It might be helpful to review the history of the Bolshevik movement and the events of the revolutions of 1905 and 1917 (and the events that followed), in order to determine whether Dostoevsky's Nihilists and their doings are as predictive as many scholars claim. Also, some study of criminal and aberrant psychology could help to understand how accurate, in terms of adherence to human nature, the novel's more bizarre characters are.

Consideration could also be given to the structure of the novel, since it does not follow a strictly linear pattern. Do the passages of antecedent information, for example, confuse the reader, or are they helpful in clearing up matters at those points in the text?

1. Is Kirilov's "philosophy" (which many believe to reflect at least some of Dostoevsky's thoughts) too self-contradictory and complicated to be accepted?

Do his extreme statements such as "He [God] does not exist...