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Transcript

Suffering in Crime and Punishment

(continued)

“These last words, after everything that had been said before and that had seemed so much like a disavowal, were too unexpected. Raskolnikov began trembling all over as if he had been pierced through” (Dostoevsky 456).

“Suffering and pain are always obligatory for a broad consciousness and a deep heart. Truly great men, I think, must feel great sorrow in this world” (Dostoevsky 264).

- “Do you know, Rodion Romanovitch, the force of the word ‘suffering’ among some of these people? It’s not a question of suffering for some one’s benefit, but simply ‘one must suffer.’ If they suffer at the hands of the authorities, so much the better" (Dostoevsky 455).

Why does Raskolnikov still have all his limbs?

Discussion Questions

Dostoevsky's View on Suffering: How it contributed?

o Was the punishment in the book the most effective for Raskolvinok?

o Based upon the information presented, did Dostoevsky support or reject the changing times?

o What was Nikolai’s role in the development of suffering in the book?

o Does Raskolnikov regret his confession?

o Women were exempt from corporal punishment 3 years before the book was published. Do you think this affected how Dostoevsky portrayed women in the book?

- “He also called attention to the plight of the man who suffers psychologically. Several of his characters are tormented by ideas of a religious nature. These characters conceive unique theories that torment them mercilessly because of their inability to resolve them (Ewald 45).

"He looked like a wounded man or one who has undergone some terrible physical suffering. His brows were knitted, his lips compressed, his eyes feverish." (Dostoevsky 222).

- He "embraced suffering as a redemptive process" (DeKraai).

- These concept can be seen in Sonya, Raskolnikov, and others

"The human being, the member of society, is drowned forever in the tyrant, and it is practically impossible for him to regain human dignity, repentance, and regeneration...the power given to one man to inflict corporal punishment upon another is a social sore...it will inevitably lead to the disintegration of society."

- “In the eighteenth century, the privileged estates successfully sought the repeal of corporal punishment against them” (Mironov).

School is a life saver!!

-Raskolnikov’s position as a former student could have saved him from physical suffering.

THANK YOU!

Push for Humanity

Works Cited

Adams, Bruce F. (1996). The Politics of Punishment: Prison Reform in Russia, 1863–1917. DeKalb: Northern Illinois University Press.

Mironov, Boris N. "Corporal Punishment." Encyclopedia of Russian History. 2004.Encyclopedia.com. 23 Sep. 2015 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

Hundley, Helen. "Siberia as a Place of Imprisonment and Exile." Siberia and the Circumpolar Arctic. Global Indigenous Nations Studies. Web. 23 Sept. 2015.

"The Criminal Code Of The Russian Federation." The Concept and the Purposes of Punishment. Types of Punishment. Web. 23 Sept. 2015.

Daly, Jonathan. "Russia in the European Context, 1789-1914." Google Books. Web. 23 Sept. 2015.

Ewald, Elizabeth. "The Mystery of Suffering: The Philosophy of Dostoevsky's Characters." Digital Repository. Trinity College, 2 May 2011. Web. 23 Sept. 2015.

F., Tom. "The Evolution of a Criminal's Mind." Wretchedrodya.com. 14 Oct. 2011. Web. 27 Sept. 2015.

Dostoevsky, Fyodor. Crime and Punishment. Trans. Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky. New York: Vintage Classics, 1993. Print.

• "The upper limit for sentences using the lash and birch rods went from 500 to 100 blows” (Mironov).

• “Exceptions for the sick and the elderly were under way” (Mironov).

• “Sentences could not be carried out in extremely cold and windy conditions” (Mironov).

• “Women became exempt from corporal punishment 3 years before the publication of Crime and Punishment” (Mironov).

Siberia as a solution

- “You were sent to court first and then if found guilty of a crime (charged with murder, thieves, white collar crime-- garden variety criminals) you could be sent to Siberia” (Hundley).

- Guilt by association? Yes. It's a thing.

What replaced corporal punishment?

"In short, the outcome was that the criminal was sentenced to penal servitude of the second class for a term of eight years" (Dostoevsky 537).

- “While Russia was moving away from inhumanity, it moved heavily toward exile as a means to rehabilitate criminals” (Hundley).

- “Long-term struggle against barbarism and inhumanity” (Adams).

- “Determined to choose rehabilitation over such brutal forms of punishment as flogging and mutilation” (Adams).

Other punishment

(not physical)

(continued)

- “Punishment shall be applied for the purpose of restoring social justice, and also for the purpose of reforming a convicted person and of preventing the commission of further crimes” (“The Criminal Code 43).

- “The following penalties may be applied:

  • arrest
  • deprivation of the right to hold specified offices or to engage in specified activities
  • deprivation of a special or military rank or honorary title, class rank and of government decorations
  • deprivation of liberty for a given time
  • corrective labour"

- “Less dangerous criminals had their foreheads branded with the letter "V," for vor (criminal)”

- “Flogging with the knout for the most serious crimes; beating with sticks or the lash for less serious crimes; or, in the case of soldiers, forcing the offender to run the gauntlet.”

(continued)

- “The number of blows began at 500 or more and sometimes extended to infinity—which for all practical purposes meant beating a person to death" (Mironov).

Now for some (physical) examples!

• “For speaking disrespectfully of the tsar or speaking in an obscene manner in a church, the convicted offender's tongue was cut out.”

• “For attempting to kill one's master, a hand was cut off.”

• “For forgery and thievery, fingers were cut off.”

• “For brigandage, rebellion, and perjury, the nose or ears were cut off.”

• “The more dangerous criminals had their nostrils slit”

• “Less dangerous criminals had their foreheads branded with the letter "V," for vor (criminal)”

• “Flogging with the knout for the most serious crimes; beating with sticks or the lash for less serious crimes; or, in the case of soldiers, forcing the offender to run the gauntlet.”

• “The number of blows began at 500 or more and sometimes extended to "infinity" (death).

So... What's it like being a convicted criminal in 19th century Russia?

- Corporal punishment pretty much defined "rehabilitation" until the Revolution of 1917

- Peaked in the first quarter of 19th century

- "Crime and Punishment" was actually written during a time where reform was heavy in the air and was lingering on the Russian mind

- With that, the novel can be seen as a reflection of the author's response to these changing times

- BUT, there was a LOT of nasty punishment that went down before then.

The Murder:

Who's our Victim?

- Shouldn't murder be the climax? Or at least NOT the intro? (I mean this isn't an episode of the Mentalist... or is it?)

- “Oh, God, how loathsome this all is! And can it be, can it be that I… no, it’s nonsense, it’s absurd!” he added resolutely. “Could such horror really come into my head? But then, what filth my heart is capable of!” (Dostoevsky 9).

Types of Punishment in 19th Century Russia

By Daphne Gervais

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