Sunday, August 25, 2013

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.

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