I can't remember if we were talking about Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment in this class or my other class, but throughout reading Todorov's "The Fantastic" I saw a lot of similarities between the two pieces. Crime and Punishment focuses on Nietzsche's "super man" theory which basically believes that a "superman" can get away with any crime because he is about the moral code and guilt that other humans are subject to. Just like Nietzsche's theory and Dostoevsky's main character in Crime and Punishment, their is a fantastic element about being able to kill a man and get away with it. The crime is compared to other men's reality and the imaginary concept of being able to beat this guilt compare to other men. The main character confronts a situation where he is able to kill a pawn broker and attempts to inexplicably get away with a crime that other men would be condemned for. But the main character experiences a break in the natural order of his life and experiences physically the guilt he was attempting to escape to prove his "superman-ness."
The crazy part of this novel is that, as a reader, you almost want this man to prove his "superman" ability. I was fully immersed in the concept he aimed to fulfill and felt that I was integrated and believing in the goal. But then there were also times that I was hesitant and just as Todorov describes, I identified with the character but was hesitant in supporting him. It seems like this novel fulfills the description of the fantastic nicely.
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