DOSTOEVSKY’S HYDROTECHNICS

The Interplay Between Water and the Psyche in Crime and Punishment

By Elena Lagoutova

In his novel Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoevsky crafts words and imagery which offer different levels of access. A surface analysis of the text is satisfying in and of itself; through such an analysis, one perceives the chain of events which creates the characters and the dilemmas that make Dostoevsky popular among a diverse cross-section of readers. Embedded in the text, however, are many less noticeable details, which often go overlooked by the casual reader. It is those details that act as the tools for a more substantive level of analysis. Upon tracing the recurring images of water throughout the novel, one can conjecture that Dostoevsky employs water, and the movement of water, to convey Raskolnikov’s inner state.

The imagery of water appears for the first time after Raskolnikov’s first delirium, during which Raskolnikov, as a young boy, bears witness to the brutal beating of an old horse by a group of drunkards. Horrified to see that no one is defending the horse, Raskolnikov rushes to the fallen horse in a futile attempt to save it. After the dream, Raskolnikov awakens and, terrified of what the dream may imply, says, “Is it possible, is it possible that I really shall take an axe and strike her on the head, smash open her skull...that my feet will slip in warm, sticky blood, and that I shall break the lock, and the steel, and tremble, and hide, all covered in blood...with the axe...? God, is it possible?” As if in response to this plea, God seems to show Raskolnikov the way, as Raskolnikov crosses the Neva. “Freedom, freedom!” Raskolnikov silently exclaims. The sunset over the river ostensibly frees Raskolnikov from the burden of his dilemma concerning the fate of Alyona Ivanovna, the merciless pawnbroker whom he has planned to murder. In many ways, the river represents Raskolnikov’s life and psyche--he must cross the river to achieve freedom, in the same way that he must cross over his own thoughts and insanity to achieve eventual calm. The flowing river mirrors his life, which will someday, perhaps not then, flow calmly.

Raskolnikov soon has another vision preceding the murder, in which water once again symbolizes his state of mind. During his second delirium, Raskolnikov finds himself near an oasis somewhere in Egypt. Carefully observing a caravan which has gathered in a circle, he suddenly begins to drink the water. Dostoevsky describes the water, “The water from a stream which flowed babbling beside him, clear and cool, running marvelously bright and blue over the colored stones and the clean sand with its gleams of gold....” By this point, Raskolnikov has finally convinced himself that murdering the pawnbroker is not simply his destiny, but a necessity. The marvelous, cool and refreshing water is a physical representation of Raskolnikov’s lifted burden--he has decided, once and for all, to kill Alyona Ivanovna. Raskolnikov’s first dream about the horse represents indecision, and thus water appears as a challenge--something to be crossed. His second dream portrays a world without “Alyona Ivanovnas,” and we therefore see water in a marvelous quenching capacity, an image that mirrors the way Raskolnikov’s finalized decision has quenched his psyche. When he dreams about the oasis, Raskolnikov is in a calm state of mind, as if imagining a peaceful, extraordinary world that will come about when all evil, as personified by Alyona Ivanovna, is eliminated.

Water does not appear in Raskolnikov’s third dream. When he wakes up, however, he immediately asks the maid Nastasya for water. When she brings it, she notes his worsening psychological condition. We are told: “But he hardly knew what happened next. He only remembered swallowing a few drops of cold water and spilling some on his chest. Then came complete unconsciousness.” Raskolnikov’s physical need for water is still prevalent. The spilling of the water occurs directly before it becomes evident that Raskolnikov no longer has full control of his consciousness. In some sense, his ability to reason, like the water, has spilled over onto his chest like a burden. Of course, the water falls on his chest, over his heart, the stereotypical locus of the body’s emotion and torment. As Raskolnikov’s reason slowly slips away, the water’s ability to cleanse his body (and his conscience) becomes null and void.

As Raskolnikov changes, the water imagery in the novel changes as well. The imagery of water appears once again in Raskolnikov’s fourth dream, in which he returns to Alyona Ivanovna’s apartment. On the way to the apartment, Raskolnikov pays close attention to his surroundings: “There was a smell of lime, and dust, and stagnant water.” The water that before had been so fresh and cold becomes stagnant. The stagnant water reflects Raskolnikov’s inability to escape his psychosis--the sickness that Raskolnikov was hoping to exterminate by killing Alyona Ivanovna is still there, stagnant. In his dream about the oasis, the water was fresh, and Raskolnikov was optimistic about the future. The subsequent murder of Alyona Ivanovna, however, polluted Raskolnikov’s mindset. The water has become dirty, in the same way that Raskolnikov’s state of mind has become polluted; the water is stagnant, as Raskolnikov cannot force his contaminated psyche to move or go away.

As the novel comes to a close, the water and river imagery reaches conclusion along with it. The final instance of water imagery occurs following Raskolnikov’s last delirium, in which he dreams about a disease that sweeps the world and only spares the chosen ones. After recovering from this dream, Raskolnikov returns to his daily prison duties, and we see him take a break: “Raskolnikov went out of the shed on to the bank, sat down on a pile of logs and looked at the wide, solitary river. From the high bank...the immensity of the steppe.” The expansive and seemingly infinite river represents his subconscious: Raskolnikov is finally at peace. The river is spread before him like the rest of his life, and he begins his gradual transformation into a new man. He is solitary, but also solid. This final image of water juxtaposes the moment after Raskolnikov’s first dream when he gazes over the Neva--then the river was an obstacle, but now it is a solid and picturesque scene that comforts him. Raskolnikov’s state of mind is now firm and his ability to reason and live life is unhindered.

In many ways, water is the ideal medium to represent Raskolnikov’s malleable and tormented mind. Water functions on different levels, at times as an obstacle, but also as satiating nourishment or as a pleasing view; Raskolnikov acts and functions on varied levels as well. Perhaps one of the Western canon’s most infamous and psychologically deranged characters, Raskolnikov must be accompanied by imagery that is equally potent and that elicits equal amounts of feeling.  The use of water in Crime and Punishment epitomizes Dostoevsky’s striking ability to extend language and imagery beyond the boundary of literal meaning. It is impossible to forget Raskolnikov’s plagued psyche in the same way that is impossible to forget the influence of water within life--both forces to be reckoned with and both revealing in and of themselves.

All quotations from Crime and Punishment, translated by Jessie Coulson, Oxford University Press, 1998.