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Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Questions for questions, I've got a question.

Crime and Punishment..what a whirlwind of thought! Initially, I believed Raskolnikov to be an early Ted Kaczynski, but mostly because we have been covering the Unabomber in psychology as of late. Dostoyevsky is absolutely thrilling to read. My attention was easily kept, though more than likely due to C&P being of the novel nature rather than theological/philosophical excerpt. No offense to them, it just becomes drudgery after a while.

As for our friend Raskolnikov, I am really bewildered by his character, especially concerning his sister’s engagement to Luzhin. R sees this as a loss of freedom, as a type of slavery much akin to Sonia’s. Both women lose their sense of self in the attempt to provide for others. But is there something so wrong in sacrificing yourself for the sake of others’ well-being? Perhaps in Sonia’s case as there are immoral or unethical implications there, but is this so much a crime for Dunya? As ever, I am constantly reminded of Pride & Prejudice, but this time my recollection of it is when Charlotte Lucas marries the insufferable Mr. Collins. Her reasoning is that she is a burden enough to her parents, with no future or prospects. So at the age of twenty-seven, Miss Lucas sacrifices herself and her true desires to settle. While Miss Lucas certainly has better circumstances than Sonia, or even Dunya, is this not the same sort of movement? Charlotte was not praised by her peers, but she found comfort and freedom in the life she came to lead.

Back to Raskolnikov, he seems almost envious of the idea. He does not want this sacrifice, but yet he is not willing to deny it. If he denies it, he must make a sacrifice of his own to supplement the one he forbids of Dunya. Would this not make him a hypocrite? “Let my life be ruined so long as my loved ones are happy!” Is there not nobility in such a sacrifice? Or is Raskolnikov’s problem that Dunya can be bought? I have heard that everyone has a price at which they can be bought; is the well-being of her family too lowly a cost for R’s approval? At what point, reader, can you be bought? Perhaps his problem is that there is not real love in this union, and therefore no respect. But how much does respect matter in chronic destitution? Does respect have any worth here, or does it have worth at any time? I do not hate to pull the God-card, so what of Christ’s sacrifice? Did He not die for the sake of many? What about Raskolnikov: does he not kill for the sake of many? Is it simply a matter of how you value human life circumstantially? What is the real difference between Dunya and Sonia, Dunya and the Alonya, Sonia and Alonya? Questions, questions, questions...

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