Raskolnikovs Dream in Dostoevskys Crime and Punishment Essay

Raskolnikov's Dream in Crime and Punishment In Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, Raskolnikov's dream about the mare can be used as a vehicle to probe deeply into his mentality to discover how he really feels inside. The dream suggests that Raskolnikov is a "split" man; after all, his name in Russian means "split". His personality has a cruel and thoughtless side as well as a caring, compassionate side. Through the dream and the symbols therein, a reader can cast Raskolnikov, as well as other characters from Crime And Punishment, into any of the various parts in the dream. Each part that a character plays leads to a different conclusion about that character. Raskolnikov himself "fits" into the positions of Mikolka, the child, and the mare. If Mikolka, the drunken owner of the mare, were to represent Raskolnikov, then the mare would most probably represent Alyona Ivanovna. The senseless beating of the mare by Mikolka is similar to the brutal attack on Alyona by Rodion. (It should be noted that both Alyona and the mare were female.) These heartless attacks foreshadow ...