In such poor living conditions, those that the slums of Russia has to offer, the characters in Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment1 struggle, living day to day. Raskolnikov, the protagonist, experiences multiple layers of suffering (the thought of his murder causes him greater suffering than does his poverty) as does Sonia and Katerina Ivanovna (1). Through these characters as well as Porfiry Petrovitch, Dostoevsky wants the reader to understand that suffering is the cost of happiness and he uses it to ultimately obliterate Raskolnikov’s theory of an ubermensch which allows him to experience infinite love. The character’s suffering is thrown in the readers face right from the beginning. Raskolnikov’s suffering has two apparent layers, “he was crushed by poverty, but the anxieties of his position had of late ceased to weigh upon him” (1). It seems that the suffering caused from his current state of mind is so great that he does not even feel the suffering caused by his poverty. Throughout Crime and Punishment Raskolnikov’s main point of suffering is caused by his inability to let others know of the crime he has committed and as a result he alienates himself from those who show him compassion (156). As the novel progresses he decides to tell Sonia because expressing his crimes would alleviate some of the suffering, however, her morals encompass the idea that it is inconceivable to “go on living” without suffering and “expiation” (416). At this confession, the reader is presented with a righteous character (probably the most) that does not judge Raskolnikov for what he has done but instead sympathizes and tells him that turning himself in and bearing the consequences will relieve him of the suffering caused mentally. Anothe... ... middle of paper ... ... that he is the killer (338). Suffering and its role in Crime and Punishment are centered on Raskolnikov, his “infinite love” for Sonia, and the “repay[ment for] all her sufferings” (542). Sonia, the eighteen-year-old stepdaughter of Katerina Ivanovna, does not want to be sucked into prostitution but is forced to because of the living conditions her family is faced with (17). The situation that Raskolnikov believes Sonia to be in fosters the misconception that she is just as bad as he, thus he confronts her about it. Raskolnikov does not realize that his shallow thoughts add to her suffering and he takes her for granted until she becomes ill (540). Sonia’s suffering is final pivot that turns Raskolnikov’s perception of an ubermensch. Now, it is Raskolnikov turn to pay for his new life, the life that will only come after “great striving, [and] great suffering” (542).
As Rodya analyzes Luzhin’s character, he realizes that intellect unrestrained by moral purpose is dangerous due to the fact that many shrewd people can look right through that false façade. Luzhin’s false façade of intellect does not fool Rodya or Razumikhin, and although they try to convince Dunya into not marrying Luzhin, she does not listen. Rodya believes that Luzhin’s “moral purpose” is to “marry an honest girl…who has experienced hardship” (36). The only way he is able to get Dunya to agree to marry him, is by acting as if he is a very intellectual person, who is actually not as educated as he says he is. This illustrates the fact that Rodya knows that it is really dangerous because he knows that people can ruin their lives by acting to be someone they are not. Rodya also knows that people will isolate themselves from others just so that no one will find out their true personality. This is illustrated in through the fact that Luzhin tries to avoid Dunya and her mother as much as possible. The way he writes his letter, exemplifies his isolation, for Luzhin does not know how to interact with society. He has no idea how to write letters to his fiancée and his future mother in law. This reflects on Rodya’s second dream because he is unable to get Dunya married off to a nice person. He feels isolated from everyone else because his intellect caused him to sense that Luzhin is not telling the truth about his personality. However, it was due to his lack of moral purpose that Rodya berates his sister’s fiancé. He is unable to control himself, and due to his immoral act of getting drunk, Rodya loses all judgment and therefore goes and belittles Luzhin. Although Rodya’s intellectual mind had taken over and showed him that Luzhin wa...
Life is a wheel rolling inexorably forward through the temporal realm of existence. There are those that succumb to its motion and there are a certain few, like Christ and Napoleon, who temporarily grasp the wheel and shape all life around them. "Normal" people accept their positions in life and are bound by law and morality. Extraordinary people, on the other hand, supersede the law and forge the direction and progress of society. Crime and Punishment, by Fyodor Dostoevsky, is the story of a group of people caught beneath the wheel and their different reactions to their predicament. One individual, Raskolnikov, refuses to acknowledge the bare fact of his mediocrity. In order to prove that he is extraordinary, he kills two innocent people. This despicable action does not bring him glory or prove his superiority, but leads to both his physical, mental, and spiritual destruction. After much inner turmoil and suffering, he discovers that when a person transgresses the boundaries of morality and detaches himself from the rest of humanity, faith in God and faith in others is the only path to redemption.
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.
It was both this interesting plot and the philosophical nature of Dostoyevsky's writing, which initially attracted me to this book. It also features many themes and characters, as well as an effective setting. As a result, I will examine the literary techniques used in "Crime and Punishment" by Fyodor Dostoyevsky to convey the downfall and subsequent rise of the main character, Raskolnikov. I will begin by looking at how the setting formed Raskolnikov's character, and then discuss the structure and other characters of the novel. The setting plays a primary role in forming Raskolnikov's character.
The conflict between good and evil is one of the most common conventional themes in literature. Coping with evil is a fundamental struggle with which all human beings must contend. Sometimes evil comes from within a character, and sometimes other characters are the source of evil; but evil is always something that the characters struggle to overcome. In two Russian novels, Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment and Mikhail Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita, men and women cope with their problems differently. Raskolnikov in Crime and Punishment and the Master in The Master and Margarita can not cope and fall apart, whereas Sonya in Crime and Punishment and Margarita in The Master and Margarita, not only cope but pull the men out of their suffering.
Although the novel begins by focusing on the crime itself, the majority of the book discusses Raskolnikov's struggle through denial and redemption after the murder has been committed. His own "greatness" leads to his denial of God, and his attempt to suppress his conscience causes insanity and sickness. However these negative consequences force him to acknowledge his rectitude and realize his need for confession.
In order to further the discussion that socioeconomic status is correlated with an elevated level of suffering, Raskolnikov, in Crime and Punishment, experiences similar levels of suffering due to his extreme financial poverty. When explaining his theory to Porfiry, that was published in the newspaper on the social divisions of man, Raskolnikov acknowledges that the “extraordinary man has the right...to overstep certain obstacles” while the “ordinary” man will “transgress” the law, ultimately leading to an amplified level of general suffering (Dostoevsky 260-61). Some humans are more susceptible to suffering when compared to others and Raskolnikov’s situation supports a complementary idea. Because of his close relationship with poverty, Raskolnikov
First, Dostoevsky gives the reader the character, Raskolnokov. He is the main character, whom Fyodor uses to show two sides of people their admirable side and their disgusting side. He loves Raskolnokov, which is why Fyodor uses Raskolnokov’s point of view throughout the whole novel. Personally, Fyodor dislikes some of his qualities but understands that all people are plagued with some bad traits, and that Raskolnokv is trying to make emends for some of his wrong doings, i.e. the murder of the pawnbroker and her sister. He knows that what he did was wrong and is willing to suffer for his crime, and he does throughout the whole book with his constant depression. Dostoesky believes in punishment for your crimes, this is why he shows Raskolnokov suffering through most of the novel, to show his great love for penance. Dostoevsky likes the kind giving nature of people; this is why he portrays the main character as a kind, gentle, and giving, person. Often, Raskolnokov thinks only of others benefits such as when he helped Katerina by giving her all his money for Marmelodov, as well as his caring about what happens to his sister with her marriage to Luzhin. Raskolnokov hates Luzhin’s arrogant and pompous attitude, which reflects Dostoevsky’s animosity of the same qualities in people in the real world.
In Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, Raskalnikov undergoes a period of extreme psychological upheaval. By comparing this death and rebirth of Raskalnikov's psyche to the story of the resurrection of Lazarus, Dostoevsky emphasizes not only the gravity of his crimes, but also the importance of acceptance of guilt.
In Chapter IV, Raskolnikov encounters a young girl that represents the motif of self-sacrifice through her potential of becoming a prostitute. Raskolnikov first encounters the girl on page 57, when the sight of an older man pursuing her interrupts his thoughts of his mother’s recent letter. He observes the girl and finds her current state peculiar. Established through imagery, the desolate state of the young girl is described as “wearing a little silk dress of thin material, but she had it on in a very odd manner with hardly any of its fasteners done, and in behind, just where the skirt began, at her waist, it was torn; a whole piece of material had come away and hung loose” (57). The ‘torn skirt’ gives a typical image of what young women and girls looked like in brothels in third-world countries.
Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment begins with Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov living in poverty and isolation in St. Petersburg. The reader soon learns that he was, until somewhat recently, a successful student at the local university. His character at that point was not uncommon. However, the environment of the grim and individualistic city eventually encourages Raskolnikov’s undeveloped detachment and sense of superiority to its current state of desperation. This state is worsening when Raskolnikov visits an old pawnbroker to sell a watch. During the visit, the reader slowly realizes that Raskolnikov plans to murder the woman with his superiority as a justification. After the Raskolnikov commits the murder, the novel deeply explores his psychology, yet it also touches on countless other topics including nihilism, the idea of a “superman,” and the value of human life. In this way, the greatness of Crime and Punishment comes not just from its examination of the main topic of the psychology of isolation and murder, but the variety topics which naturally arise in the discussion.
...l […] his passing from one world into another” (542). Without Raskolnikov’s relationship with Sonia it would have been impossible for him to become this new man, to convert to Christian existentialism and find happiness and meaning in life.
Within the tortured mind of a young Russian university student, an epic battle rages between two opposite ideologies - the conservative Christianity characteristic of the time, and a new modernist humanism gaining prevalence in academia. Fyodor Dostoevsky in the novel Crime and Punishment uses this conflict to illustrate why the coldly rational thought that is the ideal of humanism represses our essential emotions and robs us of all that is human. He uses the changes in Raskolnikov's mental state to provide a human example of modernism's effect on man, placing emphasis upon the student's quest for forgiveness and the effect of repressed emotion. The moral side of Raskolnikov's mind requires absolution in a Christian manner. This need obliviates his claim to be a Nietzschean superman, and illustrates that all humans have a desire for morality.
...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.
The epilogue of the novel, Crime and Punishment, is a much-criticized and misunderstood aspect of Doestevsky's novel. The truth is that it is vital to understanding of the story, and the central themes. Raskolnikov moves from a state of Russian nihilism and fully emboldened by his theory to one where he finally admits, to himself, that he has committed a crime and has erred not only just in the eyes of the law but also in his own eyes-according to his own moral code. This is seen by his dream. He realizes the full implications of his theory. His journey to redemption has now brought him to the point where he can begin to revive his spiritual well-being. Dostoevsky's objective is now complete also. He has written a story to warn young individuals against the danger of Russian nihilism that he saw pervading his surroundings. The final installment in this work also serves to further exemplify how the love between Raskolnikov and Sonia, with their vastly differing perspectives on life, is the crux and core of the story. It is the focus point, and without this important aspect the story would not have been so successful. Dostoevsky embodies all that he considers good in the character and actions of Sonia. He obviously believes in religion deeply as an excellent and beneficial force for existence. He believes in charity and self-sacrifice, even altruism. Forgiveness and understanding are also prime virtues emblazoned on the character of Sonia. It is these characteristics that D. strives to show can bring redemption to R. Through his recollection of the dream, and the scene of him falling at the feet of Sonia and hugging her, at that point finally beginning to truly love her, we see a changed man. A man for whom their is