Crime and Punishment1
Many great literary works emerge from a writer's experiences. Through The Crucible, Arthur Miller unleashes his fears and disdain towards the wrongful accusations of McCarthyism. Not only does Ernest Hemmingway present the horrors he witnessed in World War I in his novel, A Fair Well to Arms, he also addresses his disillusionment of war and that of the expatriates. Another writer who brings his experiences into the pages of a book is Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Faced with adversity and chronic financial problems, he lived as a struggling writer in St. Petersburg, a city stricken with poverty. Dostoyevsky's novel, Crime and Punishment, ingeniously illustrates the blatant destitution that plagued the city of St. Petersburg in nineteenth century. Throughout Crime and Punishment, Dostoyevsky reveals how this destitution victimizes two main female characters, Sofia Semionovna Marmeladov and Avdotya Romanovna Raskolnikov. In a poverty stricken St. Petersburg, many drunkards scourge the local taverns to satiate their desolation. One such out-of-work government clerk, Zakharych Semyon Marmeladov, lingers in the taverns relinquishing every penny to alcohol. Marmeladov's inability to maintain a job causes his family to live as indigents. Th
Dostoyevsky portrays Sonia and Dunia as two women limited in resources, setting them in a position that makes them vulnerable. Providing for their families dominates above all other goals each might have set for herself. Even though their poverty allows them to become victims, it also gives them courage to escape from victimization. Although they face adversity and obstacles, Sonia and Dunia, both, overcome these tribulations with love as a savior. Ironically, Sonia, who only feels the touch of lust as a prostitute, finds Rodion whose heart is also tainted. Dunia who only knows of the obsession of Svidrigailov finds Razumihin, Rodion's friend. e lack of money essentially leaves Sofia Semionovna, the daughter of Marmeladov, in a vulnerable position. Although Sonia is an "honorable girl . . .[she] has no special talents" (Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky [New York: Penguin Group, 1968] 27). With no steady income flowing into the family's pockets, Sonia's three younger stepsiblings cry of hunger. In response to the cries, Katherine Ivanovna, Sonia's stepmother, introduces the idea of harlotry to Sonia. Consequently, Sonia "puts on her cape and kerchief and leaves the apartment" (28). As she re-enters later, she "walk[s] straight up to Katherine Ivanovna, and quietly put[s] thirty rubles on the table" (28). In order to quiet "the weeping of [the] hungry children," Sonia turns to a life of prostitution as a means of supporting her family (28). After tainting her body, "she [does] not utter a word[;] she [does] not even look" (28). "She [hides] her head and face in [a wool shawl] and [lies] down on the bed with her face to the wall" (28). Poverty leads her to corrupt her innocence and victimizes her by stripping her of her "treasure" (28). Not only does poverty rob Sonia of her purity, it also robs her of her family when she has to "register as a prostitute and carry the yellow ticket" (28). Since she carries the yellow ticket, the Marmeladovs' landlady no longer permits
Some common words found in the essay are:
Petrovich Luzhin, Katherine Ivanovna, Sonia Dunia, Crime Punishment, Lizaveta Ivanovna, St Petersburg, Petersburg Svidrigailov, Petrovna Svidrigailov's, Martha Petrovna, Lebeziatnikov Luzhin's, st petersburg, crime punishment, sofia semionovna, yellow ticket, katherine ivanovna, peter petrovich luzhin, avdotya romanovna, dunia woman, 28 poverty, martha petrovna, avdotya romanovna raskolnikov, martha petrovna's,
Approximate Word count = 1350
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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