The Brothers Karamazov
Dostoevsky’s four years in prison camp greatly influenced his book and his life. He began to suffer from epilepsy when he was in prison, and would have epilepsy for the rest of his life. He shows how epilepsy feels like through the character Smerdyakov. Also, in prison he began believing in God, and having religious and philosophical inclinations. Through the character Rakitin, Dostoevsky makes fun of the “clever people” who jumped from one popular idea to another without caring about the truth. In prison, he also met Ilyinsky, who had been sent to prison for killing his father. Almost ten years after he met Ilyinsky, Dostoevsky found out that Ilyinsky was innocent and later became free when the real murderer confessed. Dmitry Karamazov is like Ilyinsky in many ways.