Summary:
In Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel, Crime and Punishment, Marmeladov is a minor character whose story is told in only a few short chapters of the first two books, and yet, Marmeladov plays an important role in the novel.
A Taste of Marmeladov
In Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel, Crime and Punishment, Marmeladov is a minor character whose story is told in only a few short chapters of the first two books, and yet, Marmeladov plays an important role in the novel. Both Marmeladov and Raskolnikov are desperate men trying to function in a bleak world. Both men feel alienated in a world which has no meaning. Despite his miserable existence, Marmeladov hopes to find salvation through his anguish. Marmeladov reflects the themes of guilt and suffering that Raskolnikov later shares. Dostoevsky suggests that suffering is the only path to redemption.
Raskolnikov first meets Marmeladov at a dirty tavern. His clothes are ragged and soiled and he has a "yellow, even greenish face, swollen with constant drinking" (12). Despite this crumpled appearance, Marmeladov's "eyes seemed even to be lit with rapture" (12). The proprietor and patrons of the bar view Marmeladov as a "funnyman" (14) and an object of ridicule as he gets more inebriated, yet Raskolnikov is drawn to him even though the downtrodden Raskolnikov has, for weeks, fled all company.
Marmeladov, who recognizes a sorrow in Raskolnikov's face, has a need to tell him about his life, which has been destroyed by alcohol. He had once been "a titular councillor" (12), a low level government worker. His first wife died, leaving him with a fourteen-year-old daughter Sonya to take care of. His troubles increased when, out of pity, he married Katerina Ivanovna, a widow with three children of her own. Katerina, herself, was impoverished and saw Marmeladov as her only hope. Marmeladov knows that she did not marry him out of love, but rather out of necessity.
Marmeladov's alcoholism has not only completely destroyed his own life, but has ruined the lives of his family. His wife, Katerina, is "a terribly wasted woman" (25) who has dealt with the stress of taking care of Marmeladov for too many years. Once considered higher in class, she is now the lowest of the poor. Out of desperation, Katerina forces Sonya to sell her body in order for the family to survive, since Marmeladov does little for support. The three small children of Katerina seem to suffer the worst from Marmeladov's drunkenness as they are all "thin as a matchstick" (25) and are dressed in rags. They are beaten constantly by Katerina out of frustration of her life with the alcoholic Marmeladov. It seems that everyone touched by Marmeladov ends up worse than they started.
Marmeladov commits terrible deeds in order to fulfill his selfish desires which he, himself, does not understand. First he steals the money that he has brought home for Katerina, then he borrows money from his daughter, who has prostituted herself for it. Marmeladov is desperate; however, he cannot help his drinking problem and continues to spend every kopeck on alcohol. He recognizes that he is "a swine" (15) and a "born brute" (15) and weeps in despair over his crying children and his furious wife. He truly wants to be a better father but cannot get beyond this depression.
Marmeladov feels great amounts of guilt for his drinking, but his meaningless existence depresses him so much that he does nothing. He is more than poor, he is destitute. Marmeladov explains why alcohol consumes his entire life:
In poverty you may still preserve the nobility of your inborn feelings, but in destitution no one ever does. For destitution, one does not even get driven out of human company with a stick; one is swept out with the broom, to make it more insulting; and justly so, for in destitution I am the first to insult myself. Hence the drinking! (13)
The overwhelming poverty and lack of self worth destroys Marmeladov's spirit. He cannot find the will to work harder to support himself or his family.
Raskolnikov, too, has had a miserable existence and "was crushed by poverty" (3). His clothes are merely rags and he is weak from hunger. With no job and many debts, he pawns his possessions for only a few rubles. As a result, Raskolnikov feels like an outcast and wanders around aimlessly all day. Although his mother and sister, Dunya, depend upon him for support, he cannot send them money. In fact, Dunya plans to sacrifice herself for her family by marrying the foppish Luzhin. This desperate act for money could almost be compared to the situation of Sonya, who is forced to sell herself to support the family. Like Marmeladov, all of Raskolnikov's self worth has been taken away by his circumstances. Raskolnikov, however, feels so alienated that he will commit murder and not fully understand why.
Marmeladov wants to be punished for these crimes against his family, claiming that he "ought to be crucified" (23) and that he deserves everything that happened to him. His wife Katerina complains that he only "eats and drinks and uses up warmth" (18), but Marmeladov masochistically states that drinking is "even better" (24) if he is berated by his wife for it. She angrily pulls his hair and beats him, but he is "not afraid of a beating... such beatings are not only not painful, but are even a delight to me... For I, myself, cannot do without them" (24). He believes that the more he is punished on Earth, the more likely he is to be forgiven by God for all of his sins and allowed into Heaven. Marmeladov believes that God "will judge and forgive all... He will say, 'Come forth my drunk ones, my weak ones, my shameless ones!'" (23). Marmeladov's only salvation is the hope that on Judgement Day, his family will understand why he has led such a destructive life.
Disgusted by his incomprehensible act of murder, Raskolnikov, too, feels "a horror and loathing for what he had done" (80). Wishing to be punished for his crimes, he plays cat and mouse games with the police inspector, Petrovich, in hopes that Petrovich will understand and arrest him. Raskolnikov gives subtle hints to acquaintances and returns to the scene of the crime. Plagued by bad dreams, Raskolnikov's physical health suffers and he constantly passes out whenever the crime is mentioned. This overwhelming guilt will not be appeased until Raskolnikov is punished for his crime.
On his deathbed, Marmeladov tries to find salvation. Although Katerina refuses to forgive him, claiming that "he wasted their [the children's] lives and mine" (184), the fact that she had taken care of him for all this time is proof that she cared about him. Even Sonya, despite her humiliating life as a prostitute, embraces her father and weeps as he dies. Marmeladov's very last words were a plea for forgiveness and an admission of all of his sins in hope of atonement for his drunkenness.
As Marmeladov believes that the road to redemption is through punishment and pain, Raskolnikov seeks atonement and admits to his crime so that he can be punished for the "terrible guilt in his past" (543). Only after confessing to Sonya does he believe that he can find true redemption. Both men "could have endured everything... even shame and disgrace" (543) but instead hoped that God would forgive them because they suffered so much. Marmeladov and Raskolnikov find the "burning repentance" (544) that they are looking for.
For Dostoevsky, Marmeladov represents those tragic people who turn to destructive behaviors as an escape from reality. Dostoevsky was concerned with the suffering of those who lived in poverty. With destitution comes a loss of hope which, with alcoholism, turns into a vicious cycle of loss of self worth and destruction of the spirit. Marmeladov functions as an example of Dostoevsky's reflection that people often make moral decisions based not only upon human nature, but also upon social conditions.
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