History, convictions and aspirations of Fyodor Dostoevsky
Fyodor Dostoevsky was a Russian psychologist and author of many great books that still remain some of the finest literary works in psychological literature. Born in 1921 in Moscow, he is widely known as one of the best psychologists in world literature. As a student, he was often drawn to romantic and gothic fiction. He used to read authors like Sir Walter Scott, Nikolay Karamzin, Ann Radcliffe and Alexander Pushkin diligently and their influence is visible in some of his works.
Some history
Born in the tumultuous socio-political cesspool that was 19th century Russia, he wrote stories that explored human psychology, especially when the protagonist is at his lowest, sometimes insulted, hurt or betrayed by people. Hence, most of his stories are about people who were abandoned, betrayed, or left to live in dysfunctional or accidental families. He was but twenty-five when his first novel — Poor Folk was released. This gave him a chance to join the literary circles of St. Petersburg. After he was arrested in 1849, for allegedly participating in a literary group that discussed banned books of Tsarist Russia, he was to be executed. He was imprisoned for eight months and was to be executed at the Semyonovsky Square afterwards. However, right before it was his time to go, due to some miraculous turn of events, he was spared and exiled to Siberia, where he had to live amongst common criminals. He also served for a few years in the disciplinary battalion. Before his arrest, he had shown signs of some sort of nervous disease, which later developed into a violent form of epilepsy, due to which, he lived the rest of his life having seizures once every few months. His return many years later, was not a happy one either, as his new journal ‘Vremya’ was prohibited by censorship due to a misunderstanding. In 1864, he lost his wife and shortly after his brother too left the realm of the living, leaving behind a massive debt which, despite being poor, Dostoevsky took upon himself.
He started another journal but it was also prohibited within a few months. His late brother’s family depended upon him and he was drowning in debt, so he had no choice but to write as much as he could whenever he was awake. He was writing at a monstrous pace and producing one work after another, ranging from essays and articles to stories and the like. In 1866, one of his greatest books Crime and Punishment was released in monthly instalments in The Russian Messenger.
To go wrong in one’s own way is better than to go right in someone else’s. — Fyodor Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment
The later years of his life were made somewhat easier by the devotion of his second wife. In June of 1880, he made his famous speech at the unveiling of the monument to Pushkin in Moscow and he received great love and support. After a few months, he passed away and was mourned by many all over Europe. His great impact on world literature is evident by the fact he is still the most widely read author in Russia. The Brothers Karamazov was his last book to be published while he was still alive.
Impact of Dostoevsky
Fyodor Dostoevsky’s works usually wandered into the darker side of human psychology where the seeds of crime and sin were planted. His works did the arduous task of explaining the way a human mind reacts when facing social dilemmas and mental breakdowns. This style of writing had a huge impact on his readers in the 19th century as it was different from what people were used to reading. Dostoevsky’s works showcased the mental trauma of a character going through harsh times in the most vivid fashion, giving details regarding how and why they think and do certain things and what are the consequences faced by such people. He got widespread recognition over the years, especially in Germany where the author is very famous to this day.
His books don’t focus on whether something is good or bad, albeit that is also usually touched upon briefly, but rather on how the human mind can go from one extreme to another, how a timid man can become a monster because of a mental ailing. This herculean feat is performed almost with ease in these novels, or at least that is how Dostoevsky makes it seem. Many authors, even today, are inspired by his writing style, focusing more on emotions, trauma, reactions and reasoning of a person rather than just their actions. To Dostoevsky, it mattered more as to exactly ‘how’ a character would react on a mental and emotional level, to something perilous or grief-inducing, and to explain these reactions and thoughts as well as he could to the readers. Dostoevsky’s fiction created a new way of looking at the world. It was a ‘literary analysis of human psychology’ in novel form. Dostoevsky treated his creations as independent stories driven by the thoughts and feelings of their own protagonists which were not dependent on the life that he was living himself. Such a powerful writing style requires not just great command over words and an understanding of the human psyche, but also an enormous amount of emotional intelligence and maturity.
The works of Dostoevsky are usually written in the third person. Dostoevsky makes it seem as if he is telling a tale directly to us, sometimes referring to himself as the ‘narrator’ and to us as the ‘readers’. He does not shy away from bringing the readers out of the story every now and then, showing his confidence in his own storytelling and his belief that he can take the readers back into the illusion of his story anytime he wishes to.
Dostoevsky was a devout Christian until his death. His theological beliefs and sentiments can be found in every one of his novels. For him, everything, including his conviction, feelings and aspirations came from the divine, and he believed in its existence as much as he did in his study of human psychology.
The story of Crime and Punishment, for example, is a great example of how to write a psychological novel. The story talks about a man named Raskolnikov who murders someone for money as he is poor. However, slowly and gradually it is revealed that he had been planning this murder for many months and had been rehearsing the many ways he could go about it, the timings he could take advantage of and the weapons that could be used — everything was planned in advance. It is also revealed that as a student at the university, Raskolnikov wrote an article in the newspaper where he talks about how he believes that intelligent men are above the law. He believes that if one is intelligent enough, he may commit crimes for the greater good and it shall be fine in the long run. Examples of such a man would be Napoleon Bonaparte or Alexander the Great. Such men commit atrocities and get away with them because they are great — their crimes are for the greater good of society, even if against the law. Hence, it is shown to us that Raskolnikov did not simply kill someone for money due to his own poverty, but rather because of his intense mental condition fuelled by his pride. Raskolnikov genuinely hated the victim and considered her as vermin that deserved what she got. In the beginning, he is really feverish and thinks that he dreamt it all up — the fact that he murdered the victim and the fact that it worked out so well. However, as he eventually realises that he had actually killed her and that it had not just been a fever dream as he originally thought, the story covers his crime, suffering and his quest for redemption. We spend the first half of the novel watching him carry out the deed, justifying the murder and hiding his tracks. The second half of the novel, on the other hand, explores how the murder affected his mental state. The entire novel is filled with interesting characters and their stories that keep the readers guessing. The sub-plots are as interesting as the main story.
The impact such books have on one’s mind is unquestionably big. These books are like detailed psychological analyses of the criminal mind. More importantly, they are interesting to read for people who like bittersweet stories as these books contain elements of romance as well as grief. Such stories are hard to come by in modern literature and Dostoevsky created not one but many such amazing pieces of art.
In 2006, the German-Russian Institute offered an initiative to establish a monument to the writer, which is now located on the bank of the Elbe, between the Federal Parliament and Congress Hall. One more monument is located in Baden-Baden, right in front of the casino where he lost a lot of his money but found inspiration to write novels. You can find a monument in Wiesbaden as well. — Svetlana Putintseva
To this day, his works are studied not just by students of literature but also by psychologists. He had a massive impact on the style of writing of many popular Russian authors from the 20th as well as 21st centuries. It is safe to say that Fyodor Dostoevsky was one of a kind. His works, along with his name, remain written in gold in the annals of history.
