by Larry Fyffe
& tolstoy - alright then - what my work is - is merely picking up where they left off - nothing more (Bob Dylan: Tarantula)
‘War And Peace” by Leo Tolstoy, a follower of the Enlightenment’s Jean-Jacques Rousseau, is a long fictional narrative that critiques the contention that it’s great individuals, like Napoleon and Caesar, rather than the collective actions of the general population, that result in the rules that govern society, which are backed by violence.
Leo was excommunicated by the Russian Orothodox Church for not believing in the “divinity” of Jesus. However, he accepted Christ’s teaching that practising universal love is the proper path to follow.
The persona of Bob Dylan, in the dream-like song beneath, apparently agrees with the stand taken by Tolstoy, known as “Christian Anarchism “:
Of war and peace the truth just twists Its curfew gull just glides Upon four-legged clouds The cowboy angel rides (Bob Dylan: Gates Of Eden)
That is, akin to Hegel’s philosophy, historical reality flies off into the darkness, and only then can it be ascertained what previously occurred.
For example, according to Tolstoy, Napoleon, from a noble family, though not one
of high wealth, maintains that he’s fighting for a people’s democracy, but in the end crowns himself Emperor. The imagined “cowboy angel”, like Hegel’s “owl of Minerva”, observes from on high what’s collectively going on down below.
In another Tolstoy novel, Anna Karenina suffers much, and, out of desperation, at the end of the story, throws herself under a train, leaving “blood on the tracks”, a translated phrase borrowed by Dylan for an album.
Fyodor Dostoyevsky distances himself from Leo Tolstoy though he struggles with the pious aspects of his family’s Orthodox Church; he disapproves of serfdom and oppressive rulers like Caesar and Napoleon.
Influenced by Gothic writers, he examines the darkness that exists in the human heart. Fyodor writes short stories, novelettes, and essays that appear, at first sight anyway, to support the idea that there is no such thing as absolute truth; however, on closer examination, it’s a personal journey that he takes to find the truth, regardless of where it leads to on earth, to heaven, or hell, or both.
Fyodor has a neurological disorder and is depressed much of the time in his actual life. He becomes a compulsive gambler in spite of the fact that he has a noble background. Owes money that he keeps on borrowing.
Still believing that God is on his side, Dostoyevsky rages against the scepticism expounded by so-called “intellectuals” of the day, who have money and property;
he shows sympathy, perhaps even empathy, for the often-humiliated underprivileged who are considered “little people” by the wealthy; some become deranged while others become so deranged that they commit murder, and/or take their own lives.
Dostoyevsky is sentenced to prison for taking such beliefs seriously; there he witnesses a mock execution.
Pens psychological pieces, such as the semi-autobiographical “The Gambler” and “The Idiot”.
Writes Dylan’s persona, mockingly since the gambler, in fact, owes money to those from whom he has borrowed:
(L)ater i left the Casino with one hundred & seventy gulden in my pocket - its the absolute truth - Fyodor Dostoyevsky (Bob Dylan: Tarantula)
Dostoyevsky was never well off, but because of his writings, he becomes famous.
Below, a word-painting with Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky overtones:
It's many a guard That stands around smiling Holding his club Like he was a king (Bob Dylan: The Walls of Red Wing)