C&P Lit Discussion
Tania Damle and Shivam Lal, 3rd Period
Overview
What is Contemporary Economics?
- Regards to the distribution of wealth
- Specifically to literature: how do socioeconomic conditions of characters affect…?
- Plot and Characterization
Activity (it's a poll so, get your phones/iPads/laptops out)
PollEv.com/shivamlal908
Suffering Is Everywhere!
- Raskolnikov pawns his belongings in order to get by
- Svidrigaïlov harasses Dounia
How Does All this Suffering Affect the Story?
- “Obliged” and “Ashamed”
- Affects moral judgment
- Pressures of sister’s position lead to murder
Quote #2: “You will admit that recollecting your embarrassment, your eagerness to get away and the fact that you kept your hands for some time on the table, and taking into consideration your social position and the habits associated with it, I was, so to say, with horror and positively against my will, compelled to entertain a suspicion—a cruel but justifiable suspicion!”
- His position has its perks
- Becomes a villain
Quote #3: “Honoured sir, a month ago Mr. Lebeziatnikov gave my wife a beating, and my wife is a very different matter from me! Do you understand? Allow me to ask you another question out of simple curiosity: have you ever spent a night on a hay barge, on the Neva?”
“Bits of hay were in fact clinging to his clothes and sticking to his hair. It seemed quite probable that he had not undressed or washed for the last five days.”
- Raskolnikov sympathizes with Marmeladov
- Notices certain things
- Continues to speak to him
- Kind to those in his position
Social (Im)mobility
Quote #4: "Kill her and take her money, so that afterwards, you can devote yourself to the service of all mankind and the common cause...of course, she doesn't deserve to be alive," (65-66)
Quote #5:
Bibliography
- Shmoop Editorial Team. "Crime and Punishment Theme of Suffering Page 1." Shmoop.com. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 01 Sept. 2014.
- "Important Quotes Explained - Crime and Punishment Spark Notes - Period 8." Important Quotes Explained - Crime and Punishment Spark Notes - Period 8. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Sept. 2014.
Discussion Time!
- How does someone's socioeconomic status determine the value of a character's life in this novel.
- What does that say about the class struggles faced by the intellectual/ peasant class at this time? (REPHRASE)
- How does Raskolnikov's socioeconomic condition catalyze his behavior towards the pawn broker?
- How does money play a role in Dounia's decision to marry Luzhin?
- To what extent does Sonya's social immobility due to her profession drive her to accept people of all socioeconomic statuses?