Insulted and Harmed
About This Novel
"The Insulted and Injured" was serialized in issues 1 to 7 of The Times in 1861. Because it is a long series, in order to attract readers, the plot of the novel must be fascinating, with ups and downs, climax after another, and it must be interrupted suddenly when it reaches the climax, so that people can continue to read the next issue. Therefore, this type of novel was called "essay-style novel" at that time, and it was famous for its tense and tortuous plot. This book is the first important work Dostoevsky completed after returning to Petersburg from exile. The novel describes the tragedy of two families caused by the bourgeois adventurer Valkovsky. First, he embezzled the only farm belonging to the poor and declining Ikhmenev noble family, and ruined the marriage between Ikhmenev's daughter Natasha and his son Alyosha in order to marry Katya, who had a millionaire fortune, as his daughter-in-law. The other is the old man Smith's family. His daughter was abandoned by Valkovsky from beginning to end, defrauded of her property, and died of poverty and illness. Smith eventually died of poverty. Smith's granddaughter cannot forgive her father, Valkovsky. Her stubbornness and crazy spirit of resistance arouse people's sympathy for those who are "insulted and damaged" and their hatred for the dark society, which shows the realism power of the novel. In the novel, these unfortunate people are often resigned, showing a sense of despair with no way out.
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