The novel "The Idiot" became the realization of old creative ideas of Dostoevsky, his protagonist - Prince Leo Nikolayevich Myshkin, according to the author's judgment is "a truly beautiful person", the embodiment of good and Christian morality. And it is for his unselfishness, kindness and honesty, extraordinary philanthropy in the world of money and hypocrisy, that Myshkin is called for an "idiot". Prince Myshkin spent most of his life in seclusion, coming out into the light he did not know with what horrors of inhumanity and cruelty he would have to face. Leo Nikolayevich symbolically fulfills the mission of Jesus Christ and like him perishes loving and forgiving humanity. Just as Christ he tries to help all the people who surround him, he tries to cure their souls with his kindness and incredible insight.
The image of Prince Myshkin is the center of the composition of the novel, all the plot lines and heroes are connected with it: the family of General Epanchin, the merchant Rogozhin, Nastasya Filippovna, Gania Ivolgin. And also the center of the novel is a striking contrast between the virtue of Leo Nikolayevich Myshkin and the habitual way of life of secular society . Dostoevsky was able to show that even for the heroes, this contrast looks terrible, they did not understand this boundless kindness and consequently feared it.
The novel is filled with symbols, here Prince Myshkin symbolizes Christian love, Nastasya Filippovna - beauty. The symbolic character is possessed by the painting "The Dead Christ", from contemplation of which, according to Prince Myshkin, one can lose faith.
As depicted in the narrative, lapses of faith and spirituality are the causes of the tragedy that happened in the end of the novel, the significance of which is regarded in different ways. The author focuses attention on the fact that physical and spiritual beauty will perish in a world that puts only profit in perspective.
The writer shrewdly noticed the growth of individualism and the ideology of "Napoleonic". Adhering to the ideas of individual freedom, he at the same time believed that unlimited willfulness leads to inhumane deeds. Dostoevsky regarded crime as the most typical manifestation of individualistic self-affirmation. He saw in the revolutionary movement of his time an anarchist revolt. In his novel he created not only an image of impeccable goodness equal to the biblical, but showed the development of the characters of all the heroes of the novel who interacted with Myshkin for the better.
