Russian Authors and Taoist Philosophy

As I read Crime and Punishment, I am increasingly intrigued by Raskolnikov. Here is a dynamic, developing character that seems to constantly flip back and forth from compassion to contempt to compassion to contempt again. As I read into the thought processes of him, I notice that while others see an evil, murderous creature in him, there is also some good as well. For example, although he immediately regrets the decision because of (A) his lack of money and (B) his concern over how the money will be used, the fact remains that he did give money to Sonya's family. In addition, (pg. 154-55)in an uncharacteristically good mood, he again is compassionate in his giving to the street-singer.

In reading this, I am constantly reminded of the Taoist yin yang symbol:

There is the Yang side, the white field with the black spot (insert Treasure Island reference here) and the Yin side, which is the... you know what, you can figure it out. What it represents is that, in this world, there is always an element of the other in two opposing forces. (e.g. Light cannot exist without darkness, initially there must be darkness for the light to fill. Likewise there must be or have been light at one time in order to recognize that the darkness is there.) Bringing this all back to Dostoevsky, even though Raskolnikov is widely considered to be criminally insane. Some will to do good is inside him, even though it is suppressed by his murderous thoughts and intentions. (spoiler alert: apparently Sonya thinks the same way)

~Cody Martin

I posted on Sam's... untitled...