Raskolnikov's dreams and their meaning in the novel. Rodion Raskolnikov's nightmare
Analysis of the episode “Raskolnikov’s Dream” based on F. Dostoevsky’s novel “Crime and Punishment”
Describing the dream of a literary character is a technique often used by writers and poets to more deeply reveal the image of their character. Pushkin leads Tatyana Larina in her dream to a strange hut standing in a mysterious forest, revealing to us the Russian soul of a girl who grew up on fairy tales and traditions of “common antiquity.” Goncharov grants Oblomov a return to childhood, to the serene paradise of Oblomovka, devoting an entire chapter to the hero’s dream. In Vera Pavlovna's dreams, Chernyshevsky embodies his utopian dreams. The dreams of literary characters bring us closer to them, help us penetrate into their inner world, understand the root causes of certain actions. After reading the novel “Crime and Punishment” by F. M. Dostoevsky, I realized that understanding the image of Raskolnikov, his restless soul, would be incomplete without comprehending the depth of his subconscious, reflected in the dreams of this hero.
“Crime and Punishment” describes four dreams of Rodion Raskolnikov, but I want to consider and analyze the first dream that the hero had after he made the final decision to confirm his theory about “trembling creatures” and “those with the right” , that is, the decision to kill the old money-lender. Fearing the very word “murder,” he constantly asks himself: “...will it really happen?” The very possibility of carrying out his plans plunges him into horror, but, trying to prove to himself that he belongs to the caste higher beings daring to shed “blood out of conscience,” Raskolnikov is brave and spurs his pride with thoughts of saving many wretched people, when he will act as a noble savior. But Rodion’s dream, described by Dostoevsky, nullifies all the cynical reasoning of the hero, revealing to us his vulnerable soul, helpless in its delusion.
Raskolnikov dreams of his childhood, his hometown. Childhood is usually associated with the most carefree period of life, deprived of the need to make vital decisions and take full responsibility for one’s actions. And it is no coincidence that Raskolnikov returns to childhood in a dream. From this alone we can judge that the problems adult life he is oppressed, he wants to abandon them, not know them at all. In addition, childhood implies an instinctive distinction between good and evil. The image of the father with whom little Rodion walks in a dream is also symbolic. After all, the father is traditionally a symbol of protection and safety. The tavern they pass by and the drunken men running out of it are already images real world, tormented the hero. One of the men, Mikolka, invites the others to take a ride on his cart, which is harnessed to a “small, skinny Savras peasant nag.” Everyone agrees and sits down. Mikolka beats the horse, forcing it to pull the cart, but due to its frailty it cannot even walk. The boy sees with horror how the horse is “flogged in the eyes, right in the eyes!” Among the screams of the drunken crowd one can hear “With an axe, what!” Then the owner furiously finishes off the nag. Raskolnikov the child looks at everything that is happening in terrible fear, then, in a fit of pity and indignation, rushes to protect the horse, but, alas, it is too late. The atmosphere around what is happening is heated to the limit. On the one hand, there is the evil aggression of a drunken crowd, on the other, the unbearable despair of a child, before whose eyes an action terrible in its cruelty is being carried out, shaking his soul with pity for the “poor horse.” And in the center of everything are the horror and tears of the finishing nag. To convey the expressiveness of the episode, the writer ends almost every phrase with an exclamation mark.
The dream, first of all, shows us Raskolnikov’s rejection of murder in kind. And its whole meaning, at first glance, is to reveal the true mental state of the hero, who, upon waking up, even turns to God with a prayer: “Lord... show me my path, and I renounce this damned... ... my dreams! However, the student will still carry out his terrible plan, and here one can discern the second, hidden meaning of the dream. After all, in this dream, as in real life Raskolnikova, we're talking about about the opportunity to control someone else's life - in this case, the life of a horse. A horse is a worthless and useless creature, due to its weakness: “... and this little mare, brothers, only breaks my heart: so, it would seem, I killed her, she eats bread for nothing.” Just like “a stupid, senseless, insignificant, evil, sick old woman, useless to anyone and, on the contrary, harmful to everyone, who herself does not know what she lives for, and who will die of her own accord tomorrow.” Her life, in Raskolnikov’s view, is equal to “the life of a louse, a cockroach.”
Thus, Raskolnikov’s first dream, on the one hand, reveals to the hero all the horror of what he has planned, on the other hand, it pushes him to commit a crime. But as the plot develops, Dostoevsky leads us to the idea that only the first meaning of the dream is true - the cry of the soul about the inadmissibility of atrocities.
The role of dreams in Dostoevsky’s novel “Crime and Punishment”
Dreams in Russian literature have been repeatedly used as an artistic device. A. S. Pushkin resorted to him in “Eugene Onegin”, M. Yu. Lermontov in “A Hero of Our Time”, I. A. Goncharov in “Oblomov”.
Dostoevsky's novel is a social and philosophical work. This is a brilliant polyphonic novel, where the author showed how theory and reality merge, forming a unity, how beautifully they coexist Various types consciousness, giving rise to polyphony. The deepest psychologism of Dostoevsky in “Crime and Punishment” manifested itself in many things, and first of all in the way the author confronts his heroes with many problems of reality, how he reveals their souls through the description of difficult life situations, which the heroes find themselves in. Thus, the author allows the reader to see the very essence of the characters; he reveals to him implicit conflicts, mental tossing, internal contradictions, versatility and paradoxical nature of the inner world.
To create a more accurate psychological portrait Rodion Raskolnikov, the author resorts to the use of various artistic techniques, among which dreams play an important role. After all, it is in a dream that the essence of a person is revealed, he becomes himself, throws off all masks and, thus, expresses his feelings and expresses his thoughts more freely. Revealing the character of the hero through the description of his dreams is a technique that allows you to deeper and more accurately reveal the characteristics of the character of the hero, to show him as he is, without embellishment and without falsehood.
In Chapter V of the first part of the novel, a description of the main character’s first dream appears. This dream is reminiscent of a poem from Nekrasov’s cycle “About the Weather.” The poet paints an everyday urban picture: a skinny horse was dragging a huge cart and suddenly stood up, because it did not have the strength to go further. The driver mercilessly beats the horse with a whip, then takes a log and continues the atrocities.
In the novel, Dostoevsky intensifies the tragedy of the scene: in the dream, an absolutely disgusting portrait of a driver named Mikolka is drawn, who beats a small horse to death. Dostoevsky specifically calls the hero of the dream the same name as the dyer who took Raskolnikov’s guilt upon himself. Both of these heroes bear the name of St. Nicholas and symbolize the two moral poles between which Raskolnikov rushes - pure faith and the cruel “I have the right.” Mikolka, who killed the horse, voices the essence of Raskolnikov’s theory, but here this theory is contrasted with the childish consciousness of the hero. Dostoevsky emphasizes the connection between Raskolnikov, who is preparing for a crime, and seven-year-old Roday. This is achieved by a special artistic technique - the repetition of the pronoun “he” (“he wraps his arms around his father,” “he wants to catch his breath,” “he woke up covered in sweat,” “Thank God, it’s just a dream!” he said”).
Before introducing the reader to Rodion’s second dream, Dostoevsky says that the hero “is trembling all over, like a driven horse. lay down on the sofa." And again the reader sees the image of an animal from a dream, emphasizing the duality of the hero’s nature: he is both an executioner and a victim in relation to himself and to the world.
Raskolnikov’s second dream is more reminiscent of oblivion: “He dreamed everything, and all the dreams were strange.” It seems to the hero that he is “in some oasis”, “drinking water straight from the stream,” which seems wonderful to him. Here the connection between this passage and Lermontov’s poem “Three Palms” is clearly visible. After describing the idyll in both works, the reader sees murder. But the connection is not only plot: here I thirst pure life The hero is symbolized by the images of an oasis and a stream.
In Chapter II of the second part, the author depicts Raskolnikov’s third dream. It is very vaguely similar to a dream, more like a hallucination. It seems to the hero that his mistress is being brutally beaten by the assistant district warden Ilya Petrovich: “Ilya Petrovich is here and beating the mistress! He kicks her, bangs her head on the steps! When Raskolnikov asks Nastasya why the mistress was beaten, he receives the answer: “It’s blood.” It turns out that no one beat the mistress, that all this seemed to Rodion, and Nastasya only meant that it was the blood in Raskolnikov that was “screaming” because “there is no way out for it.” But Raskolnikov does not understand that Nastasya puts a completely different meaning into these words than he does, that she means illness, but he sees here a symbol of shed blood, sin, crime. For him, the words “blood screams” mean “conscience torments.” In this passage, Dostoevsky shows that since the hero is tormented by his conscience, it means that he has not yet lost his human face.
Describing the hero’s fourth dream, Dostoevsky seeks to show how Raskolnikov’s theory builds a wall between him and society: “. “Everyone has left and is afraid of him, and only occasionally they open the door a little to look at him, threaten him, agree on something among themselves, laugh and tease him.” The reader understands that Raskolnikov cannot find mutual language with the people around you. It is clear that it is very painful for the hero to establish relationships with people, that he has withdrawn very much from everyone.
Raskolnikov's next, fifth dream, like the first, is nightmarish. In the fifth dream, the hero tries to kill Alena Ivanovna, but to no avail. It seems to him that he “quietly released the ax from the noose and hit the old woman on the crown, once and twice. But it’s strange: she didn’t even move from the blows, like she was made of wood. He got scared, leaned closer and began to look at her; but she also bent her head even lower. He then bent down completely to the floor and looked into her face from below, looked and froze: the old woman was sitting and laughing.”
Dostoevsky strives to show how Raskolnikov turned out to be not a ruler, not Napoleon, who has the right to easily step over other people’s lives in order to achieve his own goal. Fear of exposure and pangs of conscience make him pitiful. The image of a laughing old woman teases Raskolnikov and completely subjugates him. During this nightmare, or better said, delirium, Raskolnikov sees Svidrigailov, which is also very important. Svidrigailov becomes part of Raskolnikov’s theory, disgustingly embodies the idea of human self-will. Talking about this last dream of the hero, one can see the clear beginning of the collapse of his theory. Raskolnikov dreams that “the whole world is condemned to be a victim of some terrible, unheard of and unprecedented pestilence coming from the depths of Asia to Europe.” Some new “trichinae, microscopic creatures that inhabited people’s bodies” appeared, and people who accepted them became “immediately possessed and crazy.” Dostoevsky, with the help of the image of this dream, wants to emphasize the consequences of the spread of the individualistic theory of the protagonist - the infection of humanity with the spirit of revolutionary rebellion. According to the writer (a convinced Christian), individualism, pride and self-will are madness, and it is from this that his hero is so painfully and slowly freed.
Raskolnikov
First dream main character“Crimes and Punishments” is seen on Petrovsky Island in St. Petersburg. This dream shocks Rodion so much that, upon waking up, he renounces “his damned dream.” This is the meaning of the dream itself in external action novel. However, the meaning of this dream is much deeper and more significant.
Firstly, this dream anticipates future events: red shirts of drunken men; Mikolka’s red, “like a carrot” face; woman "in red"; an ax that can be used to kill the unfortunate nag at once - all this predetermines future murders, hinting that blood will still be shed.
St. Petersburg Raskolnikova
Secondly, this dream reflects the painful duality of the hero’s consciousness. If we remember that a dream is an expression of a person’s subconscious desires and fears, it turns out that Raskolnikov, fearing own desires, still wanted the unfortunate horse to be beaten to death. It turns out that in this dream the hero feels himself both Mikolka and a child, whose pure, kind soul does not accept cruelty and violence. This duality and contradictory nature of Raskolnikov in the novel is subtly noticed by Razumikhin. In a conversation with Pulcheria Alexandrovna, Razumikhin notes that Rodion is “gloomy, gloomy, arrogant and proud,” “cold and insensitive to the point of inhumanity,” and at the same time “generous and kind.” “It’s as if two opposite characters are alternately replaced in him,” exclaims Razumikhin. Raskolnikov’s painful duality is also evidenced by two opposing images from his dream - a tavern and a church. The tavern is what destroys people, it is the center of depravity, recklessness, evil, this is the place where a person often loses his human form. The tavern always made a “most unpleasant impression” on Rodion; there was always a crowd there, “they were screaming, laughing, cursing... ugly and hoarsely singing and fighting; There were always such drunken and scary faces wandering around the tavern.” The tavern is a symbol of depravity and evil. The church in this dream personifies the best that is in human nature. It is typical that little Rodion loved church and went to mass with his father and mother twice a year. He liked the ancient images and the old priest, he knew that funeral services for him were served here deceased grandmother. The tavern and the church here, thus, metaphorically represent the main guidelines of a person in life. It is characteristic that in this dream Raskolnikov does not reach the church, does not enter it, which is also very significant. He is delayed by the scene near the tavern.
Raskolnikov's ax
The image of a skinny peasant Savras woman who cannot withstand an unbearable burden is also significant here. This unfortunate horse is a symbol of the unbearable suffering of all the “humiliated and insulted” in the novel, a symbol of Raskolnikov’s hopelessness and dead end, a symbol of the misfortunes of the Marmeladov family, a symbol of Sonya’s situation. This episode from the hero’s dream echoes the bitter exclamation of Katerina Ivanovna before her death: “They drove away the nag! I'm overextended!"
The image of Raskolnikov’s long-dead father is also significant in this dream. The father wants to take Rodion away from the tavern and does not tell him to look at the violence being committed. The father here seems to be trying to warn the hero against his fatal act. Recalling the grief that befell their family when Rodion’s brother died, Raskolnikov’s father leads him to the cemetery, to the grave of his deceased brother, towards the church. This is precisely the function of Raskolnikov’s father in this dream.
U of this dream there is also plot-shaping role. It appears as “a kind of core of the entire novel, its central event. Having concentrated in itself the energy and power of all future events, a dream has formative meaning for others storylines , “predicts” them (the dream is in the present tense, talks about the past and predicts the future murder of the old woman). The most complete representation of the main roles and functions (“victim”, “tormentor” and “compassionate” in the terminology of the Dostoevsky) asks a dream about killing a horse as plot core, subject to text expansion. Indeed, threads from this dream stretch throughout the novel. Literary scholars identify “troikas” of characters in the novel, corresponding to the roles of “tormentor,” “victim,” and “compassionate.” In the hero’s dream it is “Mikolka - horse - Raskolnikov the child”, in real life it is “Raskolnikov - old woman - Sonya”. However, in the third “troika” the hero himself acts as a victim. This “troika” is “Raskolnikov - Porfiry Petrovich - Mikolka Dementyev.” The same motives are heard in the development of all plot situations here. In all three plots, the same textual formula begins to unfold - “to stun” and “with a butt to the crown.” So, in Raskolnikov’s dream, Mikolka uses a crowbar to “stun her poor little horse with all her might.” In approximately the same way, the hero kills Alena Ivanovna. “The blow hit the very top of the head...”, “Then he hit with all his might, once and twice, all with the butt and all on the top of the head.” Porfiry also uses the same expressions in a conversation with Rodion. “Well, tell me, who, of all the defendants, even the most humble peasant, doesn’t know that, for example, they will first begin to lull him to sleep with extraneous questions (as you happily put it), and then suddenly they will hit him right in the head with a butt of a blow - s...”, notes the investigator. Elsewhere we read: “On the contrary, I should have<…>distract you, that way, in the opposite direction, and suddenly, like a blow to the head (in your own expression), and stun you: “And what, they say, sir, did you deign to do in the murdered woman’s apartment at ten o’clock in the evening, and almost at eleven"
In addition to dreams, the novel describes three visions of Raskolnikov, three of his “dreams”. Before committing a crime, he sees himself “in some kind of oasis.” The caravan is resting, camels are lying peacefully, and there are magnificent palm trees all around. A stream gurgles nearby, and “such a wonderful, wonderful blue water, cold, runs over multi-colored stones and along such pure sand with golden sparkles...” And in these dreams the painful duality of the hero’s consciousness is again indicated. The camel is here - symbol of humility(Raskolnikov resigned himself and renounced his “damned dream” after his first dream), but the palm tree is “the main symbol of triumph and victory,” Egypt is the place where Napoleon forgets the army. Having abandoned his plans in reality, the hero returns to them in a dream, feeling like a victorious Napoleon.
The second vision visits Raskolnikov after his crime. It’s as if in reality he hears how the quarter warden Ilya Petrovich terribly beats his (Raskolnikov’s) landlady. This vision reveals Raskolnikov’s hidden desire to harm the landlady, the hero’s feeling of hatred and aggression towards her. It was thanks to the landlady that he found himself in the police station, forced to explain himself to the assistant quarter warden, experiencing a mortal sense of fear and almost without self-control. But Raskolnikov’s vision also has a deeper meaning, philosophical aspect. This is a reflection painful state the hero after the murder of the old woman and Lizaveta, a reflection of his feeling of alienation from his past, from “previous thoughts,” “previous tasks,” “previous impressions.” The landlady here is obviously a symbol past life Raskolnikov, a symbol of what he loved so much (the story of the hero’s relationship with the landlady’s daughter). The quarterly warden is a figure from his “new” life, the countdown of which began with his crime. In this “new” life, he “seemed to cut himself off from everyone with scissors,” and at the same time from his past. Raskolnikov is unbearably burdened in his new position, which is imprinted in his subconscious as damage, harm caused to the hero’s past by his present.
Raskolnikov's third dream
Raskolnikov's third vision occurs after his meeting with a tradesman who accuses him of murder. The hero imagines the faces of people from his childhood, the bell tower V-th church; “a billiard in one tavern and some officer at the billiards, the smell of cigars in some basement tobacco shop, a drinking room, a back staircase... from somewhere you can hear the ringing of Sunday bells...” The officer in this vision is a reflection of the hero’s real life impressions. Before his crime, Raskolnikov hears a conversation between a student and an officer in a tavern. The very images of this vision echo the images from Rodion’s first dream. There he saw a tavern and a church, here - the bell tower of the Second Church, the ringing of bells and a tavern, the smell of cigars, a drinking establishment. Symbolic meaning these images are preserved here.
Raskolnikov, depicted by a girl artist. Far from the image depicted by Dostoevsky...
Raskolnikov sees his third dream after his crime. This dream reflects the subconscious desires of the hero. Raskolnikov is burdened by his position, wanting to reveal his “secret” to someone, it’s hard for him to carry it inside himself. He literally suffocates in his individualism, trying to overcome the state of painful alienation from others and himself. That is why in Raskolnikov’s dream there are many people next to him. His soul yearns for people, he wants community, unity with them. In this dream, the motif of laughter, which accompanies the hero throughout the novel, reappears. After committing the crime, Raskolnikov feels that “he killed himself, and not the old woman.” Laughter in Raskolnikov’s dream is “an attribute of the invisible presence of Satan,” demons laugh and tease the hero.
Raskolnikov sees his fourth dream already in hard labor. In this dream, he seems to rethink the events that happened and his theory. Raskolnikov imagines that the whole world is condemned to be a victim of a “terrible... pestilence.” Some new microscopic creatures, trichinae, have appeared, infecting people and making them possessed. The infected do not hear or understand others, considering only their own opinion to be absolutely true and the only correct one. Having abandoned their occupations, crafts and agriculture, people kill each other in some senseless rage. Fires begin, famine begins, everything around dies. In the whole world, only a few people, “pure and chosen,” can be saved, but no one has ever seen them. This dream represents the extreme embodiment of Raskolnikov’s individualistic theory, showing threatening results harmful influence her on the world and humanity.
Raskolnikov in hard labor
It is characteristic that individualism is now identified in Rodion’s mind with demon possession and madness. In fact, the hero’s idea of strong personalities, Napoleons, to whom “everything is permitted” now seems to him to be illness, madness, clouding of the mind. Moreover, the spread of this theory throughout the world is what causes Raskolnikov’s greatest concerns. Now the hero realizes that his idea is contrary to human nature itself, reason, and the Divine world order. Having understood and accepted all this with his soul, Raskolnikov experiences moral enlightenment. It is not for nothing that it is after this dream that he begins to realize his love for Sonya, which reveals to him faith in life.
Raskolnikov's last (fourth) dream. Hard labor
Thus, Raskolnikov’s dreams and visions in the novel convey his internal states, feelings, secret desires and secret fears. Compositionally, dreams often precede future events, become the causes of events, and move the plot. Dreams promote mixing real and mystical narrative plans: new characters seem to grow from the hero’s dreams. Besides, the plots in these visions echo the ideological concept of the work, with the author’s assessment of Raskolnikov’s ideas.
To compare Raskolnikov in the age of Dostoevsky and in our age
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Dreams of Rodion RaskolnikovF. M. Dostoevsky
"Crime and
punishment"
Danilina T.V.
Raskolnikov's first dream. (Part 1, chapter 5)
A painful dream that carriesgreat semantic load. He
reveals to us the true state
souls of Rodion, shows that
the murder he planned contradicts
his nature. There are 2 in the dream
opposite places: tavern and
church in the cemetery. Kabak is
the personification of evil, violence, blood, and
the church is the personification of purity, in
life begins and ends there
on the ground.
Raskolnikov's second dream (part 1, chapter 6)
Raskolnikov dreamed that he was in Africain Egypt near some oasis. This
a small oasis of happiness among
endless desert of grief,
inequality and sadness. Raskolnikov
dreams in that eternal peace that
I saw it many times in my dreams.
Raskolnikov's third dream (part 2, chapter 2)
Rodion dreams after the murderold women. In a dream, a quarterly
warden Ilya Petrovich strongly
beats up the landlady
Raskolnikov. The vision reveals
hidden desire to harm the old woman,
feeling of hatred, aggression of the hero
towards her.
Raskolnikov's fourth dream (part 3, chapter 6)
Rodion dreams that he is pursuingtradesman. According to the dream book this means
realizing one's own mistake,
which, unfortunately, is no longer possible
to correct. He also dreams of an old woman,
who laughs at him. Rodion
trying to kill her, but she's getting louder
laughs. Rodion becomes scared:
his heart rate increases. Before him
the horror begins to sink in
deed.
Raskolnikov's fifth dream (Epilogue, Chapter II)
Rodion dreams of being in hard labor. To himI dream that the whole world is about to perish
from a disease that there is a virus that
inhabits people, making them
crazy, although infected
consider themselves smart and healthy.
After Raskolnikov's last nightmare
healed - both physically and
spiritually.
A dream about a horse killed by men.
On the eve of the crime, Raskolnikov has a dream: he is seven years old, he is walking with his father on a holiday. They walk to the cemetery past a tavern, near which stands a skinny horse harnessed to a large cart. A drunk man comes out of the tavern.
Mikolka (same name as the dyer who took the blame for Raskolnikov). He seats the noisy, partying crowd into the cart. The horse cannot move the cart. Mikolka mercilessly beats her with a whip, then with a shaft, two men whip the horse from the sides. The boy tries to intercede, cries, screams.
Mikolka finishes off the animal with an iron crowbar. Rodion runs up “to Savraska, grabs her dead, bloody muzzle and kisses her,” then throws himself at Mikolka with his fists. Raskolnikov “woke up covered in sweat, with his hair wet from sweat, gasping for breath, and stood up in horror.” Meaning: the writer reveals Raskolnikov’s true soul, shows that the violence he conceived is contrary to the hero’s nature.
This dream reflects internal state Rodion on the eve of the crime.
Symbolism of a dream about a slaughtered horse.
A few steps from the tavern there is a church, and this short distance shows that at any moment in life a person can stop sinning and begin a righteous life. The dream has a compositional double in the novel - this is the death of Katerina Ivanovna (“They drove away the nag!..” - she says, dying).
Full text of the episode "Dream No. 1"
He went home; but having already reached Petrovsky Island, he stopped in complete exhaustion, left the road, entered the bushes, fell on the grass and fell asleep at that very moment. IN painful condition dreams are often distinguished by their extraordinary convexity, brightness and extreme similarity to reality. Sometimes a monstrous picture emerges, but the setting and the whole process of the entire presentation are so plausible and with such subtle, unexpected, but artistically corresponding to the entire completeness of the picture, details that the same dreamer could not invent them in reality, even if he were such an artist, like Pushkin or Turgenev. Such dreams, painful dreams, are always remembered for a long time and make a strong impression on the upset and already excited human body. Horrible dream Raskolnikov dreamed about it. He dreamed of his childhood, back in their town. He is about seven years old and is walking on a holiday, in the evening, with his father outside the city. The time is gray, the day is suffocating, the area is exactly the same as it remained in his memory: even in his memory it has been much more erased than it was now imagined in a dream. The town stands open, clear in the open, not a willow tree around; somewhere very far away, at the very edge of the sky, a forest grows black. A few steps from the last city garden there is a tavern, a large tavern, which always made an unpleasant impression on him and even fear when he passed by it while walking with his father. There was always such a crowd there, they shouted, laughed, cursed, sang so ugly and hoarsely and fought so often; There were always such drunken and scary faces wandering around the tavern... When he met them, he pressed himself closely to his father and trembled all over. Near the tavern there is a road, a country road, always dusty, and the dust on it is always so black. She walks, twisting, then, about three hundred paces, she bends around the city cemetery to the right. Among the cemetery is a stone church with a green dome, where he went to mass with his father and mother twice a year, when funeral services were served for his grandmother, who had died a long time ago and whom he had never seen. At the same time, they always took kutya with them on a white dish, in a napkin, and the kutya was sugar made from rice and raisins, pressed into the rice with a cross. He loved this church and the ancient images in it, mostly without frames, and the old priest with a trembling head. Near his grandmother’s grave, on which there was a slab, there was also a small grave of his younger brother, who had died for six months and whom he also did not know at all and could not remember; but he was told that he had a little brother, and every time he visited the cemetery, he religiously and respectfully crossed himself over the grave, bowed to it and kissed it. And then he dreams: he and his father are walking along the road to the cemetery and passing a tavern; he holds his father's hand and looks back at the tavern with fear. A special circumstance attracts his attention: this time there seems to be a party here, a crowd of dressed-up bourgeois women, women, their husbands and all sorts of rabble. Everyone is drunk, everyone is singing songs, and near the tavern porch there is a cart, but a strange cart. This is one of those large carts into which large draft horses are harnessed and goods and wine barrels are transported in them. He always loved to look at these huge draft horses, long-maned, with thick legs, walking calmly, at a measured pace, and carrying some whole mountain behind them, without getting too tired at all, as if they were even easier with carts than without carts. But now, strangely, harnessed to such a large cart was a small, skinny, shabby peasant nag, one of those who - he often saw this - sometimes work hard with some tall cart of firewood or hay, especially if the cart gets stuck in the mud or in a rut, and at the same time it’s so painful, the men always beat them so painfully with whips, sometimes even in the very face and in the eyes, and he’s so sorry, so sorry to look at it that he almost cries, but mother always used to , takes him away from the window. But suddenly it becomes very noisy: big, drunken men in red and blue shirts, with saddle-backed army coats, come out of the tavern, shouting, singing, with balalaikas. “Sit down, everyone sit down! - shouts one, still young, with such a thick neck and a fleshy, red face like a carrot, “I’ll take everyone, sit down!” But immediately there is laughter and exclamations: “Lucky nag!” - Are you, Mikolka, out of your mind or something: you locked such a little mare in such a cart! “But Savraska will certainly be twenty years old, brothers!” - Sit down, I’ll take everyone! - Mikolka shouts again, jumping first into the cart, taking the reins and standing on the front at his full height. “The bay one left with Matvey,” he shouts from the cart, “and this little filly, brothers, only breaks my heart: it would seem that he killed her, she eats bread for nothing.” I say sit down! Let me gallop! Let's gallop! - And he takes the whip in his hands, preparing to whip the Savraska with pleasure. - Yes, sit down, what! - the crowd laughs. - Listen, he’s going to gallop! “She hasn’t jumped for ten years, I guess.” - Jumping! - Don’t be sorry, brothers, take all kinds of whips, prepare them! - And then! Whack her! Everyone climbs into Mikolka’s cart with laughter and witticisms. Six people got in, and there are still more to be seated. They take with them one woman, fat and ruddy. She's wearing red coats, a beaded tunic, cats on her feet, cracking nuts and chuckling. All around in the crowd they are also laughing, and indeed, how can one not laugh: such a frothing mare and such a burden will be carried at a gallop! The two guys in the cart immediately take a whip each to help Mikolka. The sound is heard: “Well!”, the nag pulls with all her might, but not only can she gallop, but she can even barely manage a step; she just minces with her legs, grunts and crouches from the blows of three whips raining down on her like peas. The laughter in the cart and in the crowd doubles, but Mikolka gets angry and, in a rage, strikes the filly with rapid blows, as if he really believed that she would gallop. - Let me in too, brothers! - shouts one overjoyed guy from the crowd. - Sit down! Everyone sit down! - Mikolka shouts, - everyone will be lucky. I'll spot it! - And he whips, whips, and no longer knows what to hit with out of frenzy. “Daddy, daddy,” he shouts to his father, “daddy, what are they doing?” Daddy, the poor horse is being beaten! - Let's go, let's go! - says the father, - drunk, playing pranks, fools: let's go, don't look! - and wants to take him away, but he breaks out of his hands and, not remembering himself, runs to the horse. But the poor horse feels bad. She gasps, stops, jerks again, almost falls. - Slap him to death! - Mikolka shouts, - for that matter. I'll spot it! - Why don’t you have a cross on, or something, you devil! - shouts one old man from the crowd. “Have you ever seen such a horse carry such luggage,” adds another. - You'll starve! - shouts the third. - Don't touch it! My goodness! I do what I want. Sit down again! Everyone sit down! I want her to start galloping without fail!.. Suddenly, laughter bursts out in one gulp and covers everything: the little filly could not bear the rapid blows and began to kick in helplessness. Even the old man couldn’t resist and grinned. And indeed: it’s such a kicking little filly, and it kicks too! Two guys from the crowd take out another whip and run to the horse to whip it from the sides. Everyone runs from their own side. - In her face, in her eyes, in her eyes! - Mikolka shouts. - A song, brothers! - someone shouts from the cart, and everyone in the cart joins in. A riotous song is heard, a tambourine clangs, and whistles are heard in the choruses. The woman cracks nuts and chuckles. ...He runs next to the horse, he runs ahead, he sees how it is being whipped in the eyes, right in the eyes! He is crying. His heart rises, tears flow. One of the attackers hits him in the face; he doesn’t feel, he wrings his hands, screams, rushes to the gray-haired old man with a gray beard, who shakes his head and condemns all this. One woman takes him by the hand and wants to lead him away; but he breaks free and runs to the horse again. She is already making her last efforts, but she begins to kick again. - And to those devils! - Mikolka screams in rage. He throws the whip, bends down and pulls out a long and thick shaft from the bottom of the cart, takes it by the end in both hands and swings it with effort over the Savraska. - It will explode! - they shout all around. - He will kill! - My goodness! - Mikolka shouts and lowers the shaft with all his might. A heavy blow is heard. - Whack her, whip her! What have they become? - voices shout from the crowd. And Mikolka swings another time, and another blow lands with all its might on the back of the unfortunate nag. She sinks all over, but jumps up and pulls, pulls with all her last strength in different sides to take out; but from all sides they take it with six whips, and the shaft again rises and falls for the third time, then for the fourth, measuredly, with a sweep. Mikolka is furious that she cannot kill with one blow. - Tenacious! - they shout all around. - Now it will certainly fall, brothers, this is the end of it! - one amateur shouts from the crowd. - Ax her, what! Finish her at once,” shouts the third. - Eh, eat those mosquitoes! Make way! - Mikolka screams furiously, throws the shaft, bends down into the cart again and pulls out the iron crowbar. - Be careful! - he shouts and with all his strength he stuns his poor horse. The blow collapsed; the filly staggered, sagged, and wanted to pull, but the crowbar again fell with all its might on her back, and she fell to the ground, as if all four legs had been cut off at once. - Finish it off! - Mikolka shouts and jumps up, as if not remembering himself, from the cart. Several guys, also red and drunk, grab whatever they can - whips, sticks, shafts - and run to the dying filly. Mikolka stands on the side and starts hitting him on the back with a crowbar in vain. The nag stretches out his muzzle, sighs heavily and dies. - Finished! - they shout in the crowd. - Why didn’t you gallop! - My goodness! - Mikolka shouts, with a crowbar in her hands and with bloodshot eyes. He stands there as if regretting that there is no one else to beat. - Well, really, you know, you don’t have a cross on you! - Many voices are already shouting from the crowd. But the poor boy no longer remembers himself. With a scream, he makes his way through the crowd to Savraska, grabs her dead, bloody muzzle and kisses her, rushes with his little fists at Mikolka. At that moment his father, who had been chasing him for a long time, finally grabs him and carries him out of the crowd. - Let's go to! let's go to! - he tells him, - let's go home! - Daddy! Why did they... kill the poor horse! - he sobs, but his breath is taken away, and the words burst out in screams from his constricted chest. “They’re drunk and acting out, it’s none of our business, let’s go!” - says the father. He wraps his arms around his father, but his chest is tight, tight. He wants to catch his breath, scream, and wakes up. He woke up covered in sweat, his hair wet with sweat, gasping for breath, and sat up in horror.
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A dream about an oasis in Egypt.
On the eve of the crime, Rodion dreams of an ideal world that will be created by him, the brilliant savior of humanity. He sees Egypt, an oasis, blue water, colorful stones, golden sand and dreams of creating a small oasis of happiness on earth among the endless desert of grief. Meaning: the dream in the name of which the crime is conceived is opposed to the gray reality of life.
Symbolism of a dream about Egypt.
The Egyptian campaign is the beginning of Napoleon's career.
Full text of the episode "Dream No. 2"
After dinner, he stretched out again on the sofa, but could no longer fall asleep, but lay motionless, face down, with his face buried in the pillow. He dreamed everything, and all of them were strange dreams: most often he imagined that he was somewhere in Africa, in Egypt, in some kind of oasis. The caravan is resting, the camels are lying quietly; There are palm trees growing all around; everyone is having lunch. He keeps drinking water, straight from the stream, which is right there, by his side, flowing and babbling. And it’s so cool, and such wonderful, wonderful blue water, cold, runs over multi-colored stones and over such clean sand with golden sparkles... Suddenly he clearly heard that the clock was striking. He shuddered, woke up, raised his head, looked out the window, realized the time and suddenly jumped up, completely coming to his senses, as if someone had torn him off the sofa. He tiptoed to the door, opened it quietly and began to listen down the stairs. His heart was beating terribly. But everything was quiet on the stairs, as if everyone were sleeping... It seemed wild and wonderful to him that he could have slept in such oblivion since the day before and had not done anything yet, had not prepared anything... And meanwhile, perhaps six o’clock was striking... And an extraordinary a feverish and kind of confused bustle suddenly seized him, instead of sleep and stupor. However, there were few preparations. He made every effort to figure everything out and not forget anything; and his heart kept beating and pounding so hard that it became difficult for him to breathe. Firstly, it was necessary to make a loop and sew it to the coat - a matter of minutes. He reached under the pillow and found in the linen stuffed under it one of his old, unwashed shirts, completely falling apart. From her rags he tore out a braid an inch wide and eight inches long. He folded this braid in half, took off his wide, strong summer coat made of some thick paper material (his only outer dress) and began sewing both ends of the braid under his left armpit from the inside. His hands shook while sewing, but he prevailed, and so that nothing was visible from the outside when he put on his coat again. The needle and thread had already been prepared for a long time and lay in the table, in a piece of paper. As for the noose, it was a very clever invention of his own: the noose was intended for an axe. It was impossible to carry an ax in your hands along the street. And if you hid it under your coat, you still had to hold it with your hand, which would be noticeable. Now, with a loop, you just have to put the ax blade into it, and it will hang calmly, under your armpit from the inside, all the way. Having put his hand into the side pocket of his coat, he could hold the end of the ax handle so that it would not dangle; and since the coat was very wide, a real bag, it could not be noticeable from the outside that he was holding something with his hand through the pocket. He also came up with this loop two weeks ago.
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Dream about Ilya Petrovich.
Rodion dreams that Ilya Petrovich is beating his mistress. The dream is filled with terrible sounds: “she howled, squealed and wailed,” the voice of the beating man was hoarse, “he had never heard or seen such unnatural sounds, such howling, screaming, gnashing, tears, beatings and curses.” In the hero's mind, the dream is confused with reality. He thinks about the blood he shed, about the people he killed. The hero’s entire being resists the murder committed. When Ilya Petrovich beats the mistress, questions arise in Raskolnikov’s head: “But for what, for what... and how is this possible!” Rodion understands that he is the same “genius” as Ilya Petrovich.
The meaning of the dream about Ilya Petrovich.
Killing is alien to human nature. The dream was introduced by the author to show the horror and inconsistency of Raskolnikov’s theory.
Symbolism: the staircase, which is the scene of the dream, symbolizes the struggle between good and evil.
Full text of the episode "Dream No. 3"
He arrived at his place in the evening, which means he had only been there for about six hours. Where and how he walked back, he didn’t remember anything. Having undressed and trembling all over, like a driven horse, he lay down on the sofa, pulled his overcoat over himself and immediately forgot... He woke up in complete twilight from a terrible scream. God, what a cry! He had never heard or seen such unnatural sounds, such howling, screaming, grinding, tears, beatings and curses. He could not even imagine such atrocity, such frenzy. In horror, he rose and sat down on his bed, freezing and suffering every moment. But the fighting, screaming and cursing became stronger and stronger. And then, to his greatest amazement, he suddenly heard the voice of his mistress. She howled, squealed and wailed, hurrying, hurrying, letting out words so that it was impossible to make out, begging for something - of course, that they would stop beating her, because she was beaten mercilessly on the stairs. The beating man’s voice became so terrible from anger and rage that it was just hoarse, but still the beating man also said something like that, and also quickly, inaudibly, hurrying and choking. Suddenly Raskolnikov trembled like a leaf: he recognized this voice; it was the voice of Ilya Petrovich. Ilya Petrovich is here and beats the mistress! He kicks her, bangs her head on the steps - it’s clear, you can hear it from the sounds, from the screams, from the blows! What is this, the light has turned upside down, or what? You could hear a crowd gathering on all floors, along the entire staircase, voices, exclamations, people coming up, knocking, slamming doors, and running. “But for what, for what, and how is this possible!” - he repeated, seriously thinking that he was completely crazy. But no, he hears too clearly!.. But, therefore, they will come to him now, if so, “because... it’s true, all this is from the same thing... because of yesterday... Lord!” He wanted to lock himself on the hook, but his hand did not rise... and it was useless! Fear, like ice, surrounded his soul, tormented him, numbed him... But finally all this commotion, which lasted for ten faithful minutes, began to gradually subside. The hostess moaned and groaned, Ilya Petrovich still threatened and swore... But finally, it seems, he calmed down; now you can’t hear him; “Has he really left? God!" Yes, then the landlady leaves, still moaning and crying... and then her door slammed... So the crowd disperses from the stairs to the apartments - they gasp, argue, call each other, now raising their speech to a scream, now lowering it to a whisper. There must have been many of them; Almost the whole house came running. “But God, is all this possible! And why, why did he come here!” Raskolnikov fell helplessly onto the sofa, but could no longer close his eyes; he lay for half an hour in such suffering, in such an unbearable feeling of boundless horror, which he had never experienced before. Suddenly a bright light illuminated his room: Nastasya entered with a candle and a plate of soup. Looking at him carefully and seeing that he was not sleeping, she put the candle on the table and began to lay out what she had brought: bread, salt, plate, spoon. “I suppose I haven’t eaten since yesterday.” He walked around all day, and the feverish man himself beats. - Nastasya... why did they beat the landlady? She looked at him intently. - Who beat the landlady? - Now... half an hour ago, Ilya Petrovich, the warden's assistant, on the stairs... Why did he do that to her? beat you up? and... why did he come?..Nastasya looked at him silently and frowning and looked at him like that for a long time. He felt very unpleasant from this examination, even scared. “Nastasya, why are you silent?” - he finally said timidly in a weak voice. “This is blood,” she answered finally, quietly and as if speaking to herself. “Blood!.. What kind of blood?” he muttered, turning pale and moving away towards the wall. Nastasya continued to look at him silently. “Nobody beat the mistress,” she said again in a stern and decisive voice. He looked at her, barely breathing. “I heard it myself... I didn’t sleep... I sat,” he said even more timidly. - I listened for a long time... The warden's assistant came... Everyone came running to the stairs, from all the apartments... - Nobody came. And it’s the blood in you screaming. It’s when there’s no way out for her and she’s already starting to bake her liver, and then she starts to imagine... You’re going to eat, or what? He didn’t answer. Nastasya still stood over him, looked at him intently and did not leave. “Give me a drink... Nastasya.” She went downstairs and two minutes later returned with water in a white clay mug; but he no longer remembered what happened next. I only remembered how I took one sip cold water and spilled from the mug onto his chest. Then came unconsciousness.
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Dream about a laughing old woman.
In a dream, Raskolnikov goes to the old woman’s apartment after some tradesman who calls him there. This is a second reliving of the crime committed by the hero. Rodion tries to kill the pawnbroker - he hits her on the head with an ax, but “she didn’t even move from the blows, like a piece of wood.” He “looked into her face from below, looked in and froze: the old woman was sitting and laughing.”
Raskolnikov tries to escape, but there is nowhere to run - there are people everywhere. He wanted to be above this crowd (“trembling creatures”), but they laugh at his pathetic attempt to change the world through murder. The old woman is alive and also laughs at him, because by killing her, Raskolnikov killed himself - his soul.
The meaning of the dream about the laughing old woman.
The hero's subconscious speaks of the senselessness of murder, but he is not yet ready to repent.
Symbolism: The old woman's laughter is used as a way to debunk the Napoleonic element in the hero.
Full text of the episode "Dream No. 4"
He forgot; It seemed strange to him that he did not remember how he could have ended up on the street. It was already late evening. The dusk deepened, the full moon grew brighter and brighter; but somehow the air was especially stuffy. People walked in crowds along the streets; artisans and busy people went home, others walked; it smelled of lime, dust, and stagnant water. Raskolnikov walked sad and worried: he remembered very well that he left the house with some intention, that he had to do something and hurry, but he forgot what exactly. Suddenly he stopped and saw that on the other side of the street, on the sidewalk, a man was standing and waving at him. He walked towards him across the street, but suddenly this man turned and walked as if nothing had happened, with his head down, without turning around and without giving any sign that he was calling him. “Come on, did he call?” - thought Raskolnikov, but began to catch up. Not ten steps away, he suddenly recognized him and was frightened; it was a tradesman from a long time ago, in the same robe and hunched over in the same way. Raskolnikov walked from afar; his heart was beating; We turned into the alley - he still didn’t turn around. “Does he know that I’m following him?” - thought Raskolnikov. A tradesman entered the gates of a large house. Raskolnikov quickly walked up to the gate and began to look: would he look back and call him? In fact, having gone through the entire gateway and already going out into the yard, he suddenly turned around and again seemed to wave to him. Raskolnikov immediately passed through the gateway, but the tradesman was no longer in the yard. Therefore, he entered here now on the first staircase. Raskolnikov rushed after him. In fact, two stairs up, someone else's measured, unhurried steps could be heard. Strange, the stairs seemed familiar! There's a window on the first floor; the moonlight passed sadly and mysteriously through the glass; here is the second floor. Bah! This is the same apartment in which the workers smeared... How did he not find out immediately? The steps of the man in front died down: “it means he stopped or hid somewhere.” Here is the third floor; should we go further? And how quiet there is, it’s even scary... But he went. The noise of his own steps frightened and worried him. God, how dark! The tradesman must be hiding in a corner somewhere. A! the apartment is wide open to the stairs; he thought and entered. The hallway was very dark and empty, not a soul, as if everything had been taken out; Quietly, on tiptoe, he walked into the living room: the whole room was brightly lit moonlight; everything is the same here: chairs, a mirror, a yellow sofa and framed pictures. A huge, round, copper-red moon looked straight into the windows. “It’s been so quiet for a month,” thought Raskolnikov, “he’s probably asking a riddle now.” He stood and waited, waited for a long time, and the quieter the month was, the stronger his heart beat, and it even became painful. And all silence. Suddenly, an instant dry crack was heard, as if a splinter had been broken, and everything froze again. The awakened fly suddenly hit the glass and buzzed pitifully. At that very moment, in the corner, between the small wardrobe and the window, he saw a cloak as if hanging on the wall. “Why is there a cloak here? - he thought, “after all, he wasn’t there before...” He approached slowly and guessed that it was as if someone was hiding behind the cloak. He carefully pulled back his cloak with his hand and saw that there was a chair standing there, and an old woman was sitting on a chair in the corner, all hunched over and her head bowed, so that he could not see her face, but it was her. He stood over her: “Afraid!” - he thought, quietly released the ax from the loop and hit the old woman on the crown, once and twice. But it’s strange: she didn’t even move from the blows, like she was made of wood. He got scared, leaned closer and began to look at her; but she also bent her head even lower. He then bent down completely to the floor and looked into her face from below, looked and froze: the old woman was sitting and laughing - she burst into quiet, inaudible laughter, trying with all her might so that he would not hear her. Suddenly it seemed to him that the door from the bedroom opened slightly and that there, too, seemed to be laughing and whispering. Fury overcame him: with all his might he began to hit the old woman on the head, but with each blow of the ax the laughter and whispers from the bedroom were heard louder and louder, and the old woman was shaking all over with laughter. He rushed to run, but the entire hallway was already full of people, the doors on the stairs were wide open, and on the landing, on the stairs and down there - all the people, head to head, everyone was watching - but everyone was hiding and waiting, silent... His heart was embarrassed, his legs don’t move, they’re frozen... He wanted to scream and woke up.
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Dream about trichinae.
Raskolnikov's last dream shows the result of his difficult and long internal struggle with himself. The events of the dream take place in a fantasy world.
The hero sees terrible pictures of the end of the world, which is approaching due to terrible disease, caused by new microbes - trichines. They penetrate the brain and inspire
to the person that he alone is right in everything. Infected people kill each other.
Moral guidelines are lost. However, there are several people who have had this disease and were able to survive. They are the ones who can save humanity, but no one sees or hears them. Meaning: Dostoevsky shows a way out - we need to overcome moral nihilism, and then people will be able to understand God and discover the truth. The hero abandons his theory and realizes what permissiveness can lead to.
Symbolism: sleep - purification and rebirth of the hero.
The meaning of dreams. Dreams help to understand the hero’s psychology and show how Raskolnikov’s worldview is changing.
Analysis of Raskolnikov's dreams
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