'And It Will Spread All Over the Earth': Biting and Political Contagion in Dostoevsky’s Demons

• In Event: Metaphor, Representation, and Hidden Stories in the Russian Literary Tradition

Abstract

In his 1873 novel Demons, Fyodor Dostoevsky issues an allegorical warning of the danger to Russian society posed by the spread of nihilism, told through the lens of a small village torn apart by fanatical young agitators. This paper serves as an investigation into the analogous relationship between this radical political thought and contagious disease. I argue that Dostoevsky uses biting as a metaphor for the transmission of ideology as a communicable disease to demonstrate its efficacy in infecting a community. This is part of the broader use of imagery of mouths and consumption throughout the novel, particularly regarding Pyotr Verkhovensky and Nikolai Stavrogin. These men are the source of the radicalism and unrest in the town and are therefore connected with the three instances of biting. By tracking these attacks, we can follow the progression of their ideology as it moves through the village inhabitants, in the same manner that one might conduct contact tracing of a communicable disease. The first appearance of biting is by Stavrogin prior to the events of the novel, followed by an unnamed sub-lieutenant also found to be in possession of the pamphlets printed by Verkhovensky. Finally, Kirillov delivers the final bite in the moments before his long-planned suicide. Each outburst occurs at a turning point in the novel and is attributed to madness or insanity in the biter. It is passed from one person to another through their association with the nihilistic radicals until, ultimately, the entire community is infected, with devastating results.

Author

• Amarica Dodd, Brown U