In the novel "Memories of the House of the Dead"
Dostoyevsky tells us about a strange psychological state that he noticed among the prisoners during his stay with them during his imprisonment.
This is a condition that Dostoyevsky seems to be fully convinced of in prisoners and others, given that he recognizes that those outside the prison walls are not necessarily better than those inside.
This case is:
His observation that some prisoners may deliberately start fights, not because of their hostility, nor because the situation merits a fight in the first place.
But they argue because of what happens after the argument: many people try to calm them down, talk to them, and comfort them, even if only with a word, to end the argument.
In these moments, these people find value in themselves, and a word elevates their value, which has a deep impact on their soul.
They are not evil as many people imagine. They crave attention, eager for any word that enhances their worth, and are dying for the opportunity to get people to address them with some respect!
Here Dostoyevsky concludes that the worst criminals can become a normal human being again if he finds someone who understands him, who appreciates him and respects him as a human being!
The beautiful thing about this novel is that Dostoyevsky wrote it about his period of imprisonment and, instead of being a personal memoir for him, it turned into a kind of analysis psychological of all the people he met.
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