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.