Comparing Fyodor Dostoyevsky's Crime And Punishment

19th century Russian literature contained many revolutionary ideas that criticized established features of society: Tsarist absolutism and the concept of serfdom. These ideas reach the people due to the necessary socio-economic conditions: the abolishment of serfs and the end of the Censorship Terror. Throughout 19th century Russian literature, many revolutionary ideas are brought to the people that are never enacted on; therefore, they do not reflect true revolutionary terrorism. However, in 1866, Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s Crime & Punishment is the first novel in Russian literature that successfully introduces a revolutionary terrorist into society.

Russian Tsarist regime followed The Ulozheine, a moral code of law dated back to 1649. This law code deemed “word, deed,

For example, the Russian word kramola or kramol’nik (sedition or any form of revolt) has been interchangeably used with fanatik (fanatic), zlodei (evil-doer), and zloumyshlennik (evil-thinker) (9). Therefore, in Russian law, a terrorist is not only one who enacts a deed but also a person who thinks and spreads the idea of it. In its most basic form, terrorism is “a frontal assault on any moral, political, or social” order (11). Through the use of violence, terrorists “provoke consciousness” and “evoke certain feelings of sympathy”; and, it is the people’s consciousness of their own grievance that allows for the rise of terrorism. (11). An early example of a revolutionary work in Russia is Alexander Radishchev’s From St. Petersburg to Moscow, in which he depicts the grievances of the serfs. Throughout the novel, Radishchev provides a detailed account of the injustices faced by the serfs, including abuse, rape, and abduction. In writing this, Radishchev speaks to the Russian people to challenge a well-established function in Russian society: serfdom. After the protagonist observes the abuses faced by the serfs, he looks to his own slave and questions himself: “you denounce the proud