TY - JOUR
T1 - A logical redeemer
T2 - Kirillov in Dostoievskii's Demons
AU - Allan, Derek
PY - 2014/6
Y1 - 2014/6
N2 - The engineer Kirillov, an important character in Dostoievskii's Demons, has provoked considerable critical disagreement. In a well-known section of Le Mythe de Sisyphe, Albert Camus describes him as a figure who expresses the theme of 'logical suicide' with 'the most admirable range and depth'. Other commentators have not always been so sanguine, some dismissing Kirillov as a madman in the grip of a mad theory. While dissenting from Camus's analysis in certain respects, this article offers an interpretation consistent with his basic argument. Kirillov's decision to commit suicide is based on a simple, if implacable, logic which convinces him that as long as he kills himself for the right reason, his death will be an act of redemption for all humanity. Kirillov is a wholly 'metaphysical' character - one of the earliest in modern fiction - whose ambition to become the 'man-god' is explored by Dostoievskii to its ultimate, desolate conclusion.
AB - The engineer Kirillov, an important character in Dostoievskii's Demons, has provoked considerable critical disagreement. In a well-known section of Le Mythe de Sisyphe, Albert Camus describes him as a figure who expresses the theme of 'logical suicide' with 'the most admirable range and depth'. Other commentators have not always been so sanguine, some dismissing Kirillov as a madman in the grip of a mad theory. While dissenting from Camus's analysis in certain respects, this article offers an interpretation consistent with his basic argument. Kirillov's decision to commit suicide is based on a simple, if implacable, logic which convinces him that as long as he kills himself for the right reason, his death will be an act of redemption for all humanity. Kirillov is a wholly 'metaphysical' character - one of the earliest in modern fiction - whose ambition to become the 'man-god' is explored by Dostoievskii to its ultimate, desolate conclusion.
KW - Albert Camus
KW - God
KW - madness
KW - redemption
KW - suicide
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84901036354&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/0047244113518874
DO - 10.1177/0047244113518874
M3 - Article
SN - 0047-2441
VL - 44
SP - 97
EP - 111
JO - Journal of European Studies
JF - Journal of European Studies
IS - 2
ER -