paragraph 3

A surprising fact about this book is the fact that the “crime” occurs so early in the novel. The rest of the book, Raskolnikov suffering from what he has done, is the “punishment”. The type of punishment that Raskolnikov occurs seems to surprise many as well. More than likely, most authors would have had the character commit the crime, and then the rest of the novel be a depiction of him or her evading the authorities or perhaps their time incarcerated. All of these choices Fyodor Dostoevsky made essentially boil down the same concept that runs the majority of the novel, guilt. After all, almost the entire novel is focused on the effects that guilt has on the character solidifying the idea that Dostoyevsky thought it was a relevant topic. Readers slowly start to see the guilt sink in at first, and then realize a few pages later how far Raskolnikov has truly come. Initially, it is easy to think that he is just losing his mind or even mentally ill, but the idea how or why all of this is happening to him eventually comes across a reader’s mind. The most obvious answer is guilt. All of the scenarios that Raskolnikov initially showed his progression into delusion are related with this guilt. Whenever anybody mentions anything about the crime, he is virtually incapable of remaining calm like one would think he should do. He instantaneously becomes fidgety, uncomfortable, and begins speaking of nonsense. At several points in the story, in fact, Raskolnikov even loses consciousness and falls to the ground. This evokes feelings of pity towards Raskolnikov as it shows that he, under it all, is truthfully just a scared kid plagued with a few very serious mental disorders. Having that image of a scared kid is important in being able to compare Raskolnikov from his life a year earlier. He was described as a young, intelligent man trying to support himself in the big city, but “hopelessly in debt” to his land lady despite tutoring children to bring in extra income aside from his studies. Seeing that a person, and this person, a relatively successful and level-headed young many, can fall this far from reality partially from the role that guilt played in his mind is astonishing. It helps to convey the raw power of the mind and what it can do to harm its host. Despite from being delirious and passing out in several instances, Raskolnikov is notably a much meaner character than he was before the crime. The letter that Raskolnikov receives from his family about his sister’s engagement sets him into pure fury as he berates them out loud. There is no way that news of this kind could provoke this type of reaction from a mentally stable individual, an individual trying to cope with some serious problem in their life; guilt. 

Comment on Jessica

When you're defining crime a good quote to maybe look at on page 244 (or in chapter 5 of part 3 if you have a different book) is "crime is a protest against the abnormality of the social organization nothing more..." It’s at one of the scenes that Porfiry and Razumikhin were arguing. I like where its going and the connection between someone’s mental state and the crime they commit. You could also use examples of all the people who had mental illnesses that were involved in many mass shootings in the past few years if you’re going to continue that idea throughout the book.  

Body Paragraph 1: Social Position

Even though we are outwardly taught that we are all made to be equal, the truth is, whether unconsciously are not, people are inherently different therefore judged differently. Humans system of life is consumed by categorizing and stereotyping based off of common occurrences and passed experiences. No, stereotyping is not good and leads to  prejudices and blatant  ignorance because people think they know a person based on their title. However, those stereotypes do hold truth to them and humans cannot be blamed for making them because it is almost a natural reflex when you meet a person. Where problems arise are when people start classifying those titles as “good” or “bad” and when people are ranked a hierarchy is established. You are more inclined to trust a priest than to trust prostitute, and you would probably feel more comfortable letting a 20 year old female babysit your kids rather than a 45 year old male, and even if that stereotype or concern may be true 99% of the time, that 1% shows more than the 99% because it shows that there are no absolute truths and that not everything you believe is as simple and black and white as what shown on the surface. This is event when Luzhin accused Sonia of stealing money from him. No one believed Sonia and she was close to being arrested until someone more “credible” stepped in. Luzhin was able to simply declare that Sonia was a thief and he would have gotten away with it if Lebeziatnikov had not stepped in even though his accusal was simply his word against Sonia’s. Sonia would not have offered to empty her pockets if she had known the money was there. However, since Sonia has a yellow card, the police would not have had a problem believing Luzhin, and Sonia’s life would have been destroyed simply because of her title. Raskolnikov summed it up perfectly when he said “it was all due to your social position and the habits associated with it” (page 386). That quote is at the heart of injustice in society, and can explain the murders of Travon Martin and Jordan Davis. In honor of this past Black History Month (because Gulliver always puts so much energy into celebrating every February), it was great to hear that another man did not get convicted of murdering an unarmed black teen  (good to know know that if my sisters loud music hurts my ears, I can shoot her thanks to the stand your ground law). More likely than not, Travon Martin  and Jordan Davis’s fate were due to their “social position and habits associated with it”. It’s evident that the value of people’s life is attached to their social position, and some people’s lives prove to be more valuable than others. Part of Raskolnikov’s justification for killing Aliona Ivanova was that she was simply an “old pawnbroker”. Yes, one old mean pawnbroker’s life probably won’t affect the world as much as someone of greater importance like the president. Whether we like it or not, we aren't just all “humans” and we are far from reaching a society where everyone is valued equally. Even though Aliona Ivanova wasn't someone of great importance, it’s hard to tell if that means her life is so worthless that Raskolnikov can use that as a valid reason of killing her. 

Comment on Wendell's

     I really enjoyed your intro and your first body paragraph. You made your point clear from the very start of the paper so there is no confusion on what your topic is. I liked how in the first body paragraph you wrote about the time period the story was set in to give a little background information.

thesis paper 1

          A character from The Sense of An Ending stated that “Mental states may often be inferred from actions” (Barnes, 10). While this quote is said in one book, it is very applicable to the infamous Raskolnikov from the classic, Crime and Punishment. This famous novel focuses on a series of events that occur due to the main character committing two murders early on in the story. Raskolnikov’s, psychological state can be defined by examining his character before, during, and after the murders he commits. Through analyzing certain events in the story and psychoanalyzing Raskolnikov’s mental state, it can be inferred through his actions that the murders initiated a cycle of guilt, forcing him to process his emotions in phases.       Crime is defined as “a violation of a law in which there is injury to the public or a member of the public and a term in jail or prison, and/or a fine as possible penalties” (Legal Dictionary, 2005). What constitutes a criminal act depends on the country, the current laws in place, and the time period. However, the one crime that transcends throughout all periods of time and across the globe is murder, “intentionally causing the death of another person without extreme provocation or legal justification” or “the causing of the death of another while committing or attempting to commit another crime ” (Cornell Law) Raskolnikov believes that there are exceptions to whether someone has committed a crime or not which is completely different than how the legal system views crime. At one point in the novel, the detective Porfiry, was questioning suspects regarding the murders of Alyona and Lizaveta and began questioning Raskolnikov about his article “On Crime”. In his moment of rage, Raskolnikov argued that murder or any crime should not be punishable if the murderer or criminal is from the upper or “extraordinary” class since this category commits murders to benefit society, like Napoleon. According to his viewpoint, society can be split into two categories: the “ordinary” and the “extra-ordinary” (Dostoevsky, 310).        The twenty-three year old Rodin Raskolnikov dropped out of college after a year because he believed that he could save his mother money and that he was too smart to waste his talents sitting in a classroom. Raskolnikov is “isolated from everyone else, that he was actually afraid of meeting anyone at all” and had a “morbid sensation of fear” whenever he was placed in a new environment or had to encounter something new even thought he is eager for new information. He is a very egotistical person and believes he is intellectually above everyone around him which causes him to fear most human connections. In addition to being antisocial and fearful, Raskolnikov does everything almost “mechanically” and is not “aware of his surroundings” (5).

comment on sophia's

Wendell Pfeffer

Comment on Sophia’s

Sophia I actually really liked the opening statement of your term paper. I like how you relate his actions with religion and how when he commits the murder “assumes all powers of god.” The idea of religion is really unique I never would have thought about that idea. This is definitely not an easy paper to write but it seems that you have a good grasp on everything.

Term paper - part 1

Wendell Pfeffer

4/6/14

Term Paper part 1

Wendell Pfeffer

4/6/14

Term Paper part 1

            The sheer power of guilt can be chaotic to the human brain, however in Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment Raskolnikovs change in character is not driven solely by pure guilt but by the possibility of being physically punished as well. The psychology of why Raskolnikov ever committed the murder in the first place relates to the concept of tablerosa. Although each and every human is born with a clean slate or tablerosa we have always had a tendency to commit to doing violent things. We find pleasure from killing, hurting and destroying things. Since the beginning of our time each and every human has fulfilled this desire of violence through war and fighting etc. Now even though we have evolved into more sophisticated human beings violence is still brought up through common sports such as football, soccer, and MMA etc. Don’t get me wrong war is still a common thing in our time but the reasons aren’t sufficient. Back then men went to war to save their home country from extermination not corrupt politicians. 
             Going back to nineteenth century Russia, Raskolnikov thought that he was wasting his time and thought that he needed to do something that benefitted everyone. He believed that he can make society a better place if he gets rid of the pawnbroker lady. The pawnbroker lady had been basically stealing poor peoples possession’s by offering an incredibly low price. A price that seemed incredibly unfair for the seller but suitable for her. She had no feelings of contempt for the lower classes coming to her door and selling their items. Raskolnikov was one of her victims and he felt cheated. Knowing that her death will create a positive atmosphere among his society he feels it is okay to kill her. Raskolnikov kills her but does so without a clear conscious. He doesn’t think about the possible consequences to his actions. The reason for this also lies behind the idea that I discussed earlier about the psychology of the human brain. Yes the pawnbroker lady was screwing him and everyone else over but the main concept here lies behind our natural behavior. He killed her because he had the desire to do so. If he didn’t have such a great desire to commit a violence act then he would have thought out the consequences to the crime he was about to commit. Raskolnikov didn’t do that and thus when he committed the murder realized the seriousness of his position. He didn’t know exactly what was going to happen to him following the crime and worse didn’t know what his friends and family were going to think of him. All he knew was that the outcome was not going to be good if he was found guilty of the murders. As a result this put him into a state of desperation. He kept thinking over the details of the crime hoping that there wasn’t any evidence to convict him. Unfortunately, Raskolnikov couldn’t take it and thus was left delirious while lying in bed for a good couple of days.