Comparing Crime and Punishment and Taxi Driver :: comparison compare contrast essays

Crime and Punishment and Taxi Driver   He is a humans whose psychological workings are dark, twisted, horrifying, and lonely. He is an absurd, anti-hero who is absolutely repulsed by his surroundings, and because he is unable to remove himself from them, he feels justified in removing other people. This profile fits Travis, depicted by Robert DeNiro in Scorseses film Taxi Driver,, and Raskolnikov, the main character of Dostoevskys novel Crime and Punishment. Their revulsion for life leads both men to commit cold-blooded murders, scarcely the story lines contain major differences. By contrasting these differences and comparing the common themes of the classic and the film, we may take to a clearer understanding of the purpose of both stories.   The go under of both Travis and Raskolnikovs problems is their complete and utter disgust with the world around them. Travis is a New York City cab driver who drives everywhere and picks up anyone. It doesnt matter t o him if the customer is a prostitute who uses his backseat as her workplace. He just drives around with a glazed look of indifference in his eyes, while inside, his heart is overflowing with rage. In contrast, Raskolnikov is an ex-student living in St. Petersburg during the mid 1800s. He is extremely poor, and therefore lives in an area called the Haymarket, where all the whorehouses and bars were located. Every time he goes out, he walks ago the dregs of society, which fills his heart with hatred for everyone and everything. Both characters see the world to be completely evil and devoid of all goodness, and this existential view drives them to become only what they so desperately hate.   Their revolt against ugliness pulls both characters towards the most ugly of all deeds - murder. Travis dreams that someday a real rain will come and wipe this scum off the streets. He feels some sort of divine calling to actually become this real rain. Similarly, Raskolnikov p lots to sacrifice one louse of a human being who is no good to anyone for the benefit of thousands. Out of this scheme he derives his Extra modal(a)/ Superman theory that states that humans are divided into the ordinary and the extraordinary, the men and the supermen.