people, all have changed. The same thing occurred in Siberia: it is all very natural and not at all astonishing. Clearing the forests, draining the marshes, the transfer of the Earth’s internal heat towards the North, have altered our climate; now cold reigns in India and Africa and the Polar Lands have become the richest and most fertile on Earth.” < … >
I: But tell me, how did you acquire such a mass of gold and silver? In our times one wouldn’t dare speak of such wealth even in a fairy tale.
Professor: In your times gold and silver were wealth, but now these metals are quite ordinary, low in cost and used only by poor people. The desire for richness led to such mining of the earth that finally men discovered veins of pure metals in extraordinary abundance, and everyone acquired more than enough gold with its vacuous gleam. Because of the great abundance of gold and silver their price fell and human fancy identified these metals as symbols of poverty according to the ancient rule: only that is attractive which is rare and high in cost.
I: Then from what do you mint your money and make articles of value?
Professor: From oak, pine, and birch wood.
I: Do you mean from wood that we used to heat our stoves, and from which we made barges and peasant huts, and paved our roads! …
Professor: Yes. because without any foresight our ancestors destroyed the forests and took no concern for growing or preserving trees: finally they became rarities and objects of great value. < … >
I: It’s true that wealth is a relative thing.
At this point the Professor’s wife entered with two charming daughters and a little son. The women were dressed in tunics made of felt very skillfully woven, and colored the tints of the rainbow. The ten-year-old boy wore a simple robe. All of the women wore a heavily varnished leather shield on their left arms to protect themselves from immodest eyes; they were equipped with telescopic spectacles, which were very fashionable. The mistress of the house said several words to me in a language which I did not understand, but seeing my incomprehension, said in Russian:
“Then you don’t speak Arabic?”
“No,” I answered. “In my day only a very few scholars studied that language.”
“It’s our language of fashion and diplomacy,” said the professor. “Just as in your time it was French.”
The women could not conceal their smiles as he spoke and the eldest daughter asked me:
“Could it have been that your ladies spoke French, a monotonous tongue, with almost only one-syllable words and so poor in means of expression compared with all other languages?”
“In my day,” I answered, “ladies spoke Russian only to footmen, coachmen and servants; and their major concern was the acquisition of a proper French accent. Whoever did not speak French,” I continued, “was considered an ignoramus in high society, although it happened that sometimes those Russians who always spoke French were also fools.”
“The same thing is true with us,” said the professor. “The only difference being that French today is like Finnish in your time, and the rich, resonant, and supple Arabian language has taken the place of French.”
At that moment a servant brought a tray with unpainted wooden cups, placed it on a golden table, and then shortly afterwards brought in two wooden bowls, one with Russian cabbage soup, the other with buckwheat groats, and a bottle with pickles. I firmly declined the meal, which greatly surprised the whole family.
“My wife,” said the professor, “wanted to treat you to a meal of the most precious imported foods; understand that she doesn’t know history and therefore she failed to please your taste. I will have coffee, tea and chocolate brought from the kitchen: these delicacies from your day are now drunk only by the commonest people.”
“It’s true,” I said, “that in our time the common people had begun to drink tea and coffee in excess; I foresaw that wealthy people would decline to drink them in order to be different. But I don’t understand how it came to be that you have replaced tea and coffee with the commonest sorts of vegetables: cabbage, buckwheat, and cucumbers.”
“Because they are so rare,” the professor answered. “When the climate was altered, the vegetable kingdom was affected too and those foods common and coarse in your time are now brought by ship from India in exchange for bananas, pineapples, coconuts, cinnamon, pepper, and cloves which we send there. May I add that as the result of their research our physicians report that cabbage, buckwheat and cucumbers are healthy and nutritious, worthy of the high place we have given them. One can also say with confidence that these vegetables are much more worthwhile than the spicy foods which were eaten in such abundance in your day which caused gout, weakened the nerves, and induced premature aging.”
After I had drunk my tea, I asked the professor to accompany me for a walk through the city to inspect some of its institutions; he agreed, and donning large straw hats, we went onto the street.
As I observed his house from the street I could not help but admire the beautifully executed friezes, capitals, columns and other decorations on its exterior. The fruit, flowers, and various figures depicted on the spaces between the windows exceeded in beauty anything of this sort I had ever seen.
“What superb carvings!” I said.
“You are wrong,” answered the professor. “All our buildings with their decorations are made out of iron.”
“Are these buildings made of iron?” I exclaimed. “That is very extraordinary. Although we had begun to employ iron for railroads, bridges, columns, stairways, machinery, floors, and even in the arts, and fashionable objects, it had never occurred to me that it might be possible to construct buildings out of iron.”
“Nothing is easier,” said the professor. “The architect designs the building with its facade at a foundry and then the necessary number of units, columns, the floor, ceilings, and roof are cast for him and screwed together. The units, which are fully enclosed, each have a small opening into which dry sand can be poured; and then to strengthen the walls and to protect them from the atmosphere’s influence, the units are welded together into one mass by a special kind of adhesive. Such buildings can easily be moved from place to place, and a few large wagons with steam engines can shift a building in a few hours.”
“Now, I can understand that it wouldn’t be difficult if you have a wealth of iron ore,” I said. “But the demand for fuel must be very high, especially since you have no wood, and no doubt it is very expensive for those who are not rich, and, too, your factories must consume an enormous quantity of coal, peat, or other materials.”
“You are wrong again,” said the professor. “A new method for isolating the elements of the atmosphere which was discovered in 1946 by the famous member of the Samoyed tribe, Shamuromai, a member of the Obdorsk Academy, produces an illuminating gas which provides heat and lights for us and maintains our factories. Every section of the city has a central laboratory from which pipes lead to all the homes. If the owner wishes, he can open a valve and the rooms will be lighted; another valve will heat the stoves in a few seconds, while a third delivers a flame to the kitchen.” < … > But let’s go in this self-propelled vehicle to see the arrival of an air coach. Today is mail day and I’m expecting letters from my sister in Australia.” < …>
“At the present time all these inventions are employed only by air travelers and they aren’t needed in the fleet,” said the professor. “First of all, we don’t have shipwrecks any more because our vessels are made of bronze and iron, and during storms they descend to the bottom of the sea; secondly, because sea water can be transformed into fresh water in a few minutes with the help of aquatic purifiers; thirdly, the ocean floor provides our sailors and undersea divers with an abundance of plants and animals to be utilized as food; and fourthly and lastly, at the present time there aren’t any uninhabited lands: the whole earth is populated, fertilized and adorned by the hands of men who have multiplied to an unbelievable extent.” < … >
[After a full day in the city a
dinner was served at the professor’s home, attended by the city’s mayor, the president of the Kamchatka Academy of Sciences, and the Eskimo Prince, and other men and women]. We entered the dining room and sat at a round table in no special order, each as he wished—with the exception of the women who sat in a row together. The table was set with various foods in wooden dishes; they stood on gold trays and tripods which were heated by lamps burning hydrogen. Most of the dishes, which were very tasty, consisted of vegetables and meats unknown to me: only the fish seemed familiar. The mayor who had noted my bewilderment, said: “Everything you see on the table, with the exception of bread and fruit, comes from the sea. Because of the immense human population on land and because of the destruction of forests, nearly all the birds and animals, which were once so common, have now become extinct; horses we protect as our faithful comrades; camels, cows and sheep we preserve for their milk and fleece, and elephants for war. But on the other hand the sea provides an inexhaustible store of food. Once underwater craft had been invented and the technique of deep water diving perfected, the sea’s floor became a rich pasture, offering a limitless abundance of edible plants while the water supplies us with a profusion of fish, amphibians and mollusks. In regions far from the sea, men work in factories, at handicrafts, cultivate fruits, grains, and the vine; air communications makes it possible to transport various products from place to place very rapidly.”
Worlds Apart Page 32