Crime and Punishment | The Principles of Uncertainty in Crime and Punishment
Essay asserting that not only is the motive for the crime unclear to the reader and the perpetrator, but time, space, and point of view as well deliberately lack clarity and objectivity.
As the novel [Crime and Punishment] grew under Dostoevski's pen, his notebooks and drafts show that he went from uncertainty to uncertainty in depicting Raskolnikov and his crime, even jotting down reminders to himself to elucidate the murderer's motives more clearly. It would be easy enough to conclude from this that Dostoevsky ... had simply not suspected the full richness and potential of his character and his theme, but this would be too simple a conclusion. Uncertainty is an important artistic principle in much of Dostoevsky's work, and it is at the very heart of Crime and...
[The entire page is 2525 words long]
Join eNotes
The above is a free excerpt. Get total access to this content with the:
Summary and Analysis – Themes – Characters – And much more...
Join eNotes
Over 3,500 study guides, question and answer forums, literature criticism, reference content, and much more!
Navigate
Tell a friend about Crime and Punishment at eNotes.
