Dichotomy: conceptual use and applications

¶ … dichotomy is the presence of two mutually exclusive or contradictory entities. An either / or circumstance or illustration of that concept. When occurring in writing, examples may revolve, for instance, around an author's essay discussing the dichotomy between good and evil. Neither can exist at one time. Their side-by-side brush in the tight corner of one essay can evoke interest and make for passionate discussion.

I have read numerous writing books on the subject of writing and somewhere along the way have I picked up the recommendation that incorporating contrast or dichotomy in a key sentence can prick life into the essay as well as awaken a sluggish reader. The same advice has been proffered for creating titles of books or for usage in copywrting.

Charles' Dickens famous prelude to the Tale of Two Cities may be an example that best epitomizes the advantage of contrast when skillfully employed:

"It was the best of time, it was the worst of times. It was the age of wisdom; it was the age of foolishness. It was the epoch of belief; it was the epoch of incredulity. It was the season of Light; it was the season of Darkness. It was the spring of hope; it was the winter of despair. We had everything before us; we had nothing before us. We were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way (p.15)

Here, you have a chain of dichotomies per excellence. Description that wrestle against one another and abrade their immediate neighbor. Dickens must have had a fun time with this. The contrast makes us wonder and want to read on. And then we encounter further dichotomies contrasting the king and queen of England with the king and queen of France in diametrically opposite impressions. No wonder, Dickens' opening line has achieved enduring repute.

It seems to me that all true literary masterpieces have to contain dichotomy in order to properly portray the world, for never is the world one-dimensional, but rather complex in its contradictory layers. No one individual is ever totally 'good'. Strains of so-called badness slink into his character, and the reverse too, even the most demonic of creatures has strains of goodness interspersed. It is portrayal of extreme goodness with extreme evil that makes the story believable and causes us to lose ourselves in the process.

It was no wonder that the Russian authors such as Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, and Chekhov are renowned for their craft. Each of them were supreme psychologists with the portrayal of the human spirit brilliant in its comprehension and complexity. Take Dostoyevsky's 'Crime and Punishment' for instance. Here, evil slurred side-by-side with goodness. The hero murdered. Yet insertion of dichotomy into the narrative reveals his honesty, inclination towards religion, and desire to be good.

Pierre Bezukhov, a bumbling figure, was no different in Tolstoy's War and Peace. A drunkard and a fool, he was likeable, loyal, and ultimate survivor and hero of the tale.

In no other story could the benefit of dichotomy be more clearly evidenced than in Anne Karenina. The narrative is rife with contrast. The heroine herself was an adulteress who was dedicated to her kids and reluctant to leave her home. Her acts were considered immoral; yet she killed herself and we feel pity for her. Her husband, too, is a dichotomous personality: simultaneously devoted to his wife whilst sterile and aloof. The only one who seems a cardboard figure is Count Vronsky, and indeed he fails to hold our interest.