In matters of law, society discusses not morality, but justification. There is never a question as to whether or not some action is right or wrong, just if it is a reasonable reaction. Murder, for example, is despicable in all cases. Under extreme poverty, when the divide between the rich and the poor grows wider, though, some homicides might seem acceptable, righteous, even. Not only does this ambiguity cloud the mind of judges and jurors, but it does, in fact, disturb the minds of those oppressed by their surroundings. In Crime and Punishment, Dostoevsky examines this behavior. Raskolnikov, a character who seems to be losing an internal battle between good and evil, morality and confusion, inhabits nineteenth-century St. Petersburg—a …show more content…
Though it is easy to misconstrue that Crime and Punishment is about a man versus his society, this work really depicts the struggle of a man against himself. Through his lashing out at the pawnbroker and her sister, Raskolnikov shows that the decrepit conditions of the time have clouded his inner sense of good and evil. Additionally, as the novel progresses, the protagonist continues to exhibit the distrust of the wealthier classes nurtured in him by the lack of access to his basic needs. The clearest example of this lies in his treatment of Peter Luzhin, Dunia’s suitor. When he first hears of the character, in a letter written by his mother Pulcheria, Raskolnikov immediately reacts, claiming that his sister agreed to the betrothal so that she might support him financially. Of course, there is no sound basis for this proposal yet, but that does not stop the protagonist from feeling conflicted. Upon learning exactly who Luzhin was, that he was a wealthy property-owner, this confliction escalates and results in an explosive meeting between the two. At numerous points, he even ruminates on killing him as he did the pawnbroker. Obviously, the conflict of Crime and Punishment requires incredible strength to overcome, because of the great distrust he ends up
As Rodya analyzes Luzhin’s character, he realizes that intellect unrestrained by moral purpose is dangerous due to the fact that many shrewd people can look right through that false façade. Luzhin’s false façade of intellect does not fool Rodya or Razumikhin, and although they try to convince Dunya into not marrying Luzhin, she does not listen. Rodya believes that Luzhin’s “moral purpose” is to “marry an honest girl…who has experienced hardship” (36). The only way he is able to get Dunya to agree to marry him, is by acting as if he is a very intellectual person, who is actually not as educated as he says he is. This illustrates the fact that Rodya knows that it is really dangerous because he knows that people can ruin their lives by acting to be someone they are not. Rodya also knows that people will isolate themselves from others just so that no one will find out their true personality. This is illustrated in through the fact that Luzhin tries to avoid Dunya and her mother as much as possible. The way he writes his letter, exemplifies his isolation, for Luzhin does not know how to interact with society. He has no idea how to write letters to his fiancée and his future mother in law. This reflects on Rodya’s second dream because he is unable to get Dunya married off to a nice person. He feels isolated from everyone else because his intellect caused him to sense that Luzhin is not telling the truth about his personality. However, it was due to his lack of moral purpose that Rodya berates his sister’s fiancé. He is unable to control himself, and due to his immoral act of getting drunk, Rodya loses all judgment and therefore goes and belittles Luzhin. Although Rodya’s intellectual mind had taken over and showed him that Luzhin wa...
Why is there evil? Dostoevsky asks a common question in his essay. He writes in anger and pain "I say nothing of the sufferings of grown up people, they have eaten the apple, damn them, and the devil take them all! But these little ones (Pg. 65). The point of this quote is to express anger at god for the suffering of innocent children. The question raised here is why is god inflicting suffering on innocent beings and how could it be part of a plan?
Rodion Raskolnikov is a murderer, a damning criminal. Yet, he also has a warm heart that no one can equal. This character of paradox, of contradictions, of irony, is the true Raskolnikov. He is the Jekyll, and he is the Hyde; the zenith and the nadir. This hallowed literature of human nature provides us with important moral lessons, and at the same time helps the reader understand Dostoevsky’s philosophy on society better. Raskolnikov is not entirely a cold-blooded murderer, since he still has a feeling of love: The love towards Sofya Marmeladov. In this paper, we will go in-depth of how Sofya has an impact on Raskolnikov, by discussing their similarities and differences.
It was both this interesting plot and the philosophical nature of Dostoyevsky's writing, which initially attracted me to this book. It also features many themes and characters, as well as an effective setting. As a result, I will examine the literary techniques used in "Crime and Punishment" by Fyodor Dostoyevsky to convey the downfall and subsequent rise of the main character, Raskolnikov. I will begin by looking at how the setting formed Raskolnikov's character, and then discuss the structure and other characters of the novel. The setting plays a primary role in forming Raskolnikov's character.
First, Dostoevsky gives the reader the character, Raskolnokov. He is the main character, whom Fyodor uses to show two sides of people their admirable side and their disgusting side. He loves Raskolnokov, which is why Fyodor uses Raskolnokov’s point of view throughout the whole novel. Personally, Fyodor dislikes some of his qualities but understands that all people are plagued with some bad traits, and that Raskolnokv is trying to make emends for some of his wrong doings, i.e. the murder of the pawnbroker and her sister. He knows that what he did was wrong and is willing to suffer for his crime, and he does throughout the whole book with his constant depression. Dostoesky believes in punishment for your crimes, this is why he shows Raskolnokov suffering through most of the novel, to show his great love for penance. Dostoevsky likes the kind giving nature of people; this is why he portrays the main character as a kind, gentle, and giving, person. Often, Raskolnokov thinks only of others benefits such as when he helped Katerina by giving her all his money for Marmelodov, as well as his caring about what happens to his sister with her marriage to Luzhin. Raskolnokov hates Luzhin’s arrogant and pompous attitude, which reflects Dostoevsky’s animosity of the same qualities in people in the real world.
This essay examines the social, philosophical, and psychological elements that had affected the Russian Society as well as the world of Dostoevsky’s novel “ Crime and Punishment ˮ. This essay demonstrates the wild impact and clashes left by these theories on the life, choices, and mentality of the novel and the characters embodied, the most important of which is the character of Raskolnikov. Highlighting an “in-depth exploration of the psychology of a criminal, the inner world of Raskolnikov, with its doubt, fear, anxiety and despair in escaping punishment and mental tortureˮ.
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.
Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment begins with Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov living in poverty and isolation in St. Petersburg. The reader soon learns that he was, until somewhat recently, a successful student at the local university. His character at that point was not uncommon. However, the environment of the grim and individualistic city eventually encourages Raskolnikov’s undeveloped detachment and sense of superiority to its current state of desperation. This state is worsening when Raskolnikov visits an old pawnbroker to sell a watch. During the visit, the reader slowly realizes that Raskolnikov plans to murder the woman with his superiority as a justification. After the Raskolnikov commits the murder, the novel deeply explores his psychology, yet it also touches on countless other topics including nihilism, the idea of a “superman,” and the value of human life. In this way, the greatness of Crime and Punishment comes not just from its examination of the main topic of the psychology of isolation and murder, but the variety topics which naturally arise in the discussion.
Often times in literature, we are presented with quintessential characters that are all placed into the conventional categories of either good or bad. In these pieces, we are usually able to differentiate the characters and discover their true intentions from reading only a few chapters. However, in some remarkable pieces of work, authors create characters that are so realistic and so complex that we are unable to distinguish them as purely good or evil. In the novel Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoevsky develops the morally ambiguous characters of Raskolnikov and Svidrigailov to provide us with an interesting read and to give us a chance to evaluate each character.
Dostoevsky’s crime and punishment, is set in Tsarist Russia in the 19th century. Rodya Raskolnikov, the main character, is a student at a University in St. Petersburg. By the early stages of the novel, he has dropped out of school and is left in his one room shanty, to ponder his own philosophical questions. He is poor, hungry and desperate for money. He begins to sell some of his possessions to a pawnbroker, Alyona Ivanovna, to gain money for his basic survival. He begins to see the poverty and desperation of St. Petersburg at this time. Rodya would begin to look at Alyona as a source of this problem. Alyona, in Rodya’s eyes, was profiting off of the poverty and misery of others by buying off their possession at unreasonably low prices. She would then horde the money for herself while the people outside of her own apartment starved to death. Raskolnikov decides to murder the pawnbroker for the sake of humanity. His plan is not deeply thought out in advance and i...
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.
Within the tortured mind of a young Russian university student, an epic battle rages between two opposite ideologies - the conservative Christianity characteristic of the time, and a new modernist humanism gaining prevalence in academia. Fyodor Dostoevsky in the novel Crime and Punishment uses this conflict to illustrate why the coldly rational thought that is the ideal of humanism represses our essential emotions and robs us of all that is human. He uses the changes in Raskolnikov's mental state to provide a human example of modernism's effect on man, placing emphasis upon the student's quest for forgiveness and the effect of repressed emotion. The moral side of Raskolnikov's mind requires absolution in a Christian manner. This need obliviates his claim to be a Nietzschean superman, and illustrates that all humans have a desire for morality.
In Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, Raskalnikov undergoes a period of extreme psychological upheaval. By comparing this death and rebirth of Raskalnikov's psyche to the story of the resurrection of Lazarus, Dostoevsky emphasizes not only the gravity of his crimes, but also the importance of acceptance of guilt.
In his novel Crime and Punishment Fyodor Dostoevsky uses Raskolnikov as a vessel for several different philosophies that were particularly prominent at the time in order to obliquely express his opinions concerning those schools of thought. Raskolnikov begins his journey in Crime and Punishment with a nihilistic worldview and eventually transitions to a more optimistic one strongly resembling Christian existentialism, the philosophy Dostoevsky preferred, although it could be argued that it is not a complete conversion. Nonetheless, by the end of his journey Raskolnikov has undergone a fundamental shift in character. This transformation is due in large part to the influence other characters have on him, particularly Sonia. Raskolnikov’s relationship with Sonia plays a significant role in furthering his character development and shaping the philosophical themes of the novel.
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.