Hey guys, sorry for the delay. Right now I will recap the reading from this past week that I have missed, and then maybe around Thursdayish, I will do Week Five (ie, the one that should have been for tomorrow). That means by this time next week we'll be back on track. Cool?An Overview--
-Pyotr Petrovich Luzhin, Raskolnikov's sisters' fiance, comes to visit. He gets an icy welcome and is sent packing.
-Raskolnikov goes out, deciding "Today, it must be today" that he puts an end to his predicament one way or another.
-Goes to the Crystal Palace, and talks to Zamyotov (the police clerk?). Flirts with a confession of what he's done.
-Sees woman throw herself off bridge, but is indifferent towards her. Sort of makes him decide against suicide as a good way out (?).
-Goes back to murder scene. Doesn't like that it is being cleaned and redecorated. Pretty much wills himself to be found out, telling people to take him to the bureau.
-Comes across an accident in the street. Marmeladov has been run down by a carriage, and is dying. Raskolnikov steps into action, taking charge and taking Marmeladov home. Marmeladov dies.
-Raskolnikov gives 20 roubles to Marmeladov's widow, and says he'll take care of them. M's young daughter Polenka hugs him and sees him as a saviour.-Raskolnikov has new resolve and purpose. He is happy.
-Returns home to find his mother and sister waiting for him. He is not happy.
This Must Be Brought To An End Today--
One thing that struck me about this section was R's sudden resolve to end his situation. This was what I had been wondering about most- how could you go on knowing that you had committed such a horrendous crime? I could understand confession, or 'ending it', but couldn't fathom the idea of just living with it. Though R is not sure how he could end it, you sense that he is thinking along the lines of purposefully being found out, or killing himself.
Twenty Roubles--
The depiction of Marmeladov's death was very heavy, especially seeing the way it effects the different family members. His wife Katerina's reaction is pretty hard and cold, refusing his begs for forgiveness, but at the same time it is pretty understandable. What a terrible marital situation. Also pretty devastating is his begging forgiveness of his daughter who through his ineptness was pushed into prostitution.
I personally found it kind of repulsive, that Raskolnikov found a sense of happiness and purpose in such an ugly situation, giving Katerina twenty roubles and becoming the hero. He seemed to think that by helping Marmeladov's family, he could somehow blot out the bad, by doing good, therefor overshadowing his past. How could it be this simple? It couldn't. It was only right that he come home and find his mother and sister there, and realise that his past wasn't going to just go away and let him start over.It probably seems a long time ago to you guys now, but what stood out to you from this section?
For Later This Week-- Read Part Three, i-iii
10 comments:
Not a long time for me - have to admit I took a break when you were not blogging!
Ras's reaction to Marm's death was intriguing. I think it allowed him, in some way, to regain his will and intention for doing the murder, perhaps reminding him of the "good" justified by the death - i.e that he was helping people.
I haven't really got much more to say than that at the moment, except that I am really getting tired of Ras. I find him mopey and irritating at best, borderline psychotic at worst. I don't think he is a character I can endear myself to at all.
I don't have the book in front of me... but I read the twenty roubles thing as a point that contradicts his purposes in killing the old lady, and something that shows his confusion about what he hoped to achieve.
The money that his mother selflessly sent (though I think she's a bit stupid to do it), he doesn't seem to have any idea of responsibility over. It sets him up in opposition to Luzhin, (who would see his own selfish pursuits as 'trickling down' -eventually- to benefit others), but as Razumikhin observed, his killing of the old lady would be consistent with Luzhin's position.
And what do you make of Razumikhin and Zamyotov?
Hey Soph- hadn't really made that connection of Ras' reaction to M's death relating to his overall purpose. I guess I didn't really ever believe that the murders' had a real purpose to Ras. I still really don't understand what his motivation was. Knowing his character, I don't really get why he would be interested in the common good.
I agree that he is hard to take. I'm sick of him lying on his couch, turned to the wall, sulking, while everyone fusses around him. Thank goodness for Razumikhin who is more likeable and lighthearted.
Drew-- I'm a bit slow- what do you mean that the 20 roubles contradicts the murders? In what way?
I agree it shows confusion as to what he's trying to achieve. Rather than working on a grand plan, to me it seems he is just doing things in a spur of the moment way.
Not sure what to make of Zamyotov. He is still a bit unknown. He's a police clerk, right? So why isn't he telling his superiors about R's suspiciousness??
Sorry...I didn't really mean that his reaction to M's death showed any real specific motivation for his murder, but a more general reclamation of control over his life, of his will and mind.
i.e. he goes back briefly to being the old ras, intentional and in his own peverse way, focused on alleviating the suffering of others.
Also, Drew I do't understand how the 20 roubles thing contradicts, but am also a bit slow. Please explain? :)
Oh, I wrote a comment last night, our internet fell over when I tried to publish it, I couldn't get back on, so I gave up - and now I can't remember what I said.
I took Drew's point as being that Ras thinks that in killing the old lady he would be able to do good things with her money, but he won't accept money from others who are trying to do good with theirs. So, he contradicts himself at that point. It's like he wants to be the person in control - doing the good rather than receiving it. And so then the situation with M dying gives him this opportunity - a situation to take charge of, people who need him, a chance to satisfy himself that he's helping others and doesn't need to be on the humble, receiving end ... and he's invigorated by that. (It gives mopey, self-absorbed Ras something to do and other people to think about if nothing else!)
But yes, I was under the impression that Razum was on to something, but then he talks about the preposterousness of the whole idea, so who knows ...
hmmm... you see, I've read it before, which inevitably colours my reading of the book.
Ali, you make a good point, but this is what I was trying to get at: In the twenty roubles, in Polenka, and in the associating himself with Sonya - which happens when he asks Polenka to say a prayer for him as well - I think Ras catches a glimpse of his, for want of a better word, salvation. He himself doesn't know it, nor why he feels so different; "this sensation might be compared to that experienced by a man who has been sentenced to death and is suddenly and unexpectedly told he has been reprieved" (224).
In the twenty roubles then is the accusation, condemnation and guilt of a man sentenced to death. But, in it is also his reprieve. Though, of course, we have no idea how it might come about. He still must be accused, condemned, made guilty - but it gives a sense of the harrowing journey before him. Perhaps Marmalodov's body is a forshadowing of the way in which Ras himself must be broken.
The bit where he goes 'that's enough', I think he actually reads it wrong. He's actually repressing the apprehension he possessed a moment earlier. Ras must die and be reborn.
It's like he wants to be the person in control - doing the good rather than receiving it. And so then the situation with M dying gives him this opportunity - a situation to take charge of, people who need him, a chance to satisfy himself that he's helping others and doesn't need to be on the humble, receiving end ... and he's invigorated by that.
I sooo agree witht hat Ali...I reckon that's some sort of pscyhological disorder there. (I really don't like Ras at all).
I agree, I think you nailed it with that paragraph Ali. I had not quite come to that realisation yet, but that's so tru-- he hates to be on the receiving end. He needs to be the giver, the taker, the one calling the shots. In that way, him giving M's widow the money (that was given him by his mum and sister) is like him saying 'don't try and give to me, look I'm giving it away again. Ha ha, I'm the giver again..'
Drew, you bring up some pretty interesting stuff. I think I need to digest it a bit more and try and grasp what yr saying-- but I'm intrigued by the idea of him having to die to be reborn..
And note that he's repulsed by the idea of his sister sacrificing her happiness to ensure his (and I can relate to that part, I must say) but he's prepared to go at somebody with an axe to do the same ... he's full of contradiction and disorder.
Yes, I meant to say that Drew might have meant something altogether different ... :). Interesting ... Will be curious to see what we all think of this process we've been through when we get to the end of the book.
you bring up some pretty interesting stuff
Yes, but who knows if its any good? After all, I did say I was Raskolnikov - and who would trust me if they believed it? ;)
Post a Comment