Judgment Day in Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment and O’Connor’s Revelation
Mankind is plagued by pride. Humans constantly compare themselves to one another and adjust their pride according to their observation of themselves in the world around them. Those who believe in an afterlife often incorporate their view of themselves and their morality into their perception of how they will be judged in the afterlife. Fyodor Dostoevsky and Flannery O’Connor, as writers and believers in the Christian religion, portray two characters that envision how they will be judged on judgment day. In “Dostoevskian Vision in Flannery O’Connor’s ‘Revelation,’” Norman McMillan effectively argues that O’Connor’s “Revelation” and the chapter about Marmeladov’s vision in Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment share striking similarities in their themes and the experiences of their characters.
In order to effectively draw the similarities of the two themes, McMillan supports his interpretation of the theme by accurately characterizing Marmeladov and setting the scene for Marmeladov’s vision in Part I, Chapter 2 of Crime and Punishment. As a responsible critic, McMillan must present the details of this chapter and name the theme in order to compare it with the theme of “Revelation.” A list of adjectives and actions that characterize Marmeladov and a description of Marmeladov’s circumstances help the reader understand the theme apparent in his vision of “that day ‘when God will call forth the blessed to be with him in Paradise’” (McMillan 17). Marmeladov is identified as a low-life in an utterly destitute position who acknowledges his own degradation. McMillan includes the actual text about Marmeladov’s vision to support his interpretation of t...
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...truly is through an act of violence. Gradually, like Marmeladov, she realizes that on judgment day, the first shall be last and the last shall be first. O’Connor and Dostoevsky developed two pieces of literature that inevitably awaken their readers. All their readers must face their own pride and prejudice both in relating with the characters’ feelings and admitting their own feeling of superiority over these flawed characters. Both of these brilliant writers effectively strike their readers with their shared idea that it is only by the grace of God that anyone can be saved.
Works Cited
McMillan, Norman. Flannery O’Connor Bulletin: Department of English and Speech. Milledgeville, GA: Georgia College, 1987.
O’Connor, Flannery. The Complete Stories. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1971.
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Engl. 12. Sect. 37
Often times in literature, we are presented with quintessential characters that are all placed into the conventional categories of either good or bad. In these pieces, we are usually able to differentiate the characters and discover their true intentions from reading only a few chapters. However, in some remarkable pieces of work, authors create characters that are so realistic and so complex that we are unable to distinguish them as purely good or evil. In the novel Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoevsky develops the morally ambiguous characters of Raskolnikov and Svidrigailov to provide us with an interesting read and to give us a chance to evaluate each character.
... himself in the service of others. Though Raskolnikov initially holds the belief that he is a higher being among others, his sense of regret and internal conflict after the murder shows otherwise. If Raskolnikov truly embodied the ubermensch as he envisioned himself to, he would show no sign of sorrow for bringing “happiness” to the rest of society, as well as providing justice for all the people Alyona Ivanovna has scammed. In Crime and Punishment, Raskolnikov’s sense of emotional and physiological regret works against him, and helps portray to readers his false sense of justice and self image. By using murder as a key event, Dostoevsky gives readers an opportunity to understand the protagonists’ logic and justification for killing, how the character would react in such extreme situations, and how those reactions reflect his view toward society and his own beliefs.
The Brothers Karamazov is an enthralling thriller about the strive for self-redemption in the eyes of God as well as in the hearts of the Russians. The murder of Fyodor Karamazov, a foolish and heartless savage who betrays his own sons of a father's care, venomously seeps its way into Dmitri, Ivan, and Alyosha's lives causing innocence to request fault and suffering. With intricate characterizations, Dostoevsky magnificently presents the internal agony that derives from a wavering spirit.
...eless, he essentially lived his life in a constant low point. Troy’s anger is undoubtedly misguided, but entirely permissible considering his hardships. The story of Troy Maxon begs the question: is it ever justifiable to pass judgment on someone without understanding his or her life story? After analyzing Troy’s struggle and resulting attitude, it seems that passing judgment is exceptionally risky. Without recognizing the early hardships of Troy’s life, it is easy to dismiss him and his cynical outlook. What can be learned from his story is evident. Never judge someone for his or her seemingly unwarranted attitude because there is a good chance it is completely defensible.
Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky was among those philosophical thinkers who grappled with the task of explaining why evil exists in a world created by a perfect god. Despite the powerful influence of Christianity in his early childhood and throughout his life, Dostoevsky encountered difficulties in answering this question, which he described, “Nature, the soul, God, love – all this is understood by the heart, not by the mind” (Gibson 1973, 9). Nevertheless, Dostoevsky not only felt obligated to discover a solution to the problem, but also “responsible to his fellow believers for its success or failure” (Gibson 1973, 169). This quest for a solution to the problem of theodicy ultimately led Dostoevsky to write The Brothers Karamazov, a novel that attempts to explain the need for evil in the world. In posing his solution to this problem, Dostoevsky explains the necessity of suffering for the realization of human redemption, as well as the role of Christ’s atoneme...
Rodion Raskolnikov is a murderer, a damning criminal. Yet, he also has a warm heart that no one can equal. This character of paradox, of contradictions, of irony, is the true Raskolnikov. He is the Jekyll, and he is the Hyde; the zenith and the nadir. This hallowed literature of human nature provides us with important moral lessons, and at the same time helps the reader understand Dostoevsky’s philosophy on society better. Raskolnikov is not entirely a cold-blooded murderer, since he still has a feeling of love: The love towards Sofya Marmeladov. In this paper, we will go in-depth of how Sofya has an impact on Raskolnikov, by discussing their similarities and differences.
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.
Troy is a very self-centered individual. He is only concerned with issues regarding him. For instance, he wants to be able to drive the trash trucks at his job like the white men do. In Act One, scene one, Troy tells Bono that he talked to his boss, Mr. Rand, about driving the trucks. “How come you got all the whites driving and the colored lifting?” (1332). If things in Troy’s life aren’t going the way he wants them to, he makes himself into the victim and searches for sympathy from others. In addition, if he ever does something erroneous, he never accepts responsibility, never admits his wrongdoing and no matter how much anguish he causes someone, he never apologizes for it.
Troy?s relationship with his father was one, which produced much tension, and had a strong influence on Troy?s relationships with his loved ones as an adult. He had very little respect for his father because his father did not, in Troy?s mind, make his family a priority. At an early age, Troy?s father beat him ?like there was no tomorrow? because he caught Troy getting ?cozy? with a girl (549; I,4). Troy said that ?right there is where [he became] a man? (549; I,4). It was at that moment that Troy made the decision to free himself from his father?s power. Despite the fact that he did eventually escape his father?s wrath, the struggle with his father?s aggressive behavior and lack of love resulted in a coldness that resided in Troy?s heart toward life and love. His father did not care about his children; children were there to work for the food that he ate first. Troy describes his feelings toward his father by saying, ?Sometimes I wish I hadn?t known my daddy. He ain?t cared nothing about no kids. A kid to him wasn?t nothing. All he wanted was for you to learn how to walk so he could start you to working? (548; I,4). Although Troy had very little respect for his father and vowed to be nothing like him, many of his father?s harsh personality traits show up in his own personality. Despite Troy?s continuous attempts to push himself away from anything he had ever known about his father, the inheritance of such irrational behavior was inevitable because it was all he had ever known. The inheritance of this angry behavior was, in turn, the cause of his damaging relationships with his own family. Just as Troy endured his father?s cruel ways, Troy?s family is left with no choice but to try to learn to live with his similar ways.
In Sophocles ' Oedipus the King, the themes of fate and free will are very strong throughout the play. Only one, however, brought about Oedipus ' downfall and death. Both points could be argued to great effect. In ancient Greece, fate was considered to be a rudimentary part of daily life. Every aspect of life depended and was based upon fate (Nagle 100). It is common belief to assume that mankind does indeed have free will and each individual can decide the outcome of his or her life. Fate and free will both decide the fate of Oedipus the King.
Epigenetics, which also means “above genetics”, is defined as the study of chemical reactions that take place in the organism as this one grows and develop. This chemical reaction activate and deactivate at certain time and location some parts of the genome. The video resulted extremely interesting because it shows how our body react to the epigenomes and how important is our lifestyle to our health and for the health of our next generations.
toward the black cause. Troy is the victim of a generation with limited opportunities in
As humans, we’re all sinners. Our psychological makeup and our position in society controls the way we act. Some of us have committed atrocious acts that we’re not proud of and those people have found themselves turning towards faith to turn their lives around so they can find redemption for what they have done. In both Fyodor
While confronting Dostoevsky’s Notes from Underground seems a difficult task initially, one must be able to transcend the elaborate diction and parodies, and comprehend the author himself, while also taking root the message Dostoevsky had originally intended in the time it was addressed. Understanding the author himself, along with the period in which the work was written, augments one’s overall discernment of the passage. In the age he wrote, Dostoevsky must have seemed eccentric and outlandish; nevertheless, looking back on him from today with a literary understanding of modernism, he appears ahead of his time. His central premise, although difficult to determine amongst the satire, is humanity’s necessity for freedom and religion, specifically Christianity.
Throughout the play, Oedipus tries to change his fate. When he confirms through two messengers and an oracle that he is destined to marry his mother and kill his father, he completely panics. He knows that is something he definitely wants to avoid, so he decided he would attempt to change his fate. But at that time, he did not realize that your fate is your fate and it will not change.