There are many dreams through out Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment, however, Raskolnikov’s mare dream is particularly important in the novel, Raskolnikov slowly goes through a metamorphosis in the novel that marks critical changes in his morals and the mare dream marks the first major change of heart and moral that he has. Because the mare dream is the only dream that occurs before the murder, it is essential to understanding Raskolnikov’s change because it gives critical insight into his starting morals as well as his past.
This mare dream section begins with young Raskolnikov standing by the mare trying to stop the men from beating and killing her. This part gives insight into the kind of environment that Raskolnikov grew up in. In the society he lived in, destruction of your own property was accepted and you could do what you felt was right. This is seen by the repetition of the old man saying “it’s my property and I can do with it what I will”(60/61). This idea gives a sense of nihilistic ideal that explains why Raskolnikov thinks the way that he does now that he is an adult. He grew up with these ideals in what seems to be every day life, and while he may not totally agree with them, a similar sense of property and of the way things should be treated show through in his personality through out the book.
Another main occurrence in this passage is the way that the mare is killed. First the old man tries to kill her with a blunt and thick shaft, probably a lead pipe, when this doesn’t seem to be working, he asks for an axe. This relates to the way that Raskolnikov not only kills the pawnbroker, but the weapon choice that he makes. He first kills the pawn broker with the blunt end of the axe by bashing in her head. Then when her sister returns he uses the sharp end of the axe to end her existence swiftly and in a much less gruesome manner. This shows that much like the man in the dream, Raskolnikov makes the pawn broker’s death very drawn out and painful by killing her with the blunt end. This again helps to develop his character by showing that he feels that people like the pawn broker deserve no mercy and need to have pain and suffering rather than the “mercy” that he later shows on her sister.
Another ideal that comes through in this passage is the idea of never giving up. The whole point of beating the mare is because she is not strong enough to pull the weight of the people that her owner has loaded onto the cart. Even when she is being beaten by several men along with her owner constantly whipping and hitting her on the back with the pole, she continues to pull and try to move the cart without success. This relates very much to how the reader views Raskolnikov. He is always pushing forward through out the novel and trying to prove to himself that he is right, even right before he is going to turn himself in he has a thought to just leave but it is Sonia that helps him to fully accept that he must turn himself in and understand that he is “a murderer”(521). Even with all of his fighting and pushing forward he ends up in jail or “dead” like the mare. However, when Raskolnikov is in jail, he feels a sense of freedom. It could be suggested that the mare had experienced similar abuse before this incident and that dying was her eternal freedom of peace. In fact, in this passage, when she dies, she “drew a long breath and died”(61) , almost like a sigh of relief in her passing. This relationship shows how even in what would seem like the hardest moment of a life can be the most fulfilling and pleasant because a heavy burden is being lifted and a new portion of life is beginning. Another way this is shown is earlier in the passage when the mare is kicking and being stubborn. This can be shown all through out the novel with Raskolnikov. One example of his hot temper and confrontational nature is shown when he first meets Luzhin. He verbally attacks him because he despises him for his petty ideas and attempts to make himself look impressive and intelligent. In a way, that example relates back to the mare, trying to confront her owner in an attempt to be free or put him down. The only difference is the outcome, where the mare dies, Raskolnikov metaphorically “beats” Luzhin because Luzhin does not have the opportunity to marry his sister. It shows how Raskolnikov will let anyone know his opinion and wont back down from his ideals much like he does with his initial opinions of his killing of the pawn broker.
The final thing that is made very apparent in this passage is how Raskolnikov values life. He feels that when something is killed only for the sake of boredom or out of drunken hate, that it is very wrong and that it should be punished, however, when it is a just killing like the way he feels about his murder, it is a benefit to society and completely justifiable. This is seen through the way that he reacts to the killing of the mare. This “murder” is felt as unjust to him because it was done for no reason other than entertainment. The owner knew that there was no possible way for the mare to carry that many people and it was wrong to kill her in the end. It is only later on in the book that he realizes that all along he was wrong in his murder and how similar he and Mikolka are in the way they view society and how much of an influence Mikolka had on Raskolnikov’s morals. In the end it is the dreams of Raskolnikov that reveal the most about him and without them, the reader would be lost in a sea of information with no way to tie it all together. The dreams act as life lines, allowing the reader to look into the subconscious of Raskolnikov and see what he is actually feeling on the inside. As is said in the book, the dreams are more real that reality its self and that they come from crazed individuals seeking truth. It is through these dreams that the reader can find the absolute truth in several major characters.
Fyodor Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment
