description A Raw Youth Overview
A Raw Youth, also translated as The Adolescent, is a novel by Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky published in 1875. The story is written as a journal kept by Arkady Makarovich Dolgoruky, the nineteen-year-old illegitimate son of a wealthy landowner. Returning to Moscow after being raised by a former serf, Arkady attempts to establish his independence and become wealthy, though he ultimately rejects his initial materialistic ambitions. The novel explores profound themes of generational conflict, the psychological development of a young man, and the ideological battles present in 19th-century Russian society.
help A Raw Youth FAQ
Why is A Raw Youth also published as The Adolescent?
Both titles translate Dostoevsky's Russian title Podrostok, a word referring to someone not yet fully adult. English editions therefore vary between A Raw Youth, The Adolescent, and occasionally An Accidental Family.
What is Arkady Dolgoruky's central ambition?
The nineteen-year-old Arkady dreams of becoming as independently wealthy and powerful as the Rothschild family. His "idea" is less a practical financial plan than an attempt to escape humiliation and dependence.
Who is Arkady's real father in A Raw Youth?
Arkady is legally the son of Makar Dolgoruky but biologically the son of the landowner Andrei Petrovich Versilov. His troubled fascination with Versilov drives much of the novel's family conflict.
How is A Raw Youth connected to Dostoevsky's other major novels?
Published in 1875, it appeared after Demons and before The Brothers Karamazov. Like Crime and Punishment, it uses an unstable, intensely subjective narrator, but its focus is inheritance, legitimacy, and the breakdown of family authority.
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