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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
 
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
  
'''''Crime and Punishment''''' (''Преступление и наказание'') is a [[novel]] written in [[1866]] by [[Russia|Russian]] author [[Fyodor Dostoevsky]]. The novel was Dostoevsky's first great novel and signaled his emergence as one of the world's greatest writers. The storyline was reported based on a story of a murder in the newspaper that caught his attention. The central narrative violates the traditional technique of the detective story. Unlike the traditional "whodunit," the plot begins with the commission of a crime. The reader knows from the beginning who committed the crime. The question that Dostoevsky wants to examine is why he commits the crime.
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'''''Crime and Punishment''''' (''Преступление и наказание'') is a [[novel]] written and published in serial form in the Russian Herald in [[1866]] by [[Russia|Russian]] author [[Fyodor Dostoevsky]]. The novel was Dostoevsky's first great novel and signaled his emergence as one of the world's greatest writers. The storyline was reported based on a story of a murder in the newspaper that caught his attention. The central narrative violates the traditional technique of the detective story. Unlike the traditional "whodunit," the plot begins with the commission of a crime. The reader knows from the beginning who committed the crime. The question that Dostoevsky wants to examine is why he commits the crime.
  
  
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Raskolnikov's story is only the central plotline. However, the rest of the novel represents variations on the theme of sacrifice and redemption. Dostoevsky weaves the various narrative threads together to demonstrate his conviction, later expressly stated in ''The Brothers Karamazov'', that "we are all responsible for all." This is not simply a moral judgment on his part, but an acknowledgment that what we take to be our individual lives are deeply influenced by the actions of others, for good or for ill. There are numerous examples, but the two main ones are Dunya's sacrifice to save her brother by her engagement to Luzhin, and Sonya's sacrifice of her virtue and her place in "honorable" society by becoming a prostitute to save her family from financial ruin.
 
Raskolnikov's story is only the central plotline. However, the rest of the novel represents variations on the theme of sacrifice and redemption. Dostoevsky weaves the various narrative threads together to demonstrate his conviction, later expressly stated in ''The Brothers Karamazov'', that "we are all responsible for all." This is not simply a moral judgment on his part, but an acknowledgment that what we take to be our individual lives are deeply influenced by the actions of others, for good or for ill. There are numerous examples, but the two main ones are Dunya's sacrifice to save her brother by her engagement to Luzhin, and Sonya's sacrifice of her virtue and her place in "honorable" society by becoming a prostitute to save her family from financial ruin.
  
Dunya's sacrifice is, ironically, an element in Pulkheria's plan for Raskolnikov to become the family savior. According to her plan, Raskolnikov will go to university, become rich and successful, and bring honor and wealth to the family. She professes to support him from her undying love, which she uses to manipulate him to accept the role that she has scripted for him. Early in the novel, Raskolnikov receives a letter from her after she has learned that he has dropped out of school, that is, deviated from the script. He learns of Dunya's plan to save him, that is, of Pulkheria's determination to enforce the script, even if it means that she has to move all the way across the country. Raskolnikov's response to the letter is sheer anguish and humiliation, with which it is apparent that he is quite familiar. His behavior is, in large part, his response to his relationship with his mother and an attempt to escape the kind of control that she exerts over him. He is intrigued by Sonya, even before he meets her, because he recognizes in her similar circumstances to his own. Marmeladov, Dunya's father, tells Rodya her story in their first meeting early in the novel. Marmeladov, whose name is derived from marmelade, is an alcoholic who tried to save Katerina Ivanovna after her husband, but he succumbs to his compulsion and destroys the family. Sonya saves the family by going into prostitution to support it.
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Dunya's sacrifice is, ironically, an element in Pulkheria's plan for Raskolnikov to become the family savior. According to her plan, Raskolnikov will go to university, become rich and successful, and bring honor and wealth to the family. She professes to support him from her undying love, which she uses to manipulate him to accept the role that she has scripted for him. Early in the novel, Raskolnikov receives a letter from her after she has learned that he has dropped out of school, that is, deviated from the script. He learns of Dunya's plan to save him, that is, of Pulkheria's determination to enforce the script, even if it means that she has to move all the way across the country. Raskolnikov's response to the letter is sheer anguish and humiliation, with which it is apparent that he is quite familiar. His behavior is, in large part, his response to his relationship with his mother and an attempt to escape the kind of control that she exerts over him. He is intrigued by Sonya, even before he meets her, because he recognizes that she has faced similar circumstances to his own, but has not succumbed to it. He wants to meet her to ascertain her secret.  
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 +
Marmeladov, Dunya's father, tells Rodya her story in their first meeting early in the novel. Marmeladov, whose name is derived from marmelade, is an alcoholic who tried to save Katerina Ivanovna after her husband, but he succumbs to his compulsion and destroys the family. Sonya saves the family by going into prostitution to support it.
  
  

Revision as of 05:21, 14 March 2006

Editing Crime and Punishment From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Crime and Punishment (Преступление и наказание) is a novel written and published in serial form in the Russian Herald in 1866 by Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. The novel was Dostoevsky's first great novel and signaled his emergence as one of the world's greatest writers. The storyline was reported based on a story of a murder in the newspaper that caught his attention. The central narrative violates the traditional technique of the detective story. Unlike the traditional "whodunit," the plot begins with the commission of a crime. The reader knows from the beginning who committed the crime. The question that Dostoevsky wants to examine is why he commits the crime.


Plot

The central drama of the novel centers on a destitute Saint Petersburg student named Raskolnikov, who appears to be planning to murder a miserly, aged pawnbroker to prove that he is a "superman" who can transgress boundaries like Napoleon. What originates as a kind of thought experiment for this "student" (who, in fact, has dropped out of school and is rather aimless) turns into action after Raskolnikov receives a letter from his mother. The letter informs him that his sister, Dunya, has concocted a plan to "save" her brother by entering into a loveless marriage with a heartless opportunist named Luzhin, a well to do lawyer who is attracted to Dunya because of her vulnerability. His mother, Pulkheria, also informs him that she and his sister are coming to Petersburg for a visit, (from where it appears that she will be better positioned to manage his life.) The letter greatly agitates Raskolnikov, who then tries to act on his plan. In the end, he does kill the old pawnbroker, but it is not according to his plan. He oversleeps on his way to commit the murder, so the pawnbroker's sister returns before he finishes the job, so he has to kill her as well. By sheer luck he is able to escape detection.

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. He is irresistably drawn back to the scene of his crime, but comes to a growing realization that he is not the superman of his theoretical construct, but a normal person who must come to terms with his own guilt. Along the way he is guided to two figures. The first is Porfiry Petrovich, the detective who reads Raskolnikov's article about the "superman" who is not bound by common morality and immediately suspects him of the crime. Porfiry plays a game of cat and mouse with Raskolnikov in an effort to trap him into making a confession. The other is the prostitute, Sofya Semyonovna. Raskolnikov is drawn to her from the first moment he first hears about her. She turns to prostitution to help support her family, even though it means her own degradation. While Porfiry plays cat and mouse with Raskolnikov, he is drawn to Sonya's unconditional acceptance. Eventually he confesses his crime, first to Sonya and later to Porfiry. He is sentenced to Siberia where he apparently finally accepts responsibility for his actions.

Themes

Redemption

The standard interpretation of the novel is that Raskolnikov commits a crime, for which he must suffer in order to atain salvation. Such a reading is not wrong, but inadequate. It is true that Raskolnikov suffers throughout the novel, but he does not suffer from pangs of guilt. He expressly rejects that he feels any sense of guilt or remorse over the killing of "an old louse." Rather, he suffers from his inability to live according to his plan, his idea, to become a Napoleon, by stepping over the bounds of common morality. He recognizes even in the commission of the crime, committed to demonstrate his superiority, that he has failed. The central drama details Raskolnikov's grudging disavowal of his idea and grudging acceptance of his place within the moral universe in which he can acknowledge a sense of guilt for his act. That transformation takes place through the intervention of Porfiry and Sonya, who play surrogate father and mother roles, giving him encouragement and unconditional support, which enables him to confess and acknowledge his guilt. This is generally understood as the Christian story of sin and conversion, however, it should be noted that the epilogue, which is usually cited as proof of Raskolnikov's embrace of the central Christian message, is much more ambiguous than is often acknowledged. It is not Raskolnikov who reads the Bible every day, but Sonya. He does not make any confession of faith, but eventually, in a moment of moral transformation, breaks down in tears, which signifies not so much his conversion to Christianity, but recognition of his transgression and reintroduction into the moral community.

Sacrifice

Raskolnikov's story is only the central plotline. However, the rest of the novel represents variations on the theme of sacrifice and redemption. Dostoevsky weaves the various narrative threads together to demonstrate his conviction, later expressly stated in The Brothers Karamazov, that "we are all responsible for all." This is not simply a moral judgment on his part, but an acknowledgment that what we take to be our individual lives are deeply influenced by the actions of others, for good or for ill. There are numerous examples, but the two main ones are Dunya's sacrifice to save her brother by her engagement to Luzhin, and Sonya's sacrifice of her virtue and her place in "honorable" society by becoming a prostitute to save her family from financial ruin.

Dunya's sacrifice is, ironically, an element in Pulkheria's plan for Raskolnikov to become the family savior. According to her plan, Raskolnikov will go to university, become rich and successful, and bring honor and wealth to the family. She professes to support him from her undying love, which she uses to manipulate him to accept the role that she has scripted for him. Early in the novel, Raskolnikov receives a letter from her after she has learned that he has dropped out of school, that is, deviated from the script. He learns of Dunya's plan to save him, that is, of Pulkheria's determination to enforce the script, even if it means that she has to move all the way across the country. Raskolnikov's response to the letter is sheer anguish and humiliation, with which it is apparent that he is quite familiar. His behavior is, in large part, his response to his relationship with his mother and an attempt to escape the kind of control that she exerts over him. He is intrigued by Sonya, even before he meets her, because he recognizes that she has faced similar circumstances to his own, but has not succumbed to it. He wants to meet her to ascertain her secret.

Marmeladov, Dunya's father, tells Rodya her story in their first meeting early in the novel. Marmeladov, whose name is derived from marmelade, is an alcoholic who tried to save Katerina Ivanovna after her husband, but he succumbs to his compulsion and destroys the family. Sonya saves the family by going into prostitution to support it.



Philosophical themes include the nihilism expressed in Raskolnikov's theory of the superman. Raskolnikov argues that certain great mean are not bound by the ordinary moral law, but are entitled to “step over” the boundary. (The Russian word for crime has the same etiology as the verb “to step over.”) He invokes the example of Napoleon as someone who was above the conventional moral law. The use of Napoleon as a model was common in 19th century literature and culture. (See Stendahl’s The Red and the Black.) However, Dostoevsky’s use here is somewhat ironic. Raskolnikov’s murder of a decrepit pawnbroker hardly matches the exploits of Napoleon. It also adds a distinctly Russian twist to notion of Napoleon as hero figure.

The transgression of boundaries is a predominant psychological as well as philosophical theme. Raskonikov lives in a cramped basement apartment, sneaking in and out to avoid detection. Many key senses take place in hallways or other cramped areas. This emphasis on cramped and marginal spaces is connected to Raskolnikov’s relationship with his mother. From the opening letter, Pulcheria makes it clear that she has scripted the role of family savior for her son and she is determined that he will fulfill it. Raskolnikov’s reaction to her letter makes it clear that her profession of love is her means of manipulating him into doing what she wants him to do, and his decision to put his plan into motion only comes after he finds out that she is planning on moving to Petersburg, from where she will more effectively be able to manage his affairs. The psychological theme of lack of proper boundaries in many of the relationships in the novel is reinforced through the spatial relationships.

Raskolnikov's real punishment is not the labor camp he is condemned to, but the torment he endures throughout the novel.

The novel begins with The novel portrays the haphazardly planned 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 Sofya Semyonovna, with whom he falls in love. Dostoevsky uses this relationship as an allegory of God's love for fallen humanity, and that love's redemptive power: 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 Russian 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 "superhuman," that he could justifiably perform a despicable act—the killing of the money lender—if it led to him being able to do a lot of good. 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 Newton or 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 belief that he is not a "superhuman", as he could not cope with what he had done.

See also: Russian literature.

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 his depravity (referring to his irrationality and paranoia) is commonly interpreted as an affirmation of himself as a transcendent conscience and a rejection of rationality and reason. This is a theme common in existentialism; Friedrich Nietzsche praised Dostoevsky's writings despite the theism present in it and Walter Kaufmann considered Dostoevsky's works to be the inspiration for Franz Kafka's 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 entirely 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.

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 Sonya, 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. However, Dostoevsky rules against such ambitious thinking by having Raskolnikov crumble and fail in the aftermath of his crime.

Characters

Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov

Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov, 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, 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.

Sofya Semyonovna Marmeladova

Sofya Semyonovna Marmeladova, variously called Sonya and Sonechka, is the daughter of a drunk, Semyon Zakharovich, 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, despite which she is strongly religious. Rodion finds himself drawn to her to such an extent she is the first person to whom he confesses his crime. Despite one of the victims, Lizaveta, being a friend of hers she supports him—encouraging him to take up faith and confess. After his confession she follows him to Siberia where she lives in the same town as the prison - it is here that Rodion finally falls in love with her.

Other characters

  • Avdotya Romanovna Raskolnikova - Raskolnikov's sister, called Dunya for short, who plans to marry the wealthy, yet morally depraved, Luzhin to save the family from financial destitution. She is followed to St. Petersburg by the disturbed Svidrigailov, who seeks to win her back through blackmail. She rejects both men in favour of Raskolnikov's loyal friend, Razumikhin.
  • Arkady Ivanovich Svidrigailov - 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 with 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 fiancee.
  • Dmitri Prokofych Razumikhin - 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.
  • Katerina Ivanovna Marmeladova - Semyon Marmeladov's sick and (understandably) ill-tempered wife. Following Marmeladov's death she becomes insane and dies shortly after.
  • Porfiry Petrovich - The detective in charge of solving Raskolnikov's murders who, along with Sonya, guides Raskolnikov towards confession. Despite the lack of evidence he becomes certain Raskolnikov is the murderer following several conversations with him, but gives Raskolnikov the chance to come clean of his own accord.
  • Semyon Zakharovich Marmeladov - Hopeless drunk who indulges in his own suffering, and father of Sonya. In the bar he informs Raskolnikov of his familial situation and when he's run over by a carriage Raskolnikov gives his family what remains of his money (not a lot) to help with funerary expenses.
  • Pulcheria Alexandrovna Raskolnikova - Raskolnikov's relatively clueless, hopeful mother. She informs him of his sister's plans to marry Luzhin.
  • Pyotr Petrovich Luzhin - Despicable man who wants to marry Dunya so she'll be completely subservient to him. Raskolnikov does not take kindly to him and Luzhin is embittered. He embodies the evils of monetary greed, and after attempting to frame Sonya for theft, is cast out.
  • Andrei Semyonovich Lebezyatnikov - Luzhin's radically Socialist roommate who witnesses his attempt to frame Sonya.
  • Alyona Ivanovna - Old pawnbroker who is not particularly kind. She is Raskolnikov's intended target for murder.
  • Lizaveta Ivanovna - Alyona's simple, innocent sister who arrives during the murder and is subsequently killed.
  • Zossimov
  • Nastasya Petrovna
  • Ilya Petrovich
  • Alexander Grigorievich Zamyotov
  • Nikolai Dementiev
  • Polina Mikhailovna Marmeladova

Structure

The novel is divided into six parts with an epilogue. Each part contains between five and eight chapters and the epilogue has two. The entire novel is written from a third person past tense omniscient perspective chiefly from Raskolnikov's point of view though it briefly switches to Dunya, Svidrigailov and Sonya during its course.

In 1971, an unpublished scene written in first person perspective from Raskolinkov's point of view was released with Dostoevsky's annotated manuscript of the Russian Literary Monuments series. A translation of that scene is available in most modern editions of the novel.

Movie versions

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

  • Crime and Punishment (1935, starring Peter Lorre, Edward Arnold and Marian Marsh)
  • Преступление и наказание (USSR, 1969, starring Georgi Taratorkin, Tatyana Bedova, Victoria Fyodorova) [1]
  • Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment (1998, a TV movie starring Patrick Dempsey, Ben Kingsley and Julie Delpy)
  • Crime and Punishment in Suburbia (2000, an adaptation set in modern America and "loosely based" on the novel)
  • Crime and Punishment (1979, miniseries starring Crispin Glover, Vanessa Redgrave and John Hurt)
  • Crime and Punishment mini-series (2002, starring John Simm)

External links

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