When people ask me about it
Crime and Punishment
- What is a crime?
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- The modern relativism is applied into crime
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- The old lady raskolnikov killed was annoying. Is it that bad that he has killed her?
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- veia filosofica do livro
- What is a punishment?
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- In fact the crime is defined by the punishment, if you are suffering from punishment then you probably performed crime
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- Classic phihlosophy on crime shows up internally in Raskolnikov regardless of
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- veia psicologica do livro
Philosophy
What is existentialism
- Dostoevsky was part of a movement called the existentialist movement– a movement consisting of writers and philosophers that debated the meaning of life, morality and the existence of God. All of Dostoevsky's work focuses around these important questions, with Crime and Punishment focusing on morality in particular.
Consequences of Nietzsche
- Crime and punishment is written in a similar time as Nietzsche
- The rejection of God by some, fueled by the Enlightenment and Darwinian morality, gave way to relativism– the concept that there is no such thing as right and wrong, but rather that morality is subjective. Without an objective reference frame by which to guide our moral values (i.e. God's nature), there can be no valid standard by which to judge right and wrong objectively, meaning that morality depends on preference only.
Every character represents a philosophy
- Sonya -> christianism
- Svidrigailov -> hedonism
- Lupin -> ubermensh
C&P is part one of what I consider a trilogy. It is an inspection of a man who believes rationality can usurp morality and the personal consequences he faces.
Morality
What is morality
- Did he commit a crime? Why would that be considerede a crime?
are poor people more amoral than the richer people?
Ubermesch theory
- The theory that the world is divided between ordinary people
and extraordinary people, and the extraordinary ones are entitled to do crimes
- I somehow believed this specially during university when
I didn't want to become a SWE, perhaps I was more ordinary than extraorindary than I previously thought
Consequences of going against christianism
- Dostoevsky meant to depict that the desire to assert yourself above morality will destroy the soul of whomever attempts it, whether you are a psychopath like Svidrigailov or a normal person like Raskolnikov, you will fall to despair.
Psychology
Punishment
- What makes Crime and Punishment great is that Dostoevsky's portrayal of Raskolnikov's behaviour after the murder is characteristic of the average murderer, according to psychoanalytic studies that were done subsequent to the writing of the novel.
- These neurotic tendencies lead to guilt feelings that cannot be
eradicated and explain Raskolnikov's desire for punishment even before he commits the crime. He does everything to reveal himself because he wishes to suffer in order to alleviate the feelings of guilt. This guilt and subsequent desire for punishment become so strong that he commits the murder
- He gets sick as fuck
Healing part 1
- Talking about the problem (this reminds a lot about me)
- I personally think that Crime and Punishment is also about the danger of internalising everything. Raskolnikov - due to his arrogance or suspicion of others - keeps everything to himself. He constantly has one single narrative going in his mind, and lack of dialogue with others is what perpetuates his misery and turmoil. It is only from the point where he confesses to Sonia that he finally gets to talk about the things that has been haunting him.
Healing part 2
- It's only from the love of Sonya that he is finally healed from the crime
- Even after going to siberia he still sees his crime as only a mistake, because in the end he is still thinking
rationally, and that's the problem. It is only when he let himself go wit the love for Sonya that the forgets
Characters
Raskolnikov
He represents the non philosophical suicide, and philosophical experimentation
- after his crime, he lied a lot, but whenever his lie is about
something related to his own dignity he won't lie even if that makes obvious that he is the killer, for example when the investigator asked whether he was extraordinary or not and he said yes
- for me his excess of rationalism is what destroyed his life
- The motivation of the student revo lutionary is quite evident.
Raskolnikov killed an old lady in ineffectual fury, to protest the condition of the insulted and the injured. He killed the old woman to protest the wretched conditions of the Marmeladovs, his own wretched condition, and the co ndition of man who from poverty of soul and body strikes in frustration at the symbol of the wre tchedness which chains him. Motivated thus by social consc iousness, Raskolnikov emerges as a scapegoat figure, carrying on his back to the martyrdom of Siberia the accumulated guilt, shame, and injustice of the social order.
- Alienation is the primary theme of Crime and Punishment. At first, Raskolnikov's pride separates him from society. He sees himself as superior to all other people and so cannot relate to anyone.
- to me it is crazy the consequences of a murder in someone's mind,
as discussed many times in the novel, Raskolnikov is correct, he has the good reasons, but still in the end he doesn't turn himself in because of fear of getting caught, he turns himself in because of guilt. The joy of Raskolnikov kissing the ground (in the end of the book), shows that us as human beings have an instictive way of write and wrong, regardless of our own reasoning
- No matter how morally justified he once might have considered his actions, they have devastating collateral effects, harming acknowledged innocents.
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- this is an interesting moral dillema should he feel guilty for killing the sister? It was an accident
- Epilogue
about the reasoning and embrace on a new life
- The growing guilt, to the point that he hides the stolen money and doesn't touch them at all, along with the urge to confess his crimes, are highly typical of criminals.
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- this is very crazy because in fact he the trauma is so big of the murderer that he doesn't even want to take a look at the money
- Why did he kill her?
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- he became Sulky, he says that when he is explaning to Sonya
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- Then I saw, Sonia, that if one waits for
everyone to get wiser it will take too long.... Afterwards I
understood that that would never come to pass, that men
won't change and that nobody can alter it and that it's not
worth wasting effort over it. Yes, that's so. That's the law
of their nature, Sonia,... that's so!... And I know now, Sonia,
that whoever is strong in mind and spirit will have power
over them. Anyone who is greatly daring is right in their
eyes. He who despises most things will be a lawgiver
among them and he who dares most of all will be most in
the right! So it has been till now and so it will always be. A
man must be blind not to see it!"
Though Raskolnikov looked at Sonia as he said this, he
no longer cared whether she understood or not. The fever
had complete hold of him; he was in a sort of gloomy
ecstasy (he certainly had been too long without talking to
anyone). Sonia felt that his gloomy creed had become his
faith and code.
"I divined then, Sonia," he went on eagerly, "that power
is only vouchsafed to the man who dares to stoop and pick
it up. There is only one thing, one thing needful: one has
only to dare! Then for the first time in my life an idea took
shape in my mind which no one had ever thought of before
me, no one! I saw clear as daylight how strange it is that
not a single person living in this mad world has had the
daring to go straight for it all and send it flying to the
devil! I... I wanted to have the daring... and I killed her. I
only wanted to have the daring, Sonia! That was the whole
cause of it!"
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- Perhaps I should never have committed a murder again. I
wanted to find out something else; it was something else led me on. I wanted to find out then and quickly whether I was a louse like everybody else or a man. Whether I can step over barriers or not, whether I dare stoop to pick up or not, whether I am a trembling creature or whether I have the right..."
Svidragaliov
Character as a tool to defend christian existentialism
- Dostoevisky uses svidrgaliov as a way to show how bad the consequences of strictly following hedonism
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- Svidrigailov and Raskolnikov both crossed moral lines. Both felt guilty, though Svidrigailov less so. The nightmare he had shows that it still bothered him
- He doesn't rape Dunia
- He kills himself
- He raped a 5 year old, male prostitution
- Essentially, Svidrigailov is someone who embodies Raskolnikov's ideology of the great man who asserts his self will beyond the “prejudice” that is the Christian morality that Russian society at the time ascribed to. Svidrigailov manages to overcome moral boundaries with impunity and without a shred of remorse or hesitation, believing only his self will to be a basis on which to act, and essentially creating his own morals, acting in accordance with his desires.
- We as a society when we look at "terrible" people such as Hitler, we think of them as cold blood that have no regret,
but this character shows to us that deep down even if it is at their subconscious (Svi's dreams with the girl raped) we have a moral because we are all human, not only that even people like Svi have feelings, at the first time that I read, I remember being astonished by the fact that Svi doesn't rape Dounia, but now I see that's no surprise because deep down he is also human, and that there is more to life than strict pleasure, and he manage to feel that with Dounia, and by knowing that he will never be able to feel that again, he decides to kill himself
Sonya
Epitomization of christ
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Christianity = loves, maximize love in no matter circustance
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She is the epitomization of christ internally, but externally she is just a whore
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Not too sure how accurate my reading of Sonya's character is, but from my understanding she's something of an allegory for Christ. Unconditional love, her position of freedom from bondage, the reception of confessions, and her otherwise unlikely position to be in a genuine caring relationship with someone as misguided as Raskolnikov all seem to point to this
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It is interesting that fact that Sonya is very religious and a prostitute, which is a very big contradiction, and for sure created a lot of suffering for her
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She loves a murderer
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Rodya defended Sonya publicly, and most important is this: Rodya is the only one who does not look down on Sonya, as Sonya is the only one who does not seek to condemn Rodya. Whereas every character contains the seed of blame, and would out Rodya as soon as they learned he murdered the pawnbroker (and her sister!), just as how all of them would dismiss sonya as a prostitute, the couple fully accept and understand one another. They can only find true consolation in one another.
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Rodya defended Sonya publicly, and most important is this: Rodya is the only one who does not look down on Sonya, as Sonya is the only one who does not seek to condemn Rodya. Whereas every character contains the seed of blame, and would out Rodya as soon as they learned he murdered the pawnbroker (and her sister!), just as how all of them would dismiss sonya as a prostitute, the couple fully accept and understand one another. They can only find true consolation in one another
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- We could never a life worthy of God on our own. So Jesus lived a life without sin on our behalf. And then he died the painful death our sins deserve. John 3:17 says, “God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” By sacrificing himself for us on the cross, he took the punishment for all of our sins at once. This made him the ultimate sacrifice —once and for all satisfying the demands God’s justice required. That is why we call Jesus “Lamb of God.”
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- she was a prostitute just like Maria Madalena was
Details
Her name
- It is beautiful the fact that her name means reason, when in fact she is not that smart, which shows to us that wisdom is much
more than being smart, she has so much wisdom that she managed to redeem Raskolnikov
Marmeladov
- very peculiar
- interesting how he is drunk man,
but inside it we can still see vestigios of the great man he was, specially when he talks
Symmetries
Perhaps all of thse symmetries in this book are somehow related to hegel
Raskolnikov, Sonya: choose to do crime, forced to do crime (prostitution) Raskolnikov, Sonya: moral relativist, moral objectivism Raskolnikov, Sonya: saved her (against Luzhin), saved him from himself Raskolnikov, Sonya: fully rational/modern, emotional/religious
Raskolnikov, Razumihin: murderer, naive Raskolnikov, Razumihin: isolated, social Raskolnikov, Razumihin: lier, honesty
(Svidrigailov, Dunia) (Raskolnikov, Dunia): impure, pure (Svidrigailov, Dunia) (Raskolnikov, Dunia): sex/blackmail, love
Resources
https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/crime/analysis/
Topics
Money
- it is interesting the world building that he does, where
we can see how the povery is a kickstart of many problems and adventures. For example for being poor Dounia has to work as a servant, and the landlord harasses her but she can't leave because she is in debt with him, and then the woman finds out, and she tells the whole town Dounia is a whore
- it is interesting how much any sight of money brings
happyines to poor people
- it is interesting how much poverty puts constraints into
someone's life,
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- a simple travel by plane they have to do some
math in reach into agreements to make sure that there will be enough money
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- Dounia wanted to marry a guy that is really bad just for
money
other
shows the reality of poor people
- interesting how much
money is useful to them
- money is self worth
- alcohol vice
- describing real poverty makes it more sad
One of the main themes I always take away is that humans often like to think that we are logical beings, who make logical decisions for clearly defined reasons, when in reality we are not. As a species we very often act without knowing why we act, and when asked afterward why we did something, we might not know. To me this is demonstrated in the multitude of reasons Raskolnikov gives for killing the woman. There are several reasons, but none of them truly explain why he shed blood. At the end of the day, humans are no more than animals, acting before thinking, and only justifying our action afterwards.
- interesting how a problem can increase to a larger magnitude
specially when you don't talk about it, and you don't confront it and you are obsessed
- the book is visceral, it shows how much anxiety, stress someone
has to be under to commit the crime, the big problems are added on top of small details. One of the moments I like the most is when he is paralylzed of so much stress
- what happens when you have nowhere to turn