The Dream of a Ridiculous Man Illustrated

"The Dream of a Ridiculous Man" is a short story by Fyodor Dostoyevsky written in 1877. It chronicles the experiences of a man who decides that there is nothing of any value in the world. Slipping into nihilism with the "terrible anguish" he is determined to commit suicide.The story opens with the narrator wandering the streets of St. Petersburg. He contemplates how he has always been a ridiculous person, and also, how recently, he has come to the belief that nothing much matters to him any longer . it's this revelation that leads him to the thought of suicide. The narrator of the story reveals that he had bought a revolver months previous with the intent of shooting himself within the head.Despite a dismal night, the narrator looks up to the sky and views a solitary star. Shortly after seeing the star, a touch girl comes running towards him. The narrator surmises that something is wrong with the girl's mother. He shakes the girl away and continues on to his apartment.Once in his apartment, the narrator sinks into a chair and places his gun on a table next to him. He hesitates to shoot himself due to a nagging feeling of guilt that has plagued him ever since he shunned the girl. The narrator grapples with internal questions for a couple of hours before falling asleep within the chair. As he sleeps, he descends into a really vivid dream.In the dream, he shoots himself within the heart. He dies but he's still conscious of his surroundings. He gathers that there's a funeral and he's also buried. After an indeterminate amount of your time in his cold grave, water begins to drip down onto his eyelids. The narrator begs for forgiveness. Suddenly his grave is opened by an unknown and shadowy figure. This figure pulls the narrator up from his grave, then the 2 soar through the sky and into space. After flying through space for an extended time, the narrator is deposited on a planet, one very similar to Earth, but not the world that he left through suicide.The narrator is then placed on what appears to be an idyllic Greek island, identified because the earth before the autumn . Soon the inhabitants of the island find him, and that they are happy, blissful, sinless people. The narrator lives during this utopia for several years, all the while amazed at the goodness around him.One day the narrator accidentally teaches the inhabitants the way to lie. This begins the corruption of the utopia. The lies engender pride, and pride engenders a deluge of other sins. Soon the primary murder occurs. Factions are made, wars are waged. Science supplants emotion, and therefore the members of the previous utopia are incapable of remembering their former happiness. The narrator pleads with the people to return to their former state, or a minimum of to kill him for his role in their Fall, but they're going to not allow it.The narrator then awakens. he's a changed man, thoroughly thankful for all times and convinced of man's basic goodness and potential for incredible love. He dedicates his life to teaching the promise of a Golden Era, a time on earth where everyone loves his brother as he loves himself.At the conclusion of the story, the narrator states that he tried to seek out the small girl, which he will continue and on, presumably with the intent of atoning for his past lack of kindness.