notes
the danger of narrative
- People tend to see their lives as stories
- Narrator views self as romantic hero, dark horse
- “The story should go like this”, so he tries to win her over
great (but false) expectations
- Clinging to expectations and fantasy leads to suffering
the dangers of imagination
- The narrator does not fully experience reality
- Stuck in delusion and fantasy
- Wanting to return to a dream to escape reality
- Kierkegaard The Sickness Unto Death
- Suffering catches up with those who run from despair through fantasy and imagination
- Fear of it all falling apart
- Unable to focus on fantasy anymore
ego, romance, and suffering
- Need Nastenka to acknowledge his heroism to satisfy his ego
- Nastenka rescuing self-image by leaping into narrator’s arms
- Self-esteem from being loved
- Jean Paul Sartre: we cannot form our identities in isolation
- Must be confirmed by peers to fully believe
- Obsession with self-image
- Inflated view of significance
the over-focus on romantic love
- Cannot move on
- Small drop sustains him for the rest of his life
- Forgets about all other forms of love
- Aristotle: the greater part of love is in the loving (Nicomachean Ethics)