Nietzsche and Dostoyevsky

When I learned that Friedrich Nietzsche thought there were no psychologists who had anything to teach him, except one, I was intrigued. I was made more curious when I learned it was the famous Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky that he admired. What could the great atheist philosopher hope to gain from the Christian writer? I had to find out.

I remembered, shortly thereafter, that I had been given a copy of Crime and Punishment a few years ago and never read it. My question finally provided the motivation to plunge into this most profound novel and I was captivated from the beginning.

Here, Dostoyevsky’s worldview cries out loud and clear. When an arrogant man—full of the kind of ideas that lead one to dismiss God—honestly lives out his philosophy, he will crash down to ruin, and leave much destruction in his wake.

I say it was Sonia that saved Rodion by the powers of Divine grace. She was able to look deep inside his wretched soul and see what he needed most: forgiveness, love, and justice. He, however, was blinded by his ego, his pride, and his humanist ideas. Rodion could not have helped himself out of a wet paper bag, yet he remained strident in opposition to any help that was offered to him.

Sonia was a desperately poor teenage girl, who sold herself in prostitution to feed her kin. Sonia had shame. She prayed for deliverance and forgiveness came. Her suffering was not in vain, for her story lured Rodion. She intrigued him because he knew she had something he did not have--an inner virtue that conquered her self-loathing. She knew the forgiveness of God.

When she learned of his crimes, Sonia implored him to turn himself in. She knew he would go mad if he persisted in running. She gave him the strength to do the right thing, even when he still had his doubts.

After his confession, and nearly a year in Siberia he broke down at her feet and the prison of guilt that held his soul was unlocked. Is there any sound more deafening than that of shattering pride? When we come to the end of ourselves, there we will find God.

Nietzsche, however, could not yield, and sank into madness and despair. His end was different than that of Roskolnikoff. He said Dostoyevsky showed him something, but he must have missed the point. What made the difference between these two men? Perhaps Nietzsche never had a Sonia.