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kirillov from "demons" vs ippolit from "the idiot" (dostoevsky)

ippolit is a character standing on the borderline between life and death because he is dying of tuberculosis. he talks a lot because he has a desperate need to be remembered. when he writes his massive wall of text to argue for his nihilistic worldview it is because he feels that god has let him down now that he is facing his end.
unlike kirillov who has a positive view on suicide as a way to remove all fear and prove that if there is no god then he is god himself ippolit approaches suicide as a matter of revenge. ippolit does not want to let god kill him so he attempts suicide himself to test his own free will. his point is not about overcoming the fear of pain or the fear of god but is instead about exercising his free will and taking revenge on the almighty.
after his attempt fails because his guns primer does not go off he does not try to kill himself again. it is possible this is due to fear or simply because he did not feel like it at that moment. however he definitely still possesses the same views on suicide.

check more posts about ippolit here and more about kirillov here
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