The very beginning of Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky was a bit slow. But as I read it began to pick up momentum and quickly. Katerina Ivanovna and her family was the first scene in which I became very interested in the book. It was like a car accident that you could not look away from. She has three children of her own that she beats if they cry from hunger. I mean honestly, she calls Sonya useless, but I didn’t read about Katerina bringing home the bacon. Sonya’s father, Marmeladov is on the same level of stupidity and cruelty. He overheard his wife forcing Sonya into prostitution and continued to drink away the money instead of saving his daughter from a life of humiliation. That is ridiculous, but I guess poverty is as powerful and agent for corruption and evil as extreme affluence.
Raskolnikov also seems to be extremely influenced by his own poverty. At heart, I think he is, at the very least a decent man. He left money behind at the Marmeladov’s house. He also tried to save a sixteen year old girl from some pervert, and even gave money to a cop to get her home safely, who turns out to be a “crook” (I wanted to say something else) and eventually leaves the girl to the stalkers desire. Originally, I thought Raskolnikov was only thinking about killing the pawnbroker because he was being pushed to the extremes due to his need for money…but it also seems to be the result of his sense of destiny he had gotten after overhearing to two men talk foully of the pawnbroker.
However, I have to keep reminding myself that even though the book is centered on him, Raskolnikov is not the protagonist….he’s the murderer, which would make him the antagonist, if there was a protagonist to have a conflict with. I just think it is important to keep in mind that he did not have to kill the woman. He had options, he was going to get help from his family, and could have even gone to his old friend from the university. If anything at all, it is his extreme paranoia that will get him in trouble, but it could possibly save him some as well.
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It was hard for me to read that part about the abuse. Its scary to see that a mother can turn on her very own children. I can see why Dostoevsky mention that scene, he wants the reader to fully see the way some people were living and how life's problems effects everyone differently.
ReplyDeleteI'm so happy to see someone also question why Raskolnikov is considered the protagonist! I've read a few things online about the novel and Raskolnikov's character so that I could understand the story better, and every single thing I've read calls him the protagonist!! It actually really frustrates me because throughout my entire life, I have always thought that the protagonist is the character who is fighting against some sort of evil outside force (whatever that may be), but my idea does not apply to this story. However, that led me to question whether or not Raskolnikov is both the protagonist and the antagonist, because of his struggles with insanity and the two sides of his character.
ReplyDeleteI also completely agree with your statement about poverty and extreme affluence being agents for corruption. Poverty drove Katerina to force her daughter into prostitution and drove Raskolnikov to kill, while extreme affluence created an idealistic and unrealistic illusion of how life should be lived for Blanche DuBois.