In this blog post, we’ll explore F. M. Dostoevsky’s life and literary achievements, focusing in particular on his masterpiece, ‘Crime and Punishment’.
Life and Works
Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky, a master who, along with Tolstoy, represents 19th-century Russian literature, was born on October 30, 1821 (Russian calendar) in the official residence of the Malinsky Almshouse in Moscow. He was the second son of Mikhail Alexandrovich Dostoevsky, who served as a first-class military surgeon there, and grew up in an urban environment from an early age.
His father, Mikhail Alexandrovich, had a nervous and demanding temperament, with patriarchal and domineering tendencies; although he held the title of nobility by virtue of his military service, the family lived in poverty. His mother, Maria Fyodorovna, was the daughter of a middle-class merchant and possessed a gentle and courteous disposition, but she passed away from tuberculosis the year Dostoevsky turned sixteen.
A lover of literature from an early age, he was particularly drawn to Scott’s fantastical and romantic biographies and historical novels. In 1837, following his father’s wishes, he enrolled in the St. Petersburg Military Engineering Academy alongside his older brother Mikhail. After graduating, he served as a second lieutenant in the Army Engineering Corps, but driven by his passion for literature, he resigned from the military after less than a year to devote himself entirely to writing.
The era in which he lived was a transitional period in which feudal serfdom was collapsing and capitalist institutions were beginning to take root. New ideas were emerging, centered on urban intellectuals rather than the nobility, while at the same time, large numbers of people—economically impoverished and socially marginalized under the oppression of serfdom and capitalist exploitation—began to emerge as those “with nowhere to go.”
Dostoevsky keenly captured this historical context and projected his own inner struggles onto his literary world, creating works that are sometimes called “modern prophecies.”
His debut novel, ‘The Poor Folk’, published in 1846, depicts the social tragedy of the powerless people living in the back alleys of the city, the humanity that remains within them, and the psychological conflict between human dignity and social servility. This work earned him the recognition of the literary giant Belinsky, instantly propelling the then-unknown 24-year-old author into the literary spotlight as the “new Gogol.”
However, his subsequent works, such as ‘The Double’ and ‘The Housewife’, were criticized by Belinsky for exhibiting psychological and pathological tendencies and failed to receive favorable reviews; as a result, his creative activities—which had shown great promise—were temporarily halted. Around 1848, he became involved with the Petrashevsky Circle and was influenced by Fourier’s utopian socialism.
In the spring of 1849, he was arrested in connection with the Petrashevsky Affair; the authorities staged a dramatic charade of their execution but commuted their sentences just before they were to be shot, citing an imperial pardon. Ultimately, he spent four years in prison in Omsk, Siberia, where he transformed from a humanitarian and utopian revolutionary into an advocate of Slavic mysticism and the philosophy of submission.
After his release, he served as a private in Central Asia for five years, during which time he married Maria Isaeva; in 1859, after ten years, he was permitted to return to St. Petersburg. Upon his return, he founded the magazine ‘The Age’ with his brother Mikhail and solidified his return to the literary world by publishing ‘Records from the House of the Dead’ (1861–1862), based on his experiences in a Siberian prison, and the semi-autobiographical novel ‘The Insulted and Humiliated’ (1861).
The following years were a period of political reaction and social disillusionment following the emancipation of the serfs, as well as a time when significant events in his personal life coincided. These included his first trip to the West in 1862, his romantic relationship with a lover, and the deaths of his wife and brother in 1864. This period marked a turning point in his literary career, and it was during this time that he wrote the novella ‘Notes from the Underground’ (1864), which is regarded as the key to understanding his later masterpieces.
After the magazine ‘Vremya’ ceased publication, he launched ‘Epocha’ in 1864, but the venture failed, leaving him deeply in debt. He remarried Anna Snitkina, a stenographer he had met while dictating his novel ‘The Gambler’, and was forced to flee abroad for four years to escape his creditors. Even amidst these hardships, he completed such immortal masterpieces as ‘Crime and Punishment’ (1866), ‘The Idiot’ (1868), ‘The Possessed’ (1871–1872), and the novella ‘The Eternal Husband’ (1870).
The approximately ten years following his return from abroad were a relatively stable period in his life; during this time, he published the novel ‘A Minor’ (1875) and ‘The Brothers Karamazov’ (1879–1880), which can be considered the culmination of his lifelong reflections. Furthermore, beginning in 1873, he continued to publish ‘A Writer’s Diary’—a magazine-style collection of free-form writings including essays on current affairs, literary pieces, criticism, and reminiscences.
Unlike Tolstoy, who emphasized objective reflection, Dostoevsky created original literature with a strong subjective tone. By delving into the inner and psychological contradictions and conflicts of human beings, he opened up new possibilities for the modern novel, and his ideas had a profound influence on Russian and world literature, ranging from F. W. Nietzsche to modern existentialists. Meanwhile, during the Stalin era in the Soviet Union, he was labeled a “reactionary writer” because his ideas were viewed as a negative influence; however, as time passed, this perspective weakened, and his works were republished.
In particular, his later masterpieces, beginning with ‘Crime and Punishment’, reveal his literary essence in that they went beyond the author’s original intent to respond sensitively to the cutting-edge social, ideological, and political issues of the time, while simultaneously raising fundamental questions about human existence.
On January 28, 1881, he died at the age of 60 after coughing up blood due to a ruptured pulmonary artery; three days later, he was laid to rest at the Alexander Nevsky Monastery Cemetery in St. Petersburg, watched by a crowd of 20,000 to 30,000 people.
About ‘Crime and Punishment’
‘Crime and Punishment’ is one of Dostoevsky’s representative works from his later period; first published in a magazine in 1866, it is regarded as a world-renowned masterpiece. Through the crime committed by a former university student who overestimated reason and his subsequent lonely downfall, the work depicts the schism between reason and emotion while exploring a new path in life.
Set against the backdrop of the dark underbelly of the modern city, the back alleys of St. Petersburg—the setting of the novel—are teeming with even more marginalized people. The protagonist, Raskolnikov, after pathological introspection, concludes that a chosen strongman, like Napoleon, has the right to trample on existing moral codes for the sake of humanity’s happiness; to put this into practice, he resolves to murder an old woman who runs a pawnshop.
However, after committing the murder, he is tormented by remorse, feeling like a “worthless being cut off from humanity.” In his psychological confrontation with Investigating Judge Porfiry, he is able to argue logically but cannot withstand the pressure of his guilt.
He meets Sonya, a “holy prostitute” who lives a life of self-sacrifice, and, deeply moved by her life, confesses his sins to her. Furthermore, after witnessing the ugliness of his own theories reflected in the delusional life and death of Svidrigailov—a mystic who absolutizes lust—Raskolnikov turns himself in and is exiled to Siberia.
It appears that through Sonya’s triumph, the author sought to expound on the ideas of Christian love and submission while criticizing Western rationalism. However, beyond the author’s intentions, the work reveals a profound sense of resentment regarding the unresolved struggle for human redemption within the closed-off social conditions of the time, as well as an appeal to humanism.
