Guilt

Raskolnikov sits on the toilet and thinks, “Nobody sees me here. But if I was the Invisible man full time, would I then lose all restraint?” Despite his stink, he still smells paint—it simply will not fade! “If I could disappear, though, none of that would matter!” But his chance of being fully invisible, He found, was slim or next to none. Everywhere he went, he saw, they’d see him or smell him. Sometimes they seemed to sense him When he wasn’t even there! Raskolnikov takes to his bed in a sweat, Then wakes up with a start and far too loudly mutters, “Does it matter, does it matter— Whether I’m as guilty as I feel Or as guilty as I think?” rcs. 3rd draft: 08/14/03 ©2000 Ronald C. Southern