Between "Sin" and "Punishment": On the Cross-Cultural Differences in the Paths of Individual Redemption in Rickshaw Boy and Crime and Punishment

Abstract

This article aims to compare two literary masterpieces—Lao She's Rickshaw Boy and Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment—through the framework of comparative literature. It explores the different natures of the "crimes" committed by the protagonists Xiang Zi and Raskolnikov, as well as the corresponding "punishment" they suffered, thus revealing the fundamental differences between Chinese and Russian cultures in terms of personal corruption and redemption. The article believes that Raskolnikov's crime is a positive and rationally thought "theoretical crime". His punishment is manifested as inner moral torture and mental breakdown, and his redemption eventually leads to religious repentance. In contrast, Xiang Zi's sin is a passive and survival-oriented "existential sin", which is punished by material destruction and the collapse of faith. His tragedy is precisely that there is no viable way to salvation at all. This comparison not only highlights the different philosophical concerns of the two writers, but also reflects the profound dilemma of "salvation through suffering" in the cultural background of Orthodoxy, and the collapse of "practical rationality" in Chinese secular traditions.