Wendell Pfeffer
8/25/13
Crime and
Punishment
Reaction: Chapters one and two
As I begin to delve into this book I
cannot but help imagine the sequence of events that are about to occur. I’ve
never read any sort of literature that re-creates the structure of life during
nineteenth century Russia, but I am about to find out. Once I started reading
this book I was intrigued by how much I really enjoyed it.
The story begins with introducing a man known as Raskolnikov, he is young man that lives in a
bad atmosphere that is stricken with drunks, prostitutes and people living in
poverty. He clearly is in the same
situation as everyone else, as in the opening of chapter one describes his debt
towards the landlady and how it has put much pressure on him: “he was deeply in
debt with the landlady and he feared meeting her.” The poverty and negative
surroundings have also given him a negative response towards his life. He
always comes to describe the strange and drunk people near him: “He looked
around and at that moment he saw two drunks leaving the saloon.” During
nineteenth century Russia everyone was living in poverty except the
aristocrats. My mom was able to go to Soviet Russia in 1985 and the one thing
that really amazed her was the people. They were living a life with no emotion;
everything was gray and depressing. She wasn’t able to leave the hotel without
the guide and it was prohibited to speak with anyone in the streets. They took
her to a store that was mainly for tourists and the only thing that they had was
sugar, coffee and vodka.
Another character that is mentioned in
chapter two is Marmeladov, he seems to be a drunk retired government official
that mourns over the suffering of him and his family. Raskolnikov meets him at
a drinking tavern and they discuss over his issues. Marmeladov looks towards
alchohol as a cure for all of his suffering, he even states: “the more I drink
the more I feel it. That’s why I drink. Because when I drink, I look for
compassion, I look for feeling.” He wants people to feel sorry for him for his
suffering. This is the reason why he is talking about all his internal problems
to Raskolnikov, he needs to relieve his anger and sadness.
So far I am really captivated by this book, I
find the story line to be interesting and cant wait to find out what happens in
the next few chapters.
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