Historical Context Influence Over Crime and Punishment It is said that historical context can influence the style, structure, themes and setting of a piece of literature, whether the author is responding to society at the time or not. Every author is influenced by the time period they are living in, as a result their environment influences the content that they write about. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky is no exception. Although there were other outside sources that could have influenced his writing, the times in which Dostoevsky lived in had a greater impact on the book because he drew from events that occurred in his life and discussed the problems and issues within Russia during this era.
Fyodor Dostoevsky was born in Moscow, …show more content…
His father was a “violent, domineering alcoholic” and eventually murdered because of his treatment towards serfs, which explains why he is so intrigued with crime and despotism. While his father was an alcoholic and abusive towards Dostoevsky, his father’s death affected him greatly. He was raised by his religious mother, who was his main source of affection, while his father was the demanding authority. As he matured he joined a utopian group called the Petrashevsky Circle, which led to him being exiled to a Siberian labor camp for four years and six at the Siberian frontier post (Burt paragraph 3-4). Dostoevsky was involved in love affairs, had chronic debt and was addicted to gambling. This novel shows how his experiences in life influenced his writing: “childhood is vitally important in the mature Dostoevsky, and Crime and Punishment is, among many other things, a novel about children-their degradation, the profanation of their innocence, and the saving power of their presence”(Matual paragraph 7). Crime and Punishment shows the suffering children were forced to go through, very similar to Dostoevsky childhood. In one of Raskolnikov’s dreams, he dreams of a young boy, who is forced to watch the murder of a horse. The dream “refers to an event in Dostoevsky’s adolescence that …show more content…
Dostoevsky was a Christian who lived in a time period where these theories were just beginning to spread throughout Russia. The theory behind utilitarianism was that an action is justified by how is affects the greater good. The whole plot of the novel demonstrates utilitarianism, where the murder is “justified” by the greater good. “Kill her and take her money, so that afterwards with its help you can devote yourself to the service of all mankind and the common cause; what do you think, wouldn’t you think thousands of good deeds make up for the one tiny crime”(Dostoevsky 54). During this scene Raskolnikov overhears two men discussing the murder of the pawnbroker. He sees this as a sign that this will benefit society. As the novel progresses the ideology behind the crime shifts because “Raskolnikov quickly discovers that not only does such utilitarianism fail to justify his crime in the face of those unanticipated sensations of disgust and guilt which surface after its commision, but, more startlingly, it does not even account for his behavior during the crime itself”(Leatherbarrow 141-142). Raskolnikov changes his reasoning to a nihilistic way of thinking. Dostoevsky is critical as he addresses nihilism and the disregard for moral responsibility during that era. He used the protagonist in this novel, Raskolnikov, to portray his dissent to nihilism. Nihilism rejected all
Fyodor Dostoevsky was born in Moscow, …show more content…
His father was a “violent, domineering alcoholic” and eventually murdered because of his treatment towards serfs, which explains why he is so intrigued with crime and despotism. While his father was an alcoholic and abusive towards Dostoevsky, his father’s death affected him greatly. He was raised by his religious mother, who was his main source of affection, while his father was the demanding authority. As he matured he joined a utopian group called the Petrashevsky Circle, which led to him being exiled to a Siberian labor camp for four years and six at the Siberian frontier post (Burt paragraph 3-4). Dostoevsky was involved in love affairs, had chronic debt and was addicted to gambling. This novel shows how his experiences in life influenced his writing: “childhood is vitally important in the mature Dostoevsky, and Crime and Punishment is, among many other things, a novel about children-their degradation, the profanation of their innocence, and the saving power of their presence”(Matual paragraph 7). Crime and Punishment shows the suffering children were forced to go through, very similar to Dostoevsky childhood. In one of Raskolnikov’s dreams, he dreams of a young boy, who is forced to watch the murder of a horse. The dream “refers to an event in Dostoevsky’s adolescence that …show more content…
Dostoevsky was a Christian who lived in a time period where these theories were just beginning to spread throughout Russia. The theory behind utilitarianism was that an action is justified by how is affects the greater good. The whole plot of the novel demonstrates utilitarianism, where the murder is “justified” by the greater good. “Kill her and take her money, so that afterwards with its help you can devote yourself to the service of all mankind and the common cause; what do you think, wouldn’t you think thousands of good deeds make up for the one tiny crime”(Dostoevsky 54). During this scene Raskolnikov overhears two men discussing the murder of the pawnbroker. He sees this as a sign that this will benefit society. As the novel progresses the ideology behind the crime shifts because “Raskolnikov quickly discovers that not only does such utilitarianism fail to justify his crime in the face of those unanticipated sensations of disgust and guilt which surface after its commision, but, more startlingly, it does not even account for his behavior during the crime itself”(Leatherbarrow 141-142). Raskolnikov changes his reasoning to a nihilistic way of thinking. Dostoevsky is critical as he addresses nihilism and the disregard for moral responsibility during that era. He used the protagonist in this novel, Raskolnikov, to portray his dissent to nihilism. Nihilism rejected all