Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment Essay

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times when he doesn’t seem to be suffering from depression at all, and he’s just cold and unfeeling to the point of inhumanity, as though he had two contradictory characters that keep changing places….” (207). This quote states the schism that Raskolnikov has exactly, in how one “character” is “magnanimous and kind” while the other is “morose, gloomy, haughty, and proud”, which relates to his suffering in how he is constantly changing his mind and contradicting his own ideas and thoughts. His interaction with other characters, specifically Sonia, Dounia, and the Marmeladov family, also developed this sense of dualism as he fluctuated between his desire to be isolated, part of his intellectual side, and his desire to be in communion with society and surrounded by people, which correlates to his moral side. We can see this through his interactions with Razumihkin and Luzhin in his room while he is recovering from his sickness, “I am not sick!’ Raskolnikov cried out. ‘So much the worse.’ ‘Go to hell!’” (147). This instance shows Raskolnikov’s desire to be alienated from society and have nothing to do with the outside world as he wishes to be in solitude where he can be sure no one may find out the truth, which furthermore represents the guilt Raskolnikov feels, proving that he is not an extraordinary man. On the other hand, Raskolnikov’s interaction with Sonia throughout the novel expresses his desire to be accepted by society, even though his act of murdering had almost permanently separated alienated him from everyone else. This need for love and desire to be wanted can be seen when Raskolnikov obeys Sonia’s wishes to ask for forgiveness from god and everyone, “He was on his knees in the middle of the square. He bowed down to the earth. With joy and pleasure he kissed the dirty earth. He rose and bowed down once more” (500). This particular action displays Raskolnikov’s deep desire to be accepted by people once again and no longer be an outsider. This last part of Crime and Punishment, the Punishment, which consists of everything after part 1, is both about the redemption made by Raskolnikov from his crime and nihilistic views, which can be related to how Dostoyevsky believes it is not too late to save Russia from the path it’s heading on, and about how the abandonment of moral values and the belief in nihilistic views cause great suffering, as every man suffers and the theory of an extraordinary man is false, which serves as Dostoyevsky’s thesis in this novel.

Dostoyevsky crafted this novel, Crime and Punishment, with his views and interpretations of the 19th century, then present day, Russian intellectual movements that had swept across the country, replacing moral values with nihilistic ideas, and through the interpretation of this book, Dostoyevsky uses the dualism he created for the character Raskolnikov to represent the young Russian intellectuals that had begun to rise in power. This schism serves to define his thesis, which could be simplified to a single thought; everyman suffers. In this novel, the idea of an extraordinary man is that of someone who transcends laws, not fazed by suffering and guilt after having committed a crime for the better of the society. The novel, through proving that every man suffers, ultimately denies this theory, which can be seen in the distinct dualism of Raskolnikov as he is distraught after he murders Alyona and Lizaveta. Only at the end of the novel, when Raskolnikov turns himself in, freeing himself from guilt, was he able to attempt and free himself from suffering, which is representative of Dostoyevsky’s belief that Russia can still be saved from these nihilistic movements.