In this post I wanted to focus on Alyosha’s first meeting with the schoolboys. This meeting occurs in Chapter 3 of Book IV.
Alyosha is on his way from his father’s house to Madame Hohlakov’s when he meets a group of school-age children on their way home from school. Alyosha attempts to strike a conversation with one of them by suggesting that he should carry his school bag on his left shoulder instead of his right. We learn from the text that Alyosha’s intent is to get into the children’s confidence by making a practical suggestion; such a move would place himself and the children on an equal footing. But his attempt backfires; it turns out that the boy is left-handed.
Just at that point another boy starts throwing stones at them–but it turns out that he is really throwing stones at Alyosha. The boys all pick up stones and throw them back at him. Alyosha tries to break up the fight, but to no avail. Eventually the boy runs away, but waits for Alyosha to come after him. Alyosha goes to him and asks why he was throwing stones at him. But the boy curses him, bites his finger, and then runs away crying.
Not a very auspicious beginning for Alyosha in his relationship with these children. But the key thing is, he tried. He wanted to reach out and connect with the children, and be a positive influence in their lives. So he made the attempt. He was willing to put himself out there and say something, even if it was all wrong. How many people are willing to do that in their relations with children, or with other people in general, for that matter?
As it turns out, by the end of the story Alyosha has a strong connection with the schoolboys. He was able to get them to reconcile with the boy who was throwing stones at them. They all went to visit him as he was dying, and they were all at his funeral.
I like Alyosha very much, and I want to be like him. He is very effective in his relationships with the children, moreso than in his relationships with other adults. I believe that I am like him in this regard. As I consider the kind of influence that I want to be as a teacher, I want to be as much like him as possible in our day and age.
Which begs the question: Would it be possible for a character like Alyosha to exist in present-day America?
I don’t think so.
First of all, present-day America is a much more secular place than 19th-century Russia. In 19th-century Russia, the Russian Orthodox Church was an extremely influential social institution, and those who represented it, such as priests and monks, were for the most part held in high esteem throughout Russian society. In present-day America, there is no one church that occupies the position of preeminence that the Russian Orthodox Church held in 19th-century Russia. Christian belief is not the dominant mode of thinking in our culture, by any stretch of the imagination. The dominant priorities in our culture are money, wealth, status, fame, health, youth, beauty, and the dominant expressions of Christianity in our culture are simply a reflection of these priorities along with a hint of a spiritual focus. And the representatives of Christianity in our culture do not enjoy the level of respect that priests and monks in 19th-century Russia enjoyed.
Second, the male gender carries a lot more baggage nowadays when it comes to relating with children than it ever did in Alyosha’s day.
Thank you John Mark Karr.
Yes, there were men in Alyosha’s day who did horrible things to children. Ivan makes reference to several examples in the “Rebellion” chapter just prior to his Grand Inquisitor speech. But these are nothing compared to the level of abuse and violence that is being done to children nowadays, for which the blame is laid directly at the feet of the male gender.
What I have to contend with nowadays in seeking to work with children is that, in the eyes of society, I am John Mark Karr. I am Charles Manson. I am John Wayne Gacy. I am every child serial killer and child sexual predator who has ever walked the face of the earth–until I prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that I am not. And if I fail to prove this beyond a shadow of a doubt in my actions and behavior, I have way too much to lose.
Alyosha could never hope to exist in this type of climate. There are too many people out there who would see his interest in children and behavior with children as inappropriate. There are too many who would fear for the safety of their children and want to protect them from Alyosha–just as they would want to protect them from John Mark Karr or Charles Manson or John Wayne Gacy.
But still, it is nice to think that I could be like him, that I could be as positive and effective an influence in the lives of children as he is. That is exactly what I hope to be, to whatever extent that is possible in our present-day American culture.
Alyosha was willing to put himself out there in order to connect with children–even at the risk of getting it all wrong. Will I be willing to put myself out there like he did and run the risk of getting it wrong, or will I hide within myself because I have too much to lose?
