Raskolnikov's Dream In Crime And Punishment

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Dostoevsky offers a lot of subtle information through the vivid scenes and imagery he describes in dreams throughout Crime and Punishment and how Raskolnikov reacts to those dreams. Throughout the entire novel, we learn that Raskolnikov is a character that is often caught in his own head and struggles with his grip on reality. Dreams tend to be a large reflection of a person’s headspace. Therefore, throughout the novel, dreams allow us to somewhat unpack Raskolnikov’s psychological digestion of his crime. For a character as lost and confusing as Raskolnikov, it helps to have insight to his deeper, subconscious thoughts although we may never understand the full complexity of his mind.
One of the first times we get information on Raskolnikov’s impression of murder is in his first dream. Because of this dream, his feeling of disgust in regard to the murder of the horse challenges him in his plot to kill Alyona. This dream makes Raskolnikov so disgusted in the idea of murder that he wakes up from this dream sweaty and scared. Raskolnikov was never one hundred percent confident in his quest for blood, yet was determined enough to carry through with the deed. Going against these initial feelings of disgust is what causes his later dreams and feelings of guilt and paranoia. …show more content…
Similar to his reaction of the beating of the horse, Raskolnikov is horrified by the sounds and sights of Petrovich beating the landlady. So much so that after this dream, Raskolnikov becomes ill with “a feverish condition, with moments of delirium and semi-awareness” (117). Often times, a person’s outer state reflects what is going on on the inside. In this case, Raskolnikov’s guilt and inner turmoil are exposed through the way in which he physically reacts to having his second
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