The Subconscious Mind in Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and...

The Subconscious Mind in Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment In Fyodor Dostoevsky’s psychological novel, Crime and Punishment, the suffering and isolation of the late nineteenth century Russia becomes reality. As a young man who has left his studies in the university, Raskolnikov finds himself wallowing in poverty and self-pity. With his dreams of becoming a prominent â€Å"Napoleon† of Russia destroyed, he feels that he is one of the many worthless citizens that he has learned to detest. Feeling that he must support his mother and sister by proving himself to be a hero to society, Raskolnikov initiates the solution to his situation. By killing and robbing a detested pawnbroker, and by escaping all punishment, he will display his†¦show more content†¦But once his mind enters the subconscious level of sleep, free from all restraint, his inability to become the superman is evident. In the dream, Raskolnikov reverts to his childhood. He is walking through the city with his father and observes the beating of a horse. Several men climb into a carriage, and a weak horse is beaten until it attempts to move the immovable object. In terror, the young Raskolnikov ran beside the mare,†¦saw her being whipped across the eyes, right in the eyes!†¦The poor boy, beside himself, made his way, scream ing, through the crowds to the sorrel nag, put his arms round her bleeding head and kissed it, kissed the eyes and kissed the lips. (Dostoevsky, 53) The terror of Raskolnikov’s dream and his obvious horror at the death of the innocent animal illustrates Dostoevsky’s idea that no human has the power to transcend emotions and commit such a crime without the feeling of remorse. As the boy in the dream holds the dead horse, â€Å"embracing her bleeding head in a frenzy of compassion, it is himself he is embracing, bewailing, consoling† (Rahv, 18). Knowing of the terrible murder he will commit, Raskolnikov’s mind warns him that he will become the victim rather than the superman. The subconscious emotions that Raskolnikov attempts to bury during his waking hours cannot be held back in the dream, which becomes a warning of his incompetence. As Sigmund Freud theorized, Raskolnikov’s dream is a â€Å"censorship to his actions†, and warns him that his humanShow MoreRelatedWhy Do We Dream?2460 Words   |  10 Pagesour subconscious mind, expressing our deepest fears or desires, allowing us to be wh at we cannot be. Others believe that dreams serve no function at all and are simply our imaginations running wild. In the words of Sigmund Freud, the founding father of psychoanalysis, â€Å"The dream is the liberation of the spirit from the pressure of external nature, a detachment of the soul from the fetters of matter.† (The Interpretation of Dreams) For Raskolnikov, the protagonist of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and