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Crime and Punishment

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Crime and Punishment (Russian: Преступление и наказание) is a novel written by Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. First published in a journal named The Russian Messenger, it appeared in twelve monthly installments in 1866,["http://www1.umn.edu/lol-russ/hpgary/Russ3421/lesson9.htm" University of Minnesota - Study notes for Crime and Punishment] - (retrieved on 1 May 2006) and was later published as a novel.["http://classiclit.about.com/cs/toppicks/tp/aatp_crimepunsh.htm" About: Crime and Punishment] - List of Top 10 editions of Crime and Punishment(retrieved ON 1 May 2006) Along with Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace, the novel is considered one of the best-known and most influential Russian novels of all time.["http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,6109,711520,00.html" Guardian Unlimited Books] - List of Top 100 books ever written (retrieved on 1 May 2006)

Crime and Punishment focuses on Raskolnikov, an impoverished student who formulates a plan to kill a hated money-lender, thereby ridding the world of her evil. Exhibiting some symptoms of megalomania, Raskolnikov thinks himself to be a gifted man, similar to Napoleon. Being an extraordinary man, he feels justified in his decision to murder, as he exists outside the moral constraints that affect "ordinary" people. Feeling slighted that he is forced to pawn a watch at a much lower price than its value, Raskolnikov formulates a plan to kill the money-lender. However, immediately after the crime, Raskolnikov becomes ill, and is troubled by the memory of his actions. Crime and Punishment portrays Raskolnikov's gradual realisation of his crimes, his latent desire to confess, and how his actions lead him to an irrational state of mind. Moreover, Raskolnikov's desire to protect his sister Dunya from unappealing suitors, and also his unexpected love for a destitute prostitute are told, as Raskolnikov tries to receive redemption for his actions.

Contents

Background

Dostoyevsky began work on Crime and Punishment in the summer of 1865. He was in serious financial difficulty from gambling, and owed money to debtors. He signed an agreement with F.T. Stellovsky ensuring that Dostoyevsky would hand Stellovksy a manuscript by 1 November 1866. [ReadingGroupGuides - Crime and Punishment] - Background of Crime and Punishment (retrieved 4 May 2006) In response to this, Dostoyevsky had two ideas for novels: one was to be called "The Drunkards", and chronicled the "problem of drunkenness"; the other was based around the notion of a "psychological account of a crime". However, the two works soon merged into one; indeed, the Marmaledov family in Crime and Punishment were first conceived with the intention of being characters in "The Drunkards".["ClassicNote: About Crime and Punishment"] - Literary notes for Crime and Punishment (retrieved 4 May 2006)

Structure

The symmetry of Crime and Punishment
The symmetry of Crime and Punishment

Crime and Punishment is divided into six parts, with an epilogue. The notion of duality in Crime and Punishment has been commented upon, with the suggestion that there is a degree of symmetry to the book. The novel has 6 chapters, and "certain key episodes" are distributed in one half of the novel, and then again in the other half. Edward Wasiolek has likened the structure of Crime & Punishment to a "flattened X", saying:

Crime and Punishment is written from a third person omniscient perspective,["Sparknotes: Crime and Punishment: Key Facts"] - Literary notes about Crime and Punishment (retrieved 1 May 2006). It is told primarily from the point of view of Raskolnikov, however it does switch to the perspective of Svidrigailov, Razumikhin, and Dunya throughout the novel.

Wordplay

Dostoyevsky wrote various instances of wordplay, or double meanings, in to Crime and Punishment.

In the original Russian text, the names of the major characters in Crime and Punishment have something of a double meaning. However, these are not seen when translated to different languages.

Name Word Meaning (in Russian)
Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov raskol a schism, or split
Pyotr Petrovich Luzhin luzha a puddle
Dmitri Prokofych Razumikhin razum reason, intelligence
Alexander Grigorievich Zamyotov zametit to notice
Semyon Zakharovich Marmeladov marmelad marmalade/jam
Arkady Ivanovich Svidrigailov svidrigailov a Lithuanian prince

Plot summary

The novel portrays the murder of a miserly, aged pawnbroker and her younger sister by a destitute Saint Petersburg student named Raskolnikov, and the emotional, mental, and physical effects that follow.

After falling ill with fever and lying bedridden for days, Raskolnikov is overcome with paranoia and begins to imagine that everyone he meets suspects him of the murder; the knowledge of his crime eventually drives him mad. Along the way, however, he meets the prostitute Sonya Semyonovna, with whom he falls in love. Dostoevsky uses this relationship as an allegory of God's love for fallen humanity—and the redemptive power of that love—but only after Raskolnikov has confessed to the murder and been sent to imprisonment in Siberia.

Apart from Raskolnikov's fate, the novel, with its long and diverse list of characters, deals with themes including charity, family life, atheism, alcoholism, and revolutionary activity, with Dostoevsky highly critical of contemporary Russian society. Although Dostoevsky rejected socialism, the novel also appears to be critical of the capitalism that was making its way into Russian society at that time.

Raskolnikov believed that he was a "super-human," that he could justifiably perform a despicable act—the killing of the pawn broker—if it led to him being able to do more good through the act. Throughout the book there are examples: he mentions Napoleon many times, thinking that for all the blood he spilled, he did good. Raskolnikov believed that he could transcend this moral boundary by killing the money lender, gaining her money, and using it to do good. He argued that had Isaac Newton or Johannes Kepler had to kill one or even a hundred men in order to enlighten humanity with their laws and ideas, it would be worth it.

Raskolnikov's real punishment is not the labour camp he is condemned to, but the torment he endures throughout the novel. This torment manifests itself in the aforementioned paranoia, as well as his progressive realisation that he is not a "super-human", as he could not cope with what he had done.

Characters in \"Crime and Punishment\"

Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov

Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov, (Russian: Родион Романович Расколников) variously called Rodya and Rodka, is the protagonist from whose perspective the story is primarily told. The reader is told that he was a student, now fallen out, who is living in abject poverty in a top-floor flat in the slums of Saint Petersburg. Despite the name of the novel it does not deal with his crime and its formal punishment but with Raskolnikov's internal struggle and failing justification of his actions. The murder is committed in the belief that he is strong enough to deal with a murder [based on his paper/thesis, "On Crime"], that he is a Napoleon, but his paranoia and guilt soon engulf him. It is only in the epilogue that his formal punishment is realised, having decided to confess and end his alienation. His name derives from the Russian word raskolnik, meaning “schismatic” or “divided,” an allusion to Raskolnikov's self-imposed schism from Russian society, as well as his own split personality and constantly changing emotional state.

Sofya Semyonovna Marmeladova

Sofya Semyonovna Marmeladova, (Russian: Софья Семёновна Мармеладова) variously called Sonya and Sonechka, is the daughter of a drunk, Semyon Zakharovich Marmeladov, Raskolnikov meets in a tavern at the beginning of the novel. It is not until Semyon's death, and Sonya's thanks for Raskolnikov's generosity, that the two characters meet. She has been driven into prostitution by the habits of her father, but she is still strongly religious. Rodion finds himself drawn to her to such an extent she is the first person to whom he confesses his crime. She supports him even though she is friends with one of the victims (Lizaveta). She encourages him to take up faith and confess. He does, and after his confession she follows him to Siberia where she lives in the same town as the prison; it is here that Raskolnikov begins his spiritual rebirth.

Other characters

  • Arkady Ivanovich Svidrigailov (Аркадий Иванович Свидригайлов) - Sensual, depraved, and wealthy former employer and current pursuer of Dunya, suspected of multiple acts of murder, who overhears Raskolnikov's confessions to Sonya. With this knowledge he torments both Dunya and Raskolnikov but does not inform the police. When Dunya tells him she could never love him (after attempting to shoot him) he lets her go and commits suicide. Despite his apparent malevolence, Svidrigailov is similar to Raskolnikov in regard to his random acts of charity. He fronts the money for the Marmeladov children to enter an orphanage (after both their parents die) and leaves the rest of his money to his rather young fiancée.
    • 

  • Dmitri Prokofych Razumikhin (Дмитрий Прокофьич Разумихин) - Raskolnikov's loyal, good-natured and only friend. Raskolnikov repeatedly entrusts the care of his family over to Razumikhin, who lives up to his word. He and Dunya ultimately fall in love and marry.
    • 

  • Katerina Ivanovna Marmeladova (Катерина Ивановна Мармеладова) - Semyon Marmeladov's sick and (understandably) ill-tempered (second) wife, step-mother to Sonya. She drives Sonya into prostitution in a fit of rage, but later regrets it. Following Marmeladov's death she becomes insane and dies shortly after.
    • 













    Analysis
    
The behavior of Raskolnikov throughout the book can also be found in other works of Dostoevsky, such as Notes from Underground and The Brothers Karamazov, (his behavior is most similar to Ivan Karamazov from The Brothers Karamazov).  He creates suffering for himself by killing the pawnbroker and living so destitutely despite his ability to get a good job.  Razumikhin was in the same situation as Raskolnikov and lived to a large degree better, and when Razumikhin offered to get him a job, Raskolnikov refused; he led on the police that he was the murderer, even though they had no evidence of it.  He constantly tries to reach and defy the boundaries of what he can or cannot do (throughout the book he is always measuring his own fear, and mentally trying to talk himself out of it), and he commonly interprets his depravity (referring to his irrationality and paranoia) as an affirmation of himself as a transcendent conscience and a rejection of rationality and reason.  This is a theme common in existentialism; interestingly enough Friedrich Nietzsche, in Twilight of the Idols praised Dostoevsky's writings despite the theism present in it: "Dostoevsky, the only psychologist, by the way, from whom I had anything to learn; he is one of the happiest accidents of my life, even more so than my discovery of Stendhal." Walter Kaufmann considered Dostoevsky's works to be the inspiration for Franz Kafka's "The Metamorphosis".  Raskolnikov believes that only after defying morality and the law through killing some one can he be one of the greats, like Napoleon (he left most of the money in the pawnbroker's house).  Dostoevsky also uses Sofya to show how only belief in God can cure man's depravity, which is where Dostoevsky differs from many other existentialists.  Though this particular philosophy is unique to Dostoevsky, because of its emphasis of Christianity and existentialism (whether or not Dostoevsky was a true existentialist is debated), similar themes can be seen in writings by Jean Paul Sartre, Albert Camus, Herman Hesse and Franz Kafka.
    

The novel's epilogue contains several references to stories from the New Testament, including the story of Lazarus, whose death and rebirth parallel Raskolnikov's spiritual death and rebirth; and the Book of Revelation, mirrored in a dream Raskolnikov has of a nihilistic plague turning into a world-wide epidemic.
    


    Major themes
    

    Salvation through suffering
    
Crime and Punishment illustrates the theme of attaining salvation through suffering, a common feature in Dostoevsky's work. This is the (mainly Christian) notion that the act of suffering has a purifying effect on the human spirit allowing for salvation in God. A character who embodies this theme is Sofya, who maintains enough faith to guide and support Raskolnikov despite her own immense suffering. While it may seem grim, it is a relatively optimistic notion in the realm of Christian morality. For example, even the originally malevolent Svidrigailov is able to perform extreme acts of charity following the suffering induced by Dunya's complete rejection. Dostoevsky holds to the idea that salvation is a possible option for all people, even those who have sinned grievously. It is the realization of this fact that leads to Raskolnikov's confession. Although Dunya could never love Svidrigailov, Sonya loves Raskolnikov and exemplifies the trait of ideal Christian forgiveness, allowing Raskolnikov to confront his crime and accept his punishment.

    Christian existentialism
    
A central idea in Christian existentialism is defining the moral boundaries of human action within a God ruled world. Raskolnikov examines the set boundaries and decides that an ostensibly immoral act is justifiable under the condition that it leads to something incredibly great, a hallmark of utilitarianism. However, Dostoevsky rules against such ambitious thinking by having Raskolnikov crumble and fail in the aftermath of his crime.
    


    Symbols
    

    The Dreams
    
Rodya's dreams always have a symbolic meaning, which suggests a psychological view. In the dream about the horse, the mare has to sacrifice itself for the men who are too much in a rush to wait. This could be symbolic of women sacrificing themselves for men, just like Rodya's belief that Dunya is sacrificing herself for Rodya by marrying Luzhin.  Some critics have suggested this dream is the fullest single expression of the whole novel,Monas, Sidney, "Afterword: The Dream of the Suffering Horse," from his translation containing the nihilistic destruction of an innocent creature and Rodion's suppressed sympathy for it (although the young Rodion in the dream runs to the horse, he still murders the pawnbroker soon after waking).
The dream is also mentioned when Rodya talks to Mermeladov. He states that his daughter, Sonya, has to sell her body to earn a living for their family. The dream is also a blatant warning for the impending murder.
    


    The Cross
    
Sonya gives Rodya a cross when he goes to turn himself in. This cross is suffering. He takes his pain upon him by carrying the cross through town, like Jesus. Sonya carried the cross up until then, which indicates that, as literally mentioned in the book, she suffers for him, in a semi-Christ-like manner. Sonya and Lizaveta had exchanged crosses and become spiritual sisters, originally the cross was Lizaveta's - so Rodya carries Lizaveta's cross, the cross of his innocent victim, whom he didn't intend to kill. Also, Rodya sees that the cross is made of cypress, which is a cross that symbolizes the ordinary and plain population, and by taking that particular cross he then admits that he's a plain human being, not a Nietzschean übermensch. Finally, the name Rodya itself resembles the English word "rood," still used for "cross" at the time the novel was written.
    


    St. Petersburg
    
This could be a symbol for Rodya's mind or his mental state. It's very confusing, dirty and disgusting. Even Rodya gets disgusted by the sight of it.  The city is filled with prostitutes, symbolizing its utter social decadence.  Sidney Monas likened its appearance to imagery found in T. S. Eliot's The Waste Land,Monas, Sidney, "Afterword: The Dream of the Suffering Horse," from his translation another example of its grotesque demeanor.  Indeed, the city plays such an important part in the novel that it is almost a character in itself.
    


    English translations
    
There have been several translations of Crime in Punishment into English.
    


    

    Movie versions
    
There have been dozens of film adaptions of the novel.  Some of the best-known are:
    


    

    Notes
    

    


    References
    
Text

    • Dostoevsky, Fyodor translation by McDuff, David (2002).  Crime and Punishment.  London: Penguin Books.
    

    See also
    


    External links
    



    

    


    


    


    


    


    


    


    


    


    


    


    


    



     



    

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