Summary:
In the novel Crime and Punishment, by Fyodor Dostoevsky, we discover nearly every character becomes weighed down by the same oppressive force, which slowly deteriorates the social structure in St. Petersburg. A common theme between all of the general struggling in St. Petersburg can be described as a poverty motif.
In the novel Crime and Punishment, by Fyodor Dostoevsky, we discover nearly every character becomes weighed down by the same oppressive force, which slowly deteriorates the social structure in St. Petersburg. A common theme between all of the general struggling in St. Petersburg can be described as a poverty motif. Dostoevsky makes it apparent that every character struggles for even a miniscule amount of money, as long as they can have another meal. Ancillary, because of the great deal of poverty the reader should notice the great deal of crime directly correlated to the poverty.
Our first example introducing the destruction poverty already made is made apparent with the introduction of St. Petersburg. Dostoevsky describes this city as dirty and crowded. In the city, young women prostitute themselves to make money for their destitute families. Additionally, random drunks can be seen sprawled out all over the city, during broad daylight. Then shows people like Katerina Ivanova, who beat their children in the street just so they will go and beg for money. Everyman lives in unhealthy conditions, the protagonist for example lives in a small attic room of a tenement house complex, and Raskolnikov is not the only person living in tenement housing because that is all the Russian lower class can afford. Dostoevsky uses a description of the city to try and show the ills of Russian society while he wrote Crime and Punishment.
A single symbol that Dostoevsky uses to indicate the true perils of Russian society is family. A familiy readers meets in the novel the Raskolnikov family, which includes, Raskolnikov, Dunya, and Pulcheria. They accurately depict what poverty at this time did to families in Russia. First we see Dunya. Raskolnikov's sister and Raskolnikov share very similar traits, but the difference being a stronger moral code and she proves to be a stronger character. Her strength makes her one of the few characters who are heavily affected by poverty. She is somewhat of a foil to Raskolnikov because she is kind, shows endless compassion for everybody, and she has sacrificed herself. We see evidence of her self-sacrificing nature when she decides to take Luzhin's hand in marriage, purely in order to support her mother and her brother. "he had intended marrying an honorable girl who had no dowry and who knew what it was like to be poor... the wife considers the husband the benefactor."
Her brother Raskolnikov considered a very different person as compared to his younger sister; this contributes greatly to how poverty affects him personally, showing what poverty can make a person do. Raskolnikov is a self-centered person, who appears cruel, and he seems to feel the need to rationalize everything with his intellect. "The old woman was merely a sickness . . . I was in a hurry to step over . . . it wasn't a human being I killed, it was a principle! So I killed the principle, but I didn't step over, I stayed on this side . . . All I managed to do was kill. And I didn't even manage that, as it turns out . . ." Because of these facts he easily drives himself toward murdering Alonya which ultimately doesn't do a great deal of anything for the society and it doesn't relieve any of the crushing poverty he tried to relieve. He also alienates himself from society disabling him, in the sense he cannot attempt to better his situation. In the novel we are supposed to believe he is one of the most poverty-stricken characters, due to his later mental relapses.
Then Raskolnikov's mother Pulcheria. She devotes a lot to her son and his success. Willing to do anything to make sure he succeeds in life, even after he confesses the murders to her she still defends him, pretending he's innocent. This proves a downfall for the entire family because if forces Dunya to sacrifice herself and it teaches Raskolnikov independence.
Another example of poverties crushing abilities is the Marmeladov family, who is in a much worse situation than Raskolnikov's family. The father Semyon Marmeladov, a public official who has a drinking problem. He is such an alcoholic that he cannot support his family at all. He is fully aware that he has ruined the lives of himself and his family with his bad habit. He run down by a horse and carriage while walking around town later he ends up dying. The reader should take into account that he died by the hands of a wealthy person or a noble person and in a time when people of social rank thought poor people were not worthy enough to live and it was perfectly alright to hit a poor person. In addition, his wife Katerina has consuption, bloody cheeks and a persistent bloody cough, she is slowly deteriorating, metally and physically. Later due to her lack of money forces her children to dance in the streets, and beg for money. Sonya, their daughter, depicts how all women are treated in Russia circa 1800. She devotes all her time to her family even if she has to prostitute herself in order to keep her family alive, her father steals from her for his alcohol, and yet she continues to support her mother and father. The best example for Raskolnikov being better off than the Marmeldov's, is evident when he donates his last bit of money to their family.
Aside from the victims of poverty there lurks people who decide to take immediate advantage of any poor people. Three characters that take advantage of poor people include: Alyona Ivanova, Pyotor Luzhin, and Arkady Svidrigailov. A major abuser, Alyona Ivanova, of the poor class of people. She employs herself as a pawnbroker and she
gives very little money for people's family heirlooms just so they can get through the next day. In addition she uses her simple sister Lizaveta by making her somewhat of a slave. Pyotr Luzhin is a stingy, self-absorbed, narrow-minded person. Who wishes to marry a beautiful, intelligent, poor girl like Dunya so that she will owe him for life. Svidrigailov who has potentially killed his wife, has raped a "dumb girl" and he attempted to rape Dunya and turn in Raskolnikov. We know each of these people are stopped before they can complete more damage. Raskolnikov murdered Alonya ending her abuse of impoverish people. Additionally, Dunya fought off both Luzhin and Svidrigailov. Dostoyevsky uses these characters as a antagoinists and opposers of societies natural order.
In the end society has no cure for the problems and injustices that it faces, but with the imprisonment of Raskolnikov, readers can see a beam of light which shines a new day on the social ills in Russia. More importantly it serves to show redemption will come after the crime produced by the poverty in St. Petersburg.
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