@article{ref1,
title="A logical redeemer: Kirillov in Dostoievskii's Demons",
journal="Journal of European studies",
year="2014",
author="Allan, D.",
volume="44",
number="2",
pages="97-111",
abstract="The engineer Kirillov, an important character in Dostoievskii's Demons, has provoked considerable critical disagreement. In a well-known section of Le Mythe de Sisyphe, Albert Camus describes him as a figure who expresses the theme of 'logical suicide' with 'the most admirable range and depth'. Other commentators have not always been so sanguine, some dismissing Kirillov as a madman in the grip of a mad theory. While dissenting from Camus's analysis in certain respects, this article offers an interpretation consistent with his basic argument. Kirillov's decision to commit suicide is based on a simple, if implacable, logic which convinces him that as long as he kills himself for the right reason, his death will be an act of redemption for all humanity. Kirillov is a wholly 'metaphysical' character - one of the earliest in modern fiction - whose ambition to become the 'man-god' is explored by Dostoievskii to its ultimate, desolate conclusion. © The Author(s) 2014.<p /><p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0047-2441",
doi="10.1177/0047244113518874",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0047244113518874"
}