30 pages • 1 hour read
Fyodor DostoevskyThe Dream of a Ridiculous Man
Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1877A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Rain
Rain is mentioned in two instances. When the narrator walks home, he says that “rain had been falling all day, and it had been a cold, gloomy, almost menacing rain, with, I remember, an unmistakable spite against mankind” (227). Soon after, he notices the girl’s clothes that are soaked from the rain. Rain is also mentioned in his dream, the narrator lies in his coffin, and drops of water start falling in his eye. In the first example, the rain contributes to the gloomy atmosphere and the depressive state of the narrator, as he views the rain as something menacing and spiteful, emphasizing his negative worldview. On the other hand, the rain foreshadows and symbolizes the transformation and rebirth that the narrator is about to go through; he is being purified and cleansed from his old harmful state of mind. The girl’s wet clothes symbolize her significance to the narrator’s transformation, and her innocence; the narrator is also being brought to a state of innocence, as he rids himself of cynicism.
Light in the Darkness
Light recurs as a motif to guide the narrator in his journey. While walking on the dark, rainy street, he contemplates on the street lamps, thinking that putting them out would make the street look “less cheerless” because “the gas made one’s heart sadder because it lighted it all up” (227). The lights expose the street’s miserable appearance, making the narrator even more depressed. On a metaphorical level, the hopeless narrator refuses to see the figurative light in the darkness and instead looks at everything with cynicism.
The star is another light in the darkness, in one of the “fathomless black patches” (227) of the night sky. Similar to the street lamps, the star only provokes negative feelings in the narrator, as he decides to die by suicide. The star is a traditional symbol of guidance and hope, however, and one laden with Christian meaning. It foreshadows a change for the better and a new path that the narrator is about to find. As he travels through space in his dream, the narrator sees the same star. He sees also the Sun, which makes him happy: “A sweet, thrilling feeling resounded with ecstasy in my heart” (236). The same happiness repeats when he sees the Earth, which is “a star twinkling in the distance with an emerald light” (236). This time, lights in the darkness evoke ecstatic joy in the narrator. These lights in the dark guide the narrator on his journey, and support the theme of solving his existential dread and finding his truth.
Cross
In his dream, the narrator asks to be crucified: “I told them that all this was my doing, mine alone; that it was I had brought them corruption, contamination and falsity. I besought them to crucify me, I taught them how to make a cross” (245). According to Christian doctrine, Jesus died on the cross to save humanity from sin. In the context of the story, the narrator’s desire for crucifixion shows his awareness of his own corrupting sin and the ensuing responsibility toward others. If he is responsible for all the corruption in the world, then he is also responsible for the world’s redemption. The difficult awareness of responsibility for the suffering of others is precisely what the narrator refused earlier in life by adopting a nihilistic outlook and attempting to deny his feelings of compassion and his need for others’ love.
Related Titles
By Fyodor Dostoevsky
