House the Dead by Dostoyevsky - Part II - Feb.16-Feb 28

[Silver]

For discussing the second part of the book. Please be aware if you have not completed the book spoilers may be posted here.

[Chrissie]

D's tone is analytical and detached, even though we know that he could never portray the goings-on with such detail if he didn't have his own labor camp experiences. Isn't it unusual that he can analyze this behavior in such a detached manner, when he must have emotional feeling from his own experiences?!

I wasn't that drawn in by his discussion of executioners/tyrants. I thought his reasoning went nowhere..... What exactly did he want to say? The only conclusion I could draw is that people need/want rules, underlying principles of morality. THEN if you break those rules, fine, you can take your punishment and not feel the inequity of it. It is OK to be punished if you have gone against a set rule. People want to have set limits. However the discussion of the mental and emotional characteristics of the people who carry out the punishments went nowhere for me.