Poor Folk by Fyodor Dostoevski

First published:Bednye lyudi, 1846 (English translation, 1887)

Type of work: Novel

Type of plot: Impressionistic realism

Time of plot: Nineteenth century

Locale: St. Petersburg, Russia

Principal characters

• Makar Dievushkin, a destitute government clerk
• Barbara Dobroselova, his friend
• Pokrovski, a young tutor
• The Elder Pokrovski, the tutor’s father
• Bwikov, a wealthy landowner

The Story:

Makar Dievushkin, an impoverished government clerk, lives in an alcove in a rooming-house kitchen. Even though his accommodations are unpleasant, he consoles himself that he can see from his window the windows of Barbara Dobroselova, an unhappy young woman whom he supports in her shabby rooms across the street. Makar and Barbara carry on a written correspondence; occasionally, they walk together when Barbara feels well. Makar, poor but honorable, maintains the gravest dignity in his relationship and in his correspondence with Barbara. In their poverty and loneliness, each has warm sympathy and understanding for the other.

Among the boarders in the house where Makar lives is a public relations man of literary pretensions whose style Makar greatly admires. Makar also knows a former government clerk, Gorshkov, and his family of four. Gorshkov lost his job through a legal suit and is deeply in debt to the homely, shrewish landlady. Across the street, Barbara’s cousin Sasha appears for the purpose of resolving a difference that has long existed between the cousins. Sasha questions Barbara’s acceptance of Makar’s charity.

Meanwhile, Makar sends gifts to Barbara and becomes poorer with each passing day. He pawns his uniform and, in his poverty, becomes the butt of jokes. Barbara, protesting somewhat weakly his sacrifices for her, sends him, in return, her life story, which she has written. The story reveals that Barbara is the daughter of the steward of a prince in the province of Tula. Her family moved to St. Petersburg when she was twelve years old. She did not like the city, and she detested the boarding school she attended. When Barbara was fourteen years old, her father died, leaving Barbara and her consumptive mother debt-ridden. Creditors took all of their possessions, and Barbara and her mother moved to the house of a distant relative, Anna Thedorovna, whose source of income was a mystery to them. There Barbara, with her orphan cousin Sasha, was tutored by a sick young student, Pokrovski, who was intelligent but irritable. The young girls teased Pokrovski remorselessly. Barbara, however, soon regretted her behavior and vowed to redeem herself in his eyes.

Pokrovski was visited from time to time by his father, a wizened, obsequious little man who worshiped his son. The old man was inquisitive and talkative, so Pokrovski limited the number of his visits to two a week. Old Pokrovski would do anything for his son. Barbara outgrew the tutoring, but she still had not redeemed herself with Pokrovski. Bent upon reading widely, she sneaked into his room and accidentally upset his bookshelf. Pokrovski entered, and while he and Barbara were replacing the books, they realized that they were in love.

As Pokrovski’s birthday approached, Barbara joined forces with the elder Pokrovski to buy the young tutor the works of Pushkin; they would give the set to him together. At the birthday party, Barbara magnanimously let the doting old father give the books to his son. Pokrovski died soon afterward. Grief apparently weakened the old man’s mind; he took his son’s books and, following the funeral procession on foot, dropped a pathetic trail of books in the mud of the streets leading to the cemetery.

As the friendship between Makar and Barbara continues, Barbara becomes concerned about Makar’s indulgences in her behalf, which he cannot afford. She urges him to get himself a decent uniform.

At the rooming house, Makar, utterly destitute, feels deep pity for Gorshkov in his poverty. He sends Barbara a volume of the writings of the public relations man, but Barbara declares the book is trash. When the possibility of her becoming a governess in a wealthy household presents itself to Barbara, Makar, despite his own poverty, proudly tells her that he can continue to care for her.

Hearing that Barbara has been insulted by an importunate suitor, Makar gets drunk and is brought home by the police. In desperation, he borrows money everywhere, even from Barbara. His penury seems to affect his mind. Meanwhile, the friendship between Makar and Barbara has become a source of laughter among the other boarders. Makar even suspects the public relations man of maliciously gossiping in civil service circles about Makar’s having been brought home by the police. He fears for his reputation, which is all that he has left. Barbara invites him to live with her and her cook, Thedora; she urges him to stop borrowing money and to stop copying the public relations man’s style in his letters.

A lecherous old man, sent by Anna Thedorovna, calls on Barbara. After Barbara and Thedora get rid of him, Barbara, in alarm, tells Makar that she has to move immediately. Lack of money, however, prevents her from doing so. Makar approaches a rich usurer, but he is refused a loan because he can offer no security. Everything goes wrong. Makar’s position at the rooming house becomes impossible. Barbara burns her hand and cannot earn the little money she has been earning by sewing. She sends Makar some money, and he spends it on liquor. Even in his abject condition, however, Makar gives coins to Gorshkov that he might feed his family.

Makar makes a mistake in his official work and is ordered to appear before his superior, who is so affected at the sight of Makar’s wretched person that he gives the poor clerk one hundred rubles and takes his hand. These gestures save Makar physically and morally. He regains his self-respect and faces life with a new vigor. All begins to go well for him at the office and at the rooming house.

Bwikov, a wealthy landowner who once courted Barbara and then deserted her in her misfortune, arrives in St. Petersburg and offers her money, which she refuses. Gorshkov, meanwhile, is officially absolved of guilt in a case involving misappropriation of funds and is awarded substantial monetary damages. Moved deeply by his newfound freedom and solvency, the man breaks in mind and body and dies of shock.

Bwikov returns to Barbara and offers marriage to atone for his previous desertion. He plans to take her to his country estate for her health. After much debate, Barbara and Makar agree that she must marry Bwikov. Makar cannot help remarking, however, that Bwikov would probably be happier married to a certain merchant’s daughter in Moscow.

Barbara, preparing excitedly for a magnificent wedding, employs Makar to run countless petty errands for her. Makar plans to move into Barbara’s rooms after she moves out and to retain Thedora as his cook. It saddens him to think of Barbara’s leaving him, even though she is going to become the lady of a great estate. In a last letter, he implores her to stay but admits that his passionate turns of phrase are to some extent only a literary exercise.

Bibliography

Breger, Louis. Dostoevsky: The Author as Psychoanalyst. New York: New York University Press, 1989. Provides biographical information as well as discussion of the symbols (and their associations) in Dostoevski’s novels. Includes a chapter on Poor Folk.

Jackson, Robert Louis. Dostoevsky’s Quest for Form: A Study of His Philosophy of Art. 2d ed. Bloomington, Ind.: Physsardt, 1978. Considers the contradiction between Dostoevski’s working aesthetic and his higher aesthetic of true beauty. A mature and helpful study for the serious Dostoevski reader.

Leatherbarrow, William J. Fedor Dostoevsky. Boston: Twayne, 1981. Provides an excellent guide for the study of Dostoevski’s writing, with commentary on Poor Folk and other early works. Includes a biographical sketch and a chronology of the events of Dostoevski’s life.

‗‗‗‗‗‗‗, ed. The Cambridge Companion to Dostoevskii. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006. Collection of essays examines the author’s life and works, discussing such topics as his relationship to Russian folk heritage and his attitudes toward money, the intelligentsia, psychology, religion, the family, and science.

McReynolds, Susan. Redemption and the Merchant God: Dostoevsky’s Economy of Salvation and Antisemitism. Evanston, Ill.: Northwestern University Press, 2008. Asserts that readers cannot fully understand Dostoevski’s writings without understanding his obsession with the Jews. Analyzes the elements of anti-Semitism in his works as well as his views on the Crucifixion, the Resurrection, morality, and other aspects of Christian doctrine. Chapter 5 is devoted to a discussion of Poor Folk.

Scanlan, James P. Dostoevsky the Thinker: A Philosophical Study. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 2002. Draws on Dostoevski’s novels, essays, letters, and notebooks to provide a comprehensive account of his philosophy, examining the weaknesses as well as the strengths of his ideas. Concludes that Dostoevski’s thought was shaped by anthropocentrism and the struggle to define the very essence of humanity.

Straus, Nina Pelikan. Dostoevsky and the Woman Question: Rereadings at the End of a Century. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1994. Argues that Dostoevski’s compulsion to depict men’s cruelties to women is an important part of his vision and his metaphysics. Maintains that Dostoevski attacked masculine notions of autonomy and that his works evolved toward “the death of the patriarchy.”