Fyodor Didstoevsky is known as not only one the most influential Russian writers but also one the most respected contemporary authors. Crime and Punishment is his most famous novel and is considered a masterpiece. Its literary influence can still be felt today. Crime and Punishment examines the psychology and legal system. These topics are timeless and will remain relevant to society, making this novel an invaluable text.
A storyline and its characters are created from the setting. Fyodor Dostoevsky depicts a polluted, dirty city with prostitutes and drunks in Crime and Punishment. He paints a setting for us that helps us understand where everything is happening. It also makes it possible to connect characters with the places they live. Although it may seem absurd and insignificant at times, this meticulous detail is essential for creating intense psychological drama. The homes where many of the characters live are similar. These settings have a profound effect on their personalities. According to the author, the vivid imagery used in the descriptions of the city had an impact on the main character. The heat can be an irritant as well as a way to introduce Raskolnikov. Because Raskolnikov feels that the environment directly influences his mood, the sentence in which he describes Raskolnikovs mood includes the description of the not so-lovely town. This is a great way for the writer and reader to see the setting.
Dostoevsky’s first description of Raksolnikov and his room is “”[…], He looked with hatred at it.” (Page 27). It was only six feet in length and of most deplorable appearance […]”. This cramped-looking room may be a metaphor of Raskolnikov’s paranoid and cramped mentality, which led to the murders of Alyona/Lizaveta. Raskolzinikov could have been hiding in this cramped space, which is often called a “[prison] cells” by different characters. This is the tiny room where Raskolzinikov hid the items he had stolen from Lizaveta and Alyona immediately after the murders. It’s where his haunted memories and the murders are still fresh in his mind.
While Dostoevsky does not describe Lizaveta or Alyona’s bedroom in a dominant way, it is consistent with what Raskolnikov has to say about them. “[…] He glanced at everything in the room and tried to remember its layout. Page 7. “But there wasn’t anything special in that room.” Raskolnikov discusses both the ordinary and extraordinary roles in the world. He calls Alyona, who he doesn’t believe, a louse. It’s fitting that the ordinary room is filled with everyday things belonged to an ordinary lady. This man was ordinary in many aspects, but he died for the ordinary woman.
This is a way to use location to determine personality traits. Sonya’s apartment was described as follows: “The entire big room had almost nothing in it.” (Page 315) Sonya feels that large swathes of her body are empty. Sonya lost her father recently and had to prostitute to support herself and her family. Her room seems to reflect her deep pain. Dostoevsky also wrote that the poverty was apparent, and there were no curtains covering the bed. (Page 315) This sentence shows how Sonya sacrifices luxury and pleasure for her family’s support, even though her job provides enough income.
St. Petersburg was the epicenter of rapid industrialization in the period of the book’s creation. However, despite the benefits it brings to some consumers and the city’s poorer citizens, indistrialization often has adverse effects. Dostoevsky reveals the social problems of Russia in the early 1900s, including the extreme poverty and the desperate acts many were forced into because of it. Sonya was, for instance, forced to procreate by KaterinaIvanovna to provide support for her family. Dostoevsky depicts Sonya as a unlikable character who is portrayed as a selfless, generally positive person. He creates moral conflict for the reader by creating an unlikable character.
Dostoevsky makes use of setting throughout Crime and Punishment to communicate his points. These points are easily grasped by the reader even if they have not read the book before. The stuffy atmosphere in St. Petersburg could have motivated Raskolnikov to commit murders, but the author doesn’t provide any further details. Dostoevsky instead uses setting to hint at future events, as in the case with the yellow, cracked wallpaper falling off Raskolnikov’s bedroom, which indicates Raskolnikov’s mind is cracking and beginning to crumble.
Comments are closed.