There is no rhyme or reason it just happens. We see him deny his poetic self but the way he gambles himself is very poetic. It almost happens by accident but then he ends up getting fully immersed. The Gambler is a fascinating story told of a man who almost seems mistakenly caught up in the world of gambling. Dostoevsky wanted us to empathize with Golyadkin and see that maybe we all have a bit of him in us. The thing is that Dostoevsky was greatly misunderstood in this novel - this portrayal of a consciousness totally saturated with the formulas and slogans of its society allowed us to dig deeper. Dostoevsky was greatly criticized for this novel with critics and readers feeling like exploring madness for madness sake was unproductive. As the story continues particular from the second half onwards the story gets a bit darker and we start to understand that Dostoevsky wants us to explore this side of humanity that we all have this bit of madness within us too. Golyadkin is buffoonish and cares way too much about what other people think of him and goes to great lengths to keep up appearances.

our actual self.ĭostoevsky gently and humorously directs this story at the beginning making our “hero” (Golyadkin) to have some very similar character traits as other characters that appear again in novels… Mr. The major theme we get to explore is this interval split between our self-image and the truth. I continue on the #yearofdostoevsky and finally have arrived at the first Dostoevsky I have not read! The Double was written and published right before young Dostoevskys infamous mock-execution in the year of our Lord, 1846.

The double book dostoevsky