The Meek One

“But a loving woman, idolises even the vices, even the villainy of her beloved being.”

I picked up this book simply on the single sentence description on the back of the book: Based on a St. Petersburg news report, Dostyevsky's searing tale of a man who drives his wife to suicide.

Needless to say, I wasn't disappointed. This quick read was so eery and gripping. It's a story about oppression, emotional abuse, freedom (or lack thereof), and suicide. The narrator is a 41 year old narcissistic pawnbroker who marries a 16 year old girl because “the idea of our inequality pleased me”. he wants a silent subordinate beside whom he can feel powerful. but this subordination is an oppression of her young, curious and excitable spirit. eventually she believes she can only find freedom in death.

the wife's character is somewhat of an enigma, but I guess that's the point. The narrator himself couldn't understand her, didn't know why she killed herself. We see the entire story through the narrator's eyes, even feel empathy for him when he feels it for himself.