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

merchantmanvass Dostoevskys Crime and Punishment and Ralph Waldo Emersons assurance It is only as a opus puts off from himself altogether external support, and stands al 1, that I see him to be industrial-strength and to prevail... -EmersonRalph Waldo Emersons stance on valet nature as seen in Self-Reliance is antithetical to that of Dostoevskys in Crime and Punishment. It is my sincere hope that, had Emerson read this novel, he would have considered more carefully the implications of embracing a independent human nature. A self-reliant nature infers that the self is not relying on the forebode for wisdom, just 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 same level(p) as God divinity lies deep down. Following this nature leads to pervasive feelings of closing off from others because one feels independent from the thoughts of all human beings and thereby reje cts any commonplaceness among humans. 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 language think Svidigailovs resolute theory on human nature ... If I am the devils child, I will live then from the devil. No law can be sacred to me but that of my nature. Good and bad are but names very readily transferable to that or this the only mighty is what is after my constitution, the only wrong what is against it. A man is to carry himself in the presence of all opposition as if every thing were nominal and ephemeral but he (Emerson, 260). Emerson and Svidigailov share in the amoral belief that uprightness 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 wi ll of God. Emersons words spell 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 indeterminate of Svidigailovs character and thus Emersons theory.