My [Rachael] response to Alexia

I find it interesting that you found Raskolnikov (my gosh that is one hell of a name) to be arrogant. I actually did not find that as I read but I do intend to go back and look at him in that perspective. I agree fully with the rest of your assessment on his character. What I also find interesting is that you, along with many other people, are quick to assume that his desires are murderous ones. I will admit that I did know a bit about this book before I read it, and it does speak of this in the descriptions of the characters, but I would love to know if you came across that idea without prior knowledge. I am not sure how these words come across but I say this purely out of curiosity of hoping to see an aspect of a book through the mind of someone who does not know what will transpire. Finally, I found your concluding point to be very important. By saying "morality has a little role in his decision-making when it comes to considering committing the deed, ...... even though he is revolted by the idea of committing the crime, he would do it if he believed it could remove him from the extreme state of poverty that he is currently living in" I feel like you have summed up one of the most important concepts of this book. This seems to me, to be what we as the readers are supposed to understand through the story.

Raskolnikov's Character

To say the least, Raskolnikov is a proud man. He is described as being "tall, dark, and handsome," cliche in its wording, but it gives the readers a good mental image of the character. His classic good looks, and physical features most likely aid in pumping up his ego and pride. He is bold, sardonic, arrogant, and quite cavalier, as well- all qualities that showcase his pride and contentedness with himself. He also seems to be emotionally detached from the rest of society, and appears to be isolated from humanity.  It appears that Raskolnikov deems himself superior to all else, which makes it difficult for him to relate to other people. His pride leads him to view other people as inferior to himself, and his lack of human contact leads him to inhuman thoughts. When we are first introduced to him, it is evident right away that he is the protagonist of this story, but one does not get a good feeling about his character. The first chapter revolves around him thinking up awful plans and deciding whether to take action on those plans or not. What I would like to know is what made him this way. What could have happened in his life that helped develop these feelings towards other people? Why is he so troubled by his own thoughts? There must be something seriously wrong with him, to think the way he does and then be repulsed by his own thoughts, only to continuously return to them later on.

Comment on Luisa Maggioni’s Reaction to Crime and Punishment

Overall we perceived the same thing about the first two chapters of Crime and Punishment. We both witnessed the terrible physical state of St. Petersburg and how all the characters are living in extreme poverty but more likely even worse than that of the main character. One of those that you mentioned and that we are firstly introduced to in the second chapter is Marmeladov. As you said he is in a terrible situation where he lost his job due to his drunkenness and one of his four children, Sonya, was forced into prostitution. Marmeladov could be one of the examples that author, Dostoevsky included to demonstrate the damaging effects of alcoholism and urban deprivation in the city of St. Petersburg. I personally do see that when  Raskolnikov leaves money at the home before leaving that this is a moment of compassion and possibly an awakening of a hidden compassionate side like you said. I do not think that the compassion is directed toward Marmeladov or his wife, but mainly toward Sonya because he seems to focus disgust at the family for forcing her to sell her body and believes that they will ultimately pay for this. Personally, I think that the author created Marmeladov and his unfortunate situation in order to possibly illustrate this hidden side of Raskolnikov. In this chapter though his moment of compassion was short and his pride almost immediately extinguished those feelings and instead led him to criticize the family.

A Troubling Mix of Traits (Alexia Barrios)

From what I read in the first two chapters of Crime and Punishment, I was able to learn a lot about the main character Raskolnikov. He is someone who I believe has a troubling mix of traits, the first of many being his extreme arrogance. Though he is suffering from extreme poverty, like his fellow inhabitants of St. Petersburg, he considers himself to be above the rest of them. His pride could possibly be fostered by his appearance; he is described as “exceptionally handsome, above average in height, slim, well-built, with beautiful darks eyes and dark brown hair.” (1) Though he is very arrogant, there was a small moment of compassion when he takes Marmeladov, a drunkard with four children and whose wife had the misfortune of marrying after a failed first marriage, home and leaves him some money. As soon as we see that compassion, he takes back his act of compassion immediately wishing that he didn't leave the money because he despises Marmeladov for forcing one of his daughters, Sonya, into prostitution. Another trait that I noticed in Raskolnikov was his troubling mental state. Mainly in the first chapter he is considering committing some crime that he does not specify, but I assume is murdering the pawnbroker whom he has an extreme hatred toward. In my opinion, morality has a little role in his decision-making when it comes to considering committing the deed, because I believe that even though he is revolted by the idea of committing the crime, he would do it if he believed it could remove him from the extreme state of poverty that he is currently living in.

My Reaction to the Beginning of "Crime and Punishment"

What I perceived from what I read in the first two chapters was that the main character, Raskolnikov, lives in a state of complete poverty in St. Petersburg, and the people in his surroundings do not live much better than he does. In the first two chapters we are introduced to other characters such as Marmeladov, who has an even worse situation than Raskolnikov. Raskolnikov lives in poverty, but at least can make it in his home. Marmeladov has a horrible situation in which he has four kids, a daughter who is a prostitute, he is an alcoholic, and his wife has to deal with all this and treats the daughter very crudely. Raskolnikov does the favor of taking Marmeladov home, and after he sees his entire situation and how Marmeladov has finished all his family's money on alcohol, Raskolnikov leaves money when he leaves the house. I think that action proves that Raskolnikov has a genuine and caring side to him. Being human, he double thinks his action but at the end leaves it at giving the money to the family because he is kind hearted on the inside. Of course, I cannot really make a judgement or prediction on what is going to happen in the novel because I have only read two chapters, but these are my initial thoughts.

Joshua's Comments on Rachael’s First Impressions of Crime and Punishment

I feel that Raskolnikov is mysterious as of now because the book introduces him as he is in the middle of something that seems to have been preceded by certain events and because we do not know what has preceded what is happening in the first chapter, there is no real way to know of Raskolnikov’s intentions. Yet he is mysterious in the fact that he seems to be very well educated by the way he can observe people’s reactions and compose himself, yet he is in a position of extreme poverty. Again, there might have been something that happened to Raskolnikov that put him in this situation, it might be the country’s economic health, but we do not know that yet. I agree with the fact that Raskolnikov is weird in that he is such a shut in and so abhorrently avoids social contact, but that might be for some just reason, something that happened to Raskolnikov that might make him want to run away from social contact. Again, another factor that might be explained by the rest of the book. Finally, I personally do not think that Marmeladov exists as a foil to Raskolnikov, but as a way to give perspective on the fact that there are people in much worse situations who are forced to take desperate measures. This might act as a sort of deterrent for Raskolnikov to go through with his plan or it may represent a change in his character. Again, we will not know until further into the novel.

Rachael's First Impression of the Book

After reading the first twenty pages of Crime and Punishment I still feel unable to make a judgement on it. I believe that there will be aspects of the book that I will deffinitely enjoy. For instance, the mysterious nature of Raskolnikov did interest me and I am looking forward to learning more about his character. His lack of speech really contributes the sense of mystery to him. I love how Dostoevsky keeps the story in third person with a great amount of access to his thoughts, but not enough to give away everything. I tend to enjoy when an author focuses on psychological aspects of the mind, which is what is done with Raskolnikov. As a reader you are able to understand what blocks he puts up for himself, and how he is in a constant struggle to fight some dark urges. Dostoevsky makes it very clear that Raskolnikov is an abnormal person who reacts and thinks differently than others, which I suppose is a method of making him stand out amongst the crowd. The irony of that is the fact that Raskolnikov does not want to stand out of the crowd at all. He greatly desires to be hidden and hard to remember.
Other than the characterization of Raskolnikov, Dostoevsky brings in the character Marmeladow into the attention of the reader in the second chapter of the book. I have not read enough to properly understand the character, but I admired the energy put into him. Dostoevsky really seems to want the essence of Marmeladow being a talkative drunk to really come across to the readers. My assumption for now is that this character is a foil to Raskolnikov due to his contrasting characteristics.

Joshua's Chapters 1-2 Reaction

            There seems to be a theme of poverty within the first two chapters, but not just the lack of money, but the desperation that the poverty brings to the family. The main character is poor, so poor that he seems to be planning to kill Lizaveta in order to take her money. He has not had food in two days and he is wearing rags, this seems bad until we meet Marmeladov who has resorted to drinking his money away. With four children and a sick wife, his family is so desperate as to force one of his daughters to go into prostitution. Which they seem to be fine with, but Raskolnikov is disgusted by the idea and Marmeladov in general. In order to calm himself, Raskolnikov thinks to himself that Marmeladov will eventually pay for his actions. Seeing as the book is titled “Crime and Punishment” this idea that people cannot avoid justice for their actions even if they were driven to take such actions to get out of poverty. This seems like somewhat of a foreshadowing of the consequences that Raskolnikov will have to face for whatever he does to rise out of poverty, which might involve killing Lizaveta. Yet, the fact that Raskolnikov left money for the family without telling them about it gives an insight into his personality in that he feels like he is doing more good by helping those who are even worse off than he is.