The Road To Good

Content:Morality has been one of the most important issues in literature, especially in the late 19th century Russian literature. Because of ethnic characteristics and orthodox background, Russian writers in that era had felt that it was their duty to carry out the mission of salvation and redemption. There are three types of literary figures during this period- saints, evildoers and common sinners, of which the sinners are most prominent. This is because only sinner figures could interpret the value and significance of the"redemption", and only sinners could represent the intrinsic relationship between the crime and the punishment. This essay attempts to initiate inquiries from the works of the two most well-known writers in the late 19th century Russia– Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. By analyzing their masterpieces"Resurrection"and"Crime and Punishment"respectively, three moral inquiries have been concluded: inquires on sin, inquires on punishment, inquires on salvation and redemption. While there are similarities between the conclusions of the two writers, there are certainly differences. Through researching on the writers'inner moral conscience, the essay is intended to encourage readers'in-depth contemplations by comparing the moral inquires of the two, and also to reflect that all human beings are subject to the same moral perplexity faced by the Russian society during that period of time.