hell's hook.

The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
I would like to discuss the topic of truth verses lies as it is mentioned in The Brothers Karamazov. I will briefly introduce the characters thus far in the novel (a feat that took Dostoyevsky a mere 90 pages…). Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov is the father in the story. Married twice and divorced twice, he is a mooching drunk who thrives off of making himself look like a moron. He also owns taverns and entertains a lot of women. He has three sons. His first son, Dmitry Fyodorovich Karamazov, was the son of Fyodor and his first wife. When his first wife died, Fyodor completely neglected Dmitry and eventually the cousin of Dmitry’s mother came to care for him. Dmitry dropped out of school and went to his father to get money; however, his father was not about to give p money that easily and tricked his son out of his money. His two other sons, Ivan and Alexei, were from his second marriage. The sons were once again neglected and taken by a relative of the mother. Ivan grew up to be educated and intelligent. It was also noted that Ivan got along with his father while they lived together, and that he was sent to live in his father’s home by his half-brother, Dmitry. Unlike Ivan, Alexei dropped out of school and chose to enter in the monastery. He was known to, “Believe and trust in people,” throughout his life and he idolized the elder of the monastery, Zosima.
There are three things that I want to look at and probably expand upon in later blogs. The act of lying, Hell, and religion (I know, what the HELL?!).
So, Hell. I was raised Roman Catholic—I think that I have a pretty good idea of what Hell is according to the Bible the way that Roman Catholicism interprets it. But Fyodor Karamazov is a strange man…
“Well then, sometimes I reason like this: ‘As soon as I die, the devils are sure to drag me down to their place with their hooks.’ But then I think: ‘What hooks? What are they made of? Are they iron hooks? If so, where were they forged? Do they have some kind of ironworks down there, or what?’ Why, I’m sure the monks in the monastery take it for granted that hell has, for instance, a ceiling—that would be more refined, more enlightened, more Lutheran, that is. And what difference does it make whether hell has a ceiling or not? Oh, no, it damn well makes all the difference in the world because if there’s no ceiling, there aren’t any hooks either, and if there aren’t any hooks, then the whole idea goes to pieces…No, even if they didn’t exist, il faudrait les inventer, even especially for me, because you can’t even begin to imagine, my boy, all the disgraceful things that I’ve done” (31).
Where do I even begin with this?!
It is unavoidable—this book is very much related to religion, dammit. I found what Fyodor Karamazov said to Alexei very interesting. Earth-shattering, really. I have probably reread that passage fifteen times, and yet I don’t know what it means. But I think that may be the point. Fyodor is not a very spiritual man—he humiliates himself for the sake of attention, he visits prostitutes almost every night and he marries only for the dowry, drinks and cares nothing for is sons. Is that not hell? I would like to suggest that Fyodor Karamazov is already living in hell. He asks if hell has an “ironworks” and if the “hooks were forged.” But forging and ironworks are worldly things or things that are found in the world in which he already feels persistent and unceasing pain. On top of that, he asks about whether there are ceilings in hell. I felt this was like life—there are no ceilings, but it stretches on above you with things that you can never reach. Taunting, maybe. Or just knowing. If you think about it, the world has no ceiling and no limitations (well, maybe but for the sake of argument, roll with this), so where would these hooks take him? And if anything were to grab him, it would be because of his “disgraceful” acts. The things that he did during his life on earth are what grab him and pull him into the depths of hell. Does that make him the devil?
The question still remains though: if there are no ceilings, can he be taken? If there is no ceiling, then there is somewhere higher that he can travel to, and if he travels higher into the ceiling-less space, according to Christianity, he will reach heaven. And if he is deserving to go to heaven, then there are no hooks to pull him down and there is not a devil because he is no longer doing such disgraceful things. But then Fyodor Karamazov tells Alexei that it does not matter if the ceiling and the hook did not exist because he is “past the point of no return,” if you will.
There you go. Next blog will probably be about lies.
“The important thing is to stop lying to yourself. A man who lies to himself, and believes his own lies, becomes unable to recognize the truth.”
Towey.