Fyodor Dostoevsky and Mark Twain

In the 19^th century, Christianity and pluralism were at odds.  Philosophers, theologians, and scientists attempted to reconcile the possibility of extraterrestrial life with the special relationship between God and humans that Christianity holds true. We have studied Chalmers, Paine, Whewell who wrote essays about their views on pluralism. But 19^th century novelists also gave their input in the debate. Two of the most prominent 19^th century writers, Fyodor Dostoevsky and Mark Twain, both wrote about extraterrestrial life in their careers.     

Fyodor Dostoevsky’s short story, The Dream of a Ridiculous Man, is a fantastic tale about a suicidal man who dreams that he dies and some sort of being takes him to another planet that appears to be exactly like Earth, revolving around a star exactly like our Sun.  When they land on this second Earth, however, the man sees that things are actually much different. The people here have not committed original sin and still live in the Garden of Eden, in complete love and harmony. Still dreaming, he stays with these wonderful childlike people for a while when suddenly he realizes that he’s corrupted them.  They start lying, feeling jealous, dividing against each other, and warring. Each person loves himself more than others.  The man stays with the people, loving them even more because of the sorrow he feels for them.  Then the dream ends. The man awakes and is filled with a new excitement and understanding of life.  He cannot explain this knowledge to others in words, but he tries to sum it up with this advise, “The chief thing is to love others like yourself, that’s the chief thing and that’s everything; nothing else is wanted—you will find out at once how to arrange it all.”       

Based on this work of fiction, Dostoevsky doesn’t deny the existence of extraterrestrial life, and he suggests that there are planets just like Earth except without original sin.  Would he agree that Earth is one of the few planets that requires a Savior? It’s hard to tell because he never explicitly states his beliefs.  What he seems to be saying is that life on Earth is precious and full of love when you look at it right.  The existence of other planets or beings does not change that, and even though life on Earth can be ugly, it is home.  

Most people know Mark Twain best from his classic novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, but he also wrote about extraterrestrials during his lifetime. Thomas Paine’s Age of Reason had a big impact on Twain, who agreed with Paine’s anti-Christian arguments. In 1870, he wondered “Did Christ live 33 years in each of the millions and millions of worlds that hold their majestic courses above our heads? Or was our small globe the favored one of all?” Based on this statement, Twain seems to be among those who believe that the Earth is just a tiny speck in the Universe, and that it is unlikely that God’s son would come here.

However, his story Extract from Captain Stormfiled’s Visit to Heaven, gives a different impression. The protagonist, Stormfield, has just died and is traveling through space. As he approaches the gates of heaven he sees billions of beings waiting to be let in. When he tries to tell the gatekeeper what planet he’s from, the gatekeeper says he’s never even heard of Earth.  In an attempt to identify his home planet, Stormfield says he’s from “the one the Savior saved.” The gatekeeper tells him the Savior has saved an innumerable amount of worlds.  A mention of Jupiter sounds familiar to the gatekeeper, who spends days trying to find Earth’s solar system on a huge map. Eventually, Earth is located and they let Stormfield in. As expected, none of the aliens have heard of Earth either, and they tease Stormfield for being from such a small planet with such short days. 

According to this story, Twain seems to be among those who believe that pluralism and Christianity can coexist because God has sent a Savior to all inhabited planet.  Some think that Twain was watering-down his take on Christianity for the sake of his wife, who was a devout Christian because toward the end of his life, Twain’s writing reflects a lot more hostility toward Christianity. In an essay written shortly before his death, Twain writes “God constructed the world in 5 days-and then? It took him only one day to make twenty million suns and eighty million planets?” 

Neither Twain nor Dostoevsky were astronomers, but the vastness of the Universe and the question of our status within it captured their imaginations nonetheless. Both authors’ works of fiction reflect the tension between Christianity and plurality in the nineteenth century and how educated people might have reconciled the two.  Today, creative people are still writing stories and making movies about extraterrestrials. People have imagined so many different kinds of aliens, I wonder if they look anything like what we expect, and how they imagine us.