Suffering cannot swallow you

There is a person we all know named ‘Dostoevsky.’ Dostoevsky also lived in a very unfortunate environment. When he was young, he witnessed his father being murdered. How shocking it must have been for his young heart. He hid that shock deep in his heart for a while, and wandered the world as an orphan. Then, in his youth, he joined a socialist organization, was arrested, and was sentenced to death. However, fortunately, just before his execution, the emperor recognized his genius and literary talent and granted him a special pardon. As a result, he was spared the death penalty, but instead was exiled to Siberia and served a four-year prison sentence. This was truly an incredibly difficult time for a young man.

To make matters worse, I thought he had found stability after getting married, but what happened? His wife had a relationship with a man before marriage that had not been resolved, and she was still in a relationship with him after marriage. Because of this, he suffered indescribably great mental pain. However, his wife eventually died of illness, and he remarried and had a son, but unfortunately, his son also died of illness.

His suffering did not end there. Dostoevsky lived with epilepsy all his life. He suffered greatly from this disease. This disease was clearly a thorn in his flesh. However, he called this disease a ‘holy disease’. He said that this physical pain strengthened his faith and enhanced the meaning of his life, which was full of suffering. That is why he was grateful for this disease. In this way, he lived his whole life fighting against illness and suffering.

That is why he was able to delicately describe the psychology of unfortunate people in works such as “The Double” and “White Nights.” This was because it was his own experience. After that, he left behind immortal masterpieces such as “Crime and Punishment” in 1866 and “The Brothers Karamazov” in 1880. Finally, along with Tolstoy, he became a world-renowned author representing 19th-century Russian literature. It was because he suffered from such extraordinary suffering that he was able to create extraordinary works.