C1002 Section 27 - Literature Humanities

First of all,
on the off-chance that some of you are finding it difficult to do all of the C&P reading quite as closely and thoroughly as you would like to, please make sure that if nothing else, you have read the ENDING of the novel: i.e., Part 6, Chapter VIII and the Epilogue (pp.521-551). We will open our discussion tomorrow with a consideration of this ending (were you satisfied?, did it "fit"?, was it what you expected?, etc.), so please ensure that you have read it closely.

So far,
we have talked about the moral and philosophical discourses operating in the novel, and the way the characters are used to delineate these; we have considered the moral and philosophical motives behind--and consequences of--Raskolnikov's crime; we have discussed the "split" or "schism" (raskol) in Raskolnikov's character, and how he attempts to resove it by murdering Alyona; we have explored the symbolism at work in vivid episodes such as Raskolnikov's dream; we have coined a number of CFDs ("clumsy fake dichotomies") that Dostoevsky seems to be exploring/manipulating.

We ended class on Thursday with a consideration of a characterological CFD:
                             Alyona (pawnbroker)/Lizaveta (sister)
--the two victims of Raskolnikov's crime. We talked about how these two victims represent two qualitatively different murders: Alyona is the victim of the murder Raskolnikov intended to commit (with its carefully constructed, political/philosophical justificatory framework), whereas Lizaveta is an unintended victim, whose killing is not justified by any of Raskolnikov's arguments. We also noted that
                             (a) Sonya was socially connected to Lizaveta.
                             (b) Svidrigailov is rumored to have intentionally killed the Lizaveta figure in his backstory; does this point to an important difference between Svidrigailov and Raskolnikov (note that Svid. insists on their mutual resemblance)? Does Lizaveta's death haunt Raskolnikov in a different way from Alyona's?

I'd like you to think about ways in which this CFD, Alyona vs. Lizaveta, might reflect other CFDs we have touched upon in our discussion of this work (and of other works this semester), such as:
                             reason/instinct
                             shame/guilt
                             Crime/Punishment
                             "extraordinary"/"ordinary"
                             justice/mercy