Dreams In Crime And Punishment

Throughout the novel, Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky explores the topic of human morality and our inner struggles of our desires for good and temptations towards evil. This inner turmoil is explored through the dreams of Raskolnikov throughout the entire book. Dreams serve as a unique narrative tool in that they connect the conscious actions of the character with their unconscious thoughts, which consequently serves to provide stronger characterization in the entire novel. Within the novel, Dostoyevksy provides examples of human struggles with morality and suggests that despite the good and evil deeds humans consciously commit, humans all have an intrinsic morality that still influences how we perceive and do actions. Raskolnikov’s

Raskolnikov dreams he is in his apartment and Ilya Petrovitch arrives on his floor and beats his landlady then leaves. Figuratively, this dream is a representation of Raskolnikov’s murder of the pawnbroker and the emotional savagery behind Raskolnikov’s murder. To begin, this dream is a direct consequence of reality when he was summoned to the police office. Guilt is developing within Raskolnikov as he fears the lieutenant was coming for him. Furthermore, this second dream never had a conclusive end which works to contribute to the constant dread and fright of being caught that Raskolnikov will experience throughout the rest of the book. He cannot escape this terror whether he is both awake or asleep. This demonstrates Raskolnikov’s conscience and how he will always continue to face these issues; a basic morality still exists within him. Raskolnikov and Alyona Ivanovna are both physically replaced with Ilya Petrovitch and the landlady. This serves to physically distance Raskolnikov from his original murder, so he experiences a much more visceral and emotional version of it in his second dream. This is also evidenced through the abrupt and disrupted pacing of the entire dream combined with the multiple violent and savage descriptions of the beating of the landlady. Raskolnikov is further

The figurative situation of the dream is that Raskolnikov finally acknowledges his responsibility for his murder and his mind cannot deal with the negative psychological effects of his murder. The dream begins as “Raskolnikov walked along […] he was distinctly aware of having come out with a purpose […] but what it was he had forgotten” (219). Raskolnikov is not walking of his own accord and this shows how he unconsciously shifts the responsibility of the murder away from himself. Yet when he actually followed the stranger to the room where he murdered the pawnbroker, the stranger was actually just part of his imagination which means the blame only lies on himself for the murder. Moreover, in this dream, Raskolnikov is finally the actual person to be attacking the pawnbroker, rather than psychological representations in the two previous dreams with Mikolka and Ilya Petrovitch. This is Raskolnikov’s realization and acceptance that the sole responsibility of his murder lies with him. His morals have finally caught up with his actions and Raskolnikov, albeit unconsciously, knows he is the murderer. This demonstrates the basic morals of all humans despite the atrocities that they can commit, such as