Crime And Punishment Setting Essay

1097 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Character and their personality according to the setting in crime and punishment

It is clear that where you are brought up will shape and form the person you become. A simple example is how you speak. Comparing someone from the Georgia and Colorado; there’s a distinct difference in their pronunciation, and tone. People pick up mannerisms from those they’re surrounded by. This is also very noticeable in one’s ideas, and the way they act. Generally those from the South are thought to have more conservative views than someone from the West Coast. Who you are as a person is greatly influenced by setting you reside in. Fyodor Dostoevsky uses the setting in Crime and Punishment, to suggest that where, and how we live will change and influence who we are and the choices we will make. Dostoevsky uses the living conditions to demonstrate the different ways their environment affects characters such as Sonya, and Svidrigailov. Then through the social and cultural reform during the 1860’s in St. Petersburg, which is where Crime and Punishment is set, to demonstrate the mindset Raskolnikov carries when he commits the murder. Dostoevsky uses Sonya to demonstrate a positive outcome despite her impoverished life, which is demonstrated through her sacrifices for her family, and …show more content…

Based on their wealth and their living conditions, it changes the way they are brought up and their idea that come with that. Sonya is different in her ideas, because she is selfless, and loving and caring. Contrasted by the cold, immoral Svidrigailov, who uses his wealth to his advantage. Dostoevsky marvelously uses the setting to show the differences in environments can have a massive role in the development of people, in this case Raskolnikova, Sonya, and Svidrigailov. He wants readers to see how your vocations impact you life and help from you to be the person you are. Also to hold strong to you morals, as Sonya had so that you can be known for more than just you hard life

Show More
Related

  • Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime And Punishment

    1732 Words  | 4 Pages

    As the story unfolds, Dostoevsky introduces the reader to Raskolnikov, a troubled young man who is extremely isolated from those who surround him. He lives in a small, dingy, dusty, and dirty room in a small unattractive house. He lives in an abstract world neglecting the real. He is quite separate from all the people with whom he has contact. In the opening chapter, Raskolnikov is said to be, "so completely absorbed in himself, and isolated from his fellows that he dreaded meeting, not only his landlady, but any one at all" (1). People come physically close to him, but everyone is forced to remain distant mentally. He walks through the crowded, noisy, dirty streets of St. Petersburg physically but somehow he never does so mentally, moving through the streets like a zombie, not a man. He is not aware of his location and often jostles bewildered pedestrians. Therefore, at the outset of the novel Dostoevsky illustrates the apparent schism between the mind and body of Raskolnikov.

    Read More

  • Literary Techniques Used by Fyodor Dostoyevsky in Crime and Punishment

    2235 Words  | 5 Pages

    Dostoyevsky's writing in this book is such that the characters and setting around the main subject, Raskolnikov, are used with powerful consequences. The setting is both symbolic and has a power that affects all whom reside there, most notably Raskolnikov. An effective Structure is also used to show changes to the plot's direction and Raskolnikov's character. To add to this, the author's word choice and imagery are often extremely descriptive, and enhance the impact at every stage of Raskolnikov's changing fortunes and character. All of these features aid in the portrayal of Raskolnikov's downfall and subsequent rise.

    Read More

  • Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment

    1270 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Crime and Punishment, Dostoevsky gives the reader an inside look to the value system that he holds for himself, as well as the type of characteristics that he abhors in people as well as the characteristics that he admires in people. He uses characters in the novel to express his beliefs of what a person should be like in life to be a “good'; person. Specifically he uses Raskolnokv to show both good and bad characteristics that he likes in people. Also he uses Svidriglaiov and Luzin to demonstrate the characteristics that people should shun and his personal dislikes in people.

    Read More

  • Rationalizing Radicalism in "Crime and Punishment" vs. "Demons" by Dostoevsky

    1375 Words  | 3 Pages

    Dostoevsky was made aware of the problems with Nihilistic ideas while he was exiled in Siberia. Crime and Punishment was Dostoevsky’s first attempt at a psychological analysis of a person’s inner struggles to rationalize this radicalism. Raskolnikov represents that intelligentsia and is being used by Dostoevsky to portray and warn against succumbing to these ideals. Dostoevsky uses Raskolnikov’s life to illustrate the implications and applications of this Nihilist to the public and then expands upon it in Demons.

    Read More

  • Nihilist Philosophy

    1376 Words  | 3 Pages

    ... destroy and reinstate the bonds of family and Russian nationalism. Turgenev explores hoe this generational divide interacts with the division among classes and how the powers of the aristocracy affects the younger generation and feminine identity. Throught these interactions the power of love as redemption is seen in the relationship between Arkady and Katya as well as Anna and Bazarov. The women in Fathers and Sons symbolize the diversity found within the same class and generational margins these women challenge the men they encounter and cease power over their relationships. The struggle for power, between the sexes is dependent upon the roles and social standings of the perspective character. The female characters whether aristocratic or dependent, “mothers” or “daughters” find power in their gender and utilize their womanly intellect to find eventual resolve.

    Read More

  • Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment

    2299 Words  | 5 Pages

    Dostoevsky’s St. Petersburg is a large, uncaring city which fosters a western style of individualism. As Peter Lowe notes, “The city is crowded, but there is no communality in its crowds, no sense of being part of some greater ‘whole.’” Mrs. Raskolnikov initially notices a change in her son marked by his current state of desperate depression, but she fails to realize the full extent of these changes, even after he is convicted for the murder. The conditions and influences are also noticed by Raskolnikov’s mother who comments on the heat and the enclosed environment which is present throughout the city. When visiting Raskolnikov, she exclaims "I'm sure...

    Read More

  • Morally Ambiguous Characters in Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment

    779 Words  | 2 Pages

    Svidrigailov is one of the most unfathomable characters in Crime and Punishment. As the novel goes on, Svidrigailov’s pursuit of Dunya progresses into sheer harassment. After eavesdropping on Raskolnikov’s confession to Sonya, he uses his newly acquired information to lure Dunya into his room. Svidrigailov proceeds to promise help to Raskolnikov if she will give him her hand in marriage. He then threatens to rape her when she tries to run away. Right when Svidrigailov appears to be purely evil, he surprises us all when his rational side kicks in and allows Dunya to leave. Although he may seem to be the cold-hearted villain of the book, his good deeds cannot go unnoticed. It cannot be forgotten that he is willing to give Dunya the three thousand rubbles in his wife’s will and offers ten thousand rubbles to help Dunya because he thinks her marriage will be a disadvantage to her in the end. Once Katerina Ivanonva dies, Svidrigailov also promises to pay for the funeral arrangements and to provide for the children, who will be sent to an orphanage. Although...

    Read More

  • Analysis of Dostoevsky and Nietzsche's Literature

    5388 Words  | 11 Pages

    Dostoevsky’s crime and punishment, is set in Tsarist Russia in the 19th century. Rodya Raskolnikov, the main character, is a student at a University in St. Petersburg. By the early stages of the novel, he has dropped out of school and is left in his one room shanty, to ponder his own philosophical questions. He is poor, hungry and desperate for money. He begins to sell some of his possessions to a pawnbroker, Alyona Ivanovna, to gain money for his basic survival. He begins to see the poverty and desperation of St. Petersburg at this time. Rodya would begin to look at Alyona as a source of this problem. Alyona, in Rodya’s eyes, was profiting off of the poverty and misery of others by buying off their possession at unreasonably low prices. She would then horde the money for herself while the people outside of her own apartment starved to death. Raskolnikov decides to murder the pawnbroker for the sake of humanity. His plan is not deeply thought out in advance and i...

    Read More

  • Comparison of Raskolnikov and Svidrigailov in Crime and Punishment

    574 Words  | 2 Pages

    In his book Crime and Punishment, Dostoevsky explores the paths of two men, Raskolnikov and Svidrigailov. These two men encompass many similar problems and obstacles throughout their lives. Both commit murders and are faced with the long and mentally excruciating journey of seeking redemption. They also share many characteristics of their personalities. The reason that the outcomes of their lives are so drastically different is due to the fact that they have completely different perspectives on life.

    Read More

  • Analysis of Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

    1488 Words  | 3 Pages

    This shows that an idea like Raskolnikov's ordinary and extraordinary people can lead to horrible things like his murder of the two women but also hints at the fact it in the future may lead to a "great future deed". It is especially interesting to see that the idea put forth by Dostoevsky in the end is one of love being a transformative force. That this love comes from the severely religious Sonya, mirrors the idea of Christ's "new word" being love. Through careful examination of Raskolnikov's idea and its use as a metric for looking at the character one is better able to understand the novel, the character, and the possible larger implications of that message.

    Read More

  • Resurrection of Lazarus in Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment

    452 Words  | 1 Pages

    From the moment when Raskalnikov murders the old woman, his personality begins to change drastically. Dostoevsky challenges the reader to understand the madness which ensues by first demonstrating that the ideas and convictions to which Raskalnikov clung died along with the women. While the reader struggles with this realization, Dostoevsky incorporates the Biblical legend of Lazarus as a symbolic mirror for Raskalnikov's mind. By connecting the two, the reader encounters the foreshadowing of a rebirth of morals and beliefs, though what form this may assume remains cryptic. As references to Lazarus continue to occur, the feeling of parallelism increases in intensity. Just as Raskalnikov slowly struggled through madness, Lazarus lay dying of a terrible disease. When Lazarus eventually dies, Raskalnikov mimes this by teetering on the edge of insanity, the death of the mind. Eventually Sonya begins to pull Raskalnikov back to reality by relieving a portion of his guilt. As his Christ figure, she accomplishes this by providing the moral and spiritual sturdiness which Raskalnikov lost after his debasement during the murders. Sonya affects him not by active manipulation, but via her basic character, just as Christ personified his beliefs through the manner in which he lived his life. No matter what Raskalnikov says or does to her, she accepts it and looks to God to forgive him, just as Jesus does in the Bible. This eventually convinces Raskalnikov that what he did was in fact a crime and that he must repent for it and"seek atonement".

    Read More

  • Character Development in Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

    1278 Words  | 3 Pages

    It is apparent that the love between Sonia and Raskolnikov plays a crucial role in Crime and Punishment, pushing Raskolnikov in a direction he otherwise would not have gone. Dostoevsky uses their relationship as a tool to develop the philosophical themes in the novel and prompt profound changes in Raskolnikov’s character. Through their love, Dostoevsky demonstrates the importance of human relationships in finding and maintaining happiness. He also seeks to condemn nihilism and disprove the idea that one cannot make one’s own meaning in life by having Raskolnikov adopt Christian existentialism and find his purpose through Sonia.

    Read More

  • Fyodor Dostoevsky Crime And Punishment Analysis

    1980 Words  | 4 Pages

    Throughout the book, “Crime and Punishment,” by Fyodor Dostoevsky, we see key words that play major roles in the plot and development of the story. Five words, in particular, act as front-runners in symbolic themes; they are crime, punishment, poverty, suffering, and child. There is no doubt that these words play a major factor in the novel because not only do we see these words often, but also we experience the words as they are lived through by many of the major characters. What some readers might not realize is that Dostoevsky does not let only one of the words dominate a scene in the book; they are intermingled concepts. Where there is one of the five major words of the novel, Dostoevsky usually accompanies it with another. All five of the words are dependent of each other and without one of them, the novel would not demonstrate the story and powerful themes that Dostoevsky was looking to present.

    Read More

  • Social Contradictions in Fyodor Dostoyevsky's Notes from the Underground

    968 Words  | 2 Pages

    This man is the absolute opposite of everything society holds to be acceptable. Here is a man, with intelligent insight, lucid perception, who is self-admitted to being sick, depraved, and hateful. A man who at every turn is determined to thwart every chance fate offers him to be happy and content. A man who actively seeks to punish and humiliate himself. Dostoyevsky is showing the reader that man is not governed by values which society holds to be all important.

    Read More

  • Raskolnikov’s Theory of Extraordinary Men

    1286 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...nfess his crimes in front of everyone. By admitting to his crimes, God would forgive his sins. Sonya is an important individual in Raskolinkov’s life because she gives him strength to confess and redeem himself.. As they both found in love at the ending, Raskolinkov starts following the theory of the ordinary men. He has a relationship with another ordinary person who helps him understand morals.

    Read More

More about Crime And Punishment Setting Essay

Open Document