Dostoyevsky And His Works Essay, Research Paper

Often in novels, the life of an author is reflected in his or her literature.

For a writer experience can serve not only as a teacher, but also as the

foundation of a story line. Some of the most well known authors have used this

Romana Clef technique, for example, Charles Dickens in his famous novel, David

Copperfield. The Russian author, Fyodor Dostoyevsky does this as well, in his

novel Crime and Punishment. Various individuals and occurrences from

Dostoyevsky?s life influenced the novel and its characters and themes. This

shows that an author?s life serves as an inspiration to his or her writing and

impacts the work as a whole. Dostoyevsky?s own family and childhood

experiences had a tremendous impact on him as well as his literary works. As the

second child in a line of seven, Dostoyevsky lived a sad and lonely childhood.

As a student in a respected boarding school, Dostoyevsky felt unable to make

contact with his pupils, and therefore isolated himself, just as the main

character, Raskolnikov, isolated himself from the rest of society. His father

was an ex-army surgeon for the poor and his household was one of poverty,

disease, and pain. The family was deeply religious, and Jesus was the ideal

figure of Dostoyevsky?s childhood faith. This brought about the preoccupation

and obsession with suffering and Christianity that is dealt with in Crime and

Punishment. The central theme of poverty, illness, and anguish clearly reflect

the tribulations Dostoyevsky endured in his troubled years growing up. It was

not only these circumstances, but also several other individuals and events that

influenced Dostoyevsky in his writing of the novel that is so closely related to

his own life. Over the years, there were several specific individuals who took

part in sculpting the views and opinions that influenced Fyodor Dostoyevsky so

deeply. These views are some of those present in Crime and Punishment. Sir

Walter Scott, a Scottish novelist was one of those people. By the age of twelve,

Dostoyevsky had read all of the man?s works, thus establishing the notion of

family and human society. This is an important aspect to the novel?s main

character Raskolnikov, his sister Dunia, and mother Pulcheria Alexandrovna. The

dual nature of the equally good and evil Raskalnikov was a concept introduced to

Dostoyevsky by the German Romantic writer, Hoffman, and another writer Nikolay

Gogal. While writing Crime and Punishment, the influence of these three men came

into play, as these issues of family, society, and good versus evil are

repeatedly brought up. Certain events in Fyodor Dostoyevsky?s life affected

him so deeply that they served as a model for similar scenes in Crime and

Punishment. Two scenes in the story come directly from the experiences of the

author at the time the novel was being formulated in Dostoyevsky?s mind. At

the time, Petersburg newspapers were filled with stories of Gerasim Chistov, a

man responsible for murdering two elderly ladies with a short-handled axe, and

stealing eleven rubles from them. It is apparent that this coincides with the

murder scene in the novel. Another scene took place that struck Dostoyevsky as

being so tragic that he included it in his novel. Dostoyevsky witnessed a

Tsar?s all-powerful courier, driving off at high speed viscously punching his

peasant coachman. This inspired Raskalnikov?s dream of the beaten ?skinny

sorrel mare?, which made him plea to God, ?Show me the way?I renounce that

damned dream of mine.? (67). Evidently, these events affected Dostoyevsky so

deeply that he managed to incorporate them into his novel. They inspired

Dostoyevsky and allowed him to connect his real life to his literature. However,

it was not only events that impacted the writing of Crime and Punishment.

Characters in the novel can easily be seen as having been depicted from

individuals Dostoyevsky came across in his own life. Fyodor Dostoyevsky can most

easily be compared with the dual natured Raskalnikov. The similarities between

the two are clear, as they are alike in beliefs and background. Just as

Raskolnikov is a well- educated member of the Intelligencia, Dostoyevsky was a

brilliant young man as well, after being educated in strict board schools.

Dostoyevsky?s intelligence did not come to his aid financially. He had an

inability to manage income or calculate his needs. He wound up in a viscous

cycle of borrowing and spending that plagued him throughout his life. Just as

Raskolnikov, he too lived in a ?square yard of space?, and in debt to

various people, especially his landlady. They both were preoccupied with

thoughts of murder, robbery, religion, and alcohol. Dostoyevsky even published

works in various journals dealing with these subjects. In Crime and Punishment,

Raskolnikov shouts ?I?ll pay, I?ll pay!? (180) in order to give to money

to the Marmeladov?s to pay for doctor and funeral expenses when Marmeladov

dies. Raskolnikov is financially unstable, yet gives his money away. Dostoyevsky

himself was also given to this type of reckless generosity. He was also

imprisoned and sent to Siberia for charges of aiming to overthrow the state.

Through his punishment, he found redemption though suffering and Christianity,

just as Raskolnikov did in the novel with the help of Marmeladov?s daughter

Sonia. The similarities between the two are clear. Raskolnikov is a character

based on the author himself, but that is not the only character in the novel

that is derived from Dostoyevsky?s very own life. Throughout Crime and

Punishment, Dostoyevsky relives some of his own personal relationships through

relationships between characters in the novel. For example, Fyodor was very

close to his own brother, Mikhail, just as Raskolnikov was close with his

companion, Razumikhin. As a result of Raskolnikov being modeled on Dostoyevsky,

Razumikhin is very much alike Mikhail, because of the relationship the two sets

of men share. From day one, Mikhail was destined to be Fyodor?s closest friend

and collaborator. He cared for Dostoyevsky in times of physical, emotional , and

financial need, just as Razumikhin did for Raskolnikov, especially when

Raskolnikov was sick. Mikhail and Dostoyevsky attended school together just as

Raskolnikov and Razumikhin did as well. Having a caring individual in the his

life allowed Dostoyevsky to imagine Razumikhin as being the supporter that he

felt Raskolnikov needed throughout his life to understand him and be his only

true companion. The sweet and devoted universal symbol of human suffering is a

role lived out in the novel in the form of Marmeladov?s prostitute daughter,

Sonia. Sonia can be seen as a mix of two people that Dostoyevsky cherished in

his life. While in the Siberian camp, Dostoyevsky met a peasant woman named

Marey, who comforted him ?like a mother?. She inspired him with the

Christian spirit of love and self-sacrifice, just the way Sonia does when she

tells Raskolnikov to ?Go to the Crossroads? to confess his wrong doings and

seek redemption. Dostoyevsky?s niece, Sofia Alexandrovna Ivanovna was also a

model for the character of Sonia. Sofia was a repository of Dostoyevsky?s

confessions and a person whom he felt completed his own personality by supplying

an element of himself that he lacked. She showed him purity of heart, just as

Sonia did in Crime and Punishment for Raskolnikov. Sonia is another classic

example of a character directly influenced by individuals in the author?s

life, who came about because of inspirational people in Dostoyevsky?s life.

Katherine Ivanovna, Sonia?s mother and Marmeladov?s wife, was made in the

image of Marya, Dostoyevsky?s former wife. Like Katherine, Marya was at first

married to a former army officer who was of a lower social status than her. When

Dostoyevsky met her she inspired him to improve his lowly status, just as

Katherine repeatedly tried to help the unemployed alcoholic Marmleladov. When

Dostoyevsky created the character of Katherine Ivanovna, there is no doubt he

had Marya in his mind as the woman she was to be modeled on. However, it was not

only people that Dostoyevsky modeled aspects of his novel Crime and Punishment

on. In Crime and Punishment, location is a key to the novel?s story. The story

takes place in St. Petersburg, a place where Dostoyevsky lived in the 1840s and

1860s. At the time, poverty, drunks and prostitutes filled the city and were

thrown in the face of the author everyday. Living in such an environment

influenced the author to create similar living conditions, those that are not

conducive to healthy living. Personal experience of living in St. Petersburg

laid the foundation for Dostoyevsky?s setting in his novel, which is one that

creates an atmosphere of despair and hopelessness-feelings that were always far

too common in the author?s life. Kristine Carlo Period 1 December 20, 1999

Often in novels, the life of an author is reflected in his or her literature.

For a writer experience can serve not only as a teacher, but also as the

foundation of a story line. Some of the most well known authors have used this

Romana Clef technique, for example, Charles Dickens in his famous novel, David

Copperfield. The Russian author, Fyodor Dostoyevsky does this as well, in his

novel Crime and Punishment. Various individuals and occurrences from

Dostoyevsky?s life influenced the novel and its characters and themes. This

shows that an author?s life serves as an inspiration to his or her writing and

impacts the work as a whole. Dostoyevsky?s own family and childhood

experiences had a tremendous impact on him as well as his literary works. As the

second child in a line of seven, Dostoyevsky lived a sad and lonely childhood.

As a student in a respected boarding school, Dostoyevsky felt unable to make

contact with his pupils, and therefore isolated himself, just as the main

character, Raskolnikov, isolated himself from the rest of society. His father

was an ex-army surgeon for the poor and his household was one of poverty,

disease, and pain. The family was deeply religious, and Jesus was the ideal

figure of Dostoyevsky?s childhood faith. This brought about the preoccupation

and obsession with suffering and Christianity that is dealt with in Crime and

Punishment. The central theme of poverty, illness, and anguish clearly reflect

the tribulations Dostoyevsky endured in his troubled years growing up. It was

not only these circumstances, but also several other individuals and events that

influenced Dostoyevsky in his writing of the novel that is so closely related to

his own life. Over the years, there were several specific individuals who took

part in sculpting the views and opinions that influenced Fyodor Dostoyevsky so

deeply. These views are some of those present in Crime and Punishment. Sir

Walter Scott, a Scottish novelist was one of those people. By the age of twelve,

Dostoyevsky had read all of the man?s works, thus establishing the notion of

family and human society. This is an important aspect to the novel?s main

character Raskolnikov, his sister Dunia, and mother Pulcheria Alexandrovna. The

dual nature of the equally good and evil Raskalnikov was a concept introduced to

Dostoyevsky by the German Romantic writer, Hoffman, and another writer Nikolay

Gogal. While writing Crime and Punishment, the influence of these three men came

into play, as these issues of family, society, and good versus evil are

repeatedly brought up. Certain events in Fyodor Dostoyevsky?s life affected

him so deeply that they served as a model for similar scenes in Crime and

Punishment. Two scenes in the story come directly from the experiences of the

author at the time the novel was being formulated in Dostoyevsky?s mind. At

the time, Petersburg newspapers were filled with stories of Gerasim Chistov, a

man responsible for murdering two elderly ladies with a short-handled axe, and

stealing eleven rubles from them. It is apparent that this coincides with the

murder scene in the novel. Another scene took place that struck Dostoyevsky as

being so tragic that he included it in his novel. Dostoyevsky witnessed a

Tsar?s all-powerful courier, driving off at high speed viscously punching his

peasant coachman. This inspired Raskalnikov?s dream of the beaten ?skinny

sorrel mare?, which made him plea to God, ?Show me the way?I renounce that

damned dream of mine.? (67). Evidently, these events affected Dostoyevsky so

deeply that he managed to incorporate them into his novel. They inspired

Dostoyevsky and allowed him to connect his real life to his literature. However,

it was not only events that impacted the writing of Crime and Punishment.

Characters in the novel can easily be seen as having been depicted from

individuals Dostoyevsky came across in his own life. Fyodor Dostoyevsky can most

easily be compared with the dual natured Raskalnikov. The similarities between

the two are clear, as they are alike in beliefs and background. Just as

Raskolnikov is a well- educated member of the Intelligencia, Dostoyevsky was a

brilliant young man as well, after being educated in strict board schools.

Dostoyevsky?s intelligence did not come to his aid financially. He had an

inability to manage income or calculate his needs. He wound up in a viscous

cycle of borrowing and spending that plagued him throughout his life. Just as

Raskolnikov, he too lived in a ?square yard of space?, and in debt to

various people, especially his landlady. They both were preoccupied with

thoughts of murder, robbery, religion, and alcohol. Dostoyevsky even published

works in various journals dealing with these subjects. In Crime and Punishment,

Raskolnikov shouts ?I?ll pay, I?ll pay!? (180) in order to give to money

to the Marmeladov?s to pay for doctor and funeral expenses when Marmeladov

dies. Raskolnikov is financially unstable, yet gives his money away. Dostoyevsky

himself was also given to this type of reckless generosity. He was also

imprisoned and sent to Siberia for charges of aiming to overthrow the state.

Through his punishment, he found redemption though suffering and Christianity,

just as Raskolnikov did in the novel with the help of Marmeladov?s daughter

Sonia. The similarities between the two are clear. Raskolnikov is a character

based on the author himself, but that is not the only character in the novel

that is derived from Dostoyevsky?s very own life. Throughout Crime and

Punishment, Dostoyevsky relives some of his own personal relationships through

relationships between characters in the novel. For example, Fyodor was very

close to his own brother, Mikhail, just as Raskolnikov was close with his

companion, Razumikhin. As a result of Raskolnikov being modeled on Dostoyevsky,

Razumikhin is very much alike Mikhail, because of the relationship the two sets

of men share. From day one, Mikhail was destined to be Fyodor?s closest friend

and collaborator. He cared for Dostoyevsky in times of physical, emotional , and

financial need, just as Razumikhin did for Raskolnikov, especially when

Raskolnikov was sick. Mikhail and Dostoyevsky attended school together just as

Raskolnikov and Razumikhin did as well. Having a caring individual in the his

life allowed Dostoyevsky to imagine Razumikhin as being the supporter that he

felt Raskolnikov needed throughout his life to understand him and be his only

true companion. The sweet and devoted universal symbol of human suffering is a

role lived out in the novel in the form of Marmeladov?s prostitute daughter,

Sonia. Sonia can be seen as a mix of two people that Dostoyevsky cherished in

his life. While in the Siberian camp, Dostoyevsky met a peasant woman named

Marey, who comforted him ?like a mother?. She inspired him with the

Christian spirit of love and self-sacrifice, just the way Sonia does when she

tells Raskolnikov to ?Go to the Crossroads? to confess his wrong doings and

seek redemption. Dostoyevsky?s niece, Sofia Alexandrovna Ivanovna was also a

model for the character of Sonia. Sofia was a repository of Dostoyevsky?s

confessions and a person whom he felt completed his own personality by supplying

an element of himself that he lacked. She showed him purity of heart, just as

Sonia did in Crime and Punishment for Raskolnikov. Sonia is another classic

example of a character directly influenced by individuals in the author?s

life, who came about because of inspirational people in Dostoyevsky?s life.

Katherine Ivanovna, Sonia?s mother and Marmeladov?s wife, was made in the

image of Marya, Dostoyevsky?s former wife. Like Katherine, Marya was at first

married to a former army officer who was of a lower social status than her. When

Dostoyevsky met her she inspired him to improve his lowly status, just as

Katherine repeatedly tried to help the unemployed alcoholic Marmleladov. When

Dostoyevsky created the character of Katherine Ivanovna, there is no doubt he

had Marya in his mind as the woman she was to be modeled on. However, it was not

only people that Dostoyevsky modeled aspects of his novel Crime and Punishment

on. In Crime and Punishment, location is a key to the novel?s story. The story

takes place in St. Petersburg, a place where Dostoyevsky lived in the 1840s and

1860s. At the time, poverty, drunks and prostitutes filled the city and were

thrown in the face of the author everyday. Living in such an environment

influenced the author to create similar living conditions, those that are not

conducive to healthy living. Personal experience of living in St. Petersburg

laid the foundation for Dostoyevsky?s setting in his novel, which is one that

creates an atmosphere of despair and hopelessness-feelings that were always far

too common in the author?s life.