Dostoevsky’s portrayal of Myshkin in The Idiot is an attempt to wrestle with an ideal. Myshkin is a unique person. He is sincere, compassionate, honest, and open in a world that is hostile to all these traits. As such, Myshkin's idealism is portrayed as naïve. The contrast between Myshkin and other characters is obvious from the very beginning. On the train, Myshkin is ideologically and aesthetically opposed to Rogozhin. The cynical, passionate Rogozhin is dark-haired and dark-skinned, while the fairer, lighter Myshkin shares his optimistic view of the world. At the Epanchin home, Myshkin's frank and open approach brings him into dispute with Ganya while General Epanchin and Madame Epanchin are initially baffled by someone who seems so radically different to everyone else. In this world of manners, decorum, etiquette, and social graces, Myshkin emerges as the ideal of a different kind of life, a more naïve form of existence which is not yet tainted by the churning bitterness of contemporary society.

Part of the Myshkin ideal is his innocence. This innocence is challenged by the troubled world as Myshkin struggles to find happiness in a society which operates along different moral precepts. Myshkin is admired for his innocence. This approach wins him the appreciation of the entire Epanchin family, while disarming initially hostile approaches from other characters.