In Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment, a young student kills an old woman and afterward is torn between guilt and feeling no remorse. He feels as though he was just in his action but his deeper morality torments him for committing such a crime. As someone who appears to have a moral compass, how could he decide to murder someone and decide that he had the right to do so? Raskolnikov, with his view of reality distorted by his isolation, kills the old woman to feed his vanity and justifies it with his idealism. Raskolnikov lacks the people to remind him of morality, that the world cannot be seen as simply good and evil, and to be humble. Raskolnikov, isolated from society, gains a distorted view of the human race. After spending his entire life pushing people away and all of his college career with only Razumikhin to call a friend, Raskolnikov completely cuts himself off. He …show more content…
During this month, he starts dreaming and very dark thoughts. One of these thoughts is “am I so stupid that, if others are stupid and I know for certain they are stupid, I myself don’t want to be smarter? Then, I learned, Sonya, that if one waits for everyone to become smarter it will take too long” (417). At this point, Raskolnikov has already published his article detailing his theory of the extraordinary man. However, here he states that this theory of the extraordinary man needing to smash the old boundaries to progress human society comes from his belief of human stupidity. Without any relationships or positive human contact, Raskolnikov became cynical about human nature and that they needed to violently be led to the truth. After arriving at such a conclusion, Raskolnikov still did not plan on acting at all in accordance with this theory he had. However, once he spent the month in his apartment it seems feasible. Before the time spent in seclusion, “he did not
Understanding how far your psyche is able to be pushed is useful for everyday life, and for the long run. Dostoevsky properly displayed how Raskolnikov was shaped by his mental and outward conflicts, ultimately showing how important this character was in the book. Even though he’s the main character, if Dostoevsky failed to highlight how Raskolnikov’s sanity was getting away from him, it would be hard for the reader to understand his actions. In the end, knowing that Raskolnikov was mentally incapable when he committed the crime of murder and went on to hide the fact he was guilty, it foreshadowed that in the end of the book he would give himself up one way or another. Mental capacity and its limits can be seen as an important aspect of a person’s personality, as displayed in Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment with Raskolnikov, who was unaware of the limits of his psyche which resulted in him loosing his sanity.
As the story unfolds, Dostoevsky introduces the reader to Raskolnikov, a troubled young man who is extremely isolated from those who surround him. He lives in a small, dingy, dusty, and dirty room in a small unattractive house. He lives in an abstract world neglecting the real. He is quite separate from all the people with whom he has contact. In the opening chapter, Raskolnikov is said to be, "so completely absorbed in himself, and isolated from his fellows that he dreaded meeting, not only his landlady, but any one at all" (1). People come physically close to him, but everyone is forced to remain distant mentally. He walks through the crowded, noisy, dirty streets of St. Petersburg physically but somehow he never does so mentally, moving through the streets like a zombie, not a man. He is not aware of his location and often jostles bewildered pedestrians. Therefore, at the outset of the novel Dostoevsky illustrates the apparent schism between the mind and body of Raskolnikov.
However, it soon emerges that he, despite the physical nature of his situation, has a very active mind. To reveal whether he is of a special "breed" of humans, he finds it necessary to kill, and the unfortunate subjects of his experiment are an old pawnbroker and her sister. After the murders, Raskolnikov is subject to a series of mental and emotional changes, eventually leading to his confession and, later, his arrest, trial and eight-year prison sentence.
In Crime and Punishment, Dostoevsky gives the reader an inside look to the value system that he holds for himself, as well as the type of characteristics that he abhors in people as well as the characteristics that he admires in people. He uses characters in the novel to express his beliefs of what a person should be like in life to be a “good'; person. Specifically he uses Raskolnokv to show both good and bad characteristics that he likes in people. Also he uses Svidriglaiov and Luzin to demonstrate the characteristics that people should shun and his personal dislikes in people.
After the botched crime Raskolnikov is plagued his failures. "He was conscious at the time that he had forgotten something that he ought not forget, and he tortured himself." (107) After he carelessly kills both women, and allows for the evidence to be found, Raskolnikov realizes he did not commit the perfect crime. This devastates his ego, so he tries to cling to his previous self perception. He is also plagued with feelings of guilt. His guilt, combined with the mistakes he made during the crime, shatter his self perception of perfection.
Dostoevsky was made aware of the problems with Nihilistic ideas while he was exiled in Siberia. Crime and Punishment was Dostoevsky’s first attempt at a psychological analysis of a person’s inner struggles to rationalize this radicalism. Raskolnikov represents that intelligentsia and is being used by Dostoevsky to portray and warn against succumbing to these ideals. Dostoevsky uses Raskolnikov’s life to illustrate the implications and applications of this Nihilist to the public and then expands upon it in Demons.
Dostoevsky’s St. Petersburg is a large, uncaring city which fosters a western style of individualism. As Peter Lowe notes, “The city is crowded, but there is no communality in its crowds, no sense of being part of some greater ‘whole.’” Mrs. Raskolnikov initially notices a change in her son marked by his current state of desperate depression, but she fails to realize the full extent of these changes, even after he is convicted for the murder. The conditions and influences are also noticed by Raskolnikov’s mother who comments on the heat and the enclosed environment which is present throughout the city. When visiting Raskolnikov, she exclaims "I'm sure...
Although the novel begins by focusing on the crime itself, the majority of the book discusses Raskolnikov's struggle through denial and redemption after the murder has been committed. His own "greatness" leads to his denial of God, and his attempt to suppress his conscience causes insanity and sickness. However these negative consequences force him to acknowledge his rectitude and realize his need for confession.
In his book Crime and Punishment, Dostoevsky explores the paths of two men, Raskolnikov and Svidrigailov. These two men encompass many similar problems and obstacles throughout their lives. Both commit murders and are faced with the long and mentally excruciating journey of seeking redemption. They also share many characteristics of their personalities. The reason that the outcomes of their lives are so drastically different is due to the fact that they have completely different perspectives on life.
At the end of the novel Raskolnikov is sitting in a prison cell in Siberia without family, he only has a former prostitute, Sonia, at his side to keep him company. He has murdered two women because of his poverty, one is a pawnbroker and the other Lizaveta. He went days avoiding the law especially Porfry. Even though his mother, his sister Dounia, and his friend Razmuzin tried to help him through his sickness he still confessed after the daughter of Marmeledov, a former government employee whom he met at a tavern, told him to confess.
Torn between his sense of morality and his belief in nihilism, Raskolnikov becomes estranged from society. Nihilism is the rejection of all moral and religious principles and even that life is meaningless. Throughout the novel, Raskolnikov is trying to relieve the tensions between these two extremes. In the beginning, Raskolnikov has hit a low point within his life. He feels helpless because his sister is marrying for money to help his family, he is beyond poverty and cannot even afford to pay rent, and he has no job. Raskolnikov feels at the mercy of the world and completely and utterly helpless. He hates having to rely upon the Pawnbroker for help and even money. When the idea first pops into his head to murder the pawnbroker, it starts to become a potential reality. The ideology of murder is masked behind Raskolnikov’s belief that it would be for the greater good to eliminate the pawnbroker because of her mean spirited nature. Driven mad by the possibility of a choice, which Raskolnikov convinces himself exists because of nihilism. Raskolnikov because of his torn morality goes between extreme submissiveness to over powering those around him. Overall, Raskolnikov decides to commit the murder in an attempt to see if he can transcend his morality. This is what Terras refers to in the context of The Brothers Karamazov, where tensions between Raskolnikov’s façade and his true self are creating an external and internal struggle that causes him to have a
The moral side of Raskolnikov's mind requires absolution in a Christian manner. This need obliviates his claim to be a Nietzchean superman, and illustrates that all humans have a desire for morality. Throughout the book, he constantly desires to confess, even when visiting the police station. "I'll go in, fall on my knees, and confess everything" (p.84), he thought; later, he considered if it was "better to cast off the burd...
This hero is often brave but maintains a sense of comedic relief. This character also remains calm and keeps his bearings in high pressure situations. In Crime and Punishment, Raskolnikov fits this role perfectly. Although Rask has shown that in some tense positions he has been seen fainting or maybe showing a slight sense of error, it is always done strategically. Rask often battles himself, but to the outside world he is displayed as witty and cunning. Various situations arise that involve Raskolnikov using satire to cleverly maneuver through sticky situations. This is especially shown when Portify Petrovitch brings Raskolnikov in for questioning, and the scenes that follow immediately after. The man that was the supposed surprise for Raskolnikov proceeds to Raskolnikov’s room and apologizes. Raskolnikov ends Part Four by uttering, “It all cuts both ways, now it all cuts both ways.” followed by the narration of “and now he went out more confident than ever.” (311). Here, Raskolnikov exhibits his control of the
One of the most profound and obvious changes in Raskolnikov’s character can be seen in the newfound appreciation for other people and human relationships he discovers at the end of the novel. When the reader is first introduced to Raskolnikov, Dostoevsky quickly makes it apparent that he has little to no regard for others, writing on the very first page that Raskolnikov was “so completely absorbed in himself, and isolated from his fellows that he dreaded meeting, not only his landlady, but anyone at all” (1). Indeed, in Raskolnikov’s mind, “to be forced to listen to [the landlady’s] trivial, irrelevant gossip […] and to rack his brains for excuses, to prevaricate, to lie” is the most loathsome thing imaginable (1). His disdain toward other people is so great that the mere thought of interacting with anyone for any length of time repulses him. On some occasions...
According to Raskolnikov’s theory in Fyodor Dostoevsky’s “Crime and Punishment”,there are two types of people that coexist in the world; the “Extraordinary” and the “Ordinary”. The ordinary men can be defined as “Men that have to live in submission, have no right to transgress the law, because they are ordinary.”(248). To the contrary “extraordinary” men are “Men that have a right to commit any crime and to transgress the law in any way , just because they are extraordinary”(248). Dostoevsky’s theory is evident through the characters of his novel. The main character, Raskolnikov, uses his theory of extraordinary men to justify contemplated murder. There is a sense of empowerment his character experiences with the ability to step over social boundaries. He is led to believe the killing of the pawnbroker is done for the perseverance of the greater good. It is ironic that character who is shown to be powerful in the early stages of the novel subsequently go on to show many weaknesses.