In the text "Crime and Punishment", by Dostoyevsky, the main character named Raskolnikov shares similar emotions as to the personae of Andrew, a character that takes part in Karol Wojtyla's "The Jeweler's Shop". Both characters share similar views upon the topic of attraction and how this feeling eventually evolves into identifying their love as well as reasoning towards attraction for that person. In "Crime and Punishment" Raskolnikov's literary voice is of unawareness. As for Andrew in "The Jeweler's Shop" his persona expresses a literary voice of purpose and reassurance.
In “Crime and Punishment” Raskolnikov is attracted to Sofya Semyonovna Marmeladova (also known as Sonya). One of the first signs of attraction that is revealed through Raskolnikov, him truly being unaware of this attraction towards Sonya, is when Sonya turns up
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Andrew in particular shares an insightful perspective in the relationship he has with Teresa, the woman with whom he admits to be attracted to. Andrew shares that, “After a time I realized she had come into the focus of my attention, I mean, I had to be interested in her, and at the same time I accepted the fact that I had to.” (Wojtyla, p. 24) From this quote Andrew shares a sense of purpose as well as reassurance as he identifies that what is happening to him lead to her, Teresa, being his ‘life’s companion’. However, from what he finds to be a sign towards his future, due to his attraction, he also shares that he was not however completely drawn to her as many would find true love be like but reassures himself and collects his thoughts in the realization that he does want her and would not want to change that. His attraction to her is uncontrollable and from this inability to change his feelings he knows that this, that he is meant for Teresa by some unknown spiritual force; as this force is constantly pulling him to her he knows to accept
...ompletely and genuinely. Raskolnikov ‘s soul is no longer under the weight of his crime and he is finally able to embrace her love and give love in return.
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.
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.
Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment explores the themes of guilt and the consequences of committing immoral actions. Of all the deep, thought-provoking concepts put forth in Crime and punishment, the idea that guilt can be an adequate punishment more valid than any punishment executed by society as a whole is the most far reaching and supported by the novel. Crime and Punishment follows Rodian Raskolnikov’s life from just a few days before he commits two brutal murders to when he confesses his crimes and is convicted and sentenced to several years in prison. Initially, Rodian had successfully gotten away with the murder of two people. Raskolnikov’s guilt-driven madness has given him an immunity and even investigators he confesses to think he couldn’t be guilty. As a result, his guilt continues to feed on his conscience to the point where he is constantly miserable. Raskolnikov’s true punishment is the futility of his attempt to escape the guilt of his actions without confessing and feeling adequately punished.
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.
In the novel, Crime and Punishment, the principle character, Raskolnikov, has unknowingly published a collection of his thoughts on crime and punishment via an article entitled "On Crime." Porfiry, who is trying to link Raskolnikov to a murder, has uncovered this article, read it, and tells Raskolnikov that he is very interested in learning about his ideas. Porfiry brings Raskolnikov into this conversation primarily to find out more about Raskolnikov's possible involvement in the crime. Raskolnikov decides to take him up on the challenge of discussing his theory, and embarks into a large discussion of his philosophy of man.
At the end of the novel Raskolnikov is sitting in a prison cell in Siberia without family, he only has a former prostitute, Sonia, at his side to keep him company. He has murdered two women because of his poverty, one is a pawnbroker and the other Lizaveta. He went days avoiding the law especially Porfry. Even though his mother, his sister Dounia, and his friend Razmuzin tried to help him through his sickness he still confessed after the daughter of Marmeledov, a former government employee whom he met at a tavern, told him to confess.
Crime and Punishment revolves around main character, Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov, and the physical, mental, and spiritual repercussions he endures after he commits murder. In other words, “the whole novel is built around the unique process of disintegration in the hero's soul” (Bem 2). When we first meet Raskolnikov, we learn he is a relatively young ex-student who has fallen into the poverty stricken slums of St. Petersburg, Russia. He has become unhealthily anti-social and bitter towards humanity and is now trapped within and tortured by his own thoughts. It is revealed that he is struggling internally with the idea of murdering a pawnbroker, Alena Ivanovna, with...
Due to his murder, he had no concern or care for anyone. By killing two women and taking their lives away how could Raskolnikov possess sincere feelings for anyone? Raskolnikov’s lack of care influences how he views his family: “I hate them, I feel a physical hatred for them” (276). Raskolnikov has entirely lost love. If he has deep hatred towards those people most dear to him, then he must greatly lack love. But by Sonia’s actions, Raskolnikov is able to once again feel love. Sonia genuinely loves him. When confessing about the murder, Raskolnikov learns “how great [is] her love for him” (417). He begins to understand how Sonia feels and this realization strikes remorse in him. He becomes upset with himself because “he had made her more miserable” (420). Here Raskolnikov is concerned about Sonia. Earlier Raskolnikov had no feelings for anyone, but now he begins to regret his actions and feels bad about making her cry. Sonia’s deep love for him radiates off of herself and affects Raskolnikov which makes him feel compassion towards her. He begins to understand Sonia’s feelings and intentions even more when he returns for her cross: “ Raskolnikov at that moment felt and knew once for all that Sonia was with him forever and would follow him to the ends of the earth” (521). Raskolnikov recognizes how true and perpetual Sonia’s love and concern for him is and will be. Her love gives him hope for a bright future and thus he starts
The main character in Crime and Punishment, Raskolnikov, has nihilistic ideas, which ultimately lead to his own suffering. Raskolnikov, an impoverished student, conceives of himself as being an extraordinary man who has the right to commit any crime. He believes that as an extraordinary man that he is beyond good and evil. Since he does not believe in God, he cannot accept any moral laws. To prove his theory, he murders an old pawnbroker and her step sister. Besides, he rationalizes that he has done society a favor by getting rid of the evil pawnbroker who would cheat people. Immediately after the murders, he begins to suffer emotionally. Raskolnikiv “[feels] a terrible disorder within himself. He [is] afraid of losing his control…” (Dostoevsky 95). He becomes ill and lies in his room in a semi-conscious state. As soon as he is well and can walk again, he goes out and reads about the crime in all the newspapers of the last few days. The sheer mention of the murder...
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.
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 his novel Crime and Punishment Fyodor Dostoevsky uses Raskolnikov as a vessel for several different philosophies that were particularly prominent at the time in order to obliquely express his opinions concerning those schools of thought. Raskolnikov begins his journey in Crime and Punishment with a nihilistic worldview and eventually transitions to a more optimistic one strongly resembling Christian existentialism, the philosophy Dostoevsky preferred, although it could be argued that it is not a complete conversion. Nonetheless, by the end of his journey Raskolnikov has undergone a fundamental shift in character. This transformation is due in large part to the influence other characters have on him, particularly Sonia. Raskolnikov’s relationship with Sonia plays a significant role in furthering his character development and shaping the philosophical themes of the novel.
Raskolnikov's article, "On Crime," is vital to the understanding of his beliefs. This article also has a profound effect on Crime and Punishment as a whole, the subject matter being one of the main themes of the novel. The idea of the "extraordinary man" is referred to literally throughout the book, but also notable is the subconscious effect the idea has on Raskolnikov. Sometimes Raskolnikov is not even aware of this influence. It is important to note originality, or the ability to "utter a new word," as a defining characteristic of the extraordinary man. Therefore, we must take into account the presence of similar ideas, those of Pisarev, Nietzsche, and nihilism, as these might bring to light the possibility that Raskolnikov is not original, a possibility that haunts him throughout the novel.
According to Raskolnikov’s theory in Fyodor Dostoevsky’s “Crime and Punishment”,there are two types of people that coexist in the world; the “Extraordinary” and the “Ordinary”. The ordinary men can be defined as “Men that have to live in submission, have no right to transgress the law, because they are ordinary.”(248). To the contrary “extraordinary” men are “Men that have a right to commit any crime and to transgress the law in any way , just because they are extraordinary”(248). Dostoevsky’s theory is evident through the characters of his novel. The main character, Raskolnikov, uses his theory of extraordinary men to justify contemplated murder. There is a sense of empowerment his character experiences with the ability to step over social boundaries. He is led to believe the killing of the pawnbroker is done for the perseverance of the greater good. It is ironic that character who is shown to be powerful in the early stages of the novel subsequently go on to show many weaknesses.