Impressions on Dr. Bryan Burton's presentation of Dostoevsky

I found it interesting, after reading Crime and Punishment, to step back and look at the author and his beliefs. It was clarifying to understand Dostoyevski's association with existentialism and how that affected the way he wrote. He wanted to not just communicate a message, but he wanted to make the reader feel and experience that point. As an existentialist, he focused on being, so experience would have been a big part of that. Dr. Burton also said that Raskolnikov embodies existentialism. I think that Raskolnikov is a very sensitive character, sensitive to his own existence and experiences, although, on the other hand, he seems like he does not excercise very much control over his own fate, which I thought was a major tennant of existentialism.

Dr. Burton also brought up the idea that perhaps the whole of Raskolnikov's story is a retelling of the raising of Lazerus. Now that I think about it, it does rather seem as if Dostoyevski does make that parallel, however, in my opinion, to say that they are parallel stories is a stretch. Lazerus, as far as the Bible tells us, did not have a specific sin that casued his death and he did not go through the phychological battles and conflicts of conscience that Raskolnikov subjected himself to (and these seem to be such an fundamental point in Crime and Punishment, that I think we would be remiss to say that it is too related to the story of Lazerous).

In addition, Dostoyevski believed that redemption only comes through pain and suffering. It is true that our redemption came only through the pain and suffering of Jesus, but I think Dostoyevski means our own human pain and suffering. In this I disagree. If we say that our redemption is attained through our own suffering, that is just the same as saying we can earn our own way back to God. But we know that is not true. However, it is certain that pain and suffering can lead us to redemption, as opposed to buy our redemption.