TMOP Chapter 9 - Nechaev

[David Morris]

Nechaev says:
"We don't talk, we don't cry, we don't endlessly think _on the one
hand_ and _on the other hand_, we just do."

D ridicules this "philosophy" of action without thought.  But D might
be accused of being all runaway thought, endlessly considering all the
"other hands" of metaphysicality (not physicality).   Maybe D is the
reverse-generational Hamlet:  the surviving father unable to avenge
the son, unable to act, able only to think and to talk.

On a related note the Finn asks D, "It doesn't help to be aware of
one's nature, does it?" [which is a rather reflective thought on the
part of someone in the "we" category Nechaev described moments
earlier] "I mean, one's nature leads one on no matter how much one
thinks about it."

And, as a corollary to this thesis, the Finn comments on the
pointlessness, maybe even the injustice, of punishing one who has
followed his own nature in committing a crime.  Again, this logic is
exactly opposite that of an organization committed to Vengeance.
Having not read _Crime and Punishment_ I couldn't comment on this
dialogue's relation to that novel.

The Finn then says, "They say you are treacherous by nature."


treacherous (NOT LOYAL)
adjective MAINLY OLD USE
A person who is treacherous deceives someone who trusts them, or lacks loyalty:


And at the beginning of the next chapter, back in the flat, this word,
treacherous, is used again:
"When he thinks she {Matryona] is asleep, he  begins to tell Anna
Sergeyevna of his meeting with Nechaev.  He speaks softly, conscious
that the whisperings of adults – treacherous, fascinating – can pierce
a child's deepest slumbers."

The treachery in both these instances is that of a parent's betrayal
of a child.  D has this constantly in the back of his mind.

More later…