Marmeladov's Effect On His Family

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In Crime and Punishment, by Fyodor Dostoevsky, the character of Marmeladov is described as a poor alcoholic who had once had a respectable status in society. Marmeladov is first seen in a tavern, and he reveals that he is the principal reason why his family is in immense poverty, and his daughter has prostituted herself to support the family. He is eventually trampled by a carriage while drunk and dies. Through the incompetence of Marmeladov, Dostoevsky suggests that he is a sinner and is hurting his family, due to his crippling addiction to drinking alcohol. Marmeladov is characterized as an alcoholic, who will do anything to continue drinking alcohol, regardless of its effects on his life and family. He has fallen victim to alcohol, to …show more content…

Although Marmeladov used to be “a titular counsellor in rank,” he is now “clinging to [his] last trace of respectability,” due to his poverty and alcoholism (11). His family is in worse condition, living in “[a] very poor-looking room about ten paces long” (24). This small room is all they can afford because Marmeladov is out of a job and does not generate any income, only Katerina and Sonia do. Marmeladov makes this even worse by “dr[inking] it all,” which reduces the amount of money they have further (26). His children stay “hungry” while he drinks alcohol in the tavern, and his wife is described as “terribly emaciated” (24, 26). Through the damage evident in the Marmeladov family, Dostoevsky suggests that there are no positive effects to alcohol, it only rips apart families. The family of Marmeladov is a commentary by Dostoevsky on the effects of alcohol on family life, and his disdain for the excessive use of it. The addiction leads to the life of Sonia being wasted at an early age, because the only way she could survive without Marmeladov providing an income was by prostituting herself. The actions of Marmeladov bring harm to the welfare of his family, especially to his

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