Traumatized Soldiers Re-adjusting to Family Life: The Impact of the War Experience on Veterans in “Stones” and “The Shannon” Canada has a long history of fighting in many wars and has had many distinguished war veterans. However, many of these war veterans were affected by post-war trauma. Timothy Findley in his short story “Stones” explores the impact of the Second World War on the Max family, when David Max, the father returns back from his military service in 1943. A similar short story by David Adams Richards “The Shannon,” considers how the dynamics of family change when a father returns after fighting in the Korean War in 1951 with a head injury.…
On the night of July 16, 1916, two very different groups of people stood on either end of a firing squad line. The character of both the gunman and his victims revealed itself in those final seconds, as eight guns became the border between weakness and dominance. Power, or the lack thereof, is very often the deciding factor between good and evil. Robert Alexander’s The Kitchen Boy examines the two sides of power as the novel follows the story of Misha and his account of the Romanovs final days.…
In this excerpt from Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoevsky expresses different emotions and conflicts of his main character, Raskolnikov, as he questions and condemns the wicked ways of man. Dostoevsky describes the inner turmoil of Raskolnikov, who wishes to help those in need, but his experiences with mankind’s corruption has strayed him to his current belief: no amount of sacrifice can lessen impoverishment, suffering, nor vice. This passage reveals Raskolnikov’s utter disgust with not only the brute who’s trying to pursue the young girl, but society’s justification towards why a percentage of the people are inevitably destined to misfortune. Dostoevsky interprets Raskolnikov’s conflicts with the use of diction, tone, and rhetorical questions.…
The Family Romanov, written by Candace Fleming in July of 2014, is a captivating story of the Russian Revolution as it unfurled. The Romanov family, a renowned and illustrious clan, were the powerful rulers over Russia from 1613 to 1917. Throughout all the years of government, the family conquered multiple issues. However, the group eventually fell in 1917 due to the resignation of Tsar Nicholas the Second. Aside from the historical aspect of this book, there are many other messages imbedded into it that most readers will recognize.…
One side of Raskolnikov is warm and compassionate while another side of him is cold, unfeeling, and self-willed. Raskolnikov’s moral ambiguity is a vital role in the novel because Dostoevsky uses Raskolnikov to make the readers question the validity of a black and white world. Raskolnikov is caught between two contradicting situations. On one hand he is warm and compassionate, like in the second chapter of Part 1 Raskolnikov leaves money for Marmeladov and his family since one of his kids is selling herself to bring money in for the family while the other kids are going hungry because Marmeladov drinks their money away. On pages 45-47, while Raskolnikov is walking in town he comes across a fairly young but drunk girl.…
Not only does she comfort and provide Raskolnikov with a shoulder to cry on, Sonia also exemplifies within the work various central themes. Themes such as “free-will,” “poverty,” and “family” are all epitomized…
Fyodor Dostoevsky’s work on Crime and Punishment takes a stance that delves into the mental torture that ensues after wrongdoing; often times the internal anguish is more painful than a physical punishment. Guilt is a powerful feeling that can either erode the soul or inspire one to change. This intense sensation of remorse arises in the face of any transgression one commits whether the incident was real or imagined. This acts as a moral compass that allows one to ameliorate actions or do deep introspection.…
Katerina Ivanovna has spared no expense for this funeral banquet, she has spent ten roubles of the twenty Raskolnikov has bestowed her with on the funeral feast, an enormous sum for such an event. Her reasoning for the large amount of money spent was based on the idea of “poor man’s pride” which compelled her to show others that she was not a person to be looked “down upon”. After this brief explanation of Katerina’s mentality, the reader is informed by the author that Amalia Ivanovna had been helping Katerina with the preparations. Amalia had provided Katerina with items such as linens, crockery and cutlery. Amalia Ivanovna having felt like she had worked well, as a result she decided to dawn a “black silk dress and a cap with new mourning ribbons”.…
Although he is in a state of poverty and misfortune, he still offers to help out a friend by cutting his already meager paycheck in half. On the other hand, Raskolnikov has quite the poisonous behavior. He acts in a snarky manner towards everyone. “He threw angry glances at the young man, but covertly, impatiently awaiting his opportunity when this annoying tramp would be gone. It was clear.…
Novels, plays, and movies often depict characters caught in a conflict with their doubles. Such collisions call a character’s sense of identity into question. The film The Double by Richard Ayoade takes Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s original book The Double and plays it with a modern twist. Upon closer inspection of Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s The Double and its movie adaptation by Richard Ayoade, we see that though both share many elements and plot progressions, the movie, as a more modern medium, utilizes its unique conception to provide a different outlook on Dostoyevsky’s philosophies.…
Raskolnikov stumbles into the streets and discovers the body of a man he briefly knew. With a valiant surge of adrenaline, he transports the unconscious form of Marmeladov to his apartment where the man’s displeased, anxious wife awaits his return from the vice of drink and his children cower in the corner, victims of their mother’s displaced frustration. Raskolnikov’s morality glimmers through when he provides the family some money, and he meets Sonya, the eldest daughter. By exhibiting a small amount of kindness, Raskolnikov proves himself capable of interpersonal relationships and deeper connections, yet his insistent dolor wears this part of him down, as it is easier to shut everyone out. Henceforth, when Raskolnikov clambers up to his apartment, he reiterates his desire to be…
The Russian society at the time of the book was class based, and Raskolnikov, coming from a high standing and now being broke, is desperate to gain status. In the beginning of the book Raskolnikov is afraid to meet his landlady because he is…
1800’s American Poet, Edwin H. Chapin states, “No language can express the power and beauty and heroism of a mother’s love.” The second greatest power of love, after God, is the “Mother’s limitless love” – the love of patience, love of faith, and the love forgiveness. In Crime and Punishment, the suffering plays a role of fundamentally setting all of the characters in a different trait of psychological and physical suffering. Among those characters, the unfortunate two mothers – Pulcheria Alexandrovna Raskolnikov and Katerina Ivanovna Marmeladov, suffer from the name of “Mother”, the hopeless inner conflict of not being able to support their family at both present and future.…
Stepan and Ivan Lomov are neighbors in a village. Natalya is the daughter of Chubukov. She is twenty years old. Lomov a man of thirty five wants to marry. He thinks that Natalya is good at farm work and she is not too bad looking so he came to the house of Chubukov one evening in order to get Natalya.…
The mother-son bond is one of the defining relationships of society; it consists of a special kind of love that can border on being unhealthy. This book analyzes the dynamic between a mother and her son. Mother by Maxim Gorky is a story from a mother’s perspective, but it is about her watching the evolution of her only child. Pavel is the driving force in this inspiring narrative, he is the sun and the entire story revolves around him including his Mother, Pelageya Nilovna Vlasova. In Psychology, there is a concept known as Kohlberg’s theory of moral development, which describes three stages of morality.…