Children in Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, Devils, The Brothers Karamazov

Theme of Children in Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, Devils, The Brothers Karamazov

As an adult, Dostoevsky became fascinated with children, but was extremely affected by the suffering they were often forced to endure. As a result, the theme of children became "one of the most important in his portrayal of society" and he became obsessed with the theme of "children on the road to destruction"(p.572, Grossman). The charming children in his novels possess a simple, vulnerable, and innocent nature which highlights the contrasting, cruel society. In dealing with these cruelties, the children must gain strength and learn to sacrifice themselves in order to withstand these burdens; if their purity and fragile innocence is harmed, however, they often chose to put an end to their hardships and commit suicide.

The poverty and hectic environments that children must live in force them to take on certain adult responsibilities and watch in helpless silence as their families struggle to survive. In the Marmeladov household, the ten year old Polenka, must take care of her younger siblings and help her mother with the daily chores. Although she doesn't fully comprehend what is happening around her, she senses that her mother needs support and therefore "always followed her with great wise eyes and drove her utmost to pretend she understood everything"(p.151). She is too young and innocent to understand, but she instinctively sacrifices herself and adopts the role of the second mother in order to take care of her younger siblings. These siblings, however, are not hard to take care of. Their calmness and patience is remarkable considering their age. The little boy often watches silently from his chair, "upright and motionless wi...

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...ir lives is that it is precisely their charming, innocent characteristics which attract corrupt beings, and which ultimately disrupts or even destroys their pure and angelic characters. It has been said, however, that it is "through the focus of children that the author indulges his sense of hope" (p.182, de Jonge).

Works Cited

1) Dostoevsky, Fyodor. The Idiot. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992.

2) Dostoevsky, Fyodor. Crime and Punishment. New York: W W Norton and Company, 1989.

3) Dostoevsky, Fyodor. Devils. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992.

4) Dostoevsky, Fyodor. The Brothers Karamazov. New York: W W Norton and Company, 1976.

5) Grossman, Leonid. Dostoevsky: His Life and Work. New York: the Bobbs-Merrill Company, Inc., 1975.

6) de Jonge, Alex. Dostoevsky and the Age of Intensity. London: Secker & Warburg, 1975.