I think the way that we are analyzing the book is both interesting and practical. While it helps us develop our own analytical skills, it also lets us hear other people's take on Dostoyevsky's work. When we discussed the main character's words on age and how only "fools and worthless fellows" live beyond the age of forty I had believed that the main character was referring to this idea that everything has an expiration date. Nothing stays shiny and new forever, at some point it will begin to tarnish. I thought this related heavily to the use of the seasons in correlation with our lives. Camille's point that the paragraph related highly to the Kafka lecture was insightful. The older you get, the more likely you are to experience what it is like for a society to completely shift its views and leave the expendable people behind. Forty years seemed like a reasonable time period to remain within the same type of values. Living past that age you will be at a loss. You will because a fool as Dostoyevsky says because you sou, so engrained into your beliefs, will not be able to shift over to the liberal left, or the conservative right (wherever society may be going at the time). I had not even thought to compare Dostoyevsky to Kafka in such a way at all. As you revealed that Kafka actually came after Dostoyevsky, I began to wonder whether or not Kafka was in part inspired by Dostoyevsky. However, when you told us to think of it in a different way, I was at a loss. It may be a shortcoming of mine, but I really could not think of another way to analyze what the character is saying about age.
-Talia Akerman
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