Dostoevsky's Service in the Army
Dostoyevsky’s Service in the Army: 1854-1859
On January 23, of 1854, Dostoyevsky embarked on a three-day journey from the town of Omsk to the town of Semipalatinsk (Payne 110). George Kennan, who visited Semipalatinsk in 1885, described Semipalatinsk as being similar to a “Mohammedan town built in the middle of a North African desert” (Frank 177). Upon arrival in Semipalatinsk Dostoyevsky was registered as a soldier in the 7th Infantry Siberian Battalion. Dostoyevsky’s military service was to account for the second half of his punishment, for being a member of the Petrashevsky Circle, and would last until 1859 (Payne 123).
Many first-hand accounts of Dostoyevsky’s time, during his stay in Semipalatinsk, report that he did not fit the mold of a soldier. A senior officer noted that “Dostoyevsky seemed to me an ill and exhausted man. … He was a thin man and it seemed to me that even [Dostoyevsky’s] rifle was too heavy for him to hold” (Sekirin 138). Although it was true that Dostoyevsky was not physically fit to be a soldier, he nevertheless appears to have made an honest attempt. Nikolay Katz, Dostoyevsky’s bunkmate, noted that Dostoyevsky “was very diligent [during] his army service” (Sekirin 139). Moreover, Dostoyevsky himself wrote in a letter to his brother: “When I came here I knew nothing about army life, but this month I took part in a review with all the others and I did my job as well as any man” (Payne 123).
In general, Dostoevsky’s experience as a soldier was colored by its monotony and also by its depravity. Most of Semipalatinsk’s population was illiterate, and many members of Semipalatinsk society often passed the time by playing cards or drinking excessively (Sekirin 121). One of the key aspects of life in Semipalatinsk, which was to have a huge influence on Dostoevsky, was the way in which Dostoyevsky was forced to participate in the corporal punishment of his fellow soldiers (Frank 178). This experience left Dostoyevsky with an intense distaste for corporal punishment. This negative sentiment towards corporal punishment would later become a major theme in one of Dostoyevsky's future novels: The House of the Dead (Frank 178).
Beyond being forced to punish his colleagues, Dostoevsky was himself also the recipient of several instances of corporal punishment. Nikolay Katz states that “Dostoyevsky was very polite, but even he could not finish his service without being beaten” (Sekirin 138). However, the way in which Dostoyevsky was treated is shown to have gradually improved. One year after his arrival Dostoyevsky was promoted to the position of sergeant, and as a consequence was allowed to rent a private room (Sekirin 137).
Some accounts show Dostoevsky to be someone who liked to separate himself from his fellow peers (Sekirin 139). However, Dostoevsky’s general desire to be alone does not seem to have subtracted from his affinity for the people of Semipalatinsk. Alexander Wrangell writes that, “[Dostoyevsky always] found excuses for the worst sides of human nature; he explained it by bad education, influence of the environment, … as well as human nature and temper” (Sekirin 123). Thus, Dostoyevsky, although aloof, also seems to have felt a certain level of compassion towards the people of Semipalatinsk.
References
- Feoktistov, Evgeny. “Evgeny Feoktistov: Several New Letters by Dostoevsky.” The Dostoyevsky Archive: Firsthand Accounts of the Novelist from Contemporaries’ Memoirs and Rare Periodicals, edited by Peter Sekirin, MacFarland, 1997, pp. 137-138.
- Frank, Joseph. Dostoevsky: The Years of Ordeal, 1850-1859. Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1983.
- Iakovlev, Vladimir. “Vladimir Iakovlev: Dostoevsky in the Army: ‘He Did Not Talk Much’.” The Dostoyevsky Archive: Firsthand Accounts of the Novelist from Contemporaries’ Memoirs and Rare Periodicals, edited by Peter Sekirin, MacFarland, 1997, pp. 137.
- Ivanov, A. “A. Ivanov: Life in the Army Was as Bad as in Prison.” The Dostoyevsky Archive: Firsthand Accounts of the Novelist from Contemporaries’ Memoirs and Rare Periodicals, edited by Peter Sekirin, MacFarland, 1997, pp. 138.
- Payne, Robert. Dostoevsky: A Human Portrait. New York, Knopf, 1961.
- Skandin, A. “A. Skandin: Private Dostoevsky During His Routine Service in the Army.” The Dostoyevsky Archive: Firsthand Accounts of the Novelist from Contemporaries’ Memoirs and Rare Periodicals, edited by Peter Sekirin, MacFarland, 1997, pp. 139.
- Vrangel, Aleksandr. “Aleksandr Vrangel: About Dostoevsky’s Army Service and Exile in Siberia.” The Dostoyevsky Archive: Firsthand Accounts of the Novelist from Contemporaries’ Memoirs and Rare Periodicals, edited by Peter Sekirin, MacFarland, 1997, pp. 119-132.