Abstract：Abstract：As a common theme in the Bildungsroman and “the novel of ordeal” in European and American culture, the return of the prodigal son usually embodies the spirit of humanitarianism and the appeal of Christianity. While Natasha is the prodigal par excellence that has often come under scrutiny in the study of Humiliated and Insulted, there remain some prodigal variations that have received much less if not no attention: the so-called “resigned”--resigned oneself to adversity and the so-called “unreconciled”--still sunken in the mire of various shades of egoism. Dostoevsky’s treatment in the novel of the fate of those prodigals arouses in the readership not only a humanitarian sympathy for the “humiliated and insulted”, the disadvantaged, but also a fierce criticism on the part of the “democrats” who have little patience with the alleged advocacy of resignation and reconciliation. The point to see is: Dostoevsky, out of his Orthodox humanitarianism, attempts here to strike a balance between highlighting the awakening of the underprivileged prodigals’ individual consciousness on the one hand, and on the other, expressing a wish that those prodigals remain rooted in the Russian Orthodox tradition. The universal image of the prodigal’s return is thus branded with a unique humanitarian spirit of the Orthodox Church. In this sense, the artistic treatment of the prodigal theme as realized in Humiliated and Insulted constitutes a significant transition in Dostoevsky’s writing career.
Key words: Dostoevsky; Humiliated and Insulted; prodigals; prodigal’s return; Orthodox humanitarianism
