The Dream of a Ridiculous Man

The narrator does not share details of his past or his family, but he does mention his brother, who died a few years ago. What is the significance of this? How might the death of the brother have influenced the narrator?

In the end of the story, the narrator says that he “tracked down that little girl” (248). How do you imagine this reunion? What has changed in the narrator’s attitude toward the child, and how would he try to help her?

Consider the role of egotism in the story. Alone in his room, the narrator feels great freedom in disregarding the girl because he feels responsible for the weight of the world. Later, he feels that the corruption of the world depends upon him, and he wants to be crucified like Christ. Has the narrator overcome egotism?

Even though Fyodor Dostoevsky is a realist writer, some characteristics that are also typical of Romanticism are present in “The Dream of a Ridiculous Man,” such as intense emotions and emphasis on the narrator’s inner life. Compare the characteristics of Romanticism and Realism, how they overlap in the story and in which ways they are different.

Consider the being that guides the narrator to the alternative earth. The narrator calls it a “dark and unknown being” with “something like a human face” (235). The narrator feels an “intense aversion” toward it. What kind of being is this? How is this guide like or unlike famous guides through dream and spirit worlds in classic literature?

Examine the allegory described in the narrator’s dream. Does it still apply to today’s society? Why or why not?

In his memoir “A Movable Feast,” Ernest Hemingway says about Dostoevsky: “In Dostoevsky there were things unbelievable and not to be believed, but some so true they changed you as you read them.” How do you understand this quote in the context of “The Dream of a Ridiculous Man”?

Many writers have written about the theme of utopia, one of the most well-known examples being Utopia (1516) by Thomas Moore, who was also the first one to use the term. How does the utopia of “The Dream of a Ridiculous Man” compare with other utopias in literature? Why is utopia a particularly interesting theme for an author?