The Bolshevik Revolution and its Relation to Crime and...

The Bolshevik Revolution and its Relation to Crime and Punishment The novel, Crime and Punishment, written by Fyodor Dostoyevsky follows an ex-student, Raskolnikov, through his mental struggles in great psychological detail after he commits murder without reason. Raskolnikov’s mental instability is a parallel to Russia’s long history of unstable and poorly designed government systems. To better understand the events that led up to radical and Slavophile movements in Russia, and to better understand how Raskolnikov came to be mentally ill, background knowledge on the history of Russia is needed. In the thirteenth century, Mongols from Asia invaded Russia, and the Mongols remained in Russia for several centuries. The Mongols had a great†¦show more content†¦The Slavophiles opposed metropolitan development and put Orthodox Christianity atop a pedestal that even the all-powerful government and state were beneath. In the novel, Raskolnikov’s crime, and his j ustification of the crime, display very nihilistic ideas. Nihilism argues that life does not have a purpose or an objective meaning. Moral nihilists’ views are that morality does not inherently exist, and that any established moral values are abstractly contrived (Stick 332). Dostoyevsky uses Raskolnikov’s nihilistic character to criticize the principles of nihilism; Dostoyevsky uses Raskolnikov to prove that nihilistic ideas do not work and only deteriorate society. Many nihilistic figures during the mid 19th century loathed the character Raskolnikov for criticizing and making their principles seem foolish. The nihilistic thinkers claimed that murder for no reason, or rather murder just for the sake of murdering, was completely out of the nihilistic realm and did not have anything to do with their thoughts and principles. Crime and Punishment and the nihilistic example of murdering just to murder foreshadowed events that led up to the Russian Revolution, and the actio ns of the Bolsheviks during the Russian Revolution. The Russian people and common folk had felt resentment toward the government for about a century, and in 1905 the Russian peopleShow MoreRelatedThe Main Causes Of The Cuban Revolution1643 Words   |  7 PagesThe Cuban revolution In history every nation in the world has experienced a revolution. A revolution can be simply defined as a change to overthrow a government or a system. When a country decided to do a revolution, the idea is to modify the government for better changes . There are many different type of revolutionaries, some of them are intellectually, yet others may respond physically through destruction. Some may be peaceful, some short lasting, and some pointless. A Revolutions is directedRead MoreThe Universal Declaration Of Human Rights1619 Words   |  7 Pagesthe world. Containing 30 articles, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights addresses, what then came to be, the basic rights that all humans are inherently entitled to. Prior to the UDHR, there was no fine line of law between nations, in relations to crimes against humanity. Now, with this document, there is an over-arching set of laws that applies to all members of the United Nations, regardless of specific laws within a country; t his set of laws provides a clear indication of any violations andRead MoreLiterature and Politics the Impact of Dostoevsky9582 Words   |  39 PagesLibrairie Plon, 1930), p. 252. 2. Robert L. Belknap, The Structure of The Brothers Karamazov (The Hague, Paris: Mouton, 1967), p. 14. 3. Simon Karlinsky, Dostoevsky as Rohrschach Test, The New York Times, June 13, 1971, reprinted in Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment, Norton Critical Edition edited by George Gibian (New York: W.W. Norton, 1975), pp. 629-636. *Rozanovs work will be cited in the text of this essay as R, and Sandoz as S, followed by the page number. 40 THE POLITICAL SCIENCERead MoreOne Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Important Change.163893 Words   |  656 Pagesthat a new era had begun. A compelling case can be made for viewing the decades of the global scramble for colonies after 1870 as a predictable culmination of the long nineteenth century, which was ushered in by the industrial and political revolutions of the late 1700s. But at the same time, without serious attention to the processes and misguided policies that led to decades of agrarian and industrial depression from the late 1860s to the 1890s, as well as the social tensions and political