Themes of Self-Laceration Towards a Modicum of Control in Nineteenth Century Russia as Expressed by Dostoevsky in The Brothers Karamazov

Themes of Self-Laceration Towards a Modicum of Control in Nineteenth Century Russia as Expressed by Dostoevsky in The Brothers Karamazov The majority of the academic discourse surrounding Dostoevsky and his epic, The Brothers Karamazov, has been directed toward the philosophic and religious implications of his characters. Largely overlooked, however, is the theme of laceration. In the greater scope of laceration stands the topic of self-laceration. Self-laceration refers to the practice of causing harm to the self in a premeditated and specifically emotionally destructive fashion. The cause of this experience is varied and expressed in as many ways as there are individuals. The struggle in the Russian psyche between viewing the world as fatalistic or as more of an existential experience finds resolution through self-laceration. By consciously choosing actions that will lead to an abject state, the characters take fate into their own hands. This thesis will explore the themes of self-laceration in a number of characters' narratives and demonstrate that by utilizing emotional self-destruction they find a modicum of control.