Punishment becomes the only way that Raskolnikov can redeem himself in the eyes of Sonia and the moral rules of society. Once he understands that “crime must be punished because it was a crime” then he finds an understanding not rooted in “his future behavior or moral salvation” (Cowley 89, italics in original). Sonia accepts his actions and though she initially rejects what he has done, her “courageous goodness” leads her to what Cowley calls a “loving understanding” (89-90). This form of understanding does not rely on a basis of beliefs and desires, but rather on discovering something in “the justificatory economy of the situation….by turning one’s attention toward the object in a loving way, a transformative way” (Cowley 90). Sonia accounts for Raskolnikov’s actions through a transformative kind of loving understanding that the novel has been building towards. Even in the midst of heinous crimes, the characters still seek redeemability through others understanding their lives and actions in new
Punishment becomes the only way that Raskolnikov can redeem himself in the eyes of Sonia and the moral rules of society. Once he understands that “crime must be punished because it was a crime” then he finds an understanding not rooted in “his future behavior or moral salvation” (Cowley 89, italics in original). Sonia accepts his actions and though she initially rejects what he has done, her “courageous goodness” leads her to what Cowley calls a “loving understanding” (89-90). This form of understanding does not rely on a basis of beliefs and desires, but rather on discovering something in “the justificatory economy of the situation….by turning one’s attention toward the object in a loving way, a transformative way” (Cowley 90). Sonia accounts for Raskolnikov’s actions through a transformative kind of loving understanding that the novel has been building towards. Even in the midst of heinous crimes, the characters still seek redeemability through others understanding their lives and actions in new