poverty

In the dimly lit streets of St. Petersburg, the sight of a sharply dressed man with an unsteady stride was an anomaly, especially when that man was Rodion Raskolnikov. A former law student, Raskolnikov was grappling with the consequences of his hapless actions, his soul tormented by the twin demons of guilt and desperation.

In the heart of Paris, there bloomed a distinct love story against the backdrop of a society in turmoil. The story is about a character gleaned from Victor Hugo's Magnum Opus, 'Les Misérables', named Fantine. A woman of ethereal beauty and purity, yet destined for a life of despair. She was the symbol of the oppressed, her life a cry for freedom from poverty and prejudice.

Jurgis Rudkus, now an old man, found himself walking the familiar streets of Chicago again. That city had been both a field of dreams and a pit of despair for him, a place that had promised opportunity but had only offered hardship and heartbreak.

In a time when life was harsh and unrelenting, there lived a boy and his loyal coon dog, Sounder. The boy was the eldest in a family of sharecroppers, suffocating under poverty’s weight. Sounder was the boy’s priceless companion, offering a most distinct bark echoing through the night, a comforting presence in the midst of their heartaches.

Once a man of refined position and nobility, Prince Dimitri Nekhlyudov found himself living among the conditions of the impoverished, struggling in the depths of servitude. Tasked with serving on a jury, he had been a party to the conviction of a prostitute, Maslova, whose identity he later came to recognize as a woman he had once wronged in his past.