Fyodor Dostoyevskys The House Of The Dead :: essays research papers

Fyodor Dostoyevskys The House of the DeadFyodor Mikhaylovich Dostoyevsky was born in Moscow on Nov. 11, 1825. Ashis father was a former military surgeon, Dostoyevsky grew up in the noble class.He entered the military engineering school at St. Petersburg at age 16.Shortly after graduating, he resigned his commission and devoted every last(predicate) his timeto writing. However, he soon became caught up in the movement for politicaland social reform during the reign of Tsar Nicholas I. He began to participatein hebdomadally discussions about the ideas of French utopian Socialists. ThisPetrashevsky Circle was arrested in April 1849. After a long investigation,Dostoyevsky, along with 20 other members of the Circle, were condemned to beshot. Literally moments before his effect was to occur, his sentence wascommuted to quartette years hard labor in Omsk, Siberia. He accepted his punishmentand began to regard many of the simple convicts as extraordinary people.During his sentence, he be came devoted to Orthodox Christianity.The House of the Dead was initially published in Russia, 1860. Uponinitial examination of the work, it appears to be a stream of consciousnessaccount of Dostoyevskys four years in a Siberian prison camp. But, uponfurther review, it seems to be more an account of Dostoyevskys personality andattitudes through these years. In his first year in prison, Dostoyevsky foundmyself hating these fellow-sufferers of mine. (305) His first day in prison,several convicts approached him, a member of the noble class and no doubt verywealthy in the convicts eyes, and asked him for cash four times each andeach refusal seemed to bring more convicts. He quickly grew to spite thesepeople, for they thought him to be an idiot, unable to remember that the very kindred convict had approached him for mvirtuosoy not fifteen minutes earlier. (67-8)But, Dostoyevsky makes a startling realization at the end of this first year, adiscovery which allows him to drastically demas culinize his personality ...theconvicts lived here not as if this were their home, but as some wayside inn, enroute somewhere. (303) this concept is followed by Dostoyevskys realizationthat he wanted, foreign many other convicts in the camp, to live as he didbefore his imprisonment. He believed that Physical, no less moral strength isrequired for penal servitude if one is to survive all the materiel deprivationsof that accursed existence. And I wanted to go on living after I had leftprison.... (277). The remaining twenty pages ar anti-climatic they simplydeal with the change of a Major stationed at the prison and Dostoyevskys