The First Ordeal (Book IX: Preliminary Investigation, facing p.356) 1949

Curator: Here we have Fritz Eichenberg’s graphic work, “The First Ordeal,” created in 1949 as an illustration for Dostoyevsky’s "The Brothers Karamazov". Eichenberg, known for his wood engravings, brings a darkly expressive mood to this scene. Editor: Bleak. Utterly bleak. You've got this small, claustrophobic space, the somber figures… it feels like everyone's soul is slowly leaking onto that tabletop. Makes me want to go brew a whole pot of coffee, immediately! Curator: The political and social context in the post-war era is impossible to ignore; anxieties were sky high and that gets amplified through literature, theatre and the visual arts. Note how Eichenberg uses stark contrasts and the exaggerated features, like in the man at the far end—almost caricatures—to really drill down on these feelings. Editor: Yes! That almost cartoonish exaggeration…there's a simmering tension there, right? Like everyone's wound up tighter than a watch spring and the littlest thing could set them off. The light seems to avoid touching the subject lying prone on the table. He's got his head down, has he given up entirely, I wonder? Curator: Precisely! He had a real talent for conveying deep psychological states. The source material, the novel “The Brothers Karamazov” explores morality, faith, and the burden of guilt. Eichenberg emphasizes the gravity of their situation, which adds layers of interpretation around personal and collective responsibility. Editor: I notice the hand reaching into the picture’s lower corner, quill in hand, poised above the paper… is he a confessor? A recorder? It almost seems as if that person’s detached and merely chronicling someone’s demise rather than being involved with the people surrounding the table! It's very dramatic, I would say. Curator: The composition cleverly draws our attention to this moment of supposed reckoning, which serves to make a broader comment on society in times of turmoil. Editor: It definitely leaves you pondering. All in all, it is an illustration with some bite. Curator: It's an unflinching look into human nature, captured through Eichenberg’s signature style, and serves as a time capsule, speaking of a turbulent period and enduring anxieties about societal decay.