The Image of Open Doors in F.M. Dostoevsky's Novel Crime and Punishment

Abstract

The article is devoted to the image of open doors, clearly present in the structure of Dostoevsky’s novel Crime and Punishment. This image indicates the author’s main intent, connected with the theme of resurrection. Being the boundary separating the external (real) and internal (metaphysical) worlds, the open door symbolizes the transition of the characters from one spiritual state to another. The material aspect of the image is also underlined: depending on the character’s inner state, the door may be unlocked wide open, ajar, locked with a hook, or tightly closed. In various episodes and scenes, these indications (as the intensity of the knocking on the locked door) are introduced into the text not accidentally, but to emphasize the dramatic nature of the action. The doors open to the characters at the highest points of the narrative, when they find themselves faced with a fateful choice, or when they become guides of higher meaning and are able to show the way from moral ruin to Resurrection. For example, Raskolnikov, the protagonist, overcoming all stages of moral torment, from being “off the hook” to the painful closure in himself and the timid hope of salvation, symbolizes Christ’s open gate, through which the other characters pass. Sonya Marmeladova performs the same function in the novel. After going through great suffering, she finds herself and becomes a spiritual example to others.

Keywords

• dostoevsky
• raskolnikov
• open door
• door
• resurrection
• sonia
• image