Independent Study Novels

This summer I read Kite Runner, and suffering is very apparent in the novel. Amir suffers from his remembrance of his treatment of Hassan. His suffering, too, comes from his own actions. Though he viably probably could not stop the rape of his dear friend, he could have stood up for him after, or even just been a decent friend. His suffering ultimately comes from his inability to stop these actions, and his inability to deal with what he saw. He isolates himself from Hassan, and by denying his most important relationship, he suffers from his past, wondering how his life may have turned out if he had done something different.

I later read A Clockwork Orange, in which, Alex, the protagonist suffers from his own actions. Though he feels no remorse, he is caught by the authorities, and is punished severely through the use of Ludovico's treatment. He does suffer, also, from an aspect of his past, when he is taken in by the man whom Alex ruined his life. Alex raped his wife before he was caught, and as the man begins to realize that this indeed is the boy who committed the terrible act, he uses Alex's newly acquired weaknesses to show the harm of Ludovico's treatment. Alex suffers physically from this man's avengement of his wife's rape.

Currently, I am reading The Cry of the Dove, in which a young Bedouin woman is ultimately made to seek asylum from her tribe in England, after she had sex out of wedlock. She suffers from following her own desires, and now she must deal with the fact that she must completely abandon her old life, family and friends.

Crime and Punishment

In C&P, Raskolnikov suffers through his own creation of his pain. By murdering the two women, he creates a guilt that turns into his suffering, causing his mind to deteriorate. His suffering is created mostly by himself, but also by social expectation, (it is not acceptable to murder two people and not expect punishment). He ultimately creates his suffering in his mind, and throughout most of the novel, he is not punished by outside sources, rather just by himself. His guilt becomes more apparent to others, however, as he suffers from his own disapproval of himself. As this guilt is made clear, he suffers from the punishment he must endure brought on by society (ie. police, law).