Crime and Punishment

Today, I finished my first book by Fyodor Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment. I have enjoyed Leo Tolstoy since high school, but it was my seventeen-year old son who got me into Dostoevsky. My son knows my love of nineteenth-century psychological novels. Dostoevsky fits that love. 

I have to say, I did enjoy this work. As you may be able to tell from the annotation tabs, I notated plenty of things that stood out to me. I was especially drawn to Raskolnikov's thoughts prior to the murder he committed - how he pieced together random happenings to convince himself he was supposed to commit this crime. I also notated the mindset of characters who were abused. For example, Marmeladov revealed to our protagonist how his daughter, Sonya, was pushed into prostitution by her stepmother, Katerina Ivanovna. Of course, the stepmother was affected by her own tuberculosis and the starvation of her children. However, the guilt Sonya felt was, no doubt, caused by the abuse of Katerina Ivanovna, who beat the girl and insisted she prostitute herself to help her younger siblings. This is why Sonya felt the need to sacrifice herself throughout the novel, even for Raskolnikov after he confessed the murder to her and even when he was cruel to her. 

Speaking of self-sacrifice, I find the relationship between Raskolnikov's mother and sister interesting as well. At the beginning of the novel, Raskolnikov received a letter informing him of his sister's impending marriage. He quickly saw her marriage, which was approved of by their mother, would be mainly for his benefit. He recognized his sister's soon-to-be husband for the scoundrel he was and, later, became responsible for saving his sister from a painful future. Now, we could say that his mother had not put two and two together to see what type of husband her daughter would have. However, was it because she put her son above her daughter - his needs were more important than hers? Did she, too, expect her daughter to sacrifice herself for her brother? In today's terms, this would be rightly considered narcissistic parenting. 

Not only is the psychology in Crime and Punishment important, but so are the sociological revelations and politics. I always enjoy reading the introductions in classic novels (after I read the novels, of course). I enjoyed the information in this introduction in which Joseph Frank addresses Dostoevsky's ideas about the progressive/Nihilistic culture in Russia at the time of his writing Crime and Punishment. He discusses how Dostoevsky included his observations and concerns in the plot and characters. As I read Crime and Punishment, I notated ideas that may be pertinent to another major writing project of mine, a study of nineteenth-century poverty. Studying and understanding classic literature can be important in historical studies. 

Speaking of history studies, one of the reasons I began this blog was because of all the comments I receive from respected members of the community (both in real life and online) when I mention my love of classic literature. The comments have ranged from gagging sounds to the all-too-prevalent, "It's all old, white men." As a social historian, I recognize the importance of hearing everyone's story. I always say we need to hear stories that have never before been heard. However, that does not mean we should throw out the proverbial baby with the bathwater. We still have a lot to learn from old, white guys as well. For example, we cannot ignore the genius of authors such as Fyodor Dostoevsky just because of his race or sex or when he was born. They still have a lot to teach us today.