Synopsis
In the fifth-floor cell of an apartment in the slums of Petersburg lives Raskolnikov, a poor university student. Originally enrolled in the law faculty, he was forced to drop out because he couldn't afford to pay his tuition, and now lives on the money his mother and sister save from their tight budget. He hadn't paid his rent for a long time. Recently, his landlady has not only stopped feeding him, but has also become very demanding. That's when he met the small civil servant Marmelatov. Marmeladov is desperate because of his unemployment, and his eldest daughter, Sonia, has been forced to work as a street prostitute. Raskolnikov, not wanting to be taken advantage of like Marmeladov, intends to do something to prove that he is a very "extraordinary man".
After the murder, Raskolnikov, who was in a painful conflict and could not get rid of his inner fear, felt that all the good feelings he had before had been extinguished, which was a more severe punishment of conscience than the punishment of the law. He realized that he had failed. So he came to Sonia with an agonized heart, inspired by Sonia's religious thoughts, and told her the truth and motives of his crime. With Sonia's persuasion, he surrendered to the police.
Raskolnikov was sentenced to eight years of hard labor and came to Siberia. Soon after, Sonia arrived there, too. Early one morning, the two met by the river. They resolved to be devout in their faith in God, to bear all their sufferings with penitence, and to acquire a new spiritual life.
Folding Editorial Characters
The protagonist of Crime and Punishment, Raskonav, is a poor university student who is depressed and lives in poverty in a narrow room in Petersburg. He often pawned items for money to eke out a living. Mrs. Arinaivno, who is in charge of the pawnshop, is stingy and pays very little for the items pawned by the students. Raskolov believes that Mrs. Arinaivno is guilty of greed and is "doing God's work". He axed her and her half-sister Willie, who had inadvertently witnessed the crime, to death and took the jewelry and money. From then on, he tries to cope with the judicial investigation, while suffering under the torment of his own guilt. During this time. Raskolov left his visiting mother and beloved sister, and met a kind-hearted prostitute, Sona, who influenced him to confess his murder to the police. After a trial, he was sentenced to a lighter sentence, and Raskonav was exiled to Siberia to serve his eight-year sentence. Sona fully supported him, and she arranged for her younger siblings to follow Raskonav to Siberia.
Dostoevsky's characterization of Raskonov, the central character of Crime and Punishment, highlights the theme of "Crime and Punishment," and provides a rare depth to the book. Raskolov is an atheist with a contradictory, volatile, and even absurd personality. He is arrogant, proud, a generous, kind-hearted humanist, but at times callous and insensitive, to the point of losing his humanity.
The key character who makes Raskonoff willing to suffer to atone for his sins is Sona, a prostitute who is discriminated against by everyone in society, but who represents supreme holiness and redemption in a rather symbolic way. Sona tells Raskonoff: "Go and confess your sins and God will give you new life." Inspiring him: "Atone for your sins by suffering." Sona kept the brass cross for herself and gave Raskolov the wooden one, as if she were the Virgin Mary, saying, "We suffer together and hang our crosses together." Moved atheist Raskonav finally resolved to believe in God, embarked on the road of faith, to achieve inner peace; religious faith so that his life to find solace and dependence, so that he has a reason to live.
Folding Editorial Background
Dostoevsky was in the 19th century was a century of decline." The "fall of Europe" came as a horrific demise, either as a revolution filled with killing and violence, or as a source of crime, depravity, theft, and all manner of evil. It was a time of irrationality, when people questioned all definitions, birthrights, kingships, and beliefs. Nietzsche's "God is dead". Nietzsche's "God is dead" declared the end of the age of reason. God is dead", mankind finally broke free from the bondage of God, and gained absolute freedom, but at the same time also fell into nothingness.
In 1849, Dostoevsky had been arrested for taking part in a secret rally against the tsar, angering the authorities, and the following year was sentenced to exile in Siberia for four years of hard labor. The bitter life with criminals*** made him have extremely profound observation on the dark side of Russian society, and he also had new concepts on human life, good and evil in human nature, and the character of Russians, which were presented in Crime and Punishment.
Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment" was fully conceived before he wrote it, and the novel was the culmination of many years' gestation. As early as 1859, in a letter to his brother Mikhail, he spoke of writing "a confession of a criminal," and was confident that "this confession would establish his reputation. He was concerned with the criminal proceedings of Russian society at the time, and these social news provided him with material for his work. He mentioned the writing of such a novel in a letter of 1866, and he described the outline of it to Katkov, then publisher of the Rossiyskaya Gazeta. In August of that year he returned home and began writing. He was not satisfied with his first draft. In his opinion, the novel was a poetic enterprise and should be written with care. So there appeared a second and a third draft until, at the end of 1866, Crime and Punishment finally appeared. During the creative process, Dostoevsky himself experienced many ups and downs in his life, which y influenced his conclusions in Crime and Punishment.
Collapse Editorial Criticism Appreciation
Collapse Ideas of the Work
Crime and Punishment is a remarkable psycho-social novel, and its publication marked the maturation of Dostoevsky's artistic style.
Raskolnikov is the central character in the novel, which is a typical image of Crime and Punishment with a double personality: he is a poor college student with a kind heart and a willingness to help others, and a gifted young man with a sense of justice, but at the same time, he has a gloomy and withdrawn character, and is "sometimes even indifferent and insensitive to the extent that there is no human nature at all", and in order to prove that he is an "extraordinary person", he goes so far as to commit murder. In order to prove himself as an "extraordinary man", he went so far as to commit murder, "there seem to be two distinct personalities alternating in him". It is the intense conflict between these two personalities that makes the protagonist constantly waver between affirmation and denial of his own "theory" (i.e., the viewpoints on "ordinary man" and "extraordinary man"). For Raskolnikov, to be a submissive "ordinary man" would be to meet the tragic end of Marmeladov, and to be a "master of mankind" without regard for any moral principles would be to be in the company of the despicable Lujan and Svidriga?lov, who did wrong. The dominant side of his personality finally prevails in the heat of the battle and pushes him to finally reject his "theory" and move closer to Sonia. Through this image, the novel profoundly exposes the poisonous effect of the bourgeois principle of "the weak are the strongest" on the intellectuals of the petty bourgeoisie, vigorously criticizes the anti-humanitarian essence of this principle, and objectively denies the anarchistic revolt based on the philosophy of the "superman", because this kind of revolt can never bring a new chance of life to the oppressed.
Raskolnikov's failure to become a true ruler was not due to his weakness, like that of Golodkin. According to Dostoevsky, Raskolnikov was strong. The author emphasizes that Rodion, Raskolnikov, as well as his sister, who was similar in temperament, were the kind of people who chose an idea and always served it, and did not hesitate to suffer. Raskolnikov gave himself up because he no longer believed in his cruel "ideas", not by reason but by his whole nature, and Dostoevsky writes to Katkov that Raskolnikov gave himself up because he had to. It had to be done in order to be able to approach people again, even if he died in prison: he was tormented by the feeling of alienation and isolation that he had contracted in the immediate aftermath of his crime. He was detached from the whole human thing after his crime. He gazes in horror, he loses the possibility of having human feelings; he loves his mother and his sister the most, but with a revulsion for them and for himself, he begins to hate them. Thus, in Crime and Punishment, he expresses his trembling at the total violation of the human and humane laws of life. The depiction and criticism of the dark reality in Crime and Punishment, such as his revelation of the hardships of the life of the urban poor, his criticism of Luren's cold meanness and extreme egoism, of the landowner Svirgalov's shamelessness, break through the writer's reactionary sermonizing and shine with the light of sober realism. It is thus that this work has the artistic power to transcend time and space and has been widely circulated in the world.
However, the above expositions and criticisms made by the author are only from the ethical and moral concepts and religious thoughts. The author believes that all violence against evil is not desirable, because man cannot escape the punishment of his heart and destroys himself while destroying others. The author also seeks to attribute Raskolnikov's criminal behavior to the abandonment of his faith in God. These religious ideas promoted by Dostoevsky in the novel are incongruous with the powerful critical force displayed throughout the work:Here the sharp contradictions in the author's worldview are fully manifested.
From Crime and Punishment, it can be seen that Dostoevsky is a writer with a strong religious consciousness, hoping to save mankind through religion, he analyzed the religious psychology of "self-punishment" through the characterization, which makes people y reflective. In Dostoevsky's religious thought, there is an inherent contradiction, i.e., he has a fervent belief in God, believing that "lack of faith is a sin", but at the same time, he has a skeptical attitude. This contradiction in thought has a profound effect on literary creation, and has become a main line of thought throughout his novels, which is a major feature of Dostoevsky's novels.
Folding Religious Thought
The balance of the characters' minds in Crime and Punishment is Christianity, the belief in God and salvation. Dostoevsky's ideal for them is to express a sense of salvation through "Crime and Punishment", the pattern of which is: to commit a crime on the basis of the original sin, which results in self-punishment, repentance in suffering, and final salvation. In the process from sin to redemption, there is a stage of punishment. The author does not directly talk about redemption, but focuses on punishment, because throughout the work, the author consciously warns people that, in order to completely realize his own depravity, he must have an awakening awareness of sin, which is mixed with his moral self-knowledge and the desire for goodness. The journey of the mind to punishment is itself a process of spiritual reflection and wandering. Thus man has to go to self-punishment in the contest between good and evil, and thus establish true values in the midst of painful suffering.
That is to say, man's realization of his own sin is far more meaningful and revealing than salvation itself. Sin is part of man's inner character. It is described in the Bible, "There is truly no righteous man on earth who does good always and does not sin." In Crime and Punishment, just about everyone is guilty, whether it is the lower class of "bullied and humiliated" or the upper class of so-called predators. From the old woman's sister Lizaveta to the police officer Porfiry, from the usurer Alyona to the ultra-selfish Luren, from Sonia, who saves her family through prostitution, to Prihlia, who betroths her daughter Dunya to Luren, from the alcoholic and unemployed Marmeladov to the daughter's prostitute Katerina, from the lustful Svidrigailov to the murderer and robber Raskolnikov, and even from the jealous Marfa to the man who refuses to borrow money for his brother's sake. Marfa, who is sick with jealousy, to Dunya, who offers herself for her brother without a loan, and so on. This writing style is very much connected to Dostoevsky's religious ideas. The Orthodox Church believes that every human being is guilty in Adam's sin, and that every Orthodox believer has a deep sense of original sin." Dostoevsky's own experience of suffering led to a great deal of religious consciousness of original sin in his creations, which he used as a basis for seeking spiritual breakthroughs. In his novels, he warns people that they need to recognize their own whiteness in order to avoid being led astray.
Although sin takes different forms in Crime and Punishment, most of the characters in the novel are guilty, whether they are good or somewhere between good and evil. Dostoevsky's intention is to show, through the depiction of different sinners, that we are living in a sinful world, and therefore the human heart is burdened with significant suffering, and people are in conflict between their morals and consciences, and are at war between doing good and doing evil. If we do not pay attention to the treatment of sin, we will have to betray God and go mad or destroy ourselves. Raskolnikov's final betrayal of God and Svidrigailov's final suicide prove the truth that it is impossible for man to overcome God, the religious spirit and moral consciousness deep in his heart. Dostoevsky said about the meaning of "sin and punishment", "The only thing that can reform the sinner himself and make him a new man is the law of Christ reflected in his conscience."
Religious mechanisms play a very important role in the novel. Religion represents a superego ideal of supreme goodness with metaphysical implications that inspire people to abandon evil and transcend from sin. Raskolnikov, who is evil by nature, goes on killing in his own superhuman theory and his own so-called ideal of goodness, so that he commits sins, makes his mind lose its support, and suffers a great deal of pain both mentally and physically. However, he eventually carried a heavy cross to atone for his sins under the light of God, the supreme goodness, and realized self-transcendence in his faith in God through repentance and suffering.
Folding Content Analysis
"Sin" is the beginning of the whole book, which occupies only one chapter, and from the second chapter to the sixth chapter and the epilogue, the writer writes all about "punishment".
"Sin":The writer writes at considerable length about the motives for sin and the preparation for it. The cowardice of sin makes him sometimes to stop thinking about it, but his own poor life and the social injustice, forced to commit a crime and the grandeur of the crime are constantly pushing this motive. The writer has meticulously written all the minutiae of the development and evolution of the protagonist's motive for committing the crime, and the degree of meticulousness is rare in the history of literature. Because of the writer's personal experience of poverty and hard labor, his description enables the reader to feel the emotional depression, mental trance and other psychological states of the protagonist. Driven by a variety of motives, Raskolnikov finally copped an axe and killed Alyona, who was greedy, shameless and exploited others. In the whole chapter, the writer describes in detail the whole process of killing and hiding after killing. Such a cruel scene is also rare in the history of literature. The effect of its depiction is extraordinarily realistic, and it even causes some kind of physiological reaction in the reader, which makes people sick and shocked. This is both the great penmanship of realism and the progenitor of the later modernist literature that specialized in portraying evil as a feature of writing.
"Punishment":A. Evasion of punishment. Raskolnikov murder, was soon listed as an important suspect, however, on the one hand, he covered up the evidence of the crime cleanly, on the other hand, the use of counter-surveillance knowledge, and the case scouts circled around, time and time again to get through the danger, and finally, the case of a sudden change in the case of the other person turned himself in and admitted to the culprits of the case. However, Raskolnikov always knew in his heart that he was the real murderer of the case.
B. The meaning of punishment. After the crime, Raskolnikov from mental to physical never stop "sin" torture, in front of him there are two ways, either to prove that the murder is a kind of unfair society against the reasonable action, or to recognize the sin and accept the punishment. This torture of thinking is much heavier than the interrogations of the scouts. Surrounding himself with scouts is even pleasant in a kind of battle of wits, whereas arguing with questions of the mind breaks his spirit. In addition to the mental torture, the punishment also refers to the time served after surrender.
C. Punishment oriented to redemption. Sonia suffers a frame-up by the merchant Luren, she has more reason to deny society, law, morality, conscience, and God, and if this is true, Raskolnikov has a corroboration that his murder is justified. However, Sonia, in spite of the constant blows of fate, maintains her faith in the conviction that Divine Justice is not perishable. Sonia's choice completely disarms Raskolnikov, so he confesses his crime to Sonia, and with Sonia's encouragement, he again admits his crime to society and to the crowd in the square, and then goes to turn himself in to serve his sentence. From confessing to Sonia alone to confessing to the crowd in the square, Raskolnikov's soul finally got rid of the torment, thus moving towards liberation and redemption.
In short, sin in the novel does not mean having sinful thoughts or anything like that, but rather the act of actually killing someone. One motive for Raskolnikov's murder was the necessity of life, a greater motive was the desire to be superhuman, a revolutionary thought, a reason. Punishment is the true condemnation of the conscience of man; as well as the heavy contradictions in Sonia's "love" can be resolved, so that the protagonist re-converted to God, completing the whole process from sin to punishment to salvation.
The theme reflected in the novel is of practical significance: people are willing to deify Christ, and the ultimate goal is the person himself, because this can find a spiritual support for people. Thus, in the cultural context of Christianity as the background, Western writers face up to the limitations, inadequacies and evil-causing nature of human beings, and advocate that human beings should be pious to the good in the process of eliminating the evil nature. In this way, human beings atone for their sins by accepting suffering, and develop and perfect themselves in the fierce struggle against sin, thus making the "Crime and Punishment" motif rich and profound." The study of "Crime and Punishment" deepens the problematic consciousness of "man" and highlights the value of human spiritual existence. Dostoevsky's unique understanding of "crime and punishment" breaks the face of purely religious "crime and punishment", and at the same time builds a new "religion of man".