Dostoevsky: Life, Themes, and Style

Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky was born in Moscow in November of 1821 in Czarist Russia. He lost both his parents by the time he was 18, and began his literary career a few years afterwards. Dostoevsky married twice and had four children before his death in 1881.

While many of his early works fell into the Gothic and Romantic melodrama genres, the decade Dostoevsky spent in a Siberian labor camp and as a soldier in exile stripped his work of all its old soft dreaminess. His post-Siberian works were deeply philosophical and satirical, loaded with themes and symbolic characters drawn from his own life. He published tens of great works in his lifetime, but is most celebrated for his novels Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, Demons, and The Brothers Karamazov.

Many of his works deal with themes of “universal guilt, human alienation, the meaning of human suffering, and the limits of morality” (Rosefeldt). His characters are tormented individuals… torn between their sensual appetites and their longings for spiritual fulfillment” (Rosefeldt). 

In addition, Dostoyesvky employs a unique narrative style in his works. He disregarded the mode of logically progressing, chronological narratives, and instead constructed plots as puzzles. 

Dostoevsky also distinguished himself with his “carnivalistically exaggerated tone in describing or echoing the torments of members of the lower classes” (Frank). Their “emotional passions and personality quirks” create caricature-like portrayals that leave a jarring impression on the reader while enhancing the complexity of his literary expression (Frank).

Impact

The combination of Dostoyevsky’s relevant themes and unique style left a considerable impact on both society and the future of literature.

The nihilism and rationalism and related ideologies present in his works were sweeping across Europe, especially Russia. These ideologies represented the dangers of radical revolutionaries, and were philosophical precursors to the Russian Revolution. The literary argument between piety and skepticism also depicted the ideological conflict between the Church and skepticism of the upper class.

At the same time, Dostoyevsky’s style was leading Russian literature away from its black and white narratives to a more polyphonic plane. His plot form was largely uncharacteristic of his time, and he detailed subject matter uncommon for accepted literary norms. Some of his characters became archetypes in various genres of fiction, such as Crime and Punishment’s Raskolnikov for many modern criminals.

Critique

In a quote from the Critical Survey of Long Fiction, Margot K. Frank posits, “That Dostoevski is avidly read by the general public and specialists alike attests his genius in fusing banalities with profound intellectual insights”. Dostoevsky was hailed in Russia for his literary talent, and was also internationally renowned. His works have remained relevant across generations, and are studied today not only by literary critics and historians, but also by philosophers, psychologists, and theologians. 

“Nevertheless,” Frank maintains, “a certain unevenness in language and structure remains.” Dostoevsky was one of the few great Russian novelists of his time not born into the upper-class gentry, and often needed to rush his works into publication in order to make money.

“The constant pressure under which Dostoevski worked resulted in incongruities and dead spots that are incompatible with expert literary craftsmanship. Some of these rough spots were edited out… but the sense of rugged style persists, and reading Dostoevski is therefore not a relaxing experience” (Frank).

My personal opinion on Dostoevsky is based on my reading of two of his novels: Crime and Punishment and The Brothers Karamazov. Crime and Punishment follows Raskolnikov as he plans, commits, and struggles with the aftermath of a murder he is unable to justify. The Brothers Karamazov revolves around three brothers who reunite, only for each to play a part in the murder of their father, and suffer the consequences.

The archetypes I recognized are still relevant in modern literature and relatable in the present world. Similarly, conflicts of the characters are identifiable in many works I’ve read across periods and genres, and are experienced by people in my own generation.

In a way, his works were also more palatable for me than other older pieces of literature. In form, both books I read were crime novels. The genre eased the interpretation of its substance, a psychologically complex subtext. Similar to the way parents might hide medicine in their children’s ice cream, Dostoevsky veils an incredibly detailed psychological and philosophical narrative in his novels built on plot machinations of exciting crime fiction.

Duality in The Brothers Karamazov and Crime and Punishment

The primary aspect I felt compelled to focus on was Dostoevsky’s brilliance in creating dichotomies between characters. They argue opposite sides so convincingly that it is impossible to form a simple judgment about either side. As a result of this duality, Dostoevsky was able to skillfully develop a significant, recurring theme in his works: rationalism. 

In reality, rationalism was the antithesis of Dostoevky’s personal beliefs. So, Dostoevsky now had two options for presenting the argument for rationalism. His first option would be to create a straw man out of it; to caricature the perspective in order to make it as weak as possible, so it is easy to come up with an argument, destroy the straw man, and win. The second possibility would be to create an iron man; instead of making the opposition weak, it’s made as strong as possible before one’s own perspective is hit against it.

This is exactly what Dostoevsky does in his novels. And in The Brothers Karamazov, he does so through the second brother, Ivan Fyodorovich Karamazov. 

From the beginning of the novel, Ivan is defined by his intellect. For this reason that makes him special, he is also unable to accept faith in God that comes easily to others like his brother Alexei, called Alyosha. 

In the first part of the novel, Ivan is quoted as having written “‘Immortality of the soul does not exist, therefore there is no virtue, therefore everything is permitted’”.  Without any incentive to get into heaven, Ivan sees no reason for moral obligation or limitation on human behavior.

In Part Two of the novel, Ivan argues to Alyosha that God would have harmony at the cost of innocent suffering, a price Ivan believes no one should have to pay. Ivan goes on to tell Alyosha a story he made up called the “Grand Inquisitor,” which ridicules human sacrifice and forgiveness in the name of Christ and claims the freedom gifted to humanity is a burden that real people, who cannot imitate the same goodness as Christ, are cursed to bear.

Thus, Dostoevsky excellently argues limitations of faith through Ivan’s conviction. 

However, it later implicates Ivan in the murder of his own father Fyodor Karamazov. Smerdyakov took Ivan’s words that “everything is permitted” to heart and killed their father “because if there is no eternal God, then there is no virtue and, what’s more, absolutely no need for it.” While at first denying that he could have encouraged Smerdyakov to commit the crime, Ivan spirals into insanity as he questions his own fault. Ivan eventually succumbs entirely to his confusion, madness, and guilt, which Alyosha identifies as a result of his skepticism and an inability to accept truth.

In fact, Alyosha predicts the pain Ivan’s skepticism will bring in Part One of the novel, wondering from the beginning if “Perhaps it’s suffering he’s seeking”.

In Crime and Punishment, Dostoevsky creates another argument for rationalism through the novel’s protagonist, Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov.

Raskolnikov is a former law student who dropped out when he could no longer afford it. While he’s dirt poor and half delirious, he is at the same time intelligent and incredibly proud. His sister Dunya is about to enter a loveless marriage in order to support her family. Raskolnikov has become acquainted with an wealthy old pawnbroker Alyona Ivanovna whom he describes as “useless, nasty, [and] pernicious”. To make matters worse, Alyona treats her intellectually impaired half-sister Lizaveta like a slave, taking her earnings, beating her, and emotionally abusing her.

At this point, Dostoevsky has created a situation where Raskolnikov has every good reason to commit murder. Philosophically, Raskolnikov believes he is elite to the point that normal moral standards no longer apply, where murder is justified when the life taken is less meaningful, and when it’s done for a higher purpose or greater good. Practically, the money he plans to steal from Alyona would help him go back to school, bring his family out of poverty, become a philanthropist, and save his sister from the altruistic prostitution of marrying for money.  Ethically, killing Alyona would also save Lizaveta from her slave-like, pitiful life. Morally, since Alyona is awful and evil and hated, getting rid of her would be the right thing to do. 

Yet despite all these reasonable justifications, the reality of his actions only worsen the situation. Raskolnikov loses any illusion of “eliteness” when he is consumed with guilt and horror, buries the money he stole under a rock without using any of it to help anyone, and never saves Lizaveta because he’s killed her for witnessing the murder of her sister. 

The murders thrust Raskolnikov into mental anguish from his crime. He is racked with confusion and paranoia, and the generally well-meaning justifications become empty as Raskolnikov suffers the psychological and physical consequences. 

Dostoevsky uses the identities of Ivan Karamazov and Rodion Raskolnikov to symbolize the rationalist idea. They each represent a composite group identity, through which Dostoevsky reveals the shared theme of The Brothers Karamazov  and Crime and Punishment: that morality cannot always be justified by rational thinking.

Dostoevsky uses varied language, alternating long, winding sentences of internal monologue and clipped descriptions to control speed and tension in his stories. His style in tone and plot is unique and entirely engaging, and the themes and characters he presents in his works offer nuanced, philosophical interpretations of identity and ideologies. His works are heavily influenced by his life and European society in the 1800s, but are still widely read and learned by people today. Dostoevsky’s influence and genius are of a near matchless standard, and he has certainly proved to be a great author, and one of the most important figures in the history of the modern novel.