Comparing Dostoevskys Crime and Punishment and Ralph Waldo Emersons Self-Reliance :: Comparison Compare Contrast Essays

Comparing Dostoevskys Crime and Punishment and Ralph Waldo Emersons Self-Reliance It is only as a man puts off from himself all foreign support, and stands alone, that I see him to be strong and to prevail... -EmersonRalph Waldo Emersons stance on sympathetic nature as seen in Self-Reliance is antithetical to that of Dostoevskys in Crime and Punishment. It is my heartfelt hope that, had Emerson read this novel, he would have considered more carefully the implications of embracing a self-reliant human nature. A self-reliant nature infers that the self is not relying on the divine for wisdom, but on personal judgments, scientific conclusions, and moral convictions. A self-reliant human being is one that believes that (s)he is capable of arriving at the similar plane as God divinity lies within. Following this nature leads to pervasive feelings of isolation from others because one feels independent from the thoughts of all human beings and thereby discards any common land among h umans. By failing to recognize the fallibility of the self and the limitations of personal thought and experience, one transcends and also defies his own humanity.Svidrigailov, the pernicious, obstinate character who successfully defies humanity, personifies Emerson himself. Emersons words echo Svidigailovs spartan theory on human nature ... If I am the devils child, I will live then from the devil. No law can be devoted to me but that of my nature. Good and bad are but names very readily transferable to that or this the only right is what is after my constitution, the only impose on _or_ oppress what is against it. A man is to carry himself in the presence of all opposition as if every thing were titular and ephemeral but he (Emerson, 260). Emerson and Svidigailov part in the amoral belief that Truth is found only by following ones own nature. Because divinity lies within ones nature, it is logical that not following ones nature is to reject the will of God. Emersons words sp ell out the very point Dostoevsky wishes to refute. Dostoevsky conveys that this notion of a personal constitution is the very cause of immorality and misery among human beings. For it is in ones personal constitution where isolation begins and the common Truth in all beings is defied. Raskolnikov, the self-righteous student who tests his ability to transcend human nature by committing murder, cannot fully accept his personal constitution as truth. He is dubious of Svidigailovs character and thus Emersons theory.