An Analysis of Imagery and Diction in a Selected Passage of Crime and Punishment

An Analysis of Imagery and Diction in a Selected Passage of Crime and Punishment

Through forceful and precise manipulation of both imagery and diction, Fyodor Dostoyevsky creates a violent scenario involving the slaughter of an innocent mare in order to foreshadow the murder of Alyona Ivanovna by Raskolinkov. Dostoyevsky depicts the killing of the horse as one of senseless and meaningless violence by using specific word choice that is both active and carefully selected.

Rather than simply referring to the horse as a “horse” (47), Dostoyevsky forces the reader to consider it as a helpless victim. He calls the horse a “poor old beast” (47), a “little mare” (48), and a “dying mare” (49), in order to emphasize the horse’s defenseless nature and as the victim of the men’s unwarranted assault. Though the mare is obviously the victim of a motiveless attack, Dostoyevsky further emphasizes its’ victimization by calling it both “poor” and “little” (48). When referred to as a “mare”, the horse becomes a “little mare” (49) or a “dying mare” (49), which indicates that she is unable to defend herself just as Alyona Ivanovna is unable to withstand Raskolinkov’s unwarranted attack later in the novel.

In addition, Dostoyevsky incorporates active verbs, precise adjectives and nouns in order to accentuate the brutal attack upon the horse. At the very beginning of the excerpt, Mikolka, the central character in Raskolinkov’s dream, is referred to as “shrieking violently” (47). Instead of just stating that Mikolka speaks, Dostoyevsky makes Mikolka “shriek violently,” thus elevating the emotional intensity and barbarity in this scene. The force continues with such diction as “hauled, cried, swung, and thudded” (49). The violence is both random and powerful. The imagery is both visual and auditory. The observation that the blow “thuds,” suggests an intentional word choice that creates a mental impression of both visual violence and brute force. Mikolka does not simply take out a crowbar from the cart; he “hauls” it out, alluding to the immediacy in his actions. The boys who join in the mayhem are drunk when Dostoyevsky references them as “red-faced” and “drunken” (47). Because their complexions are florid this also brings to mind blood, and thus, bloodshed. The choice of making them drunk emphasizes their inability to make sensible choices, and although the image is primarily visual, there is also