The Possessed is a testimonial of life in Imperial Russia in the late 19th century. Dostoyevsky casts a critical eye on both the radical idealists, portraying their ideas and ideological foundation as demonic, and the conservative establishment"s ineptitude in dealing with those ideas and their social consequences. The books five primary characters represent different ideologies and by exploring their philosophies Dostoyevsky describes the political chaos seen in 19th century Russia. Fyodor Dostoyevsky was a Russian writer and philosopher whose literary works explore human psychology in the context of the troubled political, social, and spiritual atmosphere of 19th-century Russia.