Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel Crime and Punishment is one of the most memorable and substantial literary works in history. It deals with the psychological, emotional, mental and physical struggles of several residents of nineteenth-century St. Petersburg. Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov, on whom the novel centers, commits a brutal double-axe murder to justify a theory he posited, but later realizes how wrong his actions were and that he must confess and seek redemption for his transgressions. Some people are brought into his life, too: people who struggle with different problems, but all share a need to be extricated from their lives of sin. The symbols carefully chosen and woven into the novel reflect and amplify the sin and need for redemption in the lives of Raskolnikov and his acquaintances. Dostoevsky's masterful and generous use of symbolism, particularly with the color yellow, water, and insects, emphasizes the themes of Crime and Punishment and the struggles of its characters. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Numerous references are made to the color yellow, a hue that symbolizes the moral, physical, and mental decay of those in its presence. It is introduced quite early in the work, where it is noted that "...the yellowish, dusty wallpaper peeling off the walls gave it a miserably shabby appearance..." (Dostoevsky 23). This setting creates a tone that matches Raskolnikov's mood that morning: "...bilious, peevish, and irritable" (23). It also alludes to the decay that Raskolnikov is already experiencing. His landlady's servant, Nastasya, notices him when she brings him some tea and then exclaims that he will die if he doesn't drink it (23). Of course he is simply dealing with some type of physical decay (at least consciously); however, Raskolnikov's deterioration is much broader in scope. It all begins even before he decides to commit the murder of Alena Ivanovna, the unpleasant pawnbroker, and her sister Lizaveta. The murder itself, however, causes him to fall into a delirium that intensifies his decay, demonstrated by his inability to maintain composure when he is summoned to the police station (on the entirely unrelated charge of owing rent ). His tension increases during his stay in the police office and he eventually passes out. When he comes to, someone offers him "a dirty glass full of yellowish water" (Dostoevsky 89). The presence of the yellow color, once again, indicates the presence of decay; and Raskolnikov's fainting episode shows that he is beginning to lose his mind. However, Raskolnikov is not the only character suffering from decay. Semyon Zakharovich Marmeladov, an acquaintance Raskolnikov met in a bar, struggles with an alcohol addiction. He tells Raskolnikov that he drinks to multiply his suffering (12), which he, like many other Russians of his time, believes will lead to salvation. His lack of understanding of how to find true salvation demonstrates moral decay. Later, when Marmeladov lies dying after being accidentally run over by a horse and carriage, a yellow bruise left by the horse's hoof crushing him, forms over his heart. This is also a clear sign of his moral and spiritual decay. Furthermore, Marmeladov's daughter Sonya suffers from the effects of her father's spiritual decay. Her drinking habit has left her family destitute, and the only way Sonya can provide for her consumptive stepmother and three young stepbrothers is through prostitution. At that time,all prostitutes had to register with the state and carry a yellow card as a form of identification. Sonya's yellow card represents her physical degradation. The decay also touches Arkady Ivanovich Svidrigaylov, an acquaintance of Raskolnikov who leads a lifestyle of debauchery and self-indulgence. When he checks into a hotel - the night before he committed suicide, unable to bear the reality of his hopeless life any longer - he notices that "the wallpaper was dirty and faded... although you could still guess its original color ( yellow), it was completely impossible to distinguish the pattern" (Dostoevsky 426). The yellow wallpaper surrounding Svidrigaylov reflects his spiritual death and indeed the physical death that will soon surround him. Dostoevsky also includes numerous other more subtle appearances of the color yellow, showing decay in the lives of more minor characters. Peter Petrovich Luzhin, for example, is attempting to marry Raskolnikov's younger sister, simply because he knows that she will be grateful to him for sharing his money with her and her destitute family and will thus serve him hand and foot. During the funeral dinner that Marmeladov's wife organizes in honor of her husband, Sonya notices that Luzhin is wearing a "...thick, heavy and very beautiful gold ring with a yellow stone on the middle finger of that [left] hand.. . "(315). The fact that this symbol of death and decay pervades the novel demonstrates that almost every character is trapped in some destructive vice. The characters in Crime and Punishment who refuse redemption also shy away from its symbol, water; however, those who desire to be redeemed are captivated by it. Water brings the terror of death to the corrupt Svidrigaylov, who confirms his depravity by thinking, "Never in my life could I bear water, not even on a landscape painting." Water, instead of being an instrument of life, becomes for him in the last hours of his life a hateful and vengeful threat (Gibian 529). Svidrigaylov's aversion to water is severe and truly excessive, so much so that he feels cold just thinking about it. of the Neva River (Gibian 529). It is therefore extremely ironic that he chooses a cold and stormy evening as the night he will take his own life. As he walks, looking for a suitable place to shoot himself (and indeed he walks towards the little Neva), a "thick milky fog" covers the city (Dostoevsky 432). For Svidrigaylov, water is "...instead of being a positive force...the place to take one's life" (Gibian 530). Raskolnikov, on the contrary, seemed to be attracted by water == as he was later attracted by confession and redemption. Even before the murder, he has a daydream in which he is in an oasis in Egypt, drinking "...water from a stream that was bubbling past him, clear and cool, running wonderfully bright and blue on colored stones..." (Dostoevsky 58). This shows that Raskolnikov feels the need for redemption even before committing the transgression (also suggested by his emphatic renunciation of his plans after a dream in which an old mare was brutally beaten and killed). After the murder, Raskolnikov is tormented by a dream in which Ilya Petrovich (the chief police clerk) beats his landlady. This dream symbolizes his fear of being caught and immediately after waking up he asks Nastasya for a drink. He returns with a white earthenware mug full of water (99). The presence of water immediately after his premonition of being captured indicates his desperate need to confess before being found. Raskolnikov later contemplates suicide by drowning after seeing a woman attempt to drown herself in the Neva River; however, he then decides that "...it's disgusting...water...isn't good" (145). The fact that you despise water in, 1989, 606-609.