Cílio Lindemberg 16/12/2020
My discovery of Dostoyevsky’s masterpiece
DOSTOYEVSKY, Fyodor. Crime and Punishment. Translation: David McDuff. London: Penguin Popular Classics, 1994. 448 p.
Written by Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Crime and Punishment is a novel that depicts and follows the life of a 23-year-old Rodion Romanovitch Raskolnikoff who, unable to continue his academic career in Law and owning many debts, decides to commit robbery to ease his situation, but ends up clinging to murder as well. First published in the form of episodes on The Russian Messenger, in 1866, the novel received a full version the following year, and has since become one of the most widely-known novels of the author and worldwide.
Told by an omniscient narrator, who does not take part in the plot, the novel is divided into 6 parts, each of which (except for the 5th part) includes from six to seven chapters that vary from ten to fourteen or even sixteen pages at the most, and a final Epilogue with two chapters, being _ chapters in total. The 1st part sets the narrative, its main characters and circumstances that lead to the murder. The 2nd, 3rd and 4th parts account for most of the emotional, physical, and psychological distress to which Raskolnikoff is exposed regarding the consequences of his actions and the interference of other characters’ perspectives on his deed. The 5th part covers Raskolnikoff’s first confession to Sonia, whom he believes fit to listen to his suffering. The 6th part reveals the murderer’s decision to confess his actions to the police after he quits his family, and in the very end he ends up declaring himself guilty to the commissary. The Epilogue that follows informs what happens to the murderer’s family after he is imprisoned in Siberia, and how Sonia and he share mutual feelings now that Raskolnikoff is going to regenerate as a new human being.
Employing a thoroughly detailed narration of the facts, Dostoyevsky makes use of the 3rd person perspective (omniscient narrator) as a narrative device in order to better reveal to the reader not only every scene’s descriptions, but also the true nature of each character throughout the story, in addition to the evolutions each of their personalities go through along the chapters. This way, the reader has access to a not only formal, but also elegant use of the language. Yet, it should be pointed out that this review derives from the translation by David McDuff, so there are a few features in this version that reminds the reader that they are reading a translation. One of these features is the usage of Russian words into the English text, such as batuchka (used to express affection towards somebody), paddiovka (similar to a leather clothing, known as jerkin, in English), chtchi (cabbage soup) among others. The Russian names of the characters (e.g.: Dmitri, Nikola, Razoumikhin, Zosimoff etc.) are also some of the foreign features left in the translation. Curiously, despite the extensive presence of the characters’ names throughout the novel, a list of their full names is given before the first chapter, entitled Dramatis Personæ.
Because Raskolnikoff isolates himself from society and grows impoverished, the major motif is considered as poverty, which leads him to commit the murders. This first issue brings about the other themes of the novel, such as the psychology of crime and punishment (explored both from a criminal and a psychological point of views), the relevance of family, the religious redemption, the idea of being superior to other people, and nihilism. These are the reasons why the novel is considered as belonging to the psychological drama genre, and some indications of foreshadowing, as a literary device, appear when Raskolnikoff rehearses the murder, as well as when he considers confessing his crimes, a psychological consequence observed throughout the novel. These are the narrative structures that modify the novel tones from emotional, tragic, despairing, and critical, to melodramatic, confessional etc., and vice-versa. The result of such a set of issues, themes, and tones reflects the consequences of committing a crime and having to deal with its respective punishment, be that through social or psychological means.
Being the first psychological drama that I read, Crime and Punishment is also the first Dostoyevsky literary work that I read. Before reading, I was conscious of his using a criminal as a main character, but the whole idea of redemption and how the own-self of the protagonist works as to causing feels of guilt not only reflects the psychological concept that we human beings want to leave what causes us pain, but also establishes a revolutionary step concerning the central character of a novel and his importance to the world, after all this novel also works as an example of how we could regenerate and, actually, reach a higher level of knowledge and humanity out of the experiences we live. I went through no difficulties when reading, in spite of the intricacy of the plot; on the contrary: the more I read and absorbed/interpreted all those details, I would just feel like craving for more and more, and I am inclined to believe that this is what makes Dostoyevsky so great a writer, the way in which he transcribes the psychology of his characters.