Crime And Punishment Essays (803 words) - English-language Films

Crime And Punishment The main character of the novel Crime and Punishment by Feodor Dostoevsky, Raskolnikov, is in reality two totally contradicting personalities. One part of him is the intellectual. This part is cold and inhumane. It is this side that enables him to commit the most terrible crime imaginable - taking another human life. The other part of his personality is warm and compassionate. This is the side of him that does charitable acts and fights out against the evil in his society. This dichotomy of Raskolnikovs personality can be clearly seen through the dream about the mare, as well as through other characters in the novel. Raskolnikov's dream about the mare can be used to probe deep 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. He has a cruel and thoughtless side as well as a caring, compassionate side to his personality. Through the dream and the symbols within, 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 takes on 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. These heartless attacks foreshadow the crime that Raskolnikov is contemplating. Dostoevsky unveils Raskolniko v's cruel side during this dream, if it is to be interpreted in this way. Similarly, the little boy could represent Raskolnikovs compassionate side. The child, watching the beating, realizes the absurdity of it. He even rushes to Mikolka, ready to punish him for killing the mare. This illustrates Rodion's internal struggle while contemplating the murder of Alyona. His humane side, the child, tells him to live and let live. And his extraordinary side, according to his definition, tells him that he should eliminate Alyona altogether, for the good of mankind. The flip side of this is that the mare itself could represent Raskolnikov. However, the burden which the mare must carry (the cart, the people, etc.) could represent two separate things, depending on if it is viewed in context before or after the actual murder. Before the murder, the burden could represent the moral question that is plaguing Rodion. Should he kill Alyona? Or should he leave her be? Because of the importance of this question to Raskolnikov, it weighs him down heavily at first. However, later on, he rashly decides to kill Alyona. If looked upon after the murder, the load on the mare in the dream could represent the mental burden placed on Rodion. He had a burden of guilt on him, and he could not justify the murder even according to his own theory. Even though Porfiry Petrovitch did not have many of the people purposely harassing Raskolnikov by mentioning various facets of the murder, it was as if those who were beating the truth out of him were pawns of Porfiry (or tha t of truth and the law in general), just as those beating the life out of the mare were pawns of Mikolka (or that of cruelty). Two other characters of the novel represent the two different sides to Raskolnikov, Sonya Marmeladov and Svidrigailov. Sonya is the warm side of Raskolnikov. She is a prostitute forced into that field because her father drinks away all of the money in the family. She is meek and submissive. She will give her father her last copeck even if he comes to her totally drunk. Raskolnikov is at once attracted to and repulsed by this personality. Svidrigailov is the cold and detached personality that Raskolnikov both hates and embraces. The goal of the novel is to make Raskolnikov into one character. Sonya helps bring Raskolnikov back into his humane side. Through her suffering, she shows him that it is important to have a love for all humanity and that no person should ever be able to exist like

Michelangelos Inne Tomb of Julius II essays

Michelangelos Inne Tomb of Julius II essays In 1505 Pope Julius II called upon Michelangelo to come to Rome and construct his tomb. Michelangelo was a well known artist at the time and although he was hesitant to take the job, he knew it was a chance for him to built a monument that he hoped would be remembered not only as tomb for a great leader, but as a representation of his genius as a sculpture. Little did he know that it would be a project that would take him over forty 5and Julius II were both men with forceful personalities, big plans, and personal goals which they hoped to accomplish throughout the construction of the tomb . The two men came into conflict over the plans of the tomb and there were many times when the project was suspended because Michelangelo became so frustrated that he returned back to Florence where he wanted to complete the project on his own . Michelangelo worked on many other projects while he continued work on the tomb and it was not completed for over 30 years after the death of Julius II. Today the tomb not only stands as a representation of the change in artistic style of Michelangelo but is also a reflection of the character and sentiment of Michelangelo during the time in which he worked on the Tomb. Figures like that of Moses and the slaves act as a representation of the frustrated sentiment that Michelangelo felt towards the project and its patron. The figures reflect his growth as an artist during the forty years of the tomb and those of Leah and Rachel stand as a representation of the mature sentiment and style that Michelangelo grew into over time. The tomb was no longer a grand monument but a personal battle for Michelangelo who did not finish it for the people, but for himself, as he believed that the masses were without judgment and always liked that which they should despise and criticize that which is highest of worth . It is a reflection of his pure sentiment, growth, and inner struggle as an artist during this t...

Source Evaluation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 4

Source Evaluation - Essay Example He has previously served the American Society for the History of Rhetoric (ASHR) in the capacity of the president. He got his PhD in Communication Studies in 2000, from the Northwestern University. This is on top of the 1997 MA in Communication Studies, from the Northwestern University. Presently, he is an Associate Professor who teaches classical rhetoric and rhetorical stylistics. The poetry work was published in 2011 in a journal referred to as Rhetorica: A journal of the History of rhetoric. The journal contains literature and related academic articles. The thesis explained by the source illustrates a comparison of two literary styles, as applicable to the Early Greek literature and also the modern literary context. Poetry is basically distinguished from the aspects of prose through the verse arrangement (Richard 304). Another distinguishing feature according to Richard is that, â€Å"prose is cast in sentences, poetry in lines† (304). Prose syntax is determined through meaning, and poetry syntax is determined by the visual characteristics of the poem. Before the nineteenth century, the concept of poetry was adequately understood as a literary aspect arranged in metrical lines. During this period, the preferred meaning of poetry entailed any literary subject that has rhythm and verses. This was due to the high influence of Aristotle. Poetry during this period was also viewed as a technical verse designation, instead of the normal illustration of rhetorical and fictive artwork (Richard 315). The source illustrates adequate examples in the literary areas of poetry and prose. The author explains that poetry is one of the earliest pre-date works on literacy. Earlier cases of poetry were composed and sustained through the oral tradition processes. Hence, poetry is the earliest category of literature. On the contrary, prose is a language category that applies natural speech and also the concept of ordinary