Summary and Synopsis of Dostoevsky's The Oppressed
The Oppressed is a full-length novel serialized in The Times from January to July 1861.
I read "The Oppressed People" translated by Toyoki Ogasawara, published by Shinchosha Publishing Co.
Let's take a quick look at the book.
This story - which begins with the death of an old man and ends with the death of a girl.
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In the early 1860s, with the emancipation of the serfs, Russia became a bourgeois society.
A full-length work by a literary giant who entered a period of transition at the same time.
The story centers on the tragic love between Alyosha, a young man who is not hated by anyone, and Natasha, a fragile and innocent daughter, both of whom constantly speak out against the democratic ideals of the country and make excuses for their frivolous behavior, which results in cruel consequences. The film depicts the oppressed people of Russia at a time of turmoil, when the country was on the verge of emancipation from serfdom and transition to a fully-fledged bourgeois society. This lyrical masterpiece is based on humanitarianism, and reveals the infinitely tender sentiments of a great writer.
The main character, Vanya (Ivan Petrovich), is raised by an elderly Ihmenev couple and is in love with their daughter, Natasha.
Natasha, however, is in a lover's relationship with Alyosha, an innocent man who is all talk and no ideas of his own.
Alyosha, who is too much of a bad boy, innocently loves another woman and torments Natasha. Surprisingly, he has no ill intentions. He loves the woman, but when he returns to Natasha, he innocently loves her as well.
Vanya, who is in love with Natasha, is annoyed by them.
But Natasha could not leave Alyosha. It was such an intense love.
This is a typical pattern of falling for a bad man. I am the only one who can understand him. I am the only one who can protect him.
Vanya, who has no choice but to support Natasha, is very painful. Why didn't she choose me instead of this no good man..."
Dostoevsky's signature complicated human drama finally emerges in this work.
And in addition to the love story of these three, the novel also involves the story of a mysterious old man and a girl named Nelly, who is a light-hearted girl, and a confrontation with Alyosha's father, Duke Warkovsky.
It is said that the story of the mysterious old man and the thin girl, Nellie, is a homage to the work "The Antique Shop" by the English writer Charles Dickens.
The name of the main character in "The Antique Shop" is also Nell, and in the film, she is impressive for the way she continues to support her beloved grandfather with her natural cheerfulness and strong spirit, even though she is poor and depressed by her miserable situation.
Dostoevsky loved Dickens' novel and brought ideas from it into The Oppressed.
Alyosha's confrontation with his father, Prince Warkovsky, also raises questions of ideology.
The triumph of evil. Defeat of idealism and sexual morality.
Duke Warkovsky is a very charismatic figure, the archetype of the evil charisma.
The main character, Vanya, Natasha, and the bad guy, Alyosha, are basically good people with a love for humanity.
But how flimsy and weak that goodness is.
The optimistic notion that human nature is good is easily defeated by Prince Walkowski.
It is as if Dostoevsky's thoughts are told through Warkovsky, who went through the Siberian exile and witnessed a world where the humanitarianism and idealism he once held no longer apply.
Nevertheless, as a whole, this work shows that later novelsThe Memoirs of a Basement.We have not yet reached the point of rejecting idealism and rationalism as thoroughly as we have.
But in this work, we can feel the flow of Dostoevsky's thought in that its buds are already beginning to appear here and there.
impressions
My personal impression of this work can be summed up in one word: "Toothless! That's all I have to say.
Typical "nice guy," the main character Vanya is in love with his childhood friend Natasha, a brilliant and talented woman. However, Natasha falls in love with a typical no-good guy, and even abandons her family, leading to her down the road to ruin.
Vanya is unable to leave Natasha behind, and she is forced to take care of her, and even to arrange things with her love interest.
The sadness of the "good guys" is depicted in this and many other ways.
However, from a slightly different perspective, this could be seen as a depiction of how a "good woman" from the perspective of a "good man" can become addicted to a "bad man".
When I thought about it this way, I felt that a complicated problem would appear: Is a "good woman" really a "good woman" as thought by a "good person"? No, what is a "good person" in the first place? Is this person really someone who can be called a "good person"?
But this is a really common pattern for both men and women...a plot that we see in many modern novels and dramas.
Well, it's just that in this novel, Alyosha, whom Natasha falls in love with, is indeed a bad man, but he is not a bad person, which is a very Dostoevsky-like way of writing.
He is like a baby who cannot judge what is wrong and what is good. He is too innocent. He has no malice at all.
That is why Natasha, who is pushed around, inevitably forgives him and eventually cannot get out of being pushed around.
I personally think that this work ranks high among Dostoevsky's full-length novels in terms of readability due to the tempo of the storyline.
Because of this, it seems to be a little less Dostoevsky-like in its psychological drama than the five great works such as "Crime and Punishment" or "The Brothers Karamazov".
Nevertheless, it is a very interesting work of storytelling as a novel. Personally, I like this work very much. I honestly feel that it is one of the easiest to read among Dostoevsky's works.
This is "Dostoevsky's 'The Oppressed': Where Does the Torn Triangle Lead?" The above is "Dostoevsky, The Oppressed.
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