Baseness in The Brothers Karamazov Essay

In Fyodor Dostoyevskys The Brothers Karamazov there is description of "baseness" or the base of the soul, that the Karamazov family seems especially affected by. This baseness is put in the light of an act so that is simple and unyielding to human nature in its natural form. Animalistic actions take place of rational thought while touched by this base feeling of the soul.

One might go so far as to imply that base actions are a sign of weakness in the human mind, yet is not being base a sign of strength and tenacity? One regresses to a post-creation state not knowing what is right and wrong, but what is necessary. Necessity reflected by decisions weighed by an animalistic logic.

A lion kills with hunger, not joy in its eyes; it is hungry and it must eat or it will perish. There is tenacity in surviving; yet to do so one must possess strength as well. Of all animals, humans understand this, for we are not the strongest nor fastest of the animal kingdom, in fact we lack everything in comparison to an animals senses. Yet we possess a capacity for learning, creating, understanding, and remembering that is not matched by others on this earth.

Yet if we were to act out of necessity, to regress to a post-creation state, would we be in chaos? Survival of the strongest comes to mind. Everything that needs to be done would be done, now. Yes we would be base, closer to animals than humans. Yet what is the definition of a human being. What separates the man from the beast? Humans and animals share the same emotional spectrums, we both have need for a community and contact with others of our own kind, and we are both intent on surviving. To think and to feel are shared abilities among us, so what is the deciding factor? Imagination tips the scales, we as humans have an infinite imagination and with it the ability to contemplate and create.

With this capacity we encounter right and wrong, morals and ethics, choices to be made and consequences to be considered. With societys standards one can go wrong with any one of these out of ignorance, difference of perspective, character traits, or conscientious decisions. Not all the blame rests with society. How could we as the human race function without certain standards? The world would fall into a chaos if there was not something we could hold our actions against for comparison. Not everything can be permitted, so it follows that there must be restrictions.

Yet restriction, applied respectively to baseness and society, are different. Baseness is, in a way, a means to an end, where survival is paramount to all other things. Whereas, in society, importance is placed on being socially correct and functioning, in a way that is beneficial to the whole of humanity. Yet if one does not retain some form of baseness how can one survive? And if one doesnt understand the importance of society how can one function in the world of today?

One without the other is impossible, the yin and yang of the soul that keeps things balanced. Therefore to be base is not to be weak, it is to be natural. To understand society is not to be tame but aware of the bigger picture.