Raskolyevsky's Mental Effects Of The Dream

1082 Words3 Pages

Before Raskolnikov murders the pawnbroker, he has a vivid nightmare filled with subconscious memories childhood memories and from recent encounters with various people. In the dream, Raskolnikov is a child once again taking a walk with his father in his hometown. The main events of the dream occur at the drinking house Raskolnikov and his father would pass on their walk through town (Dostoyevsky 67). The drinking house is a source of fear for the young Raskolnikov due to the “hoarse and ugly singing, and…many drunken and frightening characters” (Dostoyevsky 67). As the young Raskolnikov nears the drinking house, he sees “a small, thin, greyish peasant jade” harnessed to a massive cart which is being filled with drunken peasants (Dostoyevsky …show more content…

The effects of the dream on Raskolnikov are so great, Dostoyevsky even comments before the nightmare how “dreams such as these…invariably remain in the memory long afterwards, and have a powerful effect on the individual’s deranged and already stimulated organism” (Dostoyevsky 67). Even before the murder, Raskolnikov’s mental health was in a fragile state. His mind was in constant turmoil over whether or not to commit the crime; part of Raskolnikov wanted to prove his superiority above others while another part of him was horrified at the idea of actually murdering another …show more content…

His poor physical health makes sense when considering the emotionally charged nightmare and the power struggle between his subconscious and conscious mind. Raskolnikov’s constant mental stress and subconscious fear plague him in his dreams. Despite his poor state of physical health, Raskolnikov feels a sense of mental peace and even prays to the Lord to “show me my path and I will renounce this accursed…dream of mine” (Dostoyevsky 74). This sense of peace is only an allusion, however, and Raskolnikov ends up making a “fatal renunciation of the child of the beaten-horse dream” (Mortimer 111). Raskolnikov ends up not renouncing his dream of murder as he prayed for but rather the dream of the child within him who still felt pity and compassion for

Open Document