The Epilogue of Crime and Punishment - Essay Example

Introduction The relevance of the crime and punishment epilogue has been a of heated debate for many years. Dostoevsky’s critics condemn the epilogue as an unwanted addition. They are of the opinion that the epilogue’s author is attempting to save Raskolnikov from state of permanent alienation and ethical corruption. However, the paper below seeks to defend Dostoevsky’s intended notion. Dostoevsky’s notion is having a transformed Raskolnikov acknowledge his wrongdoing and take upon himself the suffering. Discussion First, the epilogue’s criticisms seem to be inspired by metaphysical prejudices and presumptions of literature. These criticisms have very little to do with the real text. For instance, it is argued that the most insensitively irrational individual could accuse Raskolnikov of having committed a crime. In line with the argument, Raskolnikov’s only crime was to imagine his incapability of breaking the law. Also, his tragedy was as a result of the impossibility of beginning a new and different chapter in his life. It is factual that some actions and events in the life of Raskolnikov are affirmative in one way or another. However, it is also correct that much of the material does not agree to vagueness. Additionally, the material contributes tremendously to the credibility of the novel’s ending. In Dostoevsky’s defense, Raskolnikov does not lack the capacity to transform. The most remarkable evidence for this is the plenty of allusions to his childhood. The childhood theme is crucial in Dostoevsky’s novel. Moreover, the novel is about children. It portrays a children’s degradation, their innocence sacrilege and the saving influence of their presence. The protagonists recollections of his childhood experiences focus on the moral, but long repressed components of his character. His repressed personality comes to full completion only in the epilogue. There is also some evidence of transformation when he murders the pawnbroker and her sister. After this unanticipated turn in his fortunes, he experiences a compelling urge to run to the police station and confess his crime. He does not succumb to his feeling till the end of the novel. Nonetheless, the fact that he leaves behind numerous traces of evidence that can incriminate his guilt suggests that he is willing to turn himself to the authorities. Furthermore, this act that arouses suspicion also suggests that he positively wants to be caught. Another central theme in the novel that goes along with the epilogue’s favor is the water and vegetation and their evident correlation with life. In the ambience of Raskolnikov, water and vegetation are rejuvenating and healing. When he heads to the islands on the arid stifling city’s outskirts, he is amazed by the flowers and shrubs. Additionally, he watches children playing in a garden. Consequently, he falls asleep in the bushes and has the novels first dream (Dostoevsky, 56). On his way to the apartment of the pawnbroker, his thoughts are not occupied about the murder he will soon commit. Instead, he thinks about the fountains and parks all around him. What is in Raskolnikov’s mind is simply his dreams echo that he had experienced prior to leaving his room. The evidence of a purely visual nature is also a significant and indispensable part of crime and punishment. The art logic is so forceful that the novel appears almost unlikely without its final chapters. There are a number of concepts that point to Raskolnikov’ transformation. They comprise of themes, recurrent numbers, symbols, images and character traits. There are sufficient references and clues to reconstruct the origin’s history, development and the execution of Raskolnikov’s plan. For instance, the reader learns that Raskolnikov’s fiancée and the daughter of his landlady die of typhus. The deaths of the two occurred one year prior to the murder. After three months, which is nine months before the murder, he gives his landlady an IOU in exchange for 115 rubles. These initial fiscal hurdles are the first clear allusion to a state that worsens progressively. The condition ultimately produces in him a mind state that conceives and justifies a violent crime. Raskolnikov is eager to read Lazarus’ biblical when he pays Sonia visit. As Sonia reads the verse herself after finding it in the fourth gospel, she plainly regards Raskolnikov as the modern Lazarus (Dostoevsky, 251). According to Sonia, he is Lazarus who has been lying in his grave for four days and is destined to be raised from the dead and called forth to a newfangled life. All in all, Dostoevsky makes use of the number to emphasize the significance of this episode. Additionally, he uses the number four to pave a way for the long-delayed revival of Raskolnikov in the epilogue. There is also a possibility that in drawing the police’s attention, Raskolnikov is seeking a kind of spiritual transformation. It is also likely he is looking for some sort of spiritual renewal much like his thematic double, the peasant Mikolka. Mikolka confessed to a crime he had not committed so as to assume the burden of punishment (Dostoevsky, 123). Moreover, the novel’s ending is imaginatively and psychologically predictable. The reason for this is the simple drive of renewal is as similar as the core reason for the crime committed. Moreover, that reason is the wish to suffer. In addition, Raskolnikov has an undeniable sense of kindness, which has been a central part of his disposition since childhood. His disposition is manifested from time to time throughout the novel. For instance, during his trial, it is found out that he once supported a fellow student who was sick and impoverished for six months. Further, after his friends demise, he portrayed himself as equally generous towards the father of the deceased. He also at one time risked his life to save two children from a building that was burning. His compassionate sense bestows his actions with a benevolence that runs counter to his scheme’s malevolence and his crime’s cruelty. Raskolnikov’s emotional renewal and spiritual reversal Part of the emotional renewal and spiritual reversal is acceptably consistent. For instance, there are a number of factors that provide a solid foundation for the changes that begin to stir in Raskolnikov in the epilogue. They comprise of his sympathy for the oppressed, the memories that haunted him of his innocent childhood and his disgust feeling toward the crime (Dostoevsky, 121). The mentioned factors indicate that he is and always has been ready for change. Undeniably, it would be illogical to state that his proud opposition to the disdain of his impulses is the reason for his personality. According to Dostoevsky (36), the core of Raskolnikov’s being and his dalliance with social theories is his childhood. For example, even after he murders the pawnbroker and her sister, he is haunted by memories of the piety of his boyhood. In a sequence of disconnected musings and dreams, he recalls a church and bells ringing on a Sunday morning. It might well be the very church of which he was fond of as a child. In addition, Raskolnikov’s correlation with other people offers the main psychological indication. The relationship indicates that despite his conceit and his exaggerated self-consciousness, he accepts Sonia’s love nonetheless. Moreover, he commences the long journey of spirituality she urges him to make. The epilogue’s close examination reveals a connection between Raskolnikov and Sonia. In fact, the connections are numerous and pervasive in a visual and emotional sense. However, the other part of his emotional renewal and spiritual reversal is disturbingly incongruent. His behavior passes through two incongruous phases. At first, he portrays a profound sympathy to those in need. He consequently takes immediate steps to lessen their suffering. On the other hand, he has a feeling of abhorrence to himself for having deceived his scholarly philosophies. Even though the two phases strongly oppose each other, these two facets of his behavior, are, in the same way, honest. Additionally, in the epilogue, his mother beseeches him to remember how he used to pray when his father was still alive. Moreover, his early spirituality is shown in his first dream as a seven-year-old boy walking to the cemetery with his father. As observed by Dostoevsky (114), Raskolnikov loved the cemetery church and the old priest who served in the church. As the dream events unfold, Raskolnikov is moved to pity at the dying horse’s sight at the under the blows of the master and his friends. Incongruously, he is filled with anger as he rushes to strike at those who were committing the cruel act. The action symbolically equals the act that Raskolnikov will commit as an adult. Conclusion Dostoevsky’s epilogue has struck numerous critics as unspontaneous and superfluous. However, it has emerged from a thorough evaluation as a necessary component of the crime and punishment novel. Raskolnikov is emotionally capable of the changes he is predestined to go through. He is compelled by a supernatural force to commit, perceive and confess his crime. Moreover, the numerical themes and the imagery of nature of the text prepare readers for the ultimate scene. Dostoevsky’s epilogue is the foreseeable result of all that goes before the novel and is the conversion of the ends into the beginnings. Work cited Dostoevsky Fyodor. Crime and Punishment. New York : Vintage Classics. 1992. Print Read More