Forgiveness manifests itself in Crime and Punishment in an interesting manner. Raskolnikov must learn to forgive himself and to overcome his own mental blocks. He believes that "extraordinary" people are automatically forgiven for crimes if they are done to better mankind and society. Porfiry also personally forgives Raskolnikov for his crimes due to this philosophy. This is opposite from how we view forgiveness in our judicial system. Yet Raskolnikov also must serve his sentence for his crime, even though Porfiry had understood why he had killed Alyona and Lizaveta.
Redemption is a huge part of this novel, and in order to be redeemed, one must both be forgiven by others and must forgive themselves. Raskolnikov's final character change brought about right before his confession proves that he has forgiven himself because he knows that Sonya has forgiven him as well.
Something I have been thinking about is Lizaveta's murder. She was an innocent bystander who was in no way personally involved with the murder, she just happened to stumble in at the wrong time. Raskolnikov explains why he kills Alyona--because she was a "louse"--but he never explains nor truly apologizes for taking this innocent life. I am currently not sure why I keep wondering about this, but I really wonder how he can consider himself "redeemed" when he never addresses this sin. Just a quick thought.
Thursday, December 13, 2007
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