Crime And Punishment 3 Essay Research Paper
Crime And Punishment 3 Essay, Research Paper
Crime and Punishment
In Dostoevsky & # 8217 ; s Crime and Punishment, Raskolnikov & # 8217 ; s dream about
the female horse can be used as a vehicle to examine deep into his outlook to
detect how he truly feels interior. The dream suggests that
Raskolnikov is a & # 8220 ; split & # 8221 ; adult male ; after all, his name in Russian agencies
& # 8220 ; split & # 8221 ; . He has a cruel and thoughtless side every bit good as a lovingness,
compassionate side to his personality. Through the dream and the
symbols in this, a reader can project Raskolnikov, every bit good as other
characters from Crime And Puni shment, into any of the assorted parts
in the dream. Each portion that a character takes on leads to a different
decision about that character. Raskolnikov himself & # 8220 ; fits & # 8221 ; into the
places of Mikolka, the kid, and the female horse.
If Mikolka, the drunken proprietor of the female horse, were to stand for
Raskolnikov, so the female horse would most likely represent Alyona
Ivanovna. The mindless whipping of the female horse by Mikolka is similar to
the barbarous onslaught on Alyona by Rodion. ( It should be noted that both
Alyona and the female horse were female. ) These heartless onslaughts foreshadow
the offense that Raskolnikov is contemplating. Dostoevsky unveils
Raskolnikov & # 8217 ; s barbarous side during this dream, if it is to be interpreted
in this manner.
On the same item, Raskolnikov & # 8217 ; s compassionate side could be
represented by the small male child. The kid, watching the whipping,
realizes the absurdness of it. He even rushes to Mikolka, ready to
punish him for killing the female horse. This illustrate s Rodion & # 8217 ; s internal
battle while contemplating the slaying of Alyona. His humanist side,
the kid, tells him to populate and allow unrecorded. And his & # 8220 ; extraordinary & # 8221 ;
side, harmonizing to his definition, tells him that he should extinguish
Alyona wholly, for the good of adult male sort.
On the other side of the coin, Raskolnikov could be r
epresented by
the female horse itself. However, the load which the female horse must transport ( the
cart, the people, etc. ) could stand for two separate things, depending
on if it is viewed in context befor vitamin E or after the existent slaying.
Before the slaying, the load could stand for the moral inquiry that
is blighting Rodion. Should he kill Alyona? Or should he go forth her be?
Because of the importance of this inquiry to Raskolnikov, it weighs
him dow n to a great extent at first. However, subsequently on, he headlong decides to
putting to death Alyona.
If looked upon after the slaying, the burden on the female horse in the dream
could stand for the mental load placed on Rodion. He had a load of
guilt on him, and he could non warrant the slaying harmonizing to his ain
theory. Therefore, he was torme nted by the otherwise insignificant
statements and actions of others in the novel. Even though Porfiry
Petrovitch did non hold many of the people intentionally hassling
Raskolnikov by adverting assorted aspects of the slaying, it was as if
those who were & # 8220 ; crushing & # 8221 ; the truth out of him were pawns of Porfiry
( or that of truth and the jurisprudence in general ) , merely as those crushing the
life out of the female horse were pawns of Mikolka ( or that of inhuman treatment ) . By
this logical thinking, a analogue may besides be drawn between the m are and
Rodion.
This is non to state that the dream does non hold other
significances. It is possible that Mikolka represents Porfiry besides.
Mikolka beat the female horse until it died ; Porfiry beat Raskolnikov mentally
until he confessed. There are besides other inte rpretations that can
be made.
Despite other possible readings, Raskolnikov may be
represented by all three chief characters in the dream: Mikolka, the
kid, and the female horse. Each representation brings to mind a new side of
Rodion Romanovitch that must be considered in order to understand him
to the full.