1862 Notes on Dead House

Imagine a genius full of creative desire, but in the most promising decade of life, he can only be locked in a cage and live a life without freedom, space and years with a group of shameless robbers, habitual criminals who kill without blinking an eye, despicable informers and the most rhetoric liars. This is not the framework and conception of a novel, but Dostoevsky's real experience. It's hard to imagine what such an extreme environment can bring to a sensitive and heavy mind, and perhaps it doesn't need to be imagined, because "notebook" has never been an imaginary soaring in the sky, but only the simplest record of real events, let alone a place called "dead house".

In short, this is Dostoevsky's notes about his hard labor life in Siberian prisons. The work imagines the life story of an aristocratic prisoner named Alexander petrovich Golichkov (Dostoevsky is a nobleman) who spent many years in a prison outside a small town in Siberia. The notes reflect the changing inner feelings of "I" in the dead room from the first-person perspective. From the fear and pain when I first entered the dead house, I gradually adapted to everything, found something deeper in my life, and finally regained my freedom at the dawn of hope. In addition to my personal mental journey, it is more important to describe nearly 20 prisoners with different personalities. Through this group of sculptures, "I" undoubtedly deepened my understanding of life, environment and the nature of life freedom, which is the profound point of this note.

The Notes are divided into two volumes. The first volume focuses on a series of observations and feelings about "me" after I first arrived at the dead house, ending with the prisoners spending Christmas. The second volume focuses on what I saw and heard in the military hospital because of illness, especially the physical and psychological difficulties faced by prisoners, ending with my release from prison.

This work is unique in that it tries to get rid of all rhetorical embellishments and reduce all traces of literature. It doesn't deliberately depict conflicts, and it doesn't care much about the story. It does not meticulously build a dead house world with emotion and wisdom. No, it disdains this "artificial" technique. It directly throws such a dead house life in front of you in the most ruthless, powerful and rude way.

This is not a fascinating work. In the process of reading for the first time, you can simply find out a bunch of creative weaknesses. The dialogue between the characters is slightly erratic and sleepy, and there is no close internal connection between the stories. In some descriptions, Dostoevsky's procrastination and verbosity can be seen at a glance-it's not really a "good novel". But isn't a "good novel" with perfect form and texture worthless? When you read the second and third times, you will suddenly realize that the value contained here has nothing to do with the form of text expression, but only with a repressed human nature.

I believe that every character and story in this notebook can find a true correspondence and prototype in Dostoevsky's hard life. Dostoevsky is not concerned with the artistic processing and beautification of these prototypes, but with the most superficial language, and then with the deepest feelings for reflection and analysis. This "superficiality" is an art ".

Then, how does this "I" see the unknown side of life in a dead room, and how does it have a deeper understanding of life, and how much influence can these have on a person?

First of all, let's talk about the unknown life in prison. The biggest feature is the deprivation of freedom, which is replaced by Sisyphus's forced labor and impossible lonely life. Group sex not only occupies everyone's body in space, but also destroys all flexibility in spirit. Almost every crime can be represented here, and almost all criminals have not expressed deep reflection on the crime. This happens when more than half of the prisoners can read and write, and there is a strong contradiction between literacy and morality. Under the needs of nature and a certain sense of self-protection, prisoners learned various business skills in prison, such as making handicrafts, profiteering, usury, selling alcohol, etc ... It formed a small society within the fence. Here, money is very important because it can achieve a certain degree of freedom. Many prisoners have worked hard for months just to squander their money in one day. However, it gave him some hope for life and gave him the ability to control himself.

When I first arrived in this heavy, monotonous and suffocating environment, I felt very bad and uncomfortable, especially in view of my aristocratic status, I was out of place with most prisoners here. Only when I have an understanding of the environment and the people around me have I gradually gained trust and started to adapt. All kinds of prisoners have made me think deeply about crime and punishment, that is, different punishments for the same crime, and even different prisoners have been punished. All this is confusing, but as the superficial impression faded, the truth of this life gradually surfaced, and "I" found the most important point: that is, people here are not necessarily worse than those outside; Although there are vicious murderers and despicable liars here, there are also moderate political prisoners and unlucky people who have changed their names to fight here. The multifaceted and complicated life has deepened my understanding of them.

Apart from money, what can bring hope and beauty to prisoners is the annual Christmas, which makes them feel that they have not been completely abandoned by the world. All the sins seem to have disappeared consciously at this moment, and the prisoner's body and mind seem to have been purified on this day. They freely vent their anguish in their chests and savor their memories in despair. On this day, no one is not drunk, and the hope of freedom and heavy pain are intertwined. The first volume ended in such an atmosphere, and the second volume began with "I" recuperating in a military hospital.

In the military hospital, I examined all kinds of prisoners here from another dimension. Unlike prisons, military hospitals seem to be a "paradise" for prisoners to recuperate. It is full of punished soldiers and sick prisoners. The system here is ruthless, and even dying prisoners must be shackled. The doctors here are very enthusiastic and are loved by everyone. The executioner here has a perverted bloodthirsty nature. However, there are also "warriors" who are not afraid of any punishment. Here, "I" witnessed the end of many prisoners' lives. The arrival of summer rekindled everyone's desire for freedom. As a result, someone planned a very dangerous escape, and the success of early escape brought exciting power to prisoners, as if part of their freedom had also been taken out of prison. However, with the arrest of the fugitives, the inmates sneered at them, just like making mistakes in the face of an ignorant person.

In the last period of serving my sentence, I was loved and trusted by everyone, and I no longer felt that life was so hard. However, aristocratic status has built an invisible barrier between me and the vast number of civilian prisoners. On the eve of my release from prison, I recalled everything I saw in prison and felt a deep feeling in my heart.

The life of hard labor made me see a deeper society, and also made me realize the shallowness and ignorance of social hooligans in the past. Dostoevsky expressed his understanding and accusation of this kind of life with the help of the protagonist's voice, which was behind his profound reflection on society. Many people who were not so bad suffered the most ruthless fate here and lost the best freedom of life, but he was in no hurry to answer his questions. Maybe he is an artist.

? Looking at the whole work, this is a sincere work. Dostoevsky never deliberately described or exaggerated anything, but made an objective description and cold observation, just like the title of Notes. It is the most authentic record of this life, a heavy factual data, an observation of the most desperate environment by a sensitive person, and an important textual basis for understanding Dostoevsky and exploring Dostoevsky's thought. If necessary,

Attachment: Profile of the characters

Alexander petrovich Gorychkov: an aristocratic immigrant in exile in Siberia, was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment for killing his wife, the author of Notes and the spokesman of Dostoevsky.

Ivan Ivanic Gwoz Diekoff: An old-school official.

Achim Akimechi: An aristocratic officer who was sentenced to twelve years' hard labor for lynching indiscriminately, is a little honest and stupid, but meticulous and ingenious.

The colonel's orderly.

Sirotkin: A beautiful young man was jailed for killing the company commander during conscription.

Kazin: Strong and terrible guy.

Orlov: A thief with unlimited willpower.

Nura: roommate, honest and devout, the title of "lion"

Alei: My neighbor, a handsome young man, has a heart of gold and has established deep feelings with the protagonist.

Isei Fomich: Interesting Jew, jeweler, the object of jokes of prisoners.

Sisulov: A servant who waits on heroes, a poor man who works hard and even changes his name and surname for some material things.

Osip: the silent "chef"

Answer: a despicable person who has no humanity in spirit and longs for physical enjoyment.

Tina Stasija Ivanovna: A faithful friend outside prison.

Sarric: A dog in prison.

Petrov: the bravest and most fearless tough guy

Lucica: Six lives. It seems that he didn't win people's awe.

Baklushen: He is cheerful and an "engineer". He was imprisoned for his love.

Zhelebiyatnikov: A captain who is extremely enthusiastic about punishing prisoners.

Smekalov: a stern but unforgettable execution lieutenant

Kulikov: Prison break.