The Dichotomy of Alienation and Resurrection
Throughout many of his novels, Dostoevsky explores themes of isolation and alienation from society and how love both from God and from humanity is vital to a meaningful existence. This idea is evident throughout his novel House of the Dead, and most poignant in the character of Raskolnikov from Crime and Punishment. Ultimately, alienation and isolation from society lead to unhappiness and dissatisfaction, whereas being accepted, loved, and recognized by other humans acts as a catalyst for resurrection and rebirth.
First, there are many examples of the impact of isolation on human beings from Dostoevsky’s House of the Dead, considering that the novel revolves around the lives of those in exile. More …show more content…
If they “lost their last hope,” they became desperate, for “life is impossible without hope. Without some goal and some effort to reach it no man can live. When he has lost all hope, all object in life, man often becomes a monster in his misery. The one object of the prisoners was freedom and to get out of prison” (256–58). Thus, freedom is the innate and eternal goal within every human being, something that one strives for and craves, especially when placed in a situation void of that very thing. In this novel, Doestoevsky shows readers that without freedom there is also no hope, love, or acceptance by other humans; people lose their sense of dignity and become animalistic agents of self-destruction. An example of this is the bathhouse scene. It is obvious what happens to people when they are stripped of their freedom and placed in a state of alienation: Goryanchikov describes the bathhouse as an actual hell. Robert Louis Jackson explains how a life void of love from God and man leads to emptiness. “Hell is a state of being, a moment of suspended time, a ‘place’ unmediated by any vision of space or grace. The bathhouse…is a symbol of the absolute triumph of evil, of empty and narrow form, of suspended time and …show more content…
Throughout the novel, Raskolnikov withdraws from society both before and after committing his crime. At first, pride is the primary factor that separates him from society. Because of his idea of the “extraordinary individual”, he sees himself as superior to all other people, thus he cannot relate to them. He does not often talk to people, but when he is in the company of others, he acts strangely and eccentrically. In addition, he sees other people as tools and merely uses them to accomplish his own purposes. After he murders the pawnbroker and Elizaveta, his sense of guilt drives him to isolation, as well as sickness and half-delirium. Though many people try to help him like his mother, sister, and Razumikhin, Raskolnikov continually pushes them
Throughout many of his novels, Dostoevsky explores themes of isolation and alienation from society and how love both from God and from humanity is vital to a meaningful existence. This idea is evident throughout his novel House of the Dead, and most poignant in the character of Raskolnikov from Crime and Punishment. Ultimately, alienation and isolation from society lead to unhappiness and dissatisfaction, whereas being accepted, loved, and recognized by other humans acts as a catalyst for resurrection and rebirth.
First, there are many examples of the impact of isolation on human beings from Dostoevsky’s House of the Dead, considering that the novel revolves around the lives of those in exile. More …show more content…
If they “lost their last hope,” they became desperate, for “life is impossible without hope. Without some goal and some effort to reach it no man can live. When he has lost all hope, all object in life, man often becomes a monster in his misery. The one object of the prisoners was freedom and to get out of prison” (256–58). Thus, freedom is the innate and eternal goal within every human being, something that one strives for and craves, especially when placed in a situation void of that very thing. In this novel, Doestoevsky shows readers that without freedom there is also no hope, love, or acceptance by other humans; people lose their sense of dignity and become animalistic agents of self-destruction. An example of this is the bathhouse scene. It is obvious what happens to people when they are stripped of their freedom and placed in a state of alienation: Goryanchikov describes the bathhouse as an actual hell. Robert Louis Jackson explains how a life void of love from God and man leads to emptiness. “Hell is a state of being, a moment of suspended time, a ‘place’ unmediated by any vision of space or grace. The bathhouse…is a symbol of the absolute triumph of evil, of empty and narrow form, of suspended time and …show more content…
Throughout the novel, Raskolnikov withdraws from society both before and after committing his crime. At first, pride is the primary factor that separates him from society. Because of his idea of the “extraordinary individual”, he sees himself as superior to all other people, thus he cannot relate to them. He does not often talk to people, but when he is in the company of others, he acts strangely and eccentrically. In addition, he sees other people as tools and merely uses them to accomplish his own purposes. After he murders the pawnbroker and Elizaveta, his sense of guilt drives him to isolation, as well as sickness and half-delirium. Though many people try to help him like his mother, sister, and Razumikhin, Raskolnikov continually pushes them