Notes From Underground By Fyodor Dostoyevsky Essay

Common themes in Russian literature were directly influenced by major events in Russian history. The atmosphere of social dismay during the nineteenth century affected all forms of Russian culture. In the wake of the serf uprising and emancipation in 1861 (Merri, Elaine, and Mary-Katherine), a sudden surge of unchecked wealth toppled the existing autocracy and in turn replaced it with an aristocracy. This created large disparity between the highest and lowest economic classes. In turn, central ideas of depression and spiritual agony arose within Russian literature. Russian authors intended to encapsulate that human suffering was meant to strengthen a person spiritually as it was an inevitability in any person’s life. By means of their story …show more content…
This “Underground Man” gives his views and outlooks on life given his circumstance of impoverishment. Dostoyevsky takes careful note that, though the Underground Man has nothing and suffers completely, he has much to enjoy about nothingness. Though explicitly, there is no plot, the Underground Man serves the purpose as to embody an entire generation of disenfranchised Russians, an embodiment whom an entire generation can relate to and take from. Dostoyevsky writes “Notes from Underground” to pass a complex theme: atmosphere of anguish and despair should not only challenge someone, but also strengthen them as well. On the flipside of the coin that is Russian literature is Leo Tolstoy’s narrative of “God Sees the Truth, But Waits.” The story’s protagonist, Aksionov, is endowed a life filled with misfortune and tragedy. After being wrongfully convicted for murder, Aksionov is sentenced to life in prison. While serving his sentence he grows in wisdom, becoming known around the prison as an old man of both integrity and honor. In his old age, Aksionov is confronted by another inmate by the name of Semyonich. Semyonich confesses that he was the man who murdered the merchant whose life Aksionov was held accountable for. Here, Aksionov is faced by difficult moral question: should he forgive the man who committed the murder he was accused …show more content…
Despite the presence of the word “God,” in its title, “God Sees the Truth, but Waits” gives its own unique take on Russian morality. From its moral question as stated, “God Sees the Truth, but Waits” stands as a parable for forgiveness. "It is easy for you to talk," said Aksionov, "but I have suffered for you these twenty-six years. Where could I go to now?... My wife is dead, and my children have forgotten me. I have nowhere to go..." (God Sees the Truth, but Waits). Realizing that if Semyonich had not committed the murder, Aksionov would not have grown as both a wise and spiritual figure for all of the prison to look up to. By the end of the story, Semyonich confesses his take in the murder, “But when the order for his release came, Aksionov was already dead.” The ending is left open to interpretation. Some may interpret that Aksionov died only spiritually causing him to wallow in his own self pity until the time of his death. Others argue that Aksionov killed himself out of sheer disbelief in any existence of true justice. Aksionov’s death, whether figurative or literal, allows the reader to identify that Aksionov became free from the bonds of his sentence in both accepting that God would forgive Semyonich’s actions and that God would forgive Aksionov’s suicide given the circumstances surrounding his