<p>I wrote Crime and Punishment vs. Invisible Man essay...
and it's a crap...and it's due tomorrow....can someone help?
I'll PM asap</p>
<p>help? please?></p>
<p>well i think you should actually put the assignment on here too :)</p>
<p>Both of the novels, Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison and Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky, examine the ambivalent mentalities of the victims of the social prejudices and desperate struggles of the two protagonists to escape. The Invisible Man, who never knew [his] own name (Ellison 239) and have [fretted] over [his] identity (Ellison 242) throughout the novel, conflicts between his socially defined identity and his identity according to his own ideologies. Similarly, Raskolnikov in Crime and Punishment is confused about the existence of Superman classification in a society: His strong initial belief that he is a Superman deteriorates as he carries his criminal mindset to meet new people. For instance, as he gets to know the poor Sonia who prostitutes to make money for her family, Raskolnikov wonders if there really is such a distinction between the extraordinary and ordinary people. By showing the two hesitant characters to be debating about their own identity and ideology, Ellison and Dostoevsky show the schism inside the two protagonists, the Invisible Man and Raskolnikov.<br>
To convey the confused, ambivalent and split mentalities of the main characters, both authors utilize scenic symbolisms. In Crime and Punishment, Raskolnikovs schism is foreseen in the scene of his dream about Mikolka and his horse. Raskolnikov was both the child Raskolnikov and the owner at the same time: child Raskolnikov representing compassionate who is throwing his arms around her dead, bleeding muzzle, and kissing her mouth and eyes (Dostoevsky 58) and Mikolka representing Raskolnikov killing Alyona and Lizaveta just the same way with multiple blows by
[taking] an axe to her! [Finishing] her off fast (Dostoevsky 58). By revealing these two extremities of being generous and brutal, Dostoevsky examines mental schism of Raskolnikov, who is torn between the desire of his mind to prove his theories through evil and the necessity to satisfy his conscience by doing good.
Similarly, Ellison uses the scene in the paint factory to show the Invisible Man torn between defining his identity according to others or himself. As the contrast between remover and the catalyst in the paint factory shows, Invisible Man is hesitant to define himself either as a conforming black or a self-defining black. To show that he is unable to make a choice, the Invisible Man says that two both contained something black like the dope
[he] had to make a choice (Ellison 202) These two different paints are symbols for black people with different characteristics: the remover that made the work [go] faster
the mixing easier (Ellison 202) symbolizes the blacks who refuse to be conformed to the white mens view of blacks. The remover that makes the work go faster symbolizes the easiness for the narrator to understand self-defining natures of blacks. The other black dope was a catalyst that makes the paint to look as the purest white that can be found (Ellison 202). This chemical symbolizes the blacks who easily conform to the white peoples stereotypes, or who are who are adulterous like Mr. Trueblood and subservient like Dr. Bledsoe. However, since this character represents the contrary beliefs of the narrator, the mixing does not go as fast as the other one (suggesting that this phenomenon is hard to understand for the narrator). Just like Raskolnikov is torn between being compassionate and brutal, the Invisible Man is unable to make choice between his true identities between letting Caucasians shape his identity and fighting against them to show his African-American pride.
In addition to scenic symbolisms, Ellison and Dostoevsky use various objects to describe the protagonists process to cure their schism. In Invisible Man, Ellison uses objects to symbolize the forced conformity that black people live with, such as the Sambo doll, briefcase, and coin bank. As the narrator describes the coin bank, for example, he was feeling the hate charging within [himself], then dashed over and grabbed it, suddenly as enraged by the tolerance or lack of discrimination, or whatever, that allowed Mary to keep such a self-mocking image around (Ellison 319) as soon as he noticed the cast-iron coin bank in the form of African American man (black skin) and red lip with wide mouth. By gradually developing hatred toward the images of subservient and conforming blacks, the narrator slowly forms his true identity of being a self-defining individual.
Just like the symbolism of the coin bank had somewhat cured the narrators confusion, Dostoevskys uses of symbols influenced Raskolnikovs social convergence. The cross that Sonya gives to Raskolnikov before he goes to the police station to confess is an important symbol of redemption for him. By motivating Raskolnikov to confess his guilt, or to conform to social view that he is a murderer, the cross does a crucial job of showing Raskolnikovs change in mindset: from the thought that he is a Superman to that he is a sinful criminal. By causing the Invisible Man to develop hate toward the conformity and by influencing Raskolnikov to deteriorate his belief that there is a distinction between extraordinary and ordinary people, the symbols in both novels provide the foundations for the protagonists to discover their true wants.
Beyond the flavorful uses of symbolisms in both novels, the protagonists mechanically conform to the society by performing mechanical actions. Consequently, when they come back to conscience, their actions cause them to doubt their thoughts. In Crime and Punishment, Raskolnikov shows visible conformity as he kills Alyona who turned away from him. Raskolnikov took the axe all the way out, swung it with both hands, scarcely aware of himself, and almost without effort, almost mechanically, brought the butt-end down on her head (Dostoevsky 76). Emphasizing on the mechanical and unconscious mentality of himself, Raskolnikov acquits himself of the guilt afterwards by blaming the Superman-oriented society. However, Raskolnikov gradually deteriorates in his belief as he meets the individuals who know of his crime: detective Porfiry, Svidrigailov and Sonia.
In similar fashion, the Invisible Man conforms to the society in a very mechanical way. For example, when the Invisible Man and Mr. Norton go to the Golden Day and have a conversation with the vet, the vet describes the narrator to be a walking zombie (Ellison 94). Furthermore, the veteran gives a frank description of the narrator:
hes learned to repress not only his emotions but his humanity. Hes invisible, a walking personification of the Negative, the most perfect achievement of your dreams, sir! The mechanical man! (Ellison 94). This comment shows that the narrator was nothing more than a mark on the scorecard of [Mr. Norton] (Elliison 95) who the narrator ironically treats to be a God. Just like Dostoevsky described Raskolnikov to be unknowingly conforming to the heartless society, Ellison also elucidates the fake identity imposed on the narrator by the racist white society, who doesnt treat a black person any more than a black amorphous thing (Ellison 95).
As the narrator of Invisible Man and Raskolnikov struggle to locate their place in the society (either by conforming or not conforming), they amplify their confusion and delirium as they are alienated from the main society. Readers can see that Raskolnikov wants to be isolated when he angrily dismisses everyone around him while discussing with Razumikhin and Luzhin about the murder. Misunderstanding the mere mention of the murder as an accusation, Raskolnikov unintentionally reveals the criminal mentality and desire to be alone: Will you tormentors never leave me! Im not afraid of you...Alone, I want to be alone, alone, alone! (Dostoevsky 153) In similar fashion, Invisible Man also feels that keeping distance would comfort his mentality as well: when he describes his supposedly warm hole, he [doubts] if there is a brighter spot in all New York than this hole of [his], and I do not exclude Broadway (Ellison 6). Turning a rather gloomy place of sewage hole into the brightest spot in New York, undoubtedly one of the brightest cities in the world, the Invisible Man values the separation just as much as Raskolnikov desires separation. This isolation becomes one of the crucial steps that the protagonists take in order to gain their salvations.
(continued...)</p>
<p>Finally, both novels discuss the limits of various ideologies that influence, but do not correctly categorize the protagonists. Consequently, the forced categorization only amplifies the protagonists confusion about themselves. For the Invisible Man, the society imposed on the narrator two different types of simple ideologies. The first ideology was the college of Dr. Bledsoe that promoted the subservient natures of the black students. Though the narrator was initially convinced that he was the white mens destiny, the narrator commented that
Dr. Bledsoes attitude toward Mr. Norton was the most confusing of all (Ellison 105). The Second ideology is the total independence from the white society that Ras the Exhorter wanted to promote. Ras ideology was this: They white, they dont have to be allies with no black people. They get what they wahnt, they turn against you (Ellison 375). Just like he did with the Bledsoes ideology that the blacks should be subservient to the whites to gain more power, the narrator shows his inner confusion by not agreeing with Ras ideology of segregation either.
In Crime and Punishment, Raskolnikov tries to justify his murder by using two different ideologies also. Apparent throughout the novel, the first ideology that Raskolnikov used to try to justify his murder was the idea of Superman. As he stated in his article On Crime, all people are somehow divided into the ordinary and the extraordinary. The ordinary must live in obedience and have no right to transgress the law
While the extraordinary have the right to commit all sorts of crimes
because in point of fact they are extraordinary (Dostoevsky 259). However, due to the constant culminations from the shrewd detective Porfiry and eavesdropping Svidrigailov (who want to trade his knowledge of Raskolnikovs murder with Raskolnikovs sister), Raskolnikov slowly weakens his belief in the Superman ideology. In another instance, Raskolnikov attempts to justify his murder by using the ideology of utilitarianism, or acting for the happiness for more people. While reflecting upon the murder incident, Raskolnikov thinks to himself
it wasnt a human being I killed
I just didnt want to pass by my hungry mother, clutching my rouble in my pocket, while waiting for universal happiness (Dostoevsky 264). After justifying his crime merely as killing a petty and useless louse for universal happiness, Raskolnikov is constantly reminded by Sonia that he should kiss the ground and repent. Again, Raskolnikovs classification of the murder scene had failed to fit perfectly. The numerous trial and failures of attempts to classify the protagonists with a single ideology in both of the novels implies that the ambivalent and torn psychologies of the protagonists cannot be explained by any simple categorizations.
Raskolnikov and the narrator apparently are social outcasts in the novel. One had committed unpardonable murder solely due to his pride and the other was unfortunately born in a stereotypical era in a Caucasian society. Since both of the characters have characteristics that deviate from the societal norm, both stopped taking part of the society at the end. Similar to Raskolnikov feeling like he had been blessed and saved from the forced social conformity that he imposed onto himself (with Ubermensch idea), the narrator in Invisible Man also feels like he had actually risen his social status by isolating himself form the society (with the idea that his place is the brightest place in the New York city, which probably is not true physically, but the narrator mentally feels that way because he is out of all the chaos outside of the hole). Symbolically, they are representative of an individual's fight for recognition and self determination in a tyrannical society that devalues individual worth. Despite their many similarities, however, the novels seem to diverge in their final opinion of whether the individual has a place in our society. As opposed to the Invisible Man who learned to become an individual for himself by going underground, Raskolnikov had learned to conform to the social view and accepted his punishment for the unmotivated murder by going to Siberia. Though the novels may diverge in final position of the protagonists, one distinctive similarity remains: the narrator and Raskolnikov finally are comfortable with their identities and ideologies.</p>
<p>and the prompt i meant. it could be an amazing essay, but not answering the question isn't good either.</p>
<p>quite lengthy....eh?? lol
prompt... it's just to compare any aspects of these two books, FREELY (there weren't any specific instructions)</p>
<p>hahah since this essay is so bad, I'm not even gonna worry about people plagarizing from them becuase they would lose more than gain out of my essay....lol</p>