Tag Archives: Fyodor Dostoevsky

Come, Holy Spirit

By Robin Bates | Published: June 8, 2019

Pentecost Sunday Nobel Prize-winning Polish poet Czeslaw Milosz uses the occasion of Pentecost to explore the nature of faith in his poem “Veni Creator.” Although the apostles may have been filled with the Holy Spirit, what about those of us who don’t experience tongues of flame? Here’s Luke’s description of moment (Acts 2:1-4): When the […]

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When Fiction Trumps Truth

By Robin Bates | Published: May 28, 2019

Wednesday Writing last week for the New York Times’ “What Is Power?” series, Israeli historian Yuval Noah Harari argued that fiction is a more powerful force than truth in politics. I extend the discussion to literature (which Harari does not discuss) because of its reliance upon fabrication in the service of a higher understanding. Camus, […]

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Zamiatin Anticipated Trump Cultism

By Robin Bates | Published: October 5, 2018

Friday Having just reread Eugene Zamiatin’s dystopian novel We (1920) for the first time since encountering it in 1972 in a junior-level utopian literature class, I’m struck by how it captures the cult behavior of Donald Trump fans. The novel even features a protective wall. Although Zamiatin supported the 1917 Bolshevik revolution, by 1920 he […]

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Does the GOP Love Big Brother?

By Robin Bates | Published: December 26, 2017

Do Congressional Republicans flatter Trump Goneril-like out of convenience or do they “love Big Brother”? Dostoevsky’s Grand Inquisitor may hold the key.

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Trump as Raskolnikov

By Robin Bates | Published: August 7, 2017

Is Trump as Raskolnikov, unable to hide the fact that he’s committed a crime so that a relentless detective is able to track him down. But while Mueller may be a Porfiry, Trump isn’t deep enough to be a Dostoevskian hero.

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The Grand Inquisitor Was Right

By Robin Bates | Published: November 8, 2016

To understand Donald Trump’s stunning victory, turn to Dostoevsky’s Grand Inquisitor. The lure of an authoritarian leader and the challenges of a pluralistic and multicultural society can be found in Ivan Karamazov’s parable.

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I Am Lazarus Come Back from the Dead

By Robin Bates | Published: September 24, 2016

I’ve just realized that the Lazarus mentioned in Eliot’s “Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” is a different once than I’ve been assuming. This makes me appreciate the poem even more.

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Dostoevsky Explains Trump’s Appeal

By Robin Bates | Published: December 27, 2015

Dostoevsky’s Grand Inquisitor helps explain Donald Trump’s popularity: people want certainty more than they want freedom of thought.

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Is Freedom More Powerful than Fear?

By Robin Bates | Published: December 13, 2015

Obama in his Oval Office speech on terrorism said that “freedom is more powerful than fear.” Dostoevsky’s Grand Inquisitor would beg to differ.

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