Topic > Crime and Punishment: Comparison between the novel and the film adaptation

Fyodor Dostoevsky once stated: "Nothing is more seductive to man than his freedom of conscience, but nothing is more the cause of suffering." Therefore, being nothing or accomplishing nothing in life insinuates that failure is inevitable. A particular example of this is in Dostoevsky's novel Crime and Punishment; There are some differences in Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel Crime and Punishment from Michael Darlow's 1979 film adaptation, but the similarities are strikingly obvious. As you explore the similarities and differences between the novel and the 1979 film adaptation of Crime and Punishment, three overlapping themes will be observed. The first theme that will be examined is the setting and the ways in which the book and the film are similar and different. Secondly, the theories behind the protagonist's mentality and how these are shown and developed in the book and film will be explored. Finally, the protagonist's actions will be seen in the way in which they influence the human mind. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The setting of any work provides a foundation for any story, including the characters who populate it; In Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoevsky paints the picture of the expansion of St. Petersburg and how it plays into the daily lives of all the characters. The similarities between the setting of Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel Crime and Punishment and Michael Darlow's 1979 film adaptation can be seen widely to the point that there are almost no differences. Connections that emerge in both the novel Crime and Punishment and the film adaptation include the period (1860) in which the expansion of St. Petersburg occurs, the way in which the characters live and take part in their daily lives, and the contrast between wealthy and poor. with light and darkness. In the novel, Fyodor Dostoevsky paints the picture of the city with the quote “The heat in the street was terrible: and the absence of air, the bustle and the plaster, the scaffolding, the bricks and the dust all around him, and that special Petersburg stench, so familiar to everyone who cannot get out of the city in the summer, everything worked painfully on the already strained nerves of the young man... Due to the proximity of the HayMarket, the number of shops of bad character, crowded in these streets and alleys in the heart of Petersburg.” Micheal Darlow's 1979 film shows a vision of a dirty, polluted city being built and modernized with drunks fighting, begging and prostitutes all over the streets. The differences in setting can be seen to a lesser extent within the book and film as both the book and film are very detailed equally, this difference can be seen in the contrast between rich and poor. In the novel Fyodor Dostoevsky shows the poor with the lack of good clothes, hunger and irritability and the rich with many well-tailored clothes, intellectual academics and with a lot of food. At the beginning of the novel the protagonist Raskolnikov is described as so poorly dressed that even a man accustomed to squalor would not want his clothes and that he is so poor that he has been starving and declining for three weeks. While in the film Micheal Darlow shows the poor without lights obscured by darkness, living in small and poor places and having nothing, the rich had windows full of beautiful lights that entered huge rooms, full of wealth and everything they wanted . While there are some differences in setting, the similarities outweigh the correspondence between novel and film, as the only major difference from the book and film is that thefilm plays with light and shadow to demonstrate the differences between those people and places that are rich and those that are poor. The central characters of the story belong to two philosophical categories. The first group states that people are trapped in the laws and traditions of society, existing only to continue to follow and teach these traditions, values ​​and morals to future generations; While the second group is extraordinary, they have the moral right to break the law if their transgression is for the betterment of humanity where any action can be taken. In the novel and film, both Fyodor Dostoevsky and Michael Darlow combat the theory of the extraordinary man complex with the protagonist Raskolnikov and his faithful friend Razumikhin. At the beginning of the story, Raskolnikov is contemplating whether or not to kill the pawnbroker and decides to do so for the benefit of society since she took the only possessions of the poor and taxed them on the money she lent. Later in the story, in both the novel and the film, Raskolnikov had written an article 2 months earlier stating that "extraordinary individuals can overcome certain...obstacles but only if the reason they do so, e.g. it is the salvation of humanity." Razumikhin was horrified to see what Raskolnikov believed, Razumikhin said: "What?" What the hell? A right to crime?' (Dostoevsky Prt 3, Ch 5, Pg 213) Thus showing that Raskolnikov believed he was one of those extraordinary men and thought he didn't have to respect the laws because it would be doing him a favor, while Razumikhin was horrified by the thought of his friend and fought for not having the right to take another person's life. Raskolnikov then further explains his ideas where he compares himself to Napoleon and how great he was; Raskolnikov said: "One day I asked myself this question: what if Napoleon, for example, had been in my place, what if he had had neither Toulon, nor Egypt, nor the Mont Blanc pass with which to begin his career, but instead of all those picturesque and monumental things, there had simply been some ridiculous old hag, a pawnbroker, who also had to be murdered to get the money out of her trunk.... He would have strangled her in a moment without thinking about it!'. Not only does the novel and the film delve into these two theories, but also the psychological structure of the human being and how the protagonist's actions affect him mentally. Finally, a person can say a lot about someone in the way in which that person thinks and reacts to complex situations and how his double ax murder affects him. Fyodor Dostoevsky and Michael Darlow venture through Raskolnikov's psyche in a similar way for the most part but somewhat different, Raskolnikov's character undergoes a great change over the course of the story. Fyodor Dostoevsky allows the reader to see into Raskolnikov's mind in three ways, firstly through his dreams and his subconscious, secondly by using symbols of redemption and sin, and finally through the narrator telling the reader what is there in Raskolnikov's mind or what he is thinking. Michael Darlow, on the other hand, conveys Raskolnikov's mind to the viewer in the form of his dreams, symbols of sin and religion, Raskolnikov tells people how he feels by simply blurting it out, and Raskolnikov argues intellectually with the police and his friend by saying how he committed the crimes. After Raskolnikov committed the double murder, he lay stunned for days on the sofa, partly in sleep and in dreams, suddenly he remembers everything, panicked and remembers that his clothes have stains of.