In this blog post, we’ll explore how—through Dostoevsky’s life and major works—madness and genius, as well as the ethical dilemmas of sin and punishment, ultimately lead to the anguish of freedom.
On Dostoevsky
“Among writers who have transcended the boundaries of literature, Dostoevsky stands as the greatest today. No one has discovered the New World of the soul as this passionate man, this extraordinary human being, has. It is nearly impossible to enumerate all his achievements. He crossed the ice-covered mountain ranges of thought, descended to the deepest sources of the unconscious, and then, like a sleepwalker, climbed back up toward the dizzying pinnacle of self-awareness. Had it not been for this great man, who transcended all measures, humanity would have known far less about its own secrets.” These words are an assessment left by the Austrian literary giant Stefan Zweig.
Dostoevsky, who lived as a fanatic, a madman, and at times a cruel genius amid fragmentation and anguish that strayed from the path of virtue, has long since passed away, yet his literature continues to grow before our eyes as time goes on. Throughout history and across cultures, few writers have elicited such diverse evaluations and a ceaseless stream of questions.
His influence on European intellectual life is immeasurable—so much so that Nietzsche called him his “teacher” and the French existentialists hailed him as a “pioneer.” Dostoevsky sparked new literary movements in many countries and inspired numerous imitators and followers in terms of style and form. Some call him a “prophet” or a “visionary,” while others refer to him as the “poet of madness” or a “cruel genius.” These diverse assessments reflect the complexity, dualistic contradictions, and intense originality inherent in his literary world. It is also the result of his pathological personality, his elusive existential ideas, and the wounds he suffered firsthand in 19th-century Russian society, all of which are deeply reflected in his literature.
Dostoevsky’s life, spanning some 60 years, was marked by a series of tragic twists and turns, making it as dramatic as a novel in its own right. From incurable epilepsy, a death sentence commuted just before execution, a decade of exile in Siberia, a compulsive gambling addiction, ill-fated romances, to endless poverty and suffering—the physical and mental trials he endured were truly extreme. Nevertheless, he was a writer who, while exposing human cruelty and evil, also penetrated to the core of humanity’s inherent goodness and divinity. Consequently, his novels are sometimes called a “Gospel of Life,” and at the same time, a modern apocalypse or a treatise on artistic pathology, filled with suffering and curses.
Good and Evil, Freedom in Both Dimensions
Dostoevsky’s literary output can be broadly divided into two strands. The early phase, spanning from his debut novel ‘Poor Folk’ (1846)—which received high praise from Belinsky—to ‘Notes from the House of the Dead’ (1861); and the later phase, extending from ‘The Diary of a Underground Man’ (1864) to ‘The Brothers Karamazov’ (1880).
In his early period, through works such as ‘The Poor Folk’, ‘A Double Life’, and ‘White Nights’, he was known as a humanistic realist who gave voice to the hidden struggles and tears of the abused and marginalized. However, after returning from exile in Siberia, he shifted his focus toward ideological and philosophical novels dealing with philosophy, religion, and social thought, beginning with ‘Notes from the Underground’. His first full-length novel, ‘Crime and Punishment’ (1866), embodied this new trend. Subsequently, through works such as ‘The Idiot’, ‘The Possessed’, and ‘The Adolescent’, his philosophical reflections and his views on humanity, religion, and the world gradually deepened and matured, culminating in his final masterpiece, ‘The Brothers Karamazov’.
The ideological theme running through his entire body of work is the struggle between the mutually contradictory elements inherent in human life—namely, the struggle between good and evil. It is a narrative structure in which the gospel of light confronts the evil of darkness.
Centering on the fundamental question of “Does God exist or not?”, Dostoevsky explored his central theme between the “human-god” theme—which asserts that “one’s self is God” if God does not exist—and the “divine-human” theme. The core concept emerging from these two themes is “freedom,” and the phenomenology of suffering arising from the awareness of the burden of freedom is the focal point of his literature. In other words, his fundamental belief is that while freedom imposes anguish and heavy responsibility upon humans, humanity cannot be sustained without it.
This freedom is broadly divided into two branches. One is “true freedom” in the Christian sense, derived from submission to God; the other is the “freedom of tragic existence,” which recognizes the power of solitude while aspiring toward autocratic power. The former belongs to the world of characters such as Sonya (the heroine of ‘Crime and Punishment’), Elder Zosima, and Ilyosha (characters from ‘The Brothers Karamazov’), while the latter belongs to characters such as Raskolnikov and Ivan Karamazov.
Believers who seek harmony through free love for Christ and true faith, and nihilists who, convinced that “everything is permitted” if there is no God and no afterlife, seek to establish their own will to power without relying on anyone—these protagonists, consumed by an excess of consciousness, ground their beliefs in the existence of evil in reality.
The philosopher Berdyaev views the process by which those who rebel against the existence of evil are destroyed by the idea that “everything is permitted” as a corruption of freedom—freedom transformed into self-will. Dostoevsky drives this self-will to its ultimate conclusion, starkly revealing how freedom is destroyed by that very self-will and how humanity is negated through rebellion.
Dramatic Characterization
Dostoevsky is often compared to Tolstoy. As contemporary masters, both share the commonality of resolving life’s problems through religion, yet they differ significantly in their methodologies. Tolstoy realistically brings Russian life to life in three dimensions, ensuring that each individual scene leaves a vivid image in the reader’s mind.
Dostoevsky, on the other hand, prioritizes conveying his characters’ psychology, emotions, and thoughts over their physical appearance. A character’s personality or character is revealed primarily through the words they speak. In other words, for Dostoevsky, “speech” is a physical element that touches upon the metaphysical realm. This technique stands in stark contrast to that of other realists.
Mereshkovsky remarked on this, stating, “Tolstoy moves from the physical to the spiritual, from the external to the internal. Dostoevsky, however, moves from the internal to the external, from the psychological to the physical. With Tolstoy, we hear because we see; with Dostoevsky, we see because we hear.”
Consequently, dialogue plays a decisive role in Dostoevsky’s works. In ‘Crime and Punishment’ as well, the narrative is driven by the protagonist’s soliloquies, dialogues, and reflections following the murder. As a result, his literature possesses a dramatic quality in which everything is tied together and resolved through dialogue.
Dostoevsky’s realism is often referred to as “fantastic realism.” Unlike conventional realism, his realism is connected to a higher dimension of reality—that is, the reality of the spiritual world. As Russia’s first professional writer from an urban background, he served as a window to truth, offering insight into the anguish of a Russia shrouded in darkness and the secrets hidden within the human psyche.
His Profound Influence on 19th-Century Thought
Dostoevsky’s influence extended far beyond Russia to all of Europe. André Gide, Hermann Hesse, and Stefan Zweig, among others, held him in near-reverential esteem, and his ideas—which sought existence amid the absurdity of human existence—had a significant impact on French existentialism.
For example, in Camus’s ‘The Myth of Sisyphus’, the character Kirillov from ‘The Possessed’ serves to dialectically underpin the concept of the absurd, and in ‘The Rebel’, Ivan Karamazov is sometimes interpreted as a proponent of metaphysical rebellion.
Dostoevsky’s influence was not limited to French existentialism. It also had a major impact on the so-called “Nouveau Roman.” Critics who first systematized a framework placing Dostoevsky at the pinnacle—with Kafka, Joyce, and Proust at its core—hailed Dostoevsky as a great writer because he sought to capture the chaos and turmoil stirring in the deepest recesses of human consciousness; they particularly recommended ‘The Diary of a Underground Man’ as his greatest work.
Dostoevsky’s Literary Allure
A British critic once described Dostoevsky’s literature as opium, meaning that once one falls into his literary world, it is difficult to extricate oneself. Indeed, even today, a century later, why do modern readers still feel a magnetic allure in his works? This cannot be explained solely by the classical value of his novels. Through metaphysical propositions that transcend the limits of literature—such as the conflicts between God and humanity, faith and unbelief, obedience and rebellion—and through his protagonists struggling within these conflicts, we see a portrait of modern people grappling with the absurdity of human existence and a reality with no escape.
Having discovered the truth hidden within human absurdity and irrationality, Dostoevsky accurately foresaw the crises of the modern era through his tragic protagonists and, like a prophet, illuminated the myriad problems of today. It is precisely here that we find the greatness of Dostoevsky as a thinker and his prophetic modernity.
On “Crime and Punishment”
The year 1865, when Dostoevsky was writing “Crime and Punishment,” was one of the most painful periods of his life. In April of the previous year, 1864, his wife, Maria Isaeva, had passed away, and in June of that same year, his brother Mikhail died, leaving behind enormous debts. Moreover, his epileptic seizures became more frequent, and ‘The Century’, the monthly magazine he published, was forced to cease publication.
From the time ‘The Century’ ceased publication in 1865, he endured a period of constant struggle with massive debts. He sold the copyrights to all his works to date, along with the rights to a novel he planned to write in the future, to a publisher for 3,000 rubles, then fled to Wiesbaden, Germany, where he attempted to soothe his mental anguish through gambling. It is said that this period—during which he lost all his money gambling and lived in poverty, frequently visiting pawnshops—was precisely when he conceived the scene of the murder of the old pawnbroker in ‘Crime and Punishment’.
Despite this poverty and suffering, and the publisher’s constant demands, Dostoevsky continued writing. The first part was published in the January 1866 issue of ‘The Russian Messenger’; it was serialized in eight installments by the end of that year, and was published as a book the following year, in 1867.
At the time, a nihilistic “superman” ideology—which held that “anything is permissible to correct social injustice”—was in vogue in Russia. Raskolnikov, the protagonist of ‘Crime and Punishment’, is portrayed as a character embodying precisely this superman ideology.
A poor university student in St. Petersburg, he was a contemplative young man who, while powerless and impoverished in practical terms, possessed a strong individuality. He divided humanity into the “ordinary” and the “extraordinary”—that is, ordinary people and geniuses. He believed that while ordinary people had a duty to obey established laws and morals, the extraordinary had the right to transcend them. In particular, he argued that sacrificing a few was inevitable and permissible when aimed at the benefit of all humanity.
Raskolnikov is convinced, based on his own logic, that he is extraordinary. “Who accuses Napoleon of murder? Napoleon was, after all, the greatest murderer in history, yet people revere him as a hero! That is because Napoleon was not an ordinary man.” This line of thinking leads him to the conclusion that murdering the old woman at the pawnshop—who he views as a social parasite—can be justified.
Raskolnikov kills the old pawnbroker with an axe, following a meticulously planned scheme. He even ends up killing the old woman’s younger sister, who had just returned home. No one witnessed the crime.
However, immediately after the crime, he begins to struggle with pangs of conscience. This anguish and guilt were unexpected to him. It was a struggle arising from the clash between his logical will and the spiritual will of goodness and justice emanating from within him. The more these two forces clashed and conflicted within Raskolnikov, the more severe his anguish became. Eventually, he begins to realize that he is not an extraordinary person. The very fact that he was already feeling pangs of conscience proved that he was not extraordinary. If he was not extraordinary, then he must surely be a criminal who had killed a person. Raskolnikov finds himself unable to deny any of this.
Finally, he goes to see Sonya and confesses his crime. In his confession—“I did not kill the old woman; I killed myself. It was the devil who killed her!”—Raskolnikov’s statement that he “killed himself” signifies that his “superman” philosophy had been shattered into pieces in the presence of the helpless, ordinary old woman.
A common theme throughout Dostoevsky’s works is the conflict between good and evil, and between God and humanity. In ‘Crime and Punishment’, Raskolnikov’s rational will succumbs before Sonya, a symbol of goodness. This can be viewed as a victory of the divine over rationalistic atheism. However, Dostoevsky himself recognized that while Raskolnikov’s individualism and philosophy of the will to power were logically sound, Sonya’s ideas about God and conscience were scarcely grounded in logic. Since God and conscience could not be proven theoretically, he approached the subject from the opposite direction, dialectically examining atheistic individualism and choosing to pit the evil arising from individual will against the inviolable good of the divine.
Sonya’s mission was to guide the sinner Raskolnikov onto the “path to salvation.” However, endowing the figure of a prostitute with absolute goodness and divinity carries the risk of falling into sentimentalism. Dostoevsky does not elevate Sonya to a mythical figure but rather portrays her as a primal, earthly woman. Her faith is firm and absolute, yet foolishly naive and unconscious. Her moral purity is rooted in this absolutely pure faith and remains untainted by any evil or impurity. In this way, Dostoevsky succeeded in excluding elements prone to sentimentality from Sonya’s character and artistically harmonizing the image of an earthly sufferer with a sublime soul.
Besides Raskolnikov and Sonya, another indispensable character in ‘Crime and Punishment’ is Svidrigailov. He is the embodiment of carnal desire, unaware of the boundary between good and evil, and serves as a sort of “second self” to Raskolnikov. Both characters are powerful figures who recognize no constraints of morality or law; however, while Raskolnikov is rational and logical, Svidrigailov’s passionate intensity is diabolical and carnal.
In Svidrigailov, one finds none of the pangs of conscience evident in Raskolnikov. Even though he poisoned his own wife and raped a young girl, driving her to suicide, he feels almost no remorse. He is a powerful figure who calmly steps over the blood of others, yet his mind is complex and full of contradictions. Just as Raskolnikov occasionally displays religious potential, the diabolical and debauched Svidrigailov also believes in the existence of an afterlife. However, his view of the afterlife takes a hideous form befitting his decadent nature. Even if his view of the afterlife is hideous, the very fact that he acknowledges its existence means that, in a certain sense, it can be considered a religious attitude. Through Svidrigailov, Dostoevsky demonstrates that no matter how cruel a villain may be, he is not entirely evil to the core.
André Gide, in analyzing Dostoevsky’s works, once remarked that his world is composed of “the world of reason, the world of passion, and an unknown world that cannot be understood by reason or passion alone.” This also applies to ‘Crime and Punishment’. The world of reason is Raskolnikov’s world of logical concepts; the world of passion is Svidrigailov’s world of diabolical actions; and the unknown world, which cannot be understood by reason or passion alone, is Sonya’s world of Christian divinity.
In this work, both the world of reason and the world of passion meet their downfall. After murdering the old woman, Raskolnikov is redeemed by Sonya’s love, but as the logic of the strong crumbles, he loses his rational self. Svidrigailov, seeing his world of passion collapse at the hands of Dunya, brings his world of diabolical actions to a close through suicide. Only Sonya—a symbol of God and the embodiment of Christianity—emerges victorious as a representative of the unknown world. The crucial point is that both Raskolnikov and Svidrigailov are destroyed by the very principles they espouse. The only difference in their downfalls is that the former committed spiritual suicide, while the latter chose physical suicide.
In addition, Dostoevsky introduces characters such as Investigating Judge Porfiry, who relentlessly pursues Raskolnikov; Marmeladov, a retired civil servant who drives his daughter Sonya into prostitution; Dunya, who is willing to make any sacrifice for her brother, and Pulherya Alexandrovna, whose heartrending maternal love moves the reader to tears. Through these characters, Dostoevsky sharply and multifacetedly explores the inner workings of the human psyche. Through them, we come to appreciate the multifaceted, or polyphonic, nature of his novel.
However, the fundamental concept of this work lies in the conflict between the narrowly defined individualism or rationalist principles represented by Raskolnikov and the Christian principles embodied by Sonya. It is clear from his various works that Dostoevsky relentlessly explored the struggle between these two opposing principles—the demonic inner principle and the divine spiritual principle—that divide life into two parts. At the same time, as a sensitive artist, he knew that it was impossible to expect a perfect and noble ideal from human beings, and he was well aware that there are no completely irredeemable sinners in the world. Thus, he believed that the very act of exploring the struggle between these two principles in life could serve as a means of bringing humanity closer to the ideal.
The introduction of the detective and psychological novel genres is also noteworthy. As with all great works, the author’s worldview and philosophy hold significant value in this novel; however, ‘Crime and Punishment’ also created a new form in the history of world literature in terms of its literary technique. Dostoevsky was an author who artistically crystallized the ideological novel through detective-novel techniques that focused on the psychology of crime. The reader learns in detail how Raskolnikov planned and carried out the murder. Thereafter, the author carries the reader to the very end solely through Raskolnikov’s ideological soliloquies, reflections, suffocating delusions of being pursued, and shifts in his psychological state, demonstrating that the analysis of human thought and ideas, along with psychological exploration, serves as the foundation and purpose of the work—rather than the conventional, plot-driven intrigue typical of detective novels.
The impact of ‘Crime and Punishment’ on the literary world was immeasurable. Readers everywhere spoke of the work’s oppressive weight and profound impact; the German philosopher Nietzsche called Dostoevsky his mentor; and criminologists even hailed the work as a model of criminal psychology.
Some critics have expressed regret that Raskolnikov failed to carry his logical philosophy of the “superman” through to the end and instead succumbed to Sonya’s Christian morality. However, Dostoevsky did not merely seek to glorify the “superman”; rather, by creating a vivid, three-dimensional character, he sought to refute that fanciful notion of the “superman.”
Dostoevsky’s perspective was already evident in his earlier work, ‘Notes from the Underground’. In ‘Crime and Punishment’, he once again proclaimed his moral conviction that individual freedom must not be infringed upon by any external force. It is precisely here that the rigor of ‘Crime and Punishment’’s anti-rationalist declaration stems from.
Speaking of the complexity of psychological portrayal, some people seem easy to get along with, while others give the impression of being very difficult from the start. The same is true of writers. Authors like Chekhov or Turgenev seem like people you can get to know without any pressure, whereas literary giants like Dostoevsky or Tolstoy feel like elusive and difficult writers to approach. Dostoevsky, in particular, initially intimidates readers with his existentialist ideas, the multifaceted nature of his characters, the dualistic chaos and absurdity in his works, and their vast scale—ranging from 4,000 to 5,000 pages.
However, just as someone who initially seemed difficult can reveal unexpected warmth, sincerity, and charm once you get to know them, Dostoevsky’s novels possess a charm that, once you approach them with courage and patience, makes it impossible to put them down until you’ve finished. So, how should we understand and read his works? To aid the reader’s understanding, it is necessary to briefly highlight several characteristics of Dostoevsky’s works.
First, it is difficult to expect in his novels the beautiful depictions of nature found in Turgenev, the refreshing humor of Gogol, or Tolstoy’s nearly perfect characterizations. It is difficult to say that Dostoevsky was always a masterful novelist in terms of stylistic expression or narrative technique. Because he placed greater emphasis on internal conflict than on external phenomena, readers are often sucked into a whirlwind of events right from the start. Most of his novels are so chaotic from the very beginning that it is hard to make sense of where they begin. In ‘Crime and Punishment’, readers witness Raskolnikov’s superhuman philosophy and the crime scene firsthand, yet the true motive for the murder is not readily apparent. It is only much later, through the chaos, fragmentation, soliloquies, and internal monologues—including his inner dialogue—that the motive becomes dimly apparent.
Raskolnikov’s rational mind is far too logical and reasoned to immediately acknowledge his own wrongdoing. Such contradictory and hyper-conscious protagonists continue to appear even after ‘Crime and Punishment’. Therefore, it is difficult to fully grasp the themes and ideas in Dostoevsky’s works by reading just one of them. Only when ‘Crime and Punishment’ is viewed as the starting point for a series of philosophical novels written later can one truly understand his literary transformation.
The multifaceted nature of Dostoevsky’s characters is also a major factor that makes his works challenging to interpret. Almost without exception, his characters possess mutually contradictory dual personalities or alter egos. Examples of alter egos include Raskolnikov and Svidrigailov, as well as Ivan and Smerdyakov (‘The Brothers Karamazov’); examples of split personalities include Kirilov (‘The Possessed’), who contemplates suicide even while diligently practicing his health exercises, Dmitri, who describes his soul as a battleground between God and the Devil (‘The Brothers Karamazov’), and Natasha, whose feelings toward her lover—whether love or hate—remain unclear (‘The Insulted and Humiliated’). Thus, the multifaceted nature of “Dostoevskian characters” often bewilders readers encountering his works for the first time.
However, the very existence of contradictions coexisting within human beings—such as God and the devil, love and hate, pride and humility, good and evil—is the complex element of human nature that Dostoevsky strove most earnestly to emphasize. Exploring the pleasure of pain and the beauty of ugliness, and arguing that 2×2=5 rather than 2×2=4, he pursued and delved into human nature in every possible way. It is no exaggeration to say that his lifelong effort was devoted entirely to this one thing: the thorough exploration of human nature. And this sincere portrayal manifests itself as multifaceted characterization in his characters. If one fails to grasp the complex human nature that lives and breathes within his characters, one will gain nothing from this “profound insight into human nature.”
The chaos in his narrative is also closely linked to this; at times, the depiction of human nature—which can seem contradictory—confuses the reader. While this is clearly a contradiction, one must not forget that such contradictions are inevitable and, perhaps, even necessary.
Furthermore, a distinctive feature of his work that cannot be overlooked is the frequent appearance of pathological elements; however, these pathological characters do not merely remain sick but endure suffering as a foundation for their rebirth as eternally healthy individuals. The reason his works, though filled with absurdity, are regarded as a kind of sacred text is that this humanitarian gospel lies at their core.
Finally, the complexity of his novels stems from their ideological depth. In this regard, his novels can be described as ideological rather than purely literary. His own statement, “I place more emphasis on ideas than on novels,” applies to all his full-length works following ‘Crime and Punishment’. This is because it was the ideas themselves—not the characters or events—that drew him to explore topics such as the philosophy of the Übermensch, atheism, and Slavophilism.
Since Dostoevsky’s ideas have been discussed several times already, I will not repeat them here. He is often called the “writer of self-flagellation,” the “cruel genius,” or the “great prophet,” but such simplistic labels cannot fully capture the entirety of his work. Only those who have climbed a mountain can truly appreciate its allure. The towering peak that is Dostoevsky is rugged and fierce, but the higher one climbs, the more its mysteries will dispel the reader’s doubts and quench their intellectual thirst. I believe that the more one reads his works, the more his greatness will seep deep into one’s heart, eventually transforming into a strong attachment and love.
Finally, I will conclude this essay by quoting André Gide.
“The massive peak of Tolstoy still stands blocking the horizon. However, when one travels through mountainous terrain, there are times when, the farther one moves away from a mountain, the higher and more majestic peaks—previously obscured from view—appear behind it. Similarly, some people with an enterprising spirit will already sense the majestic figure of Dostoevsky growing ever larger behind the giant Tolstoy. A peak still half-hidden, one of the mysterious mountains—this is Dostoevsky. Some of the greatest rivers that quench Europe’s thirst today have their source there. It is not Tolstoy but Dostoevsky who can be compared to Ibsen and Nietzsche. He is as great as Ibsen and Nietzsche, and is perhaps the most important of these three.”
