Crime And Punishment Themes

Kimberly Lozano

Honors English 4

Miller

11 May 2015

The Extraordinary and the Ordinary: Finding Redemption through Characters

Have you ever wanted to be Superman and have x-ray vision? Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov does certainly want to be a superman in Crime and Punishment, but not the famous, comic book hero owned by DC Comics. Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment tells the plight of Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov, an impoverished student, who formulates an idea in which he believes extraordinary men have the right to commit any crime in the name of progress. Dostoevsky’s classic psycho thriller tells Raskolnikov’s tale of woe as he sets out to discover whether he has the right to transcend moral law. The characters that Raskolnikov encounters

Why is it that Raskolnikov hates Luzhin so much? Luzhin is definitely annoying and quite manipulative character, but what irks Raskolnikov is that he sees himself mirrored in Luzhin. Luzhin himself is a sort of reflection of Raskolnikov. Luzhin embodies the far extreme of Raskolnikov’s ideas. To Luzhin, people are expendable when economics demand it, which is justifiable by Raskolnikov’s theory of “allowing blood for the sake of an idea” (Dostoevsky 261). Luzhin explains his theories in full to Raskolnikov, Razumikhin, and Zossimov in his first visit to Raskolnikov using the example of a coat which, once torn in two in an effort to help one’s neighbor, becomes useless. According to Luzhin, “everything in the world is based on self-interest” and therefore to keep one’s cpats for one’s own and not to aid one’s neighbor actually benefits society more because “the more. . . whole coats there are in society, the firmer its foundations and the better arranged its common cause” (Dostoevsky 149). What Luzhin is espousing is essentially egoism, the belief that an action is only rational if it maximizes one’s self-interest, mixed with trickle-down economics. Luzhin states this saying, “It follows that by acquiring solely and exclusively for myself, I am thereby precisely acquiring for everyone” (Dostoevsky 149). At hearing Luzhin’s theories, “Raskolnikov is outraged, partly because he recognizes points of similarity between Luzhin’s rationale

“Throughout the narrative and especially in its resolution. it is Sonia who in her faith and love prevents the triumph of Raskolnikov’s nihilism and despair” (Werge 90). In Crime and Punishment it is said that, “insatiable compassion was reflected in every feature of [Sonia’s] face” (Dostoevsky 567). After Raskolnikov’s encounter with Razumikhin, Raskolnikov goes and finds Sonya. Raskolnikov tries to drop hints similar to what he did with Razumikhin, but Sonia doesn’t catch any of his hints. Raskolnikov becomes irritable and frustrated because Sonia is ultimately forcing him confess completely. When Raskolnikov does finally confess to his murders Sonia finds that, “she cannot leave him alone, any more than she can conspire to escape with him, or to help him escape. Give yourself up, she pleads, and then God will send you life again. Raskolnikov is upset with her pleas for him to turn himself in. Sonia emphasizes that he will destroy himself if he does not confess. She believes that in order to achieve redemption, one must suffer. “Sonya, who lives out of the humiliation of prostitution, is the only character who understands more fully... that her human will is worth next to nothing unless turned towards God in a true humility ”(238). Sonia is the only character who can make Raskolnikov realize that he is not a superman who can transgress moral laws. It is through her