The Life of an Author is Reflected in Literature

A detailed Summary of The Life of an Author is Reflected in Literature


Often in novels, the life of an author is reflected in his or her literature. For a writer experience can serve not only as a teacher, but also as the foundation of a story line. Some of the most well known authors have used this Romana Clef technique, for example, Charles Dickens in his famous novel, David Copperfield. The Russian author, Fyodor Dostoyevsky does this as well, in his novel Crime and Punishment. Various individuals and occurrences from Dostoyevsky's life influenced the novel and its characters and themes. This shows that an author's life serves as an inspiration to his or her writing and impacts the work as a whole.

Dostoyevsky's own family and childhood experiences had a tremendous impact on him as well as his literary works. As the second child in a line of seven, Dostoyevsky lived a sad and lonely childhood. As a student in a respected boarding school, Dostoyevsky felt unable to make contact with his pupils, and therefore isolated himself, just as the main character, Raskolnikov, isolated himself from the rest of society. His father was an ex-army surgeon for the poor and his household was one of poverty, disease, and pain. The family was deeply religious, and Jesus was the ideal figure


Katherine Ivanovna, Sonia's mother and Marmeladov's wife, was made in the image of Marya, Dostoyevsky's former wife. Like Katherine, Marya was at first married to a former army officer who was of a lower social status than her. When Dostoyevsky met her she inspired him to improve his lowly status, just as Katherine repeatedly tried to help the unemployed alcoholic Marmleladov. When Dostoyevsky created the character of Katherine Ivanovna, there is no doubt he had Marya in his mind as the woman she was to be modeled on. However, it was not only people that Dostoyevsky modeled aspects of his novel Crime and Punishment on.



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Approximate Word count = 3073
Approximate Pages = 12 (250 words per page double spaced)

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