Literature analysis #1

1. Exposition

Raskolnikov goes to see the pawnbroker where he is directed to the tavern,. He then meets Marmeladov while there. Raskolnikov later gets a letter that angers him because he is informed that his sister, Dounia, is engaged to Luzhin, who is a chauvinist and just wants to marry her because he thinks men are above women and he wants to prove that.

Inciting Incident

Of course when Ras(I’m just abbreviating Raskolnikov because that is a pain to spell out) kills Aliona, the pawnbroker, and her sister he is a changed man. He thought he was above crime and was a righteous individual but after this incident he falls sick and it shows that he is just like everyone else and now has this guilt with him.

Rising Action

Ras hides the murder weapons in a neighborhood by Voznesky Prospect and then gets sent to the police office because he owns a lot of money to his landlord. Ras meets Luzhin, sister’s fiance, and he verbally assaults him and tells Dounia to not marry him because he is a pig and she has to choose between the two men.There is a lot of drinking in the book and ironically it gets someone killed, Marmeladov to be specific. He gets trampled by a horse(ouch!). Ras meets his daughter, Sonia, and is infatuated with her and feels a connection. He leaves all his money to them.Thankfully Dounia breaks her engagement with Luzhin because she realized that SHE didn’t want to marry him. Svidrigailov, his sister’s former employee, tries to sleep with Sonia and Dounia but they both deny him and he ends up killing himself.

Climax

Ras has repeatedly tried to confess the murder of the pawnbroker but once he meets Sonia he knows he has to some time or later. He confesses to her and after that he tries to confess to the police but his guilt has stopped building up and he can partly move on with his life.

Falling Action

Ras loses hesitation to confess and tell Porifiry of the murders. Dounia marries Raz and Ras approves of this courtship. Ras is banished to Siberia for punishment.

Resolution

The trial to send Ras off to Siberia reveals how others perceive him; he is a kind man of good heart and nobility. Sonia decides to follow him and stay committed to him and although he is distant for a few years he sees her true compassion and accepts her.

The narrative fulfills the authors purpose because it presents many conflicts that all are intertwined. It shows the chaos and how guilt builds on each other and the forces of good and evil. There is a thin line between the two and Ras walked it. He thought he was so good that he became evil and the guilt ate him alive and he struggled to become good again, but once he met Sonia he found a reason to become good. He found hope in someone who was struggling with him. We gravitate towards those that struggle with us; its not love that bonds us it’s struggle. Redemption of his crime was needed in order for Ras to fully become the person that he was before, but this time a more diverse one. 

1. The theme of the book is redemption. Ras committed a crime and he needed ti find redemption within himself and those around him. Everything he did was based on the guilt he felt and if he should be punished for his crime. He thought he was better and higher than crime and law but once the crime was committed reality hit him and he fell into the chaos of life. He got involved with other incidents that happened and no matter what he did it reminded him of his crime. Only when he met someone who struggled like him was redemption given because he allowed himself to have it by confessing finally. Even so after he gained self redemption it took a little more time for him to gain satisfaction form Sonia but once he opened up he was redeemed as a human being capable of love again. 
2. One tone of the book is sympathy. The irony behind Ras situation is supported by the sympathy others give him and what he gives in return. Even though he is struggling internally he still finds a way to show his compassion and give all his money to Sonia and her family after the death of her father. He finds a connection (another theme of the book) with her and her family and has sympathy for them just as she has sympathy for him after he confesses his murder. 

• “Oh God how loathsome it all is! and can I, can I possibly...No, it’s nonsense, it’s rubbish! And how could such an atrocious thing come into my head? What filthy things my heart is capable of. Yes, filthy above all, disgusting, loathsome, loathsome!”
• This explains how Ras is a good person and he thinks the idea of murder in his head is filthy and not like him but he does it anyway. There is sympathy in this passage because he is so against murder and wronging someone and throughout the book you remember what a good  he was and think of why he would do something like this, you think he is lost and feel “bad” for him and give him your compassion.
• “They did not know how to judge and could not agree what to consider evil and what good; they did not know whom to blame, whom to justify. Men killed each other in a sort of senseless spite.”
• This helps give info on how everyone is different and doesn’t know better. We all think that we are right in our own minds and only until someone comes along and tells us otherwise to we reconsider. Ras was the exception after the murder he knew he had done wrong and din’t try to justify it. He thought he was better than that but he found out he wasn’t and that shows what sympathy he had for himself. 
• “I took them home and got to know them... I found out they had nothing and offered my services and money... I offered to assist in the young girl’s education in French and dancing.”
• This shows the sympathy Svid had for others. He saw them struggling and offered to help them with his house and money. He gave himself to them and he was deemed as a bad person who tricked women to sleeping with him. He was the one who committed suicide because he got no sympathy from anyone but gave much. This reinforces the ironic quality of the story.

1. Irony- those who had good morals committed unmoral acts (Ras, Svid, Dounia, Sonia)

• “Sonia made no reply; the door opened and she slipped in. She felt for some reason ashamed and uneasy.” (she had to become a prostitute to help bring in money for the family although she was a respectable women) pg 446

Paradox/oxymorons- The way the story is told has many textual evidence of contrasting sentences that add to the confusion of the story line.

• “...and nothing could be seen but her little eyes, glittering in the darkness” pg 4

Symbolism- he uses this to draw attention to the mental states of the characters and if the things Ras is encountering are real or a dream

• “And Mikolka swung the shaft a second time and it fell a second time on the spine of the luckless mare. She sank back on her haunches, but lurched forward and tugged forward with all her force, tugged first on one side and then on the other.” (symbolizes the murder and the blood that is going to be lost) pg 61

Foreshadow/dramatic irony- The audience knows when something is a dream, in some case and we knew that he was going to kill the pawnbroker but she obviously didn’t know

• “...and the shaft was raised again and fell upon her a third time, then a fourth, with heavy measured blows.” (again a dream and we knew this as readers but Ras didn’t know this was a dream and foreshadows the murder) pg 61

Imagery- emphasize the difference between real and dream aspects of the story and comment on the mental state of characters and the environment 

• “Yes my hat is too noticeable... It looks absurd and that makes it noticeable... With my rags I ought to wear a cap, any sort of old pancake, but not this grotesque thing. Nobody wears such a hat, it would be noticed a mile off, it would be remembered... What matters is that people would remember it and that would give them a clue.” (descriptively explains the hate and how ugly it is while also giving insight to Ras’s character) pg 3

Motif (reoccurring theme)- staircase

• “The staircase got darker and darker as they went up.”pg 21 “All was quiet on the stairs as if everyone was asleep.”pg 61 (helping him decide to continue with the murder, its a “north star” for Ras)

Rhetorical Questions- question sanity

• “Why and I going there now? Am I capable of that? Is that serious?” pg 2

POV Third person Omniscient- The narrator knows the feeling of all the characters and what is going on in their heads but without the bias of a story told in first person. You get the true characters of all the characters, if that makes sense. 

• “But why, he was always asking himself, why had such an important, such a descisive and at the same time such an absolutely chance meeting happened in the Hay Market.” pg 63

Bible/Christian references- shows value of faith and religion in a chaotic society in Russia at the time this was written

• “At that moment other steps were heard; the crowd in the passage parted and the priest appeared in the doorway bearing the sacrament.” (shows value of religion and performing the correct funeral steps when Marmeladov died) pg 184

Metaphors- help symbolism and development of feelings and attitude of characters

• “His tone seemed strange to her; a cold shiver ran down her, but in a moment she guessed that the tone and the words were a mask.” (give insight on Ras’s mental state and character) pg 517

Characterization

1.The author uses indirect and direct characterization because it gives depth to the story. They author can simultaneously tell us who a character is but then have it contradicted by the characters thoughts and actions or they could be justified by the character’s actions. As readers, we can gain a definite idea of who a character is by being told who they are but others but its another layer when that character gives insight to what they are thinking and how they think rather than the outside traits.

• indirect: “She was extremely glad to escape at last; she went away looking down, hurrying to get out of sight as soon as possible... to at last be alone.” “‘What are you glad about?’ Raskolnikov thought to himself.” 
• direct: “ She could not have called pretty , but her blue eyes were so clear, and when they lighted up, there was such a kindness and simplicity in her expression that one could not help but be attracted to” “He is a nice fellow. Rather clumsy, that is to say, he is a man of polished manner.” 

1. The diction does not change drastically from character talking to narrator talking in the sense of colloquial language to formal language. The characters are just talking to each other and the narrator gives a better understanding of the thoughts in the characters’ mind or gives better understanding to the situation. The narrator is all knowing and accounts for the emotions and feeling of the characters and those are not said in a formal language; they are said in stream of consciousness and run on sentences because it is just a flow of ideas rather than a story told in second person or third person where the narrator is not knowing of feeling and is just telling the story or just giving the emotion of the main character. 
2. The protagonist is round and dynamic because he has many traits and he changes throughout the story. He first believes he is above the law and above everyone else even though he dropped out of school and is extreme debt. He comes up with this idea to prove this and kill his landlady. He obviously wasn’t thinking but after he regrets the whole thing. He has the cloud of guilt hover over him at all times now He becomes more aware of his surroundings and what his life consists of. Along the way he learns to forgive himself and others along with give sympathy to those who are in need like himself. He finds a friend in someone else who is in need of comfort and is first hesitant to let her in but soon he accepts her and allows her into his life because he sees how she has committed herself to him. 
3. Walking away I felt like I was listening to the story of someone’s life. I got all the emotions of Ras and all those around him I felt like I was a creeper or a ghost and was witnessing everything while it was happening. 

• “How it happened he didn’t know. But all at once something seemed to seize him and fling him at her feet. He wept and threw his arms round her knees. For the first instant she was terribly frightened and she turned pale. She jumped up and looked at him trembling. But at the same moment she understood, and a light of infinite happiness came into her eyes. She knew and had no doubt that he loved her beyond everything and that at last the moment had come...” 
• In this passage I feel the genuine happiness Ras and Sonia feel. SHe had been rejected but still was patient and knew that one day his love would catch up to hers and we would be responsive. This is the truest moment of the book when he finally lets go of his fear and guilt and accepts himself and her. He allows himself to be happy and realizes the happiness he was given. I also like the aspect that she doesn’t just immediately hug him back and cry with him. She initially is like what the heck get off of me but as she starts to process she understands and that is how life is. You initially are like what is going on but as you think things over you understand the situation and act accordingly. this moment shows the true characters of Ras and Sonia and I felt as if I was if there throwing myself on the ground while simultaneously being caught off guard and looking at someone sobbing in love.