![]() The parallels between COVID-19 and the infection in Raskolnikov’s dream are overtly apparent. Dostoevsky’s narration of the dream maps the transmission of the virus from the Eastern Hemisphere to the Western Hemisphere, describing it as “some terrible, previously unknown pestilence, which was moving toward Europe out of the depths of Asia.” ![]() The events chronicled in this dream are extremely telling of dual pandemics - the global COVID-19 outbreak and the dissemination of disinformation through social media - that plagued 2020 and now plague 2021. ![]() Raskolnikov’s hysterical condition worsens upon beginning his prison sentence, causing him to have a dream about the spread of nihilism in the form of a virus. As Raskolnikov’s pride and clashing morals alienate him from society, the reader is taken through his confusing yet murderous schemes and mental decline, until he falls ill. ![]() The novel is based around Raskolnikov’s journey as an impoverished ex-student and rising sociopath who plans on killing a pawnbroker for her money. In the epilogue of Norton Critical Edition’s 2018 translation of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment, the main character, Rodion Raskolnikov, has a feverish dream in which its events foreshadow the tumult of 2021. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |