Numerology in Crime and Punishment

[Lewis B. Sckolnick]

  For the Turkic peoples the number four has a very positive meaning as 
it signifies the four elements earth, air, fire and water and is 
represented by an equilateral cross. Neither the four elements nor the 
cross have any religious significance as they stand for cultural 
markers. The Turkic religion which is still practiced by some in Central 
Asia and Siberia is monotheistic.


Lewis B. Sckolnick
The Ledge House
130 Rattlesnake Gutter Road, Suite 1000
Leverett, MA 01054-9726
U.S.A.

Telephone 1. 413. 367. 0303
Facsimile 1. 413. 367. 2853
info at runanywhere.com
http://www.twitter.com/Lewisxxxusa



> An equally important meaning of 4 might be Creation.  Crossroads (possibly
> cross=death, but also salvation/resurrection) figure prominently  - one
> might also interpret it as pertaining to the four directions - i.e. covering
> all of the earth (Rask. is to bow down and kiss the earth).  It seems to me
> the symbol is more complicated than a uniform 4=death=bad.
>
> Marc Robinson, chair
> Dept. of Russian Language and Area Studies
> St. Olaf College
> 1520 St. Olaf Avenue
> Northfield, MN 55057
>
>
>
> On Wed, Dec 22, 2010 at 7:12 PM, Alina Israeli<aisrael at american.edu>  wrote:
>
>> Even numbers of flowers for funerals, odd numbers for birthdays and other
>> lively occasions. Ulitskaya plays on this in her short story "Zürich" where
>> the Swiss brings her a dozen flowers.
>>
>> Four is bad in Chinese and Japanese because the word for death is
>> homophonic to the word meaning four
>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numbers_in_Chinese_culture#Four.
>>
>> Did Dostoevsky know Chinese? Or Chinese customs?
>>
>> AI
>>
>> Dec 22, 2010, в 6:00 PM, anne marie devlin написал(а):
>>
>>
>>   Four flowers are often given at a funeral.  I'm not sure whether this
>>> applies only to the number four or to all even numbers
>>> AM
>>>
>>>   Date: Wed, 22 Dec 2010 20:33:47 +0000
>>>> From: wfr at SAS.AC.UK
>>>> Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] Numerology in Crime and Punishment
>>>> To: SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu
>>>>
>>>> The Russian world is a big place - can you be more specific about who
>>>> believes this?
>>>> Will
>>>>
>>>> On 22/12/2010 19:56, Lewis B. Sckolnick wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> In the Russian world the number four is the number which represents
>>>>> death.
>>>>>
>>>>> Lewis B. Sckolnick
>>>>> The Ledge House
>>>>> 130 Rattlesnake Gutter Road, Suite 1000
>>>>> Leverett, MA 01054-9726
>>>>> U.S.A.
>>>>>
>>>>> Telephone 1. 413. 367. 0303
>>>>> Facsimile 1. 413. 367. 2853
>>>>> info at runanywhere.com
>>>>>
>>>>>   I am currently teaching Crime and Punishment to a group of Advanced
>>>>>> Placement high school seniors. We are trying to figure out the
>>>>>> significance of
>>>>>> numbers in the book, especially the number four which he uses
>>>>>> constantly.
>>>>>> The scene in the police station shortly after the murder is inundated
>>>>>> with the
>>>>>> number four and most people live on the fourth floor. Razuhmikhin,
>>>>>> however,
>>>>>> lives on the fifth floor. Don't want to make too much out of it, but
>>>>>> when
>>>>>> someone of Dostoevsky's caliber emphazises a number there is most
>>>>>> likely
>>>>>> something behind it.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Thanks for any input!
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
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>> Alina Israeli
>> Associate Professor of Russian
>> LFS, American University
>> 4400 Massachusetts Ave.
>> Washington DC 20016
>> (202) 885-2387  fax (202) 885-1076
>> aisrael at american.edu
>>
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