The Idiot

“Everyone's face was pale yellow, matching the color of the fog.”

Myshkin's arrival in Saint Petersburg is indicative of the contrast between his demeanor and those of his fellow countrymen. Myshkin is bright and interested in people but, after his years in Switzerland, he is a stranger in his homeland. He is entering a world of yellow, pale faces and yellow, pale fog. A misty, murky world in which every pallid face scrutinizes him with a cynical eye.

“I knew nothing then, and know still less now.”

One of Myshkin's defining traits is his lack of cynicism. While the other characters bluster and lie their way through conversations, keen to seem more intelligent or deserving than they truly are, Myshkin is forthright and modest. He admits that he knows nothing and this admission shocks those around him. To them, he seems too innocent and too honest for this world so they assume that he must be suffering from a mental health condition.

“But what sort of idiot am I now, when I myself understand that I'm considered an idiot?”

Self-awareness is a frequent refrain when Myshkin discusses the way the world perceives him. While others think that he is a fool, he questions how this can be the case if he is able to perform any amount of self-examination or self-reflection. Myshkin is aware of his own status in the world; the world, rather than Myshkin, has a problem with attempting to figure out who he really is.