First: The horse scene. No, a head did not show up in his bed. Synopsis: Mean man beats old nag. Child (Raskol) gets angry. Mean man kills nag. Child very sad. Actually, our AP class had a grand time discussing this scene. It is obviously symbolic, showing the oppressor and the oppressed. The question is, who is the man and who is the nag? I am of the opinion that at some point most everyone is in both positions. People like Sonia, though are always going to be the oppressed, though, and people like Luhzin the Loser are always going to be the oppressor. But most of us switch roles. Now, this scene comes early in the novel so you don't really get to know these characters early on. Just remember, if an author makes a point of introducing a character *coughsoniacough* they'll probably be important later.
Second: The scream. Now, this isn't quite a dream. Kind of. Not really. But it counts. And once again, Raskolnikov's subconsciousness is really moral. It's right after Raskolnikov commits his deed and he is consumed by a fever. Symbolic? Nah. Anyhow, he lies in this state of half asleep and he hears screaming and violence below and when he wakes up...he finds it's all a dream. That's what a guilty conscience will do to you.
Third: Svidrigailov's dream. That creep. It's a very weird dream about his obsession with little girls (purity, innocence) and how she turns into a prostitute (loss of innocence at his hands). It's very creepy. There's more to read into it if anyone would like to take up that cross (ba dum ching), but for now I'm going leave it.
Alright, I'll get to stuff like symbols later (I'm gonna spend some time on crosses be warned!) but for now I have to wash my hair and get to sleep cause it's gonna be a long and very good and very stressful day tomorrow. Goodnight!
No comments:
Post a Comment