Comparing Fyodor Dostoevsky s The Gambler And The...

Extended Essay Draft Group 1: Category 2 In what ways are love and avarice intertwined in both novels and to what extent does it effect the development of the main characters? By: Nikhil Kassum Table of Contents: Introduction (Page 3) Body Paragraphs (Page 4) Conclusion (Page 13) Introduction: At first glance, it is understandable to assume that Fyodor Dostoevsky’s The Gambler and F.Scott Fitzgerald’s The Beautiful and Damned are incomparable and unrelated in every way. However, when exploring in detail the character development in each novel, an alternate verdict can be presented that shows, beyond peradventure, that both novels share similarities. Granted, The Gambler is about a tutor working for a Russian family and his evolution into a pathological gambler, where as The Beautiful and Damned is concentrated on the relationship of a wealthy young couple in the Roaring 20’s who taste the bittersweet consequences of extravagance as the book traces their mental, moral and physical disintegration. Nevertheless, both novels explore depression as a concomitant of the amalgamation between love and avarice. Both Dostoevsky and Fitzgerald, through different settings, character and circumstances, have created a grandiose psychological portrait of unrequited love as well as depression through addiction and loss. The Gambler is a semi-autobiographical, first-person narrative novel written by Fyodor Dostoevsky following the life of Alexey