Yellow- Sun or Sickness?

The color yellow can symbolize many different phenomena. It can symbolize sunshine and happiness, or disease and decay. The way we interpret the color’s meaning depends on the context in which it is being presented. Pages in books acquire a yellow tint with time. Over the years teeth turn yellow. In the cases above and in the context of Crime and Punishment yellow is a color of sickness, decay and degeneration, symptom of entropy. Yellow wall paper is part of the setting in Sonya’s and Raskolnikov’s rooms. Both these are where vile and sickening sins are committed, where prostitution and contemplation of murder take place. The yellow wall paper is noticed by them, and even studied in Raskolnikov’s apartment, but although it needs repair, nobody ever takes the time to fix it. Dostoyevski uses yellow wallpaper to symbolize an unhealthy and corrupt environment that contaminates the minds of its inhabitants.