GwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwD G G w _____ ____ 1 1 4 "'Doorman:' A Modern _Crime and w D // | \ 11 11 44 Punishment_ or Dostoevsky as a Punk" D * || ____ | || | 1 1 444 by Lobo Licious * G || || \ / | || | 1 1 4 issue #114 of "GwD: The American Dream G w \\___// \/\/ |____/ 111 111 4 with a Twist -- of Lime" * rel 09/20/01 w D D GwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwD --- -- - -- --- -- - -- --- -- - -- --- -- - -- --- There are many common themes which span the gaps between different forms of art. These themes resonate throughout the musical, visual (paintings, sculptures), literary, and cinematic worlds. One theme common to works in many media is the forms of human suffering. For instance, _Zapata_, a painting by Jose Clemente Orozco, depicts the suffering of Mexican peasants at the hands of others in a similar fashion to that portrayed in the works of Franz Kafka. Likewise, the inception of George Orwell's _Animal Farm_ is much like Fritz Lang's _Metropolis_, a film depicting the suffering of the working- class man for the "good" of society. Fyodor Dostoevsky's _Crime and Punishment_ and Brutal Juice's "Doorman" deal with man's suffering for his crimes, his final acceptance of guilt, and finally his repentance. _Crime and Punishment_, first published serially in Russia in 1866, tells the story of a young man who kills a pawnbroker and over time comes to accept his guilt and seek absolution. "Doorman," first released on the album _How Tasty Was My Little Timmy?_ in 1991 (the actual version used in this discussion is from _mutilation makes identification difficult_, released in 1995 by Interscope Records), tells the story of a man committing a rape (or another equally heinous crime) before finally accepting his guilt and repenting. Though they come from different times and cultures, _Crime and Punishment_ and "Doorman" convey the same message. The works are very similar in plot structure. Both works have seven distinct parts ("Parts I-VI" and "Epilogue" in _Crime and Punishment_; three verses and three choruses and the spoken interlude in "Doorman"). The first part of each work deals with the actual crime. The second through sixth parts of each deal with the criminals' consciences and the attempts of others to influence them to repent. Both men respond in the same fashion to these attempts: Raskolnikov asks, "'I must give myself up?'" (361), as the criminal in "Doorman" asks, "They offer me salvation, but do I really want it?" In the epilogues of both works, the men finally realize the need for repentance. Raskolnikov accepts his guilt early in the Epilogue but does not actually repent until he has an epiphany: "[A]ll at once something seemed to seize him...at last the moment had come..." (471). He truly feels sorrow for his heinous act; he becomes a new man and realizes that it is time to move on. The criminal in "Doorman" repents during its own epilogue; the final chorus in which the word "Repent" appears thirteen times (three more than in any other refrain). As the epilogue progresses, the word becomes more intense. At the end of the song, the "Silence!" the man calls for finally arrives. He realizes that he truly must repent. The elements relating the gradual acceptance of crime in both works is also very much the same. Both works combine varying degrees of intensity during the journey to repentance. Dostoevsky's novel begins with a single idea: Raskolnikov's plan for the pawnbroker's murder. The narrative's intensity heightens and reaches its peak when he actually commits the murder. The intensity of the remainder of the novel stays constant as friends and acquaintances attempt to persuade him to admit his guilt. Raskolnikov's conscience makes him ill as he subconsciously wishes to accept his crime for what it is. The intensity again flares up as Raskolnikov embraces his guilt and repents. At the close of the novel, the intensity tapers off and returns to its original level. "Doorman" begins with a pair of guitars, starting softly. The tempo and volume increase quickly as bass guitar and drums are added, representing the actual crime. The tempo remains constant throughout the song's verses. The criminal's conscience continually warns him to "Repent," even taking the form of a serpent when he is in a dream-like state. As the song ends, the bass guitar and drums fade away and only a single guitar remains. The symbolism in both works is comprised of many common elements. In the novel, Raskolnikov's name is taken from the Russian "raskol," meaning to split asunder. His name represents the schism in his mind between knowing what is right and actually doing it. The Doorman, spoken of in the first verse of the song, represents a man's allowance of a similar schism to develop in his own mind. The Doorman clearly has let his guard down and allowed evil into the criminal's world. Religious symbols abound in _Crime and Punishment_, mainly in the person of Sonia, the novel's Christ-figure. The prisoners in Siberia "...even came to her for help in their illnesses" (469). Though Dostoevsky's work clearly shows his firm belief in Christianity, it also shows his criticism of that religion. In "Doorman," a traditional Christian story, the Garden of Eden, is corrupted in a Kafkaesque manner: "The apple in the tree, it hangs for me to pick / ... / But then the serpent comes, he tells me not to bother / It doesn't taste the way it looks..." Each work includes both Christian symbols and other symbols to add to the suffering motifs. The crimes themselves (and the motivation behind them) are also very similar. The wrongdoings of the criminals of each work, though different, are similar in motivation. Raskolnikov presents the "Superman theory," which states that certain people are above the law and "seek...the destruction of the present for the sake of the better" (227), as justification for his crime. He believes himself to be one of these "Supermen" and he thinks that the murder of the pawnbroker is justifiable by his own theory: he is somehow better than others. The criminal in "Doorman" seems to also think of himself as better than others. The motivation for rape is known often to be lust for power over another. Before committing the murder, Raskolnikov's conscience shows itself as he attempts to talk himself out of the murder: "'God, how loathsome it all is!" (7). His conscience cannot stop him from murdering the old woman and her sister, but it catches him later and leads to him to repent. The criminal in "Doorman" also seems to have a conscience about his crime. The warnings of his conscience echo those voiced by Raskolnikov: "She's not just some piece of meat / She's a human being, for crying out loud..." Like Raskolnikov, this man commits his crime in spite of his conscience and eventually is forced to pay the consequences for his action. The criminal in "Doorman" clearly has much in common with Raskolnikov. The moral lesson of Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment is proven to be applicable to today's society in other works of art, such as Brutal Juice's "Doorman". Though written more than one hundred years apart, the authors of each work wish for their respective audiences to understand the same message: it is only through the acceptance of guilt and repentance that a criminal can truly be rehabilitated. This message brings together two very different art forms from different time periods and distinct cultures. Though often regarded as merely noise (since it was a punk rock band), Brutal Juice is as artistic in their medium as Dostoevsky is in his. Society's understanding of the lessons taught by Raskolnikov and his counterpart in "Doorman" is a pivotal point in the ability of man to continue existing. Dostoevsky seems to ask, "What is the world coming to?" and, "What can we do about it?" in _Crime and Punishment_. It is a sad commentary on society that Brutal Juice and others still ask the same question after so much "progress." It is notable, though, that Brutal Juice asks the question a little louder than Dostoevsky did. Heh. -Works Cited- Brutal Juice. "Doorman." Perf. Brutal Juice. _mutilation makes identification difficult_. Interscope, 1995. Garnett, Constance, trans. _Crime and Punishment_. By Fyodor Dostoevsky. 1866. New York: Bantam, 1981. --- -- - -- --- -- - -- --- -- - -- --- -- - -- --- Issue#114 of "GwD: The American Dream with a Twist -- of Lime" ISSN 1523-1585 copyright (c) MMI Lobo Licious/GwD Publications /---------------\ copyright (c) MMI GwD, Inc. All rights reserved. :MONEY SHOTS INC: a production of The GREENY world DOMINATION Task Force, Inc. : GwD : Postal: GwD, Inc. - P.O. Box 16038 - Lubbock, Texas 79490 \---------------/ FYM -+- http://www.GREENY.org/ - editor@GREENY.org - submit@GREENY.org -+- FYM GwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwD