dostoevsky-dead-house.md

The House of the Dead by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Part I

Introduction. Siberia had steppes, mountains, forests and small towns. The inhabitants were simple, devoid of liberal ideas. The climate was excellent. Alexander Petrovitch Goriantchikoff (ten years convict) was an exile, condemned to hard labor for uxoricide. Then he gave teaching lessons in the town. The narrator visited him once during one such lesson; he became confused as if he had been detected in a crime. He seemed to live in his own world, ignorant of the affairs of the town. Sometimes the narrator would look up and saw lights in his window; he wondered if Petrovitch was reading or writing. After three months, the narrator heard news of his death. After some effort, he found some manuscripts left by Petrovitch sketching his life as ten years a convict. These memoirs constitute the rest of the novel.

1. The Dead House. Criminals in prison were categorized into classes based on their crimes and labor. Describes the terrible suffering of never being alone and loss of liberty in prison. The convicts dreamt aloud and they engaged in robbery, smuggling, drinking and labor. The Bible was the only book allowed in prison and the prisoners received alms.
2. First Impressions. Talks about Akimych, a clever convict who learned all trades in prison. The Poles and Russian nobles (narrator included) were hated by other convicts and the major looked down upon the convicts as personal enemies. The other prisoners were hostile toward the narrator due to his noble status. The narrator recounts a parricide.
3. First Impressions. Prisoners loved money almost as much as freedom but money couldn't stay long in one hand (either stolen or consfiscated to the major). Almost anyone in the prison could steal.
4. First Impressions. From the first day in prison, the nattator noticed that all non-prisoners had an exaggerated view of the prisoners (as if they were to throw a knife anytime) and the prisoners were aware of this and that they were feared. Prisoners respected those (generals) who didn't fear them and could come alone without escorts. The narrator talks about different prisoners he met and describes meeting Alei (an extraordinary intelligent tactful handsome young man) as one of the best meetings in his life. Alei helped him at his labor and he taught Alei how to read and write in Russian. He recounts how Alei left the prison (Alei thanking Alexander for all he did for him like a father). The Poles remained exclusive, disliked the Russians who disliked them in return.
5. The First Month. Akimych arranged for the narrator to get beef and food from outside because prison food was horrid. The narrator recounts how life in prison turned out different than what he observed initially. He talks about A—v (a very base and vile man who thought a convict should not be ashamed to crawl at ease) who was closed to and would report things to the major who then treated the prisoners rather harshly. He talks about why money was important and was the source of power in prison—though a prisoner could live without it, the one who lived with money lived much easier. The prisoners were great dreamers and they dreamt of freedom.
6. The First Month. The narrator had brought some money with him when he came to prison but he readily gave them away when other prisoners asked him. Soon, they began to lose respect of him (because he gave money readily) but he couldn't stop giving them money. The narrator then recounts the people from outside the prison who were generous, who would find a brother in the unfortunate. There was one such widow who treated the prisoners with hospitality as if they were one of hers. Then he recounts his first labor experience: they did work near a river bank and he had a hard time fitting in; he wanted to stay a nobleman in their eyes to not lose their respect—independent and reserved but not as exclusive as the Poles. As he returned to prison, he met Sharik (prison dog) whom nobody noticed but who treated everyone as his master. He fed the dog with bread from his hand and hugged him. Soon Sharik became his faithful friend.
7. New Acquiantances. Petrov. After having a hard time in adjusting, the narrator was now getting used to things he never thought he would. A prisoner-barber shaved half of his head every week and the prisoners called this barber major; this infuriated the real major who then rebuked them. The narrator dreamt of freedom from the first day; prisoners never felt at home in prison and they always thought of it as a visit. Labor saved him from losing himself. Slowly acquaintances accumulated by themselves despite Alexander staying reserved and mistrustful. One such Petrov made a special effort to visit and know him (the narrator isn't sure of his motives but is certain money isn't one of them for he never asked for money); despite being acquainted for several years, they never became closed. Petrov was described by the prisoners as very resolute man (could do anyting if he willed); he ended up in prison for murdering his superior and could've escaped if he willed but stayed without complaining. Petrov was careful and didn't quarrel with anyone though he wasn't particularly close to anyone; he once confessed to the narrator of having stolen his Bible but he didn't display any feeling of guilt.
8. Resolute Men. Luchka. Describes resolute and horrible men, those in prison who were murderers whom the narrator tried to avoid at first although his opinion of them would change in time. Describes how a man may become a mass murderer: a man may summon some courage to stand up for himself and kill his enemy or his opressor, soon he becomes habituated and may go on to commit several murders. A non-murderer may be worse than a murderer of six souls. The convicts maintained some ego and might recount their past acts of bravado; but they would soon learn to respect their superiors who were not too friendly with their attitude.
9. Isai Fomich. The Bathhouse. Baklushin's Story. There were only two public bathhouses in the whole town. Some days before Christmas, the prisoners were taken to one of them; the bathhouse was quite small and entering it was a hellish experience, the prisoners were cramped, hardly any place to set foot on, the filthy hot water and the steam turned the bathhouse into a burning furnace. An inmate Baklushin recounted his story: how he loved a girl but the girl chose to marry a old rich German watchmaker (thinking riches was happiness to her) and how he aimed a pistol to the German and how they (the German and the girl's aunt) testified against him in court (but he got in prison for a different reason).
10. Christmas. On the night of Christmas eve, convicts unusually slept early; they woke up early morning. It was a day of no work and lots of memories of spending Christmas with family and friends haunted them. There was almost no real friendship in prison: they were acquainted but there was always the arm's distance. But even the convicts who never really talked to one another nevertheless wished one another merry Chirstmas. A stranger convict stopped the narrator to remind/tell him it's Christmas and they never talked again. The convicts received gifts from all over the town from the rich and the poor alike (were gifts from the poor to the poor) and they bowed in gratitude. They drank liquor and became drunk as soon as the major left; some even got into quarrels and the sober ones looked after the unsober. As twilight infiltrated, the scene grew morose: they turned mournful and hopeless as if they had been denied something they had been promised on such an auspicious day. Nothing good came and the next day they had to go to work. Some of them sang songs: some are comic "once upon a time..." referring to the free gentleman days before they ended up in prison and some are very moroseful of having lost freedom and eternally confined to the fortress. One particular song was sunk solo in heartfelt voice that the narrator remarks there were "some decent voices among us".
11. The Performance. Days following Christmas, they went to see a theatre. Convicts played the actors and the acts were largely impoverished. The theatre was very densely packed and some sat on others (this reminded the narrator of the scene at the bathhouse). Some convicts played musical instruments quite well. Seeing the improvised actors, the narrator says that one involutarily wonders how much power and talent sometimes perishes in Russia almost for nothing in prison and hardship. After the theatre, there was total peace and no quarrel at all; they didn't even rant but rather slept peacefully for just one day they had been allowed to live in their own way.

Part II

1. The Hospital. The narrator fell sick and went to a hospital; there were only two wards for the convicts; they were crowded, filthy and polluted and all diseases were heaped together, even the venereal. Some faked illness just to escape prison; doctors knew that very well but out of sympathy, would allow them to stay; doctors generally didn't throw them out; most would leave on their own accord when they felt embarrassed for having persisted for too long. The narrator questions the necessity to fetter the gravely sick convicts; fetters are dishonor, shame and burden; reasons that they are not put to prevent escape because a convict could easily get rid of it with a stone; gravely ill convicts cannot escape a place filled with doctors and guards and hence fetters serve no purpose; he asks: is it to punish a convict but then why punish a dying man? He recounts an incident of one sick convict dying in hospital: another convict had to remind the guard that it might not be a bad idea to close the dead body's eyes and the corpse looked like a skeleton with fetters on.
2. Continuation. A convict generally feels he has been vindicated by the court of his own milieu and as such, his conscience is at peace; he feels there are people who support him and hence he does not hate. There was a executor who was considered as a monster among the convicts; to him, punishing was a form of art and he loved his art enthusiastically. Convicts would beg him for mercy and promise to pray for him but he put it in the law the responsibility for whipping and claimed that if he showed a bit of mercy, he would become a sinner for betraying the law and God; but then he would give him false hope that he would indeed become sinner for their sake and as to show some mercy; then he took delight in whipping the unfortunates (his amusements). Another executor was sometimes fondly remembered in the prison for being funny: he would ask the convict if he knew and could recite the Lord's Prayer (which he already knew from experience that he knew) and then would stop him at "give us today our daily bread", and then declare "give him birch instead" and break into laughter.
3. Continuation. Punishments were divided into parts, as per orders from the doctor who was also present during the whipping. The narrator recounts an incident: the convict would think he wouldn't survive the first half of the punishment and would be so certain of death but somehow end up alive in the hospital and become hopeful he would then survive the second part as well and begin dreaming of freedom; but then he would die in the same hospital not having withstood the second half. Disturbed and ignorant, the narrator would walk around asking how severe and painful was the whipping: everyone gave the same answer: it burned, as if their back was roasted over a furnace and the birch was the worst of all, even worse than rod. The narrator opines that tyranny is a habit which nurtures and turns into an illness. The right of corporal punishment, granted to one man over another, is one of the plagues of society. The executioners seemed to display pride of having control over another human: like an entrepreneur derives pleasure from having a man and his whole family depend on him for life. The executioners receive bribes (to show mercy while whipping). Not moaning during the beating hurt their pride and they would whip them harder to hear more moans.
4. Akulka's Husband. The narrator recounts a story he heard: one prisoner confessing to another prisoner murdering his wife for infidelity.
5. Summertime. Spring and summer came; more activity was seen in the prison; more quarrels, shouts and scandals; convicts seemed to yearn for freedom more. There was a traveller who simply wanted to travel; he left his wife and kids and somehow ended up in prison; nobody knew why he came to prison or what crime he committed. Convicts dreamt of escaping to the wilderness but due to difficulty and accoutability involved, very few vetured upon it. The narrator frequented hospital to escape the universal hatred he received owning to his nobility status; he envied simple folk who became comrades with everybody as soon as they arrived in prison; he recounts going to church and receiving alms from the folks who shunned them and even feared them; he got better at labor work as he begans to carry more bricks at a time and this gave him pleasure and he opines that in prison you need as much physical as moral strength to endure all the material inconveniences of that cursed life. Apart from making him stronger, he liked labor because it occurred at a river bank which was the only place from where he could see God's world (the wild, free world of steppe) with the fortress at its back. He opines that prisoners were as gullible as children; they believed in a rumor that a new major would replace the current one despite knowing it's nonsense. Then there was news of an inspector coming to inspect the prison; they hoped to submit a greivance; they were clean shaved and dressed tidy; the inspector came but left quickly and any grievance against the major was out of question and the major knew this beforehand very well.
6. Prison Animals. Getting a prison horse to assist the prisoners was far more pleasant than the exalted visit of the inspector. When the horse died, the convicts bought anothe; they were flattered, just like free men, that they bought a horse for themselves out of their own pocket; they even bargained like free men. Everyone patted on the horse; it carried water; the narrator opines that prisoners were capable of loving animals and would have eagerly raised livestock and birds but neither their regulations nor the place permitted it. Convicts brought in dogs and other animals. Once a prisoner stole a dog from his master and sold him to a shoemaker; the prisoners were about to hang him (the thief). Geese and goats came by chance. Later, the prison goat was slaughtered at the major's command (he wouldn't allow domestication) and was sold and the revenue added to the official prison purse; convicts had a piece of its meat and found it tasty. Once a convict brought in an injured eagle and tended him but the eagle never fitted in. The dog Sharik tried to playfully hurt him and the eager was scared, much to the amusement of the prisoners. Finally the convicts set him free; the eagle (the king of birds) was seen running away limping and never even looked back, ran wherever his free legs took him and the prisoners felt having tasted a bit of his freedom and liberty.
7. The Grievance. The narrator recalls a parricide he talked about before: the narrator met the convict in prison and could not believe in his crime; he came to prison because in court all evidence staked up and it was impossible to not believe in his innocence; but much later the real murderers confessed to the crime and the prisoner had spent 10 years in hard labor for nothing. The prisoners submitted a grievance to the major (the noblemen convicts didn't take part in this grievance business); the whole grievance business was quickly subdued by the major and better food came only for the next few days. People quickly moved on and didn't even reproach the noblemen or show them any malice.
8. Comrades. Akimych (nobleman) was totally indifferent to freedom (didn't care where he ended up); he set up his life as if he was gonna spend the rest of his life in prison. The narrator didn't like him in the first year but later became reconciled in his soul and was ashamed of his former stupidity. He didn't interact much with the other noblemen. Then he recounts the first time he met the major who asked to shave his head and rid his clothes (to be sold and revenue added to prison money) declaring no prisoner had private property and threatened to birch him if he misbehaved. Much later, the major changed his opinions of the prisoners, later summoned a prisoner to ask for forgiveness but his dream of marrying did not come true; he was forced in court to submit his resignation; soon he descended into poverty; once the prisoners ran into him: he wore shabby clothes and looked at the prisoners with spite but he looked powerless and a complete nothing; the narrator comments how much difference uniform could do to these men.
9. The Escape. Things changed after the major was replaced as penal companies were set up and hard labor was abolished. The narrator stayed for many more years but wouldn't write about it now for he wanted only to give vivid picture of prison life. Prison life was terribly solitary however he began to love this solitude and thanked his fate for giving him time to reflect and judge his past and he resolved not to make such mistakes in future; he lived by counting the days remaining until his freedom. Convicts would think of escaping from prison in their early phase but those who had stayed a few years in it came to value those years and wait until legal freedom to become a legitimate settler. He then recounts an incident of two political prisoners who managed to escape (a very risky venture for it necessitated the use of at least one convoy soldier); this escape drove the prison authorities into panic and the escapees were vehemently searched. A sense of pride suddenly filled the prisoners' hearts for now they viewed this as their success, began to consider escaping a possibility and regarded the escapees with respect. But it so happened that they were caught; this made the prisoners angry (as if they have offended everyone) and it soon escalated into scorn for the escapees who then went on trial—one of them went to another prison but the other remained (although he lost the respect of the fellow inmates).
10. Leaving Prison. In the final year, the narrator had comrades as he was already known to be a good man and was sincerely loved by inmates (tho he still had some haters). He started reading books; he read an issue of a magazine and realized how the world had moved through without him. He eagerly waited for winter (he came in winter). He remarks how prisoners had an exaggerated notion of freedom (their freedom is freer than true freedom that exists in reality). On the eve of the last day, at dusk, he walked along the entire fence and recalled all the memories and how eagerly he counted the number of remaining days. As dawn breaks, he walked around saying goodbyes to the inmates who congratulated him; he hugged his comrades and now left the prison with a comrade whom he came with (they had no convoy now but one sergeant); they went to a blacksmith to get their fetters removed, he waited while his comrade was unfettered; he held and looked at his fetters one last time and then he joined God's world (a glorious moment).

Appendix. The narrator recounts that during the four years he was in prison, his favorite pastime (and amusement) was going through his past memories. Once he recalled a seemingly very insignificant memory (meeting a peasant when he was a small boy and never interacting with him again). Why he remembered this is pretty perplexing but it must be an important one since it errupted from the unconscious without his will, and when he needed it. It helped him reconcile with other inmates in his soul (to swallow the hatred and anger he had for them), look at them with different eyes and make peace.