The Anchor of Conscience

The Anchor of Conscience

Without moral confines, would humanity be an anarchistic maelström of suffering or would it be at the pinnacle of accomplishment? In his novel, Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky explores many complex themes, but the concept of guilt and its weight on every day action and consequence is one that stands eminent in the goals of his work. Set in 19th century St. Petersburg, Russia, the same haunt Dostoyevsky spent most of his life inhabiting, the novel’s protagonist Raskolnikov braves the line between man and God, and takes the life of a venal and niggardly pawnbroker. Raskolnikov does so after he concludes that moral constraints are what weigh down individuals from accomplishing great feats and obtaining power in one’s life. As the novel progresses, Dostoyevsky paints an incredibly vivid depiction of Raskolnikov and the unprincipled streets of St. Petersburg, and uses literary devices in the impoverished setting, sanguine conflict, and heart wrenching characterization that permeate his work to establish a clear theme of confession through guilt.

“The heat in the street was terrible: and the airlessness, the bustle and the plaster, scaffolding, bricks, and dust all about him, and that special Petersburg stench, so familiar to all who are unable to get out of town in summer—all worked painfully upon the young man’s already overwrought nerves. The insufferable stench from the pot-houses, which are particularly numerous in that part of the town, and the drunken men whom he met continually, although it was a working day, completed the revolting misery of the picture” (Dostoyevsky 2).

Setting is extremely critical in not only establishing the basic structure of the story of Crime and Punishment, but also ...

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... went into Raskolnikov's characterization by Dostoyevsky, further drilling in the same theme that pervades his work.

Crime and Punishment is a finely honed sword; it establishes the ideal character, setting, and conflict to prove the exact point Fyodor Dostoyevsky sought to make: that through great suffering and perseverance, even the most heinous of acts can be forgiven if you truly seek forgiveness and penance. The mind of the guilty will always push them to confess, drive them to insanity, or have no effect if the individual is without any humanity. Dostoyevsky dismisses the idea of a “superman”, and projects his own theory that all living creatures have value, regardless of birth or status, and that no one has the right to take that away. He believes in the cleansing of oneself spiritually and physically, and he illustrates exactly that in Crime and Punishment.