AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree ofSarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
DAVID BAYU PRAWIRO HERYANA
Student Number: 024214036
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree ofSarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
DAVID BAYU PRAWIRO HERYANA
Student Number: 024214036
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA 2007
Albert Einstein
First of all, I would like to thank my creator for the freedom that He has given to me. Without freedom I would not be what I am. I wish to thank wholeheartedly my beloved parents, Ko Charles, and Cie Pauline, for their love and support. I apologize for making them wait so long.
I do thank my advisor, Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M.Hum. for spending his time to guide me finishing this thesis. His advice and suggestions give a large contribution in improving my writing. My next gratitude goes to Dewi Widyastuti, S.Pd., M.Hum. for being my co-advisor. I really appreciate her suggestion and criticism that have improved my thesis. Special thanks are addressed to Romo Hary Susanto SJ for a short but inspiring discussion. I would also express my appreciation to all the staff in English Letters Department secretariat. Their great services ease me in accomplishing my study.
I want to give also special thanks to Thoms, Danang, and Sigit for the discussion enriching my knowledge. I would like to say thanks to WW, Leonardo, the couple Cecep-Minthul, Dimas, Parjo, Step, Téh Ria, Ajeng, Cak Diqin, Munyux and all my friends in English Letters 2002. I thank them for the happy or sad memories they have shared with me.
Lastly, I would like to thank everyone who deserves my gratitude. I am sorry that I forgot to name them all. May God bless them.
David Bayu Prawiro Heryana
APPROVAL PAGE ... ii
A. Background of the Study ... 1
B. Problem Formulation ... 5
C. Objectives of the Study ... 5
D. Definition of Terms ... 5
CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW... 7
A. Review on Related Studies ... 7
B. Review on Related Theories ... 10
1. Theory of Character and Characterization ... 10
2. Theory on Character Developmen ... 13
3. Theory of Personality Changes ... 14
4. The Relation between Literature and Philosophy ... 16
5. Existentialism and Attempted Definitions ... 17
6. Sartrean Existentialism ... 18
C. Theoretical Framework ... 21
CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY ...23
A. Object of the Study ... 23
B. Approach of the Study ... 24
C. Method of the Study... 24
CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS ...27
A. The Character of Raskolnikov before the Murder ... 27
B. Raskolnikov’s Personality Changes after the Murder... 37
C. Existentialism Reflected in Raskolnikov ... 47
CHAPTER V CONCLUSION ... 57
BIBLIOGRAPHY ...60
Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment through the Study of Raskolnikov’s
Personality Changes. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University.
In Crime and Punishment Dostoyevsky drowns into the psychological combat that might be undergone by a criminal. Raskolnikov, the major character of the novel, tries to find his existence through his action of murdering an old woman pawnbroker. The murder is based on an assumption that the pawnbroker carries out poverty. Such action can be seen as a free act. A free act can be a manifestation of a man’s freedom. On the contrary, it might also be an antithesis of his freedom. The writer attempts to examine Raskolnikov and his freedom from the point of view of existentialism, mainly existentialism by Jean-Paul Sartre.
This study is led to accomplish three objectives. The first objective is to gain a description of the character Raskolnikov before he commits the murder. The second objective is to see the personality changes he undergoes after the murder. The last objective rises to observe the character from the point of view of existentialism.
In accomplishing the analysis the writer uses library research method. Most of the data needed are collected from several books and essays. Theories on character are employed to answer the first problem. Then, theories on personality changes from the domain of Psychology are essential to examine the personality development that happens to Raskolnikov. Lastly, the writer applies philosophy of existentialism in studying Raskolnikov’s personality journey.
In the beginning of the story Raskolnikov is described as a smart and proud man who lives in poverty. These two contradictory facts make him feel that his life is meaningless. Based on empirical theory of the concept of man, he tries to look for his existence by murdering a pawnbroker. He has an obsession to be an extraordinary man. In fact, Raskolnikov experiences a psychological punishment as the consequence of his act. His pride is slowly falling down. Nonetheless, due to the love given by the people who care for him, he is able to rise up from the agony and repent his sin. The murder done by Raskolnikov is obviously an antithesis of his freedom. He does not realize that he has been enslaved by his own obsession. As an impact, Raskolnikov happens to be in despair because he feels that he has failed. An existential act is reflected precisely in his personality change from being proud to being humble and his will to live.
Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment through the Study of Raskolnikov’s
Personality Changes. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Dalam novel Crime and Punishment Dostoyevsky menyelam ke dalam pertarungan psikologis yang mungkin dialami seorang kriminal. Raskolnikov, tokoh utama dalam novel tersebut berusaha menemukan eksistensinya dalam tindakannya membunuh seorang wanita tukang gadai. Pembunuhan ini didasari anggapan bahwa tukang gadai tersebut menyebabkan kemiskinan terus berjalan. Tindakan Raskolnikov ini dapat dilihat sebagai sebuah tindakan bebas. Tindakan bebas dapat menjadi perwujudan dari kebebasan manusia. Di sisi lain, tindakan tersebut juga bisa menjadi pengkhianatan atas kebebasannya. Penulis mencoba melihat tokoh Raskolnikov dan kebebasannya dengan kacamata eksistensialisme, utamanya eksistensialisme Jean-Paul Sartre.
Studi ini diarahkan untuk menjawab tiga permasalahan. Permasalahan pertama ditujukan untuk mendapatkan gambaran tentang karakter Raskolnikov sebelum dia melakukan pembunuhan. Permasalahan kedua adalah untuk melihat perubahan watak yang dialaminya setelah pembunuhan. Permasalahan terakhir muncul guna mencermati karakter Raskolnikov dari sudut pandang eksistensialisme.
Dalam menyelesaikan analisis, penulis menggunakan metode kepustakaan. Sebagian besar data yang diperlukan didapat dari beberapa buku maupun esar-esai. Teori karakter digunakan untuk menjawab permasalahan pertama. Selanjutnya, teori perubahan watak/kepribadian dari ranah Psikologi berguna untuk mengamati perkembangan watak yang terjadi. Terakhir, penulis menggunakan filsafat eksistensialisme dalam mencermati perjalanan pribadi Raskolnikov.
Pada awal cerita Raskolnikov digambarkan sebagai pria cerdas dan tinggi hati yang hidup dalam kemiskinan. Dua fakta kontradiktif ini membuat ia merasa hidupnya tak bermakna. Dengan dasar teori empiris tentang konsep manusia, ia berusaha mencari eksistensinya dengan membunuh seorang tukang gadai. Ia memiliki obsesi untuk menjadi extraordinary man (kategori manusia yang mempunyai hak untuk melanggar norma-norma lama demi dunia yang lebih baik). Faktanya, Raskolnikov mengalami hukuman psikologis sebagai konsekuensi dari tindakannya. Perlahan-lahan keangkuhannya runtuh hingga ia berniat bunuh diri. Namun, berkat perhatian dari orang-orang yang mencintainya, ia mampu bangkit dari keterpurukan dan bersedia mengakui kesalahannya. Pembunuhan yang dilakukan Raskolnikov jelas merupakan pengkhianatan atas kebebasannya. Secara tidak sadar ia telah diperbudak oleh obsesinya. Sebagai akibat, ia menjadi terpuruk karena merasa gagal. Tindakan eksistensial justru tercermin pada perubahan wataknya dari tinggi hati menjadi rendah hati dan kemauannya untuk terus menjalani kehidupan.
A. Background of the Study
Freedom may be believed as the most important right possessed by human being. In the Bible, which some consider as one of the eldest works of literature, the freedom of human being is shown in the beginning part of the Old Testament (Genesis). Eve’s act of eating the fruit of knowledge and Adam’s act of following his companion are clear illustrations of man’s freedom. Although God has forbidden them to eat that fruit, yet God does not prevent their action, which later on is known as man’s original sin. Only then God gives punishment by expelling them from Eden.
The concept of freedom has been developing together with human population and its civilization. The idea of freedom in today’s people’s mind is different from yesterdays. From time to time human being is always trying to gain the most adequate form of freedom. For an individual, as stated by Hary Susanto, SJ in his essay “Memeluk Agama, Menemukan Kebebasan” included in Sesudah Filsafat, life is a process into a freedom. This process is often defined as “history”. In this sense, history of human being might be called history of freedom (2006: 301, my own translation).
Unfortunately, freedom is often misinterpreted and abused. Total freedom becomes boundless and oppressing. Some people are unaware of other’s freedom. History has noted many form of freedom abuse. The world has once witnessed a
holocaust done by Nazi to build a new order led by the race of Aryan Superman. It seems that Hitler has successfully spread Nietzsche’s doctrine. By following the idea of Nietzsche’s “Superman”, he has unintentionally raised existentialism movement. The victims of the holocaust (Jews) are then wondering where God is, and questioning why He does not save them as He has done for Israel. They lose something to rely on so that they decide not to rely on anything but themselves. This is the principle of existentialism.
As an anthropological philosophy, existentialism places man, as an individual, as its center. He is free to think and do whatever he wants. In his relationship with others and the universe, he acts as a subject who is free to decide what is true and what is false. This is what we call subjectivity.
Existentialism emphasizes not only freedom to think, but also freedom to act. Existentialists say that man must act individually, and everyone must act differently. It means that human behavior should be original from himself, not by social influences (Rentz, 1995: 296). Still according to Rentz, the society norms are useless. Existential ethics tend to place individual above the law. It is a belief that living human being is a higher value than any abstract idea, even the idea of good (1995: 296).
There is no reason to say that Dostoyevsky is an existentialist. He never claims neither himself as existentialist nor his works as existential writings. However, through his early work,Notes from the Underground, he may be called the father of existentialism. In Existentialism from Dostoyevsky to Satre, Kaufmann regards that work as a “best overture of existentialism” (1969: 14).
Without disrespecting Dostoyevsky’s other works, this thesis chooses
philosophy” by, as mentioned before, a famous German philosopher, Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche.
Nietzsche once said, “Dostoevsky was the only psychologist from whom I had anything to learn” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fyodor_Dostoevsky). It is interesting to see an existentialist, who is famous with his theory ‘the death of God’, has learnt from a Christian. Dostoyevsky surely is a really great writer. In Raskolnikov, he at his best has gone to the depth of man’s psychological combat. Peter McDuff points out in his introduction to the Penguin Classic edition that “Dostoyevsky has created a man who is singular yet universal. He (Raskolnikov) is someone with whom we can sympathize, empathize, and pity, even if we cannot relate to his action. He is a character we will remember forever, and whose story will echo throughout history” (http://www.readinggroupguides.com/guides2/crime andpunishment.asp).
B. Problem Formulation
These research questions below are formulated in order to guide and limit the subjects that will be discussed.
1. What are the characteristics of Raskolnikov before the murder? 2. How does Raskolnikov’s personality change after the murder? 3. In what way do Raskolnikov’s characteristics express existentialism?
C. Objectives of the Study
The study aims to answer the research questions stated before. Therefore, there will be three objectives of the study. Firstly, this study is trying to figure out the depiction of the Raskolnikov’s characteristics before his crime. Secondly, this study aims to observe how Raskolnikov’s personality changes after he has committed the crime. Lastly, the analysis focuses on seeing how far this main character in the novel represents existentialism.
D. Definition of Terms
Some words will be defined to guide the readers in understanding this thesis. The writer gets definition of the specific terms mostly from books which are considered well - qualified.
1. Existentialism
290). Those two points mean that men do not have fixed natures that limit or determine their choices, but rather it is their choices that bring whatever nature they have into being. It is a doctrine which makes human life possible and, in addition, declares that every truth and every action implies a human setting and a human subjectivity. As an atheist existentialist, Sartre adds that existentialism is nothing else than an attempt to draw all the consequences of a coherent atheistic position (1969: 310).
2. Personality Change
According to Hurlock (1974: 108), personality change is the personality pattern which can change in some areas and remain persistent in other as well. Furthermore, the change itself is not synonymous with improvement but can be either for better or worse. Therefore, a personality change of people can be seen as the way to adjust the world.
In Concise Encyclopedia of Psychology (1987: 669), personality changes are defined simply as the changes in personality. Those might be the effect of aging, psychological trauma, education, and altered circumstances. The changes can be seen when human behavior is governed by the lowest unfulfilled need, changes in job, family, or social condition that will alter fundamental motive structure.
A. Review of Related Studies
Born in 1821, Fyodor Mikhailovic Dostoyevsky is one of the greatest Russian novelists together with Maxim Gorky and Leo Tolstoy. Besides a novelist, he is also known as a short-story writer, journalist, and editor who is widely regarded as one of the influential writers of modern literature. Although he has spent his study at Military Engineering School, he is more interested in literature. He has been imprisoned for being a member of radical socialist organization. His first post-imprisonment writing, The House of the Dead (1860) is influenced by his experience in a labor camp. His most highly regarded are
Notes from the Underground(1864),Crime and Punishment(1866),The Gambler
(1866), The Idiot (1868), The Devils(1872), and The Brother Karamazov(1880). Among above, Crime and Punishment is the best-known work that is often-discussed by the critics.
The novel tells about a young man who is in bad financial condition; murders an old lady and robs her stuffs. The psychological combat inside his mind becomes the main focus of the whole story. The background of the story is a reflection of Dostoyevsky’s real experience. By the time he started doing this novel, Dostoyevsky was depressed and in a serious financial straits. The important idea of the novel, that is a murderer’s confession, can also be found in
Dostoyevsky’s real experience during his prison time in Siberia. (http://www.readinggroupguides.com/guides2/crime_and_punishment.asp).
The murderer, namely Raskolnikov, is the main character of the story. He is the character who is mostly-studied by the experts and researchers. In
Masterpiece World of Literature, Frank Northen Magill states that Crime and Punishment is a novel that expands upon philosophical problem embodied in the main character, Raskolnikov. He also says that the idea of existentialism appears in Raskolnikov’s consideration whether or not he will commit suicide after the murder as his redemption (1989: 154).
Another critic who also concerns about philosophical issue in the novel is William Barrett. His analysis on Raskolnikov comes into a hypothesis that Dostoyevsky has expressed the idea of “superman philosophy” before Nietzsche. InIrrational Man: A Study in Existential Philosophy, Barrett says:
The hero, Raskolnikov, is the alienated intellectual-alienated at once from the collective body of mankind and from his own being. Hungry and solitary, he spins out of the bowels of his own reason a Nietzchean theory (before Nietzsche) of the superman who through his own superior daring and strength rises above all ordinary moral codes (1962: 137).
Besides the “superman philosophy”, Dostoyevsky is one step forward than Nietzsche in revealing the theory of will to power. Barrett states that “The will to power – the demoniacal will to power – was thus discovered by Dostoyevsky before Nietzsche made it his theme” (1962: 137).
An anonymous essay also focuses on Raskolnikov in its comment on
crime, what punishment do we deserve? These questions then lead to an idea, which is written in the introduction of the novel, that:
…true punishment is not the sentence imposed on him by the court of law, but that imposed on him by his own actions: the psychological and spiritual hell he has created for himself; the necessary sentence of isolation from his friends and family; the extreme wavering between wanting to confess his crime, and desperately hoping to get away with it (http://www.readinggroupguides.com/guides2/crime_and_punishment.asp) As for Dostoyevsky, the essayist says that he has created a character (Raskolnikov) who can draw various emotions from the readers. “Dostoyevsky has created a man who is singular yet universal. He is someone with whom we can sympathize, empathize, and pity, even if we cannot relate to his actions” (http://www.readinggroupguides.com/guides2/crime_and_punishment.asp). In his closing, the essayist claims Raskolnikov as a character the readers will remember.
B. Review of Related Theories
As the study is dealing with the characters and existentialism, it will be necessary to understand about characters and characterization in literary work and also about existentialism.
1. Theory of Characters and Characterization
According to Murphy (1972: 161-173), there are nine ways that an author can apply to present the characterization of characters in a literary work. They are: a. Personal description
The author can describe a character’s appearance and clothes. The readers will get only a visible look of a character.
b. Characters as seen by another
The author can describe a character through the eyes and opinions of other characters. The readers get, as it were, a reflected image.
c. Speech
The author describes a character by giving readers an insight into the characteristics through what he says. Here the readers are able to analyze a character from the sentences he uses.
d. Past life
e. Conversation of others
The author can also provide a clue to a person’s characteristics through the conversation of other people and what they say about him. Readers will learn that what others say about a character may reveal some of his characteristics.
f. Reactions
The author can describe a person’s characteristics by showing how a character responds to various situations and events. The reaction may give a clue to what characteristics a character has.
g. Direct comment
The author may describe a person’s characteristics by directly giving readers comments on the character. This is somehow the best way for the readers to find out any characteristics because they know what exactly the author wants to reveal. h. Thoughts
The author gives readers direct knowledge of what a person is thinking about. Here the author is able to do what people cannot do in a real life. He can tell readers what different people are thinking of. In a literary work, it is acceptable. The readers then are in a privileged position; they have a secret listening device plugged in to the inmost thoughts of a character in a novel.
i. Mannerism
The author can characterize a character through the mannerisms, habits or idiosyncrasies. It may tell readers something about his characteristics.
Abrams says that
dispositional qualities that are expressed in what they say – thedialogue – and by what they do – the action. The grounds in a character’s temperament and moral nature for his speech and actions constitute his motivation(1981: 20).
The quotation means that characters in literary works are understood by readers as persons whose behavior and individuality are observed through their speeches and actions. Later, their dialogues and actions can serve as clues to their motivations for committing some particular events. This is what is expected for the readers to recognize when they read literary works. They do not only enjoy the aesthetic value of the stories but also identify the reasons for any events.
Harvey classifies characters into three categories. The most important is clearly the protagonist. The character has fully established motivation and history and engages readers’ responses more fully and steadily, in a way more complex though not necessarily more vivid than other characters. The character evokes readers’ beliefs, sympathies, and revulsions, exists as an individual case, and demands special consideration. The second is known as the “background” character. This character may almost be completely mysterious, voices rather than individualized characters. It means that the “background” characters are less important and appear simply to support the protagonists (1965: 56).
and these few, although they may be very good, do not approach real greatness. The distinguishing feature of the Card is his relative changelessness, combined with a peculiar kind of freedom. These categories – protagonist, background, Card, Ficelle – are, of course, only approximate.
2. Theory of Character Development
According to Harvey (1965: 56), the protagonists, who are the most important characters in a novel, most of the time change as the story progresses. They experience the change through many things, including conflicts with which they deal in the story. They are actually what the novel exists for; it exists to reveal them. Forster and Perrine also explain about character development in their books. In Aspects of the Novel and Related Writings, Forster suggests that character development is the metamorphosis of a character starting from the beginning until the end of a story. A character is developing if he is experiencing a change in aspects of disposition, personality, or outlook. He is not the same person who appears at the beginning of the story, which means that he has achieved new characteristics. The changing depends on the events which occur in the story (1974: 54). According to Perrine, the changing of the characters should meet the following three conditions.
2) The changing must be sufficiently motivated by circumstances in which the character finds himself. The character should have strong motivations or reason in doing their actions.
3) The changing must be allowed sufficient time for a change of its magnitude believably to take place. The characters need enough time for a change (Perrine, 1974: 71).
3. Theory of Personality Changes
In Personality Development, Hurlock cites Allport’s definition of personality, which explains that personality is “the dynamic organization within the individual of those psycho-physical systems that is determined his characteristics behavior and thought” (1974: 137). Personality is determined by some factors, such as physical, intellectual, emotional, social, sex, education, and family.
Change in personality is divided into three major aspects. However, those three are not in a counter-relationship. Meaning to say, one change of personality may be examined from all aspects. Later on, each aspect will be divided into two antonymous categories. First, the changes are into the better or into the worse. The latter usually happens at puberty and middle age.
changed his personality patterns. This impression is correct in the sense that here have been shifts in the traits.
The last aspect is the period of time. One may experience rapid or slow personality changes. Normally, personality changes are slow and steady. Too rapid changes can be seen as dangerous signals. Rapid personality changes indicate an abnormal condition of the person. It may be caused by a physical illness such as brain injury, or mental illness such as schizophrenia (1974: 120).
Personality changes do not occur on their own harmony. Usually they are the result of multiple revisions in the thoughts feelings related to the person’s concept of self. A change in the self concept will bring out a change in the entire personality pattern. This change is getting more difficult to happen as the person grows older. Changing one’s self-concept requires tremendous self-insight. It means that a person should be able and willing to recognize himself as he actually is, not as he would like to be or as others perceive (1974: 128).
It is very hard for a person to see himself as he actually is. There are at least three obstacles on doing it. They are intellectual, emotion, and environment. Hurlock (1974: 128-129) mentions some conditions that may facilitate changes in one’s self-concept. He points out what he considers as the most important as follows.
a. The use of introspection to see oneself as one actually is b. As analysis of why one thinks of oneself in a particular way.
d. An objective comparison of oneself with others to see if one is inferior, superior, or equal.
e. Self-disclosure to those for whom one has respect and confidence as a way of gaining new self-insight.
f. Reading books that emphasize what contributes to success in life.
g. Avoiding trying to model one’s personality after the personality of an ideal. h. Changing one’s aspiration when they are unrealistically high for one’s
potentials.
i. Changing from an environment that fosters an unfavorable self-concept or, if this is possible, ignoring the unfavorable aspects of the environment.
j. Patient practice in trying to see oneself according to the new self-concept until on becomes accustomed to it, likes it, and accepts it.
4. The Relation between Literature and Philosophy
In Literature Considered as Philosophy the French Example, Knight explains the relationship between literature and philosophy by stating,
Philosophy and literature have acted upon another in the past, but they never lost their identity in one another. Writers who were not philosophers wrote about philosophy, what they wrote was not in itself philosophy in the strict sense of word (1962: 175).
The explanation above wants to say that although an author is not a philosopher, he/she might convey philosophical thoughts or values in his/her work.
In many literary works, the idea of existentialism mostly can be found through the presentation of the characters. The existential fiction frequently strikes through all aspects of morality to get at certain basic truths about man and his behavior (Karl and Leo, 1963: 19). They present an example that is Proust’s “Filial Sentiments of a Parricide” in which the author tells its readers that beneath the seeming joy of life, there is the dying person; and often to seek the truth of things may lead to murder or suicide (1963: 21).
5. Existentialism and Attempted Definitions
Many philosophers such as Nietzsche, Heidegger, Sartre, Kierkegaard, Pascal, and so on, have made interpretation of human existence. Indeed, existentialism is not easily definable. In The New Dictionary of Existentialism
Troisfontaines in What is Existentialism? (1968: 5) clearly states that existentialism is a movement. He defines the movement as a philosophy of subjectivity, or selfhood, whose fundamental doctrine proclaims man’s freedom in the accomplishment of his destiny, and whose principal method is consequently that of description, or phenomenology.
Existentialism is different from other philosophical movements because it is based on social conditions of human life. Collins states that:
Existentialism, perhaps more than other philosophical movements, is usually evaluated on cultural and social grounds. Both its supporters and its opponents point to the general condition of society as an explanation of its appearance and rapid spread in Europe (1952: 1).
Even though it is impossible to define existentialism for there are many existentialists with their own concerns, Dr. T. Michel, as cited by Louis Leahy SJ in his book Aliran-Aliran Besar Atheisme, states that all existentialists put their major interest on phatos existentiae, which means individual suffering as a result of an unknowable, chaotic, and seemingly empty universe. Existentialism, then, believes that the suffering individual must create meaning in such empty universe (1985: 58, my own translation). In his effort to create the meaning, a man is anxious to understand his being.
6. Sartrean Existentialism
existentialism is that puts every man possesses of himself as he is, and places the entire responsibility for his existence squarely upon his own shoulders” (1960: 29). Sartre’s opinion on freedom is described in his essay about Cartesian freedom in which he provides a discourse based on the thought of a French philosopher, René Descartes, about the freedom of thinking. On one hand, Sartre seems to agree with Descartes on the differentiation of freedom and power. On the other hand, Sartre somehow criticizes Cartesian freedom which he thinks is passive and not productive. Sartre thinks that people should be able to say no to themselves, which is called self-deception.
The self-deception means being deceptive towards any form of essence. A man should not possess essence. With essence, a man cannot be free. According to Sartre, a man is free. To make it more emphasized, a man is freedom. Therefore, it can be stated that freedom is the base of essence. In life, existence precedes essence. It means that “man first of all exists, encounter himself, surges up in the world—and defines himself afterwards” (Sartre, 1969: 290).
The explanation on the essence is the central theme of Sartre’s most famous thought of the phenomenology of Being, which is widely explained in his magnum opus,Being and Nothingness; An Essay on Phenomenological Ontology
has no essence which makes his existence. It is free existence which helps a man form his essence. It then can be concluded that a man is free and completely responsible to himself. This does not mean he is responsible only to his own individual, but rather to all human being, for in doing an action there is a consideration whether or not the other will do the same as he is about to do.
“Existentialism is a Humanism”, this is the title of Sartre’s brief exposition with which he responds the reproaches from the Communists, Christians, and so on. Sartre himself recognizes the difficulty when dealing with the phenomenon. The difficulty occurs because in fact there are two groups of existentialists. On one hand, there is theistic existentialism represented by Jaspers and Gabriel Marcel, while on the other hand there is atheistic existentialism represented by Heidegger and Sartre. Furthermore, Sartre describes his rejection towards God as follows.
…if God does not exist there is at least one being whose existence comes before its essence, a being which exists before it can be defined by any conception of it (1969: 290).
Sartre again refuses any form of conception of man. He disagrees that God makes man according to a procedure. By applying an analogy, Sartre states that man is no ready-found function like a paper-knife. This is to say that a man is not created with certain function.
according to Descartes. Sartre considers Descartes’ God as the freest God of all conceptions of God ever suggested by man. This assumption is deducted from Descartes’ statement that “God’s freedom is no more entire than of man and that one is in the image of other” (1970: 193). The creative God is free and not only a subject to principles. Moreover, Sartre says that “He is not disposed by His perfection to decide what is the best; rather, that which He has decided is, as a result of his decision itself, absolutely Good” (1970: 195).
According to Sartre, man is condemned to be free. There are no moral values as the branch of humanity in dealing with freedom and responsibility. Good and bad values depend on man himself not on the universal values of humanity. If a man sees his action is good, it is so because he chooses and considers his action good. On the contrary, if man sees his action is bad, it is so because he chooses and considers it bad (Sartre, 1960: 47), which is Sartre’s explanation on a man’s subjectivity and truth.
C. Theoretical Framework
This part will give an overview on the contribution of the theories and their application in the analysis in order to solve the problems of the study. The theory of character and characterization is considered suitable as the means to answer the first and second questions. By applying the theory, the writer will be able to describe the characteristics of the major character, Raskolnikov, both before and after he commits the murder.
The theory of character development and personality change will give an essential contribution in solving the second research question. It is useful to figure out the personality change happens on Raskolnikov. The theory of personality change will provide more information so that the problems can be appropriately solved.
A. Object of the Study
The object of this study is the best-known novel ever written by a famous Russian writer Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky entitledCrime and Punishment. First published as Prestupleniye i Nakazaniye in 1866, the novel became Dostoyevsky’s successful work. It became world wide-read when the English translation version was published in 1958 by Penguin Book Ltd. The novel has 559 pages, and consists of six parts with several chapters in each part. Part one and two are in seven chapters. Part three and four have six chapters in each of them. The fifth part consists of five chapters. The last is in eight chapters. The story is closed by an epilog.
Crime and Punishment tells about a young man named Raskolnikov who murders two old women. One is well-planned, and the other is spontaneously. He does not consider his act as a crime because he thinks that the old woman, whom he murders intentionally, deserves to be killed. Moreover, Raskolnikov expresses the theory of extraordinary man, which says that some men have a right to step over the law for a better world, as an excuse of his act. The story ends with Raskolnikov’s imprisonment after he confesses his crime. The psychological combat whether he should confess or not is the novel’s basic theme.
The novel presents more than twenty characters. The main character is Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov, the murderer. This is the character on which most of the analysis focuses. Like in almost all novels, the author constructs the
basic theme of his work through the major character. Raskolnikov’s personality and its change/s will be analyzed using Sartrean existentialism to find out how far his thoughts and acts reflect the themes of existentialism. Dimitri Prokovitch Razumikhin, Raskolnikov’s best friend, and Sofya Semyonovna, Raskolnikov’s girlfriend, are two most important minor characters.
B. Approach of the Study
The use of appropriate approach/es in analyzing the work is essential in order to have a fair analysis on the topic. The approach/es then, will lead the study into a vivid conclusion. Considering the topic of the study, which conveys the philosophy of existentialism, the writer applies moral-philosophical approach with the intention of achieving a balance analysis. Moral philosophical approach is an approach that is employed to figure out what moral teaching or what philosophical issue probing in literary work. The proponent of this approach tends to interpret literature within a context of the philosophical thought of a period or group (Guerin, et al, 1999: 29). This approach is considered appropriate since the writer intends to analyze how far the philosophy of existentialism is reflected by the main character of the novel.
C. Method of the Study
However, to get more and more information about the work, the author, and any information related to existentialism, the writer has browsed many websites. Some data are taken by considering their relevance, validity, accuracy, and appropriateness.
The primary data of the study is the novel itself. Then, some books discussing intrinsic elements in literary work, especially character, are used as secondary data to get best understanding of the topic. The theory on character and characterization is taken from Abrams’ book A Glossary of Literary Terms
(1981), Murphy’s book Understanding Unseen (1972), and Harvey’s book
Character and the Novel (1965). The theory on character development is taken from Forster’s book Aspects of the Novel (1974) and Perrine’s Literature: Structure, Sound and Sense(1974). In getting the understanding about personality changes, the writer usesPersonality Development (1974) by Elizabeth B. Hurlock. The writer uses Klarer’s book An Introduction to Literary Studies(1999) and A Handbook of Critical Approach to Literature (1999)-written by Guerin, Labor, Morgan, Reesman, and Willingham-to gain basic understanding of moral-philosophical approach. Three books by Jean-Paul Sartre are used as the sources to obtain good understanding and better knowledge about existentialism. They are
Existentialism and Humanism (1960), Literature and Philosophical Essays
(1970), and Being and Nothingness (1976). Other books that are very useful in getting more information about existentialism are Kaufmann’s book
(1995). Those sources help the writer get better understanding of the subject matters and composing the writing.
In this chapter, the writer will try to find the answers for the three problems formulated in the problem formulation. Therefore, the writer will make an analysis firstly on the characteristics of Raskolnikov before he commits the murder, secondly on the personality changes he undergoes after the murder, and the last on how Raskolnikov’s characteristics are seen from the point of view of existentialism.
A. The Characteristics of Raskolnikov before the Murder
This part discusses the character Raskolnikov before he commits the murder. The writer will give the description of his physical appearance and his personality. It is considered important to separate Raskolnikov before and after the murder to see that Raskolnikov does not undergo personality changes instantly and how a psychological combat is involved on the changing process.
Studying Raskolnikov will remind us of one of our friends, someone we meet on the street, our neighbor, or even the reflection of ourselves. In other words, he is a character who is extremely close to the real life. He is neither a super hero nor a villain. Besides being a part of a history, Raskolnikov also lives a history. Meaning to say, his life is a history which he creates through every action he takes. Therefore, he should be noticed from several perspectives just like when studying history.
Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov, Russian: Родион Романович Раскольников (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_and_Punishment) shortly
called Roddy by his beloved family and friends, is the major character from whose perspective the story is primarily told. He is a young man with a quite handsome face, beautiful dark eyes, and dark brown hair. He has an over medium height, slim, and well-built body. Most women will be attracted to him. It seems that, physically, Raskolnikov is one of those “blessed” persons. However, his social condition is a contradiction.
He was a student, now fallen out, who is living in abject poverty in Saint Petersburg. He lives in a little room at the top of a house in Carpenter Lane. The room is so small that it looks more like a cupboard than a living room. The condition of the flat where he sleeps – he spends most of his time sleeping on the sofa – is as disastrous as his economic condition. His friend, Razumikhin, even calls it a ship’s cabin when he first visits Raskolnikov, “’What a ship’s cabin!’ he cried, entering…” (p. 137). Living in an awful economic condition makes him owe the landlady the rent so that he always sneaks around everytime he is about to go out to avoid her. This terrible condition ruins his social life.
“However, I’m talking too much. It’s because I talk too much that I do nothing. Still I daresay the opposite is probably true too. I talk too much because I do nothing. It is during the last month that I got into the habit of talking to myself. Lying about all day long in that beastly hole and thinking – thinking of all sorts of absurd things” (p. 20).
This habit not only makes Raskolnikov addicted, but it is also considered as somekind of work. He mentions this when he has a conversation with his landlady’s kind maidservant, Nastasya.
“Well, why is it you do nothing now?”
“But I am doing something…” Raskolnikov said reluctantly and sternly. “Are you now? Well, what is it?”
“Working…?”
“What kind of work?”
“I am thinking,” he replied seriously, after a short pause (p. 46).
Raskolnikov’s habit of talking to himself creates bad impacts to the relationship with other people. He is a person who is not used to crowds. He refuses to get involved in any kind of society. Such behaviour has been his characteristic since he was at the university, where he only had few fellow student. He feels more comfortable when left alone, and irritated when being approached. Actually, Raskolnikov was a single hard worker, which made him respectable, but not likeable. One thing that makes him feel that it is not necessary to make friend with other students in the university is his being superciliously proud. Some of his fellow-students felt that they had been underestimated.
Raskolnikov only makes friends with those whom he considers to be clever as he is. Razumikhin is one of those few. For some reason, Raskolnikov becomes friend with Razumikhin. He wants a kind of mutual relationship.
“Well, listen. I came to you because I don’t know anyone except you who could help me to – to start fresh – and because you’re better than any of them – I mean cleverer – and because you could advise me what to do” (p. 130).
However, they are not really friends. It is only a matter that Raskolnikov is more communicative and frank with him. Razumikhin himself indeed is an extraordinarily cheerful communicative young fellow so that it seems impossible to be on any but friendly terms with him. As friends, their relationship is far from what is called a friendship. One day they had run across each other on the street, but Raskolnikov avoided his fellow by turning away and crossing to the other side. Even though Razumikhin saw him, he passed him by as he did not want to annoy a friend. It is pretty clear that Razumikhin is really aware of such behaviour of Raskolnikov. He shares his ideas about Raskolnikov when talking to Raskolnikov’s mother.
“And what can I tell you? I’ve known Roddy for a year and a half: he’s a morose, gloomy, proud, stuck up. More recently (and perhaps for a long time) he’s been rather suspicious and moody” (p. 232).
The quotation above gives description about Raskolnikov’s general characteristics. Then, Razumikhin continues telling about the characteristics which are specifically related to social life.
what you are telling him; he never shows any interest in whatever people happen to be interested in at any given moment” (p. 232).
As a friend, Razumikhin considers Raskolnikov as a kind of person who is difficult to be made a close friend.
Raskolnikov is indeed a clever student. Even Marmeladov, a drunkard ex-civil servant appearing when Raskolnikov suddenly has strange desire for a companion, dare says that Raskolnikov is an educated young man in their first meet.
“For though, if I may say so, you don’t look like a person of consequence, my experience of life tells me that you’re a man of education and one, moreover, who is not used to drink” (p. 29).
For a clever student like him, it is not so hard to get a job. Once Raskolnikov gave lessons to children. However, his pride makes him quit from that work. He thinks that teaching children does not give him enough money to have a decent life. For him, it is better to be idle than having a job that is worth only few coppers. As an unemployed, he makes a living from the money sent by his mother.
“You know how much I love you, dear. You are all we have in the world, Dunya and I; you are our only hope of a better and brighter future” (p. 48). She even repeats those words at the end of the letter. Besides a beloved mother, Raskolnikov also has a sister who really loves him, even more than herself, as the mother has written in her letter, “Love her as she loves you, and remember she loves you very much, much more than herself” (p. 57). It is also reflected through her sacrifice by agreeing to get married to a quite practical old (he is about forty-five) man, with whom she has not fallen in love yet. Raskolnikov himself, however, wonders why his sister is eager to make that sacrifice for he knows very well what kind of woman Dunya is. He understands Dunya as a woman who will not sell herself.
“…but I know all the same that my sister would rather work as a Negro slave for an American plantation-owner or as a Lett serf for Baltic German landowner than debase her spirit and her moral feelings by a marriage to a man she does not respect and with whom she has nothing in common – for her own advantage! And even if Mr Luzhin had been made of pure gold or had been a diamond of the purest water, she would never have agreed to become his legal concubine!” (p. 61).
The marriage itself is the most essential part of the letter on which Raskolnikov puts a great concern. For this matter, he has made up his mind to refuse. His refusal can be seen from two different points of view. On one hand, it may represent Raskolnikov’s pride, which means that he does not want to have a better life because of someone’s help. In his soliloquies, he talks to himself as though Dunya and his mother stood before him.
On the other hand, it shows that Raskolnikov loves his sister from the very deep of his heart. He does not want Dunya to suffer for the rest of her life being a wife of a busy and practical businessman. He can hardly imagine what kind of miserable life her sister will deal with.
The paragraph above may describe how deep Raskolnkov’s mother and sister love Roddy. Raskolnikov’s love to his family can be seen even at the very moment he receives the letter from Nastasya. Soon as he is left alone with the letter, he raises it to his lips and kisses it. Tears moisten his face almost all the time he reads the letter. This description shows Raskolnikov’s deep longing to his family although he is ashamed to show it before the other people. He used to have a happy family. In the letter, his mother reminds him of the moment Roddy grew in a happy and religious family. It was a long time ago when his father was still alive.
“Do you still say your prayers, Roddy, as you used to, and do you believe in the goodness and the mercy of our Creator and our Redeemer?”
“Remember, dear, how as a child, while your father was still with us, you used to lisp your prayers on my knees and how happy we all are then?” (p. 57).
reason, delivers himself to his clever friend. He indeed goes to Razumkhin with a hope that his friend may offer him a job. However, also with spontaneous reason, he refuses it by saying that he does not need help anymore. This indicates that he is not only proud but also wishy washy.
There are many facts showing that Raskolnikov has unstable thoughts. It is difficult for him to focus or concentrate on a certain point. The plan about the murder can be a good example. He at once has an idea of murdering an old woman pawnbroker named Alyona Ivanovna. This idea first occurs in his mind right after he sees the old woman in order to pawn his father’s old silver watch and a little gold ring with three red stones given by his sister. It is then justified by the same idea uttered by a student while Raskolnikov has his meal in a little restaurant. He even does a rehearsal for the murder by once again visiting the pawnbroker in order to observe the forthcoming victim and crime scene. However, it comes to his mind for several times a thought that the murder should not be done; a thought that he is completely unable to do such thing.
“No! It’s impossible! It’s absurd!” he added firmly. “And how could such a horrible idea have occurred to me?” (p. 26).
“I knew very well that I wouldn’t be able to carry it out…I knew very well that I shouldn’t be able to go through with it” (p. 78).
Those thoughts show Raskolnikov’s sense of humanity, but then, the idea of murder torments him again promptly for he cannot control his thoughts very well. Whether or not he realizes it, that idea has become an obsession for him. This obsession really confines his freedom of thinking.
of reasoning or of will, and that everything was suddenly and irrecoverably settled (p. 81).
From intellectual aspect, that obsessive-compulsive symptomp is closely related to Raskolnikov’s characteristic of being a free thinker. As a law student he has written an article entitled On Crime, in which he shares his idea on the nature of crime. He also invents a theory of “extraordinary man”, which may suggest Nietzsche’s Ubermensch theory. According to this theory, there are two sub-divisions of human being. The first is ordinary man, whose fates are preserving the world and increasing its numbers; the second is the extraordinary one, whose duty is leading the world to its goal. Thus, in leading the world to its goal, those who are included in the second category have a right to step over the ancient environment or transgress the law.
“I simply hinted that the ‘ extraordinary’ man has a right – not an officially sanctioned right, of course – to permit his conscience to step over certain obstacles, but only if it is absolutely necessary for the fulfilment of his idea on which quite possibly the welfare of all mankind may depend” (p. 276).
In other words, a crime might be justified if it is done by the extraordinary and for the goodness. Roddy mentiones Newton, Mahomet, Napoleon, and so on, as the example of extraordinary men. Having such thought, there is a possibility for him of questioning whether or not he belongs to the second category. From the psychological point of view, the murder becomes an experiment to answer his anxiety.
coincidence happens to him during that month as a sign. The first coincidence that he assumes to be a sign is the moment he unintentionally hears, but then listens to, the conversation between the student and an army officer. The student says that he would gladly murder the damned old woman and rob her of all she has. Raskolnikov really puts a great interest in the student’s idea of saving thousands of lives by one death. A month after this coincidence, Raskolnikov puts the plan into actual action. It is not without any reason that the murder is done at some particular time. He decides to conduct his plan at about seven in the evening due to the coincidence happened the day before. It is unintentional when Raskolnikov sees Alyona’s half-sister, Lisaveta, and listens to her conversation with a street-trader. From eavesdropping, he has got information that Lisaveta makes an appointment to come again the following day, so that the moneylender would be left alone in her flat. Since he is superstitious, Roddy considers this as a hint.
Though Raskolnikov has planned a murder, he is not a natural-born criminal. As noticed before, he does not completely lose his sense of humanity. There are still held by him the characteristics that are supposed to be possesed by a person who grew in a happy and religious family. He is indeed a believer. When he is in the perplexity of his plan, he asks for guidances from his God whether or not he should carry out the murder.
He felt that he had already cast off the terrible burden that had so long been weighing upon him, and all of sudden he felt greatly relieved and at peace with himself. “O Lord”, he prayed, “show me the way and I shall give up this – this damnable dream of mine” (p. 79).
money to Marmeladov’s family. Realizing how poor the Marmeladovs are after visiting their flat, he puts his money unobserved on the windowsill. Other evidence that shows his helpful nature is the moment he fights against a man in an effort to help a girl. He also gives twenty copecks to a policeman to help the girl get home. Those two facts show Roddy’s kindness. However, he often questions the reason for what he has done as though he was not aware of himself.
“What the hell did I do that for?” he thought. “They have Sonia to look after them, and I want the money for myself” (p. 44)
“And what the hell made me interfere? Who am I to help her? Have I any right to help anyone? Let them devour each other alive for all I care. What business is it of mine? And what right had I to give away the twenty copecks?” (p. 68).
We may also see from the quotation that Raskolnikov has a deep curiousity on self-concept.
All the descriptions above give a portrait of Raskolnikov, an idle clever ex-student who is living in poverty in Petersburg. He is a naturally kind-hearted, but rather too proud of himself. To live in poverty is a kind of humiliation for a proud man like him. Such burden together with his being superstitious bring Raskolnikov to a nihilistic act of murdering. The description of Raskolnikov’s condition after the murder will be discussed in the next part.
B. Raskolnikov’s Personality Changes after the Murder
the theory suggested by Elizabeth Hurlock. Moreover, we will see some factors that take part on those changes.
The murder brings an immediate effect to Raskolnikov. He undergoes a kind of disharmony especially because he kills not only the pawnbroker, but also her step-sister, Lisaveta for she unexpectedly catches him in the act. This condition results in the imbalance both physically and psychologically. He falls into delirium and completely loses his self-control. Many thoughts torment his mind, and yet he still cannot concentrate on a single one. A thought that perhaps he leaves traces keeps haunting him. There is no doubt that Raskolnikov has become paranoid.
This paranoia is clearly noticed when there is a summons from the police station. He is wondering what the summons is about. He is afraid that it is for the murder he has committed. The interesting thing is that at this early moment he already has a strange thought of making a confession, “If they ask me, I shall probably tell them” (p. 112). This thought just disappears by the time he knows that the summons is about his promise to pay the rent to his landlady. Such thought occurs to him again, but soon it vanishes after hearing that the police has suspected someone but him. It appears that Raskolnikov has no gut to tell the truth.
confusion makes him hard to make up his mind. Cowardice just emerges inside him, which makes him want to runaway, even yet he does not know where to.
“Oh, I remember now: I must run! I must run away quickly! I must! I must run! Yes, but where? And where are my clothes? No boots! They’ve taken them away! Hidden them! I see. Ah, here’s my overcoat! They’ve missed that! And, thank God, here’s the money on the table. The promissory note, too….I’ll take the money and go” (146).
Besides being suspicious, the psychological burden he carries worsens his attitude towards people near him who always do him favour. Raskolnikov becomes more indifferent – which truly is his characteristic due to his pride – to others. Razumikhin once again becomes a victim of this negative behavior. His care for Raskolnikov when he is mentally ill is considered as a terror.
“Look here, Razumikhin,” Raskolnikov began quietly and to all appearances very calmly. “Can’t you see that I don’t want any favours from you? And-I can’t understand why you should want to offer favours on people who – who don’t care a damn about them. I mean, people who really find it difficult to accept favours. Why did you bother to find me when I first fell ill? Perhaps I’d have been glad to die” (186).
From the quotation above, a portrait of a proud man is obviously shown: a man who rejects others’ help although he really needs it.
Raskolnikov himself indeed realizes that this disharmony happens to him promptly just at the same night of the murder. It even occurs to his head, a thought that such disharmony is a punishment for him, “What if it is already beginning, if my punishment is already beginning?” (p. 109). Not only does Raskolnikov feel the suffering, but he also wants to bring it to an end. It is just that he does not know the way.
becausehe did not want to go on living like that.How end it? In what way end it? He had not the faintest idea (p. 174).
For several times, the desire to end the terror comes in his mind. However, carrying the entire burden, he cannot think clearly to achieve the solution. Just like what happens when he is obsessed with the murder, his thought is again strangled. His mind gets even more imprisoned because for this time Raskolnikov deals not only with himself, but also the surrounding.
As mentioned before, Raskolnikov does not want to keep on living in fear. What he needs, like everyman needs, is freedom. It is this desire of freedom that makes him keep himself away from others even his own family, who has arrived in Petersburg. In fact, he remains feeling extremely worried and anxious. In loneliness, the terror comes as a nightmare. One night, a dream about his act of murdering wakes him up from a heavy slumber.
Suffering from restless thoughts, Raskolnikov once has a will to commit suicide. Each time he comes to the Little Neva, he keeps thinking of drowning himself. He believes that ending his life will automatically end all the terror. The moment where Raskolnikov wants to commit suicide is indeed not vividly described in the novel. Nonetheless, it can be interpreted from his farewell to his family.
He seemed to smile, and yet it was not exactly a smile, either. “Well, you never can tell. Perhaps this is the last time we’ll see each other,” he added, unexpectedly (p. 328).
In the first part of the analysis, it is said that Raskolnikov has a kind heart that is reflected from his deed helping the Marmeladovs. This nature comes out again when an accident happens to his fellow, Mr. Marmeladov. He offers sincere helps; bringing him to the family, paying the doctor, and giving his entire money to the widow Mrs. Marmeladov. It is in this moment that Raskolnikov first meets Sonia Marmeladov, the widow’s stepdaughter, who later on gives a huge influence to Raskolnikov’s view towards many things. Having done such goodness, Raskolnikov feels the energy of freedom.
He went downstairs slowly, without hurrying, in a fever, but without being conscious of it, full of a new, great and exhilarating sensation of tremendous energy and will to live which suddenly surged up within him. It was a sensation not unlike that of a man condemned to death who is quite unexpectedly pardoned (p. 206).
In other words, that kind of action has become a remedy for the crime. This sensation proves to bring bad impact to his mind. With such energy inside, Raskolnikov feels sure that he already gets back his life, which for a long time has been haunted by fear, “My life hasn’t come to and end with the death of the old women!” (p. 208). Such assumption confines his awareness of his mistakes. Besides, Raskolnikov happens to be imperceptive. He considers strength to be the one he really needs to overcome his fear, “What I want is strength – strength! You can’t get anything without strength …” (p. 208). In fact, as the time goes, he again suffers from great agony both physically and psychologically.
done for the sake of many people. Therefore, he may regard himself as having done a heroic act. He also calls the old woman a louse who is completely unworthy. Quotation below may illustrate how he hates his victim.
“The old woman was only an illness – I was in a great hurry to step over – I didn’t kill a human being – I killed a principle! Yes, I killed a principle all right, but I did not step over – I remained on this side (p. 291).
By considering Raskolnikov’s hatred to the late pawnbroker, it can be concluded that he still undergoes the disharmony.
All the agonies from which Raskolnikov suffers affect not only his relationship with others, but also his ‘relationship’ with God. Although the writer has never mentioned that Raskolnikov is a very religious person, at least he still holds a faith. Because of many absurdities he has seen, he changes from a believer into a skeptic. The skeptical thought is uttered when he is indirectly tormenting Sonia by supposing that Mrs. Marmeladov will go mad and die soon.
“God – God would never allow such a horrible thing!” “But he lets it happen to others.”
“No, no! God will protect her!” she repeated, beside herself.
“But what if there is no God?” Raskolnikov replied with a sort of gleeful malice, and he laughed and looked at her (p. 336).
Before Sonia, Raskolnikov feels superior. He feels sorry for Sonia’s sacrifice as being a prostitute to earn money for the Marmeladovs. For him, her sacrifice is useless looking at the fact that Mr. Marmeladov has died and the widow is driven to madness by that incident. According to Raskolnikov’s idealism, an ideal sacrifice should result in a significant change.
the murderer of the two sisters. Such phenomenon is very commonly done by almost every man. After a man has done a mistake, he has the bravery to reveal it only to a person he considers to have also done a mistake. It is more natural if one is inferior to the other. Psychologically, the person is not really oppressed because there is some awareness of other people who feel more suffered. It is the reason why Raskolnikov chooses Sonia as the one to whom he will tell his secret. Up to this moment, we are still facing the proud Raskolnikov.
Small transformation starts taking place when what he has imagined becomes reality. Mrs. Marmeladov, who has really turned mad, dies in her madness because of tuberculosis. Her children are automatically orphans. The fact that Sonia is still strong and loyal to her faith touches Raskolnikov. When he confesses his sin, Sonia puts great cares on him and does not blame it on him. Sonia is willing to follow him even if he will be imprisoned in Siberia. However, Raskolnikov refuses to confess before the law. Applying his monomania of theory of extraordinary man, he once again claims his crime to be justified. On one hand, he admits that he is not a Napoleon, and he has killed only for his own sake “…I wanted to murder, Sonia, to murder without casuistry, to murder for my own satisfaction, for myself alone” (p. 432). On the other hand, he keeps insisting that it is not compulsory for him to make a confession in front of people.
According to Raskolnikov, everyone makes mistakes, and, by doing so, there is no need to judge anyone else. He persists to refuse to go to prison, which shows that he is not ready yet to accept suffering. However, due to Sonia’s persuasion and care, Raskolnikov eventually gives up. At this moment, he realizes Sonia’s great love for him, which makes his feeling distressed that someone like him should be loved so much.
The confession to Sonia results in a significant change on Raskolnikov’s attitude. His awareness of Sonia’s great care and love changes his point of view towards people who he has formerly considered as terror. He begins to recognize the care given by Razumikhin as sincerity. To Dunya, he talks about his opinion on his late fellow student. He wants to be the matchmaker for his sister and Razumikhin.
“Dunya,” Raskolnikov stopped her, getting up and walking up to her. “Razumikhin is a very good man.”
Dunya coloured a little.
“He’s a practical, hard-working, honest man, capable of great devotion and love. Good-bye, Dunya” (p. 439).
He is not even ashamed to tell it to Razumikhin by himself. He hopes that Razumikhin will be able to take care of his family supposing that he is imprisoned.
“Of course she does! Now, whenever I may go and no matter what happens to me, you ought to stay with them and look after them. I, as it were, hand them over to your care, Razumikhin. I’m telling you this because I know how much you love her and because I’m quite convinced that you’re a decent fellow” (p. 455).
beloved mother. There is a regret that he has not acted as a brother to his sister and a son to his mother. He is no longer ashamed to express his love. This moment reminds the mother about Roddy in his childhood.
In the end, Roddy admits his failure and weakness. After conducting what he thinks is necessary, trusting Razumikhin to take care of his family and saying farewell to his mother and sister, he decides to give himself up to the police, even though he does not know for sure why he is doing it. He just thinks that there is a burden inside of him that should be unchained. The decision is marked with his visiting Sonia for a cross she has once offered him. He has promised that when he is ready to suffer, he will wear the cross. In the beginning, he is not sincere and only pretends to be ready for the remedy. Sonia, nevertheless, succeeds again crushing his pride.
But he felt touched; his heart bled as he looked at her. “Why,” he thought, “why is she so upset? What am I to her? Why is she crying? Why is she taking leave of me like my mother or Dunya? My future nurse!” (p. 534). Through Sonia’s love, Roddy realizes that he cannot stand on his own; that he has to have someone to hold on to.
And what did it matter that in another eight years he would be only thirty-two, and that he could start life afresh? What had he to live for? What would his aim in life be? To live in order to exist? (p. 552).
If only Raskolnikov could feel a repentance of his crime, he would completely gain freedom in prison. It will be completely difficult for a prisoner to feel free while he does not consider himself to be guilty.
The most significant change occurs when Sonia, who fulfils her promise to follow Raskolnikov to Siberia, suffers from an illness. In Siberia, Sonia always spends sometime visiting Raskolnikov and then reports his condition to Dunya and Razumikhin. The proud Raskolnikov turns into the humble when he realizes that Sonia has done self-sacrifice for him. At last, he descends himself, admitting that he loves her and really needs her by his side.
How it happened he did not know, but suddenly something seemed to seized him and throw him at her feet. He embraced her knees and wept. At first she was terribly frightened, and her face was covered by a deathly pallor. She jumped to her feet and, trembling all over, looked at him. But at once and at the same moment she understood everything. Her eyes shone with intense happiness; she understood, and she had no doubts at all about it, that he loved her, loved her infinitely, and that the moment she had waited for so long had come at last (p. 557).
Raskolnikov has learnt a new concept of living, which is living for others. A sensation of resurrection overcomes him and renews his being.
C. Existentialism Reflected in Raskolnikov
From the two previous discussions, we have seen almost a whole picture of Raskolnikov from the beginning until the end of the story. As the protagonist, Raskolnikov has undergone a journey of all mankind, a journey of freedom. As stated earlier in the introduction, freedom is the most important right possessed by human being. Extremely speaking, a human being is freedom. Discussing freedom, we must refer to a philosophical school named existentialism. In this part, the writer will observe the characteristics of Raskolnikov using Sartrean existentialism since Sartre’s view on freedom is the most extreme.
Sartre firmly states that existentialism is a humanism. Thus, it posits freedom as the only essence of human being. In Crime and Punishment, the murder committed by Raskolnikov can be best representation of freedom of doing. From this point of view, it is clearly seen that a man is free to do what he wants to do. The act of murdering is, of course, considered as a crime according to legal law. Religious teaching calls it as sin. In the eye of morality, such action will be classified as wrong. To such phenomena, existentialists will recall freedom, with which a human being is condemned, as a response.
consequence is beyond his expectation. This is to say that the doer only foresees the consequences as far as his intention.
Discussing action, we should inevitably draw our concern to motive for there is always a motive behind every action. In the case of Raskolnikov’s act, we are even dealing with two motives. The first is the environment including the social and economic condition. In the first part of the analysis, we have seen an awful economic condition in which Raskolnikov has been living since he has left the university. The situation is getting worse when he realizes that his family puts a great hope on him. All these burdens create a disappointment with the world. Such disappointment is a phenomenon, on which all the existentialists put their major interest.
