| Feodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment |
 |
| Feodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment |
|
Introduction
Crime and Punishment is a novel
that many students read in high school, but I decided to use it, once again,
in this course for several reasons. The primary one is that this semester
is tied to the theme of games and play. The novel lends itself to this
theme in several ways. For one, Raskolnikov's crime can be seen as the
result of a game. Note that, on the second page of the novel, Raskolnikov
thinks to himself, "perhaps I am only playing a game."
He starts off with two hypothetical questions:
1) If one could push a button which would kill a Chinaman (i.e., someone
far away whom one does not know) and, as a result, benefit the rest of
the world, should one do it? 2) Is there such a thing as a Superman, i.e.,
a person who not only can, but also has the right, to step beyond convential
morality? As Raskolnikov mentally plays out the game, it becomes a reality,
and the novel is Dostoevsky's attempt to explore the consequences. The
novel also fits the theme of games and play in the cat-and-mouse relationship
between Raskolnikov and Porfiry, the police detective. It is, of course,
often said that life itself is a game. Most of us "play" roles
at various points in our life. Usually, our play is not as serious as Raskolnikov's,
but I hope that our discussions of the novel will examine this aspect of
literature and our lives.
Suggestions for Major Paper Topics
Assignment One: Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment, Part 1
Assignment Two: Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment, Part 2
Assignment Three: Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment, Part 3
Assignment Four: Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment, Part 4
Assignment Five: Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment, Part 5
Assignment Six: Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment, Part 6
Assignment Seven: Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment, Epilogue +
Assignment Eight: Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment, Critical Essays
Assignment Nine: Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment, Critical Essays
Page references are to the Second Norton Critical Edition
Assignment One: Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment, Part 1
Read Part One (pp. 1 - 74?)
Group A
1. Why is the setting important?
2. Why is the story of Marmeladov in the novel?
3. What is the effect of the letter from Raskolnikov's mother?
4. Why is the scene with the drunken girl on the street (Chapter IV) in
the novel?
5. What does Raskolnikov dream about (Chapter V)?
Group B
1. "Raskolnikov" means schismatic (or "split off").
Does his name fit his character?
2. Characterize Sonya & compare her situation to Dunya's.
3. What is the difference between the pawnbroker and Lizaveta?
4. Once you have finished Part One, go back and look at the opening paragraph
of the novel. In what ways does it foreshadow what is to come?
5. What causes Raskolnikov to kill the pawnbroker?
Assignment Two: Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment, Part 2
The Norton Critical Edition has a page devoted to the names of the principal characters. (Page 466 in the 2nd edition.) You may want to bookmark it.
Read Part Two (75 - 165)
Study Questions:
Group A
1. What would be lost if the first chapter of this part were removed
from the novel?
2. Briefly characterize Razumikhin. By whom does he think the crime was
committed?
3. Who is Peter Petrovich Luzhin?
4. Where was Raskolnikov just before he finds Marmeladov trampled by the
horses? Why was he there?
5. Why is Marmeladov's deathbed scene described in such detail?
Group B
1. The novel contains numerous references to bridges. What do bridges
symbolize?
2. What is THE major idea of Part II of the novel? Why?
Assignment Three: Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment, Part 3
Read Part Three (165 - 236)
Group A
1. In Chapter V, Raskolnikov thinks, "I
am playing a sick man...." Is he?
2. Be prepared to comment on Raskolnikov's concept of ordinary and extraordinary
people.
Group B
1. In what ways is the motif of "game" developed in this
Part?
2. Characterize Dunya (Raskolnikov's sister).
3. Dostoevsky frequently introduces characters without giving their names
(which are revealed much later). What might be his reason(s) for doing
this?
Assignment Four: Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment, Part 4
Read Part Four (237 - 303)
1. What is suggested by the fact that the ghost
of Marfa Petrovna visits Svidrigailov?
2. Why does Raskolnikov go to Sonya?
3. In Part 4, Raskolnikov and another character could be said to
play a game. What game is it?
Assignment Five: Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment, Part 5
Read Part Five (304 - 369)
Group A
1. What is the purpose of most of the details
in Chapter One?
2. What does Luzhin accuse Sonya of doing?
3. Why does Raskolnikov go to Sonya? (Why doesn't he go to his sister instead?)
4. Why did Dostoevsky devote so much time & detail to the description
of Katerina Ivanovna and her children (i.e., Marmeladov's family)?
Group B
1. What is the role of "chance" [coincidence] in this novel?
Is there such a thing as "chance"? If it is not chance, what
is it?
Assignment Six: Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment, Part 6
Read Part Six (370 - 450)
Group A
1. What are the main ideas expressed by Porfiry
Petrovich in his conversation with Raskolnikov?
2. In Chapter Three, Raskolnikov thinks, "Was it indeed worth while,
after all that had happened, to struggle to overcome all these trifling
new difficulties? Was it worth while, for example, ..." These lines
echo what work that we have already read?
3. Explain Svidrigailov's relationships with women.
4.Why does Svidrigailov wait for Dunya to reload the gun?
5. Why does Svidrigailov shoot himself, and why does he say that he is
going "to America"?
6. Why does the news of Svidrigailov's death make Raskolnikov feel "as
though a crushing weight had descended on him"? (449)
Group B
1. What is the role of Svidrigailov in the novel?
2. What is the theme of the novel?
3. Can a human being commit murder without feeling guilty?
Assignment Seven: Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment, Epilogue +
Read the Epilogue (451 - 466)
Read Dostoevsky's Notes and Letters (470-482)
Group A
1. In Chapter One, why does the narrator spend
so much time and detail on Raskolnikov's mother?
2. In Chapter II, we are told that Raskolnikov is "in prison and free."
How can that be?
3. What is the meaning of Raskolnikov's dream?
4. What is the importance of the setting in the Epilogue?
Group B
1. How you you explain this novel in terms of the conflict between
head and heart?
2. The passage from an early draft (480-482) is narrated in the first person.
How would the novel be different if Dostoevsky had followed through with
this type of narrative?
Assignment Eight: Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment, Critical Essays
Assignment Nine: Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment, Critical Essays
1. Read the essays by:
a. Tolstoy (487-88)
b. Simmons (516-525)
c. Gibian (526-543)
d. Berdyaev (578-583)
e. Ivanov (584-591)
f. Matlaw (606-609)
For each of the essays, write one sentence which states the major idea(s) of the essay.
2. Number the paragraphs in Gibian's essay (526-543). Make an outline of the essay. In parentheses, in front of each item in the outline, write the number(s) of the corresponding paragraph(s) from the essay. (Note: I call these "paragraph outlines.")
Note: As we work through the novel, I read the parts one week ahead of you, to prepare the assignments. As I do so, this section will probably grow.
1. Write an essay which explores the role of Marmeladov in the novel, i.e., how does he (and his family) add to the theme?
2. Take a psychological approach to the novel. What causes Raskolnikov to commit his crime? Is his reaction to his crime believable?
3. Read some of the critical essays in the book about the novel. Select a statement by one of the critics and explain why you disagree with it.
4. Write an essay that explores the various conflicts developed throughout the novel.
5. Write an essay about some of the symbols used in the novel. (The fewer symbols you deal with, the better your essay will be.)
6. The graphic at the top of this page is from the Norton Second Edition of the novel (1975). Write an essay which explains why this graphic is appropriate for the cover.
7. In Part II, Chapter II, Raskolnikov says to Razumikhin "I myself . . . alone . . . ." Write an essay which relates this statement to a major theme of the novel.
8. Write an essay which explains why social workers, people in the medical profession, or criminologists would be interested in this novel.
9. Write an essay which explains Dunya's role in the novel. What does she add? How would the novel be different if she were not in it?