Online Archive of University of Virginia Scholarship
Freedom and the unmotivated crime in Dostoevsky, Gide and Camus212 views
Author
Walker, Leslie Ann, English, University of Virginia
Advisors
Nelson, Raymond J., English, University of Virginia
Abstract
In the early 20th century, a new significance was assigned to gratuitous behavior, the manifestation of an irrational will. As both a theme and a plot device, gratuitous behavior captured the imagination of many 20th Century novelists. Dostoevsky's treatment of gratuitous crime in Crime and Punishment can be seen to have inspired two later works - Gide's Lafcadio' s Adventures and Camus’ The Stranger. The treatment of gratuitous crime is, in each of the novels mentioned above an inquiry into the nature and limits of individual freedom.
Walker, Leslie Ann. Freedom and the unmotivated crime in Dostoevsky, Gide and Camus. University of Virginia, English, MA (Master of Arts), 1975-01-01, https://doi.org/10.18130/58br-w598.
