Insanity: A Separation between the Ordinary and the Extraordinary

The idea that all men fall into two categories, the ordinary and the extraordinary, plays a vital role in Crime and Punishment. This theory is what drives the plot and begins Raskolnikov's action of murder. The idea that "a crime is always accompanied by illness," (259) is demonstrated in Crime and Punishment’s characters. Even without crime insanity is accompanied by illness. At times appearing utterly mad, the superior are exceptionally self-controlled. Insanity, in this novel, separates those who can transgress from those who cannot. Examples of these superiors are Raskolnikov and Svidrigaïlov, whom in the midst of the insanity that plagues them, can act as if rational. Both men can pass as normal. In delirium they act as Napoleon as in without hesitation or tribulations (486). While Raskolnikov and Svidrigaïlov are insane and rational, Sonya and Pulcheria are not. They simply cannot handle their insanity and grow attached to ideas. This ends in their own destruction. Much like a firecracker, they go into a frenzy and then burn out. Dostoevsky, in his novel Crime and Punishment, infers that men are either ordinary or extraordinary based upon their insanity.

Dependent on her son and obsessed over an idea that he Rodion is her savior, she cannot exist devoid of him. Pulcheria Alexandrovna proves how ordinary she is when this dependence

consumes her in a form called insanity. This is shown in her letter where she has written,” you are all we have to look to. Dounia and I, you are all our one hope our one stay,” (30). This is important because it reveals her life and her goals are all focused on Rodion. Here it is also clear because, she is distressed by the absence of a letter from him during a two m...

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...ble to appear except to the sick” (287). Although he does not feel guilt, “He’s a madman,” who knows how to behave, thus an extraordinary man.

So, it is when insanity infect the persons of this novel that the person will reveal how ordinary or extraordinary they are. The ordinary and the extraordinary, plays a fundamental role in the fate in Crime and Punishment. Insanity is accompanied by illness. The superior while completely mad are self controlled, such as the characters in the novel, Rodion Raskolnikov and Ivanovich Svidrigaïlov, unlike Pulcheria Alexandrovna and Katerina Ivanova whose downfall is their disorientation. The insanity in the novel’s characters is a barrio between those who can and cannot transgress above moral code. The superior will be remembered as normal if not glorified while the inferior ordinaries, will melt down, and burn out.