Raskolnikov's Dream In Crime And Punishment

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Throughout the novel Crime and Punishment the protagonist, Raskolnikov, has a frightening dream that contributes to a major aspect of the plot. The scene foreshadows several of the vicious events that are soon to come. The mare dream reflects facets of Raskolnikov’s complex personality which show the subconscious thoughts that he has which will eventually lead to future events. These facets are seen through three different characters. “First the peasant Mikolka, who kills the horse, projects the Raskolnikov capable of a physically brutal axe-murder and cruelly insulting those who love him” (Wilson). The second character, little Raskolnikov, is the person that the generous and kind side of Raskolnikov identifies to. The third character that Raskolnikov identifies to in this dream is his father who tries to ignore the beating of the mare just like when Raskolnikov tries to act as if some of his business is not the business of others. Many of the decisions that Raskolnikov makes are contradicting to his moral beliefs. The contradictions that Raskolnikov makes based on his morals allow the readers to gain a concept of the mental …show more content…

This quote is a great way to describe the effects of the mare scene on Raskolnikov due to what he did afterwards. In order to capture the true thoughts and feelings of Raskolnikov, Dostoevsky had to include the mare scene. Although Raskolnikov identified to the innocent little Raskolnikov who felt bad for the mare, his identity to Mikolka made up most of his subconscious thoughts since he actually committed murder. The murder was supposed to be Raskolnikov’s scapegoat from his mental strain but, in reality, it was not, it only added to it. Especially, since after the murder, Raskolnikov became more