ShmoopTube
Where Monty Python meets your 10th grade teacher.
Search Thousands of Shmoop Videos
Versions of Reality Videos 19 videos
Aren't midsummer night dreams the worst? You wake up all sweaty and gross, and for a minute there, you can't even remember where you are. And also,...
What? She gets a rose and we don’t? Who is this Emily person anyway? What’s she done to deserve such a delightful, aromatic gift?
A family goes on a quest to bury their family member. Yeah, sounds simple...except it never is. ‘Cause mom’s dead, and people have issues which...
Crime and Punishment 30972 Views
Share It!
Description:
Crime and Punishment is all about a boy killing for money, literally, and then spending the rest of the book trying to hide it. Although the book covers a grim plot line, it is filled with romance, kindness, sympathy, and big-brother love. Sounds just great, doesn't it?
Transcript
- 00:04
Crime and Punishment, a la Shmoop: AKA Law and Order: St. Petersburg
- 00:10
In case you haven't noticed, we're obsessed with crime.
- 00:13
We want to know who did it . . . . . . how they did it . . .
- 00:16
. . . and why they did it. Maybe that's why Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment
- 00:20
. . . . . . is still relevant today.
Full Transcript
- 00:22
Raskolnikov, a poor, young student in 19th Century Russia . . .
- 00:26
. . . commits a double murder . . . . . . but isn't particularly sorry about it.
- 00:31
Was he right to feel the way that he did? Can killing another human being ever be justified?
- 00:37
Raskolnikov killed Alyona because she was a mean, old cheat . . .
- 00:41
. . . without whom the world would be a better place.
- 00:43
He also thinks that he can use the money he steals from her . . .
- 00:46
. . . to do good things. So, is that it?
- 00:49
Is it justifiable to whack someone . . . . . . as long as they're a despicable excuse
- 00:53
for a human being . . . . . . or if something good could come out
- 00:56
of it? But who really gets to decide who's evil . . .
- 00:58
. . . and what happens when someone innocent like Lizaveta gets in the way?
- 01:03
Maybe it's easier to take the stance that killing can never be justified . . .
- 01:06
. . . that taking a life for any reason is wrong.
- 01:09
Our anti-hero clearly didn't agree . . . . . . though he did end up spending quite
- 01:13
a bit of time in Siberia. So, where do you stand?
- 01:16
Do you agree with Raskolnikov that evil people deserve to die? That good can come from their
- 01:22
demise? Or do you think that killing another human
- 01:25
being can never be justified? In a world full of wars . . .
- 01:28
. . . and quite a few despicable people . . . We've got to admit this is a tough one.
- 01:36
Shmoop amongst yourselves.
Related Videos
They say that honesty is the best policy, but Jack lies about his identity and still gets the girl. Does that mean we should all lie to get what we...
Ever wish you could remember everything that you ever studied? How about everything that everyone has ever studied? Yeah, pretty sure our brains ju...
Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man is an American classic. Hope you're not expecting any exciting shower scenes though. It's not that kind of book.
Do not go gentle into that good night. In fact, if it's past your curfew, don't go at all into that good night. You just stay in your good bed and...
