How does Poor Folk portray the psychological effects of poverty?

In his debut novella Poor Folk (1846), Fyodor Dostoyevsky distinguishes his work from earlier literary depictions of poverty by focusing on the psychological, rather than merely material, consequences of destitution.1

While previous portrayals—such as those by Nikolay Gogol—often featured comic characters who lacked self-awareness, Dostoyevsky’s protagonist, Makar Devushkin, is deeply self-conscious. As a poor copying clerk living in squalor, Devushkin experiences profound "agonies of humiliation" stemming from his social and economic status. This internal suffering is central to the narrative, as the character is acutely aware of his own degradation and is even offended by depictions of poverty that fail to capture the depth of his psychological pain. Through this epistolary format, Dostoyevsky highlights how poverty strips individuals of their dignity and forces them into a state of constant, painful self-reflection.1