Dostoevsky's The Idiot: Xenophobic Theme?

[inf4m0us]

Hey all,

Whilst browsing Amazon, I came across a customer review of The Idiot in which the author wrote:

The book begins with his return to Russia as a young man, apparently cured. However, he is still labelled an ‘idiot’ because his sheltered upbringing abroad means that he doesn’t understand the complex rules governing social interactions among the Russian middle classes, and approaches these interactions with a simple good-heartedness and a willingness to do the right thing.

I bought the book based largely on this review because I was interested particularly in the xenophobic element (i.e. the role his upbringing in another country plays in his so-called idiocy).

I wondered whether anybody might be able to point me towards a specific passage that is related to this idea. If it helps at all, I have the Wordsworth Classics edition (1996).

Thanks

[Whifflingpin]

There is not really a xenophobic theme - the upbringing abroad is simply a device.

If you want to satirise your own civilization you can do so either by sending someone abroad (as in Utopia, Gulliver's Travels & Candide, for instance,) or by bringing in a foreigner (or quasi-foreigner) as in L'Ingenue and the Idiot.

[Gladys]

his sheltered upbringing abroad means that he doesn’t understand the complex rules governing social interactions among the Russian middle classes

Is there evidence that a lack of social understanding explains words and actions of Prince Myshkin? I suspect not, since the prince values love and truth infinitely more than the niceties and conventions of polite society.