Demons by Fyodor Dostoevsky | Part 3

Inspired by the true story of a political murder that horrified Russians in 1869, Fyodor Dostoevsky conceived of Demons as a "novel-pamphlet" in which he would say everything about the plague of materialist ideology that he saw infecting his native land. What emerged was a prophetic and ferociously funny masterpiece of ideology and murder in pre-revolutionary Russia. The final image is one of a society **possessed by “demons” — radical ideas, spiritual emptiness, egoism, and cruelty — that destroy both individuals and communities**.

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**In essence:** *Demons* is not just about politics but about the **spiritual sickness of a generation**. Dostoevsky shows how ideas without moral grounding lead not to liberation, but to **murder, suicide, collapse, and despair