Life+in+exile+(rename+later)

Dostoevsky was imprisoned at the Omsk Fortress in frigid [|Siberia]. Along with all of the other prisoners, his head was shaved and he was sent to a convicts hut. He described this place as an “old, dilapidated wooden construction” that he explained as having “filth on the floors an inch thick; one could slip and fall…We were packed like herrings in a barrel…There was no room to turn around. From dusk to dawn it was impossible not to behave like pigs…Fleas, lice, and black beetles by the bushel…” While in prison, Dostoevsky became ill with fits of epilepsy and the hardships of the prison strained on his weak nerves. The despot, Major Krivtsov, humiliated, terrified and flogged all of his prisoners, striking a fear in Dostoevsky. There was a lot of hostility in class, especially between Dostoevsky and the other prisoners. He described “their hatred for the gentry knew no bounds, and therefore they received us, the gentlemen, with hostility and malicious joy in our troubles.” At every opportunity prisoners would seek revenge for wrongs done to them. While encountering all of the hatred between him and the others, Dostoevsky had a revelation. Noticing how they all shared a hatred for gentry, he challenged his belief that man is essentially good. He saw abuse of prisoners by guards and other prisoners, however there was lack of remorse for one another. Through it all he found he had misunderstood human nature all together. Misunderstanding himself, Dostoevsky noted, “ there were moments when I hated everybody I came across, innocent or guilty, and looked at them as thieves who were robbing me of my life with impunity.” Even though he was still going through the same terror as before, Dostoevsky experienced a change of heart. He realized, during a holiday important to Orthodox Christianity, that he and his inmates shared a common religion, Russian Orthodoxy. He noticed “nearly all of the convicts fell kneeling to the ground with a jangling of fetters, apparently interpreting these words as a literal expression of their own thoughts.” Dostoevsky then had the revelation that all the peasants, his fellow prisoners, were all brothers in Christ. This restored his belief that criminals were spiritual beings and they too deserved care and redemption. After Dostoevsky came to this revelation, he saw, “there are deep, strong, beautiful characters among them, and what a joy it was to discover the gold under the coarse, hard surface.” Although he converted his feelings towards his fellow prisoners, Dostoevsky would always struggle with belief in his religion. He said, “how much terrible torture this thirst for faith has cost me and costs me even now, which is all the stronger in my soul the more arguments I find against it.” Dostoevsky’s life, in prison and outside, would always be his inner struggle to retain faith in God and faith in the goodness of mankind. . By: Becca Chiconas and Jeanette Schmalz