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Motifs
Definition of Paradox
A paradox is a figure of speech that seems to contradict itself, but which, upon further examination, contains some kernel of truth or reason. Oscar Wilde's famous declaration that "Life is... read full definition
A paradox is a figure of speech that seems to contradict itself, but which, upon further examination, contains some kernel of truth or reason. Oscar... read full definition
A paradox is a figure of speech that seems to contradict itself, but which, upon further examination, contains some kernel... read full definition
Part 1, Chapter 4
Explanation and Analysis—Delight in Torment :
Dostoeveky employs paradox in his depiction of Raskolnikov’s complex emotional reaction to a letter from his mother informing him of his sister’s betrothal. At first, Raskolnikov objects strongly to the planned marriage and plans to put an end to it. However, he then asks himself what right he has to demand that she call off the marriage when he himself is unable to provide financially for the family:
How are you going to protect them from the Svidrigailovs, from Afanasy Ivanovich Vakhrushin, you future millionaire, you Zeus disposing of their fates? In ten years? But in ten years your mother will go blind from those kerchiefs, and maybe from tears as well; she’ll waste away with fasting; and your sister? Go on, think what may happen to your sister after those ten years, or during those ten years. Have you guessed?” He kept tormenting and taunting himself with these questions, even taking a certain delight in it.
Raskolnikov asks himself a series of painful questions that emphasize his inability to protect or provide for his mother and sister, and he sarcastically alludes to the Greek god Zeus as he mocks his own desire to demand that the wedding be called off. After Raskolnikov imagines the various hardships that his mother and sister might have to endure, the narrator notes, paradoxically, that Raskolnikov is “taking a certain delight” in these “tormenting” and “taunting” thoughts. Due to his disturbed state of mind, then, Raskolnikov is able to enjoy his own torment and to find a perverse pleasure in his pain.
Related Themes:
Part 3, Chapter 1
Explanation and Analysis—Lying for Truth:
After Razumikhin leaves his own party to take care of Raskolnikov and, later, to attend to Pulcheria and Dunya, he speaks in an animated and drunken fashion to Pulcheria. In his speech, he paradoxically extols the benefits of lying as a way of reaching the truth:
Lying is man’s only privilege over all other organisms. If you lie—you get to the truth! Lying is what makes me a man. Not one truth has ever been reached without first lying fourteen times or so, maybe a hundred and fourteen, and that’s honorable in its way; well, but we can’t even lie with our own minds! Lie to me, but in your own way, and I’ll kiss you for it. Lying in one’s own way is almost better than telling the truth in someone else’s way; in the first case you’re a man, and in the second—no better than a bird!
After claiming that he likes it when people lie to him, Razmukhin argues in favor of lying. He suggests that lying is a “privilege over all other organisms.” Expanding on his argument, he claims, paradoxically, that “if you lie—you get to the truth” and, further, that “not one truth has ever been reached without first lying fourteen times or so.” Razmukhin’s ideas appear contradictory, since lying requires one to be untruthful. However, Razmukhin’s real concern is in genuine and original thought. Most people, he claims, simply repeat what they hear. Instead, he prefers to hear an interesting argument, whether or not it is true, as these arguments, he suggests, are more likely to lead to a novel truth.
Part 3, Chapter 2
Explanation and Analysis—Marie Antoinette :
As Razumikhin escorts Dunya and Pulcheria to the apartment of Raskolnikov, he uses paradox and allusion while reflecting upon the dignified appearance of the two destitute women:
She was busily throwing on her cape and putting on her hat as she spoke; Dunechka also readied herself. Her gloves were not only worn out but even torn, as Razumikhin noticed, and yet the obvious poverty of their dress even lent both ladies an air of some special dignity, as always happens with those who know how to wear poor clothing. Razumikhin looked at Dunechka with awe and was proud to be escorting her. “That queen,” he thought to himself, “who mended her own stockings in prison—of course, she looked like a real queen at that moment, even more so than during the most splendid solemnities and appearances.”
Despite their shabby and torn clothing, Razumikhin observes that their “obvious poverty” lends the two women “an air of some special dignity.” Here, he alludes to Queen Marie Antoinette of France, who “mended her own stockings in prison” and therefore looked “like a real queen at that moment” despite being deposed and imprisoned. Paradoxically, he suggests, a person looks even more royal under such circumstances than they do “during the most splendid solemnities and appearances,” as their true nobility shines out all the more clearly. Razumikhin is awed by the dignified air of the two women and feels “proud” to escort them.
Related Themes:
