Essay on Analysis of Self-Sacrifice in Part One, Chapter III – IV

Raskolnikov’s brusque affectation eventually yields to his predilection for salvation and redemption. He ultimately comes to the realization that he is not worthy of being “extraordinary” because of the crippling guilt that followed his murder of the pawnbroker. Raskolnikov reflects upon the implications of his crime on his psyche, “I murdered myself, not her! I crushed myself once for all,

In Crime and Punishment, Dostoevsky creates a psychological thriller, in which he reimagines his own life through the eyes of Raskolnikov. Whereas the Russian government sentences Dostoevsky to Siberia as punishment for sedition, Siberia serves a means of atonement for Raskolnikov. This type of religious undertone reinforces the novel’s existentialistic messages that emphasizes individual existence, freedom and choice. It holds the view that humans define their own meaning in life, and try to make rational decisions despite existing in an irrational universe. Thus, humans create their own purpose in life and their choices define who they are. Dostoevsky utilizes figurative language, specifically biblical allusions, as a way of conveying and clarifying these themes to the reader. By connecting to Bible, the author universalizes the intention, allowing the reader to apply the text to their own lives, and granting the audience further insight into the novel. Thus, biblical allusions help enrich the themes of Crime and Punishment while also cementing the central message of salvation- anyone, even murderers, have the potential to redeem themselves.

The central theme of Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky deals with conformity’s role in society. Dostoyevsky uses conformity to make Raskolnikov mentally ill and eventually turn himself in to face the punishment for his crimes. Religion influences every character in the book, but none more ardently than Raskolnikov. Understanding religion’s role as a force for conformity in Crime and Punishment provides a powerful insight into character motives and, furthermore, philosophical influences.

The “Search for justice” is a common characteristic of all of our lives, but it is perhaps best represented by the struggle with which Rakolnikov must face in Crime and Punishment. Faced with a bleak situation in his life, Raskolnikov must come to understand not the definition of justice in societal terms, but rather who is eligible to determine the meaning of justice and carry it out in the first place. Through his killing of the pawnbroker and her sister, Raskolnikov comes to realize that he is ineligible to deliver justice himself and must rely on the will of God to define his set of morals and standards.

My initial observation of Dashkova is her ability to be extraordinary despite her difficult upbringing. Her intelligence was compelling to the Empress Catherine and the men that she had encountered during her traveling. Dashkova portrayed herself as a strong, versatile woman, who’s not only different from most of the women during the time period, but can also outperform her male counterparts in various tasks (e.g. surgery, debate, carpenting, etc.) (pg. 144). She surprised the readers at the first moment when she met Prince Dashkov, a Moscow man. She fell in love with him and got married at the age of 16. The proposal was informal and emotional unlike the traditional arrangement with its strict regulations. Just 5 years after, Prince Dashkov passed away, leaving Dashkova 2 children and his mountainous gambling debt. In the most hopeless scenario, Dashkova managed to raise her 2 children and provided her son a wonderful education while still remaining faithful to the Empress Catherine II. She declared, “My own poverty affected me not at all” (pg. 149).

In the novel “Crime and Punishment”, the author, Fyodor Dostoevsky gives the reader a glimpse into the mind of a tormented criminal, by his guilt of a murder. Dostoevsky’s main focal point of the novel doesn’t lie within the crime nor the punishment but within the self-conflicting battle of a man and his guilty conscience. The author portrays tone by mood manipulation and with the use of descriptive diction to better express his perspective in the story, bringing the reader into the mind of the murderer.

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.

Aleksander Nikitenko is notable for an extraordinarily detailed dairy kept from a very early age that provides an intimate view of Russian culture during the early 1800s. Aleksander’s written account, Up from Serfdom, offers a first-hand account of Russian history, making a rather insightful contribution to slave literature. This book is among one of the very few autobiographies ever written by a pre-existing serf. Despite being a bright child, Nikitenko was nevertheless one of the three hundred thousand serfs that were the personal property of the Sheremetiv family in Voronezh Province, whom possessed legal authority to dispose of the serfs as they wished. Nonetheless, through a remarkable turn of events, Aleksander, unlike other serfs

Dostoevsky, the author of Crime and Punishment, was extremely concerned with many of the social issues of his day. It his work, he addresses the rise of nihilism and disregard for moral responsibility that overtook Russia’s youth during the 1860s through Raskolnikov, who murders a pawnbroker.

“Days of a Russian Noblewoman” is a translated memoir originally written by a Russian noblewoman named Anna Labzina. Anna’s memoir gives a unique perspective of the private life and gender roles of noble families in Russia. Anna sees the male and female gender as similar in nature, but not in morality and religiosity. She sees men as fundamentally different in morality and religiosity because of their capability to be freely dogmatic, outspoken, and libertine. Anna implies throughout her memoir that woman in this society have the capacity to shape and control their lives through exuding a modest, submissive, and virtuous behavior in times of torment. Through her marriage, Labzina discovers that her society is highly male centered.

In Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment, the character of Raskolnikov is one who may be considered evil or immoral for his actions, however his portrayal by the author is one that instills sympathy in the reader for the character due to his motives and personal, internal consequences he suffers for his crime of murder. There is considerable evidence supporting the view that Raskolnikov wants his theory surrounding the murder to be proven wrong, to get caught, and to be punished. This tells the reader that deep

After the gruesome murder in Part 1 of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment, Raskolnikov becomes indecisive in his guilt, ethics, and even daily actions, and through the uncertainty he loses all the control he had in his life. He goes around debating whether he should turn himself in, the people he should tell, and his future actions. In his indecisiveness he begins to feel helpless, and through his friend’s death and his total exhaustion, it seems like he loses only more control. His day culminates, as he arrives home, only to realize he forgot his family’s expected arrival, and becomes inadequately prepared to deal with his family’s caring concern. After having so much power through the murder

Crime and Punishment, written by Fyodor Dostoevsky, is the story of Raskolnikov a young man who decides to commit multiple murders. In turn he is eventually found guilty and punished for his actions. Dostoevsky uses the immensity of Raskolnikov’s guilt to show the inevitability of morality.

Individuals have different ways in responding to hardships based on the principles they live by. In Crime and Punishment, Dostoevsky explores contrasting ways of response to adversity. In the novel, there are those who don’t commit crimes while facing the hardships of life, like Sonia, Lizaveta, and Mikolka. Those like Raskolnikov, however, try to change the elements of life that provide challenges by taking drastic measures to modify society and life: by murdering an opportunist pawnbroker in his case. When reading Crime and Punishment, one can see that the difference in one’s response to suffering depends on whether or not violence is used. While Raskolnikov uses violence to change his circumstances, other characters respond to the same challenges of life in a way that does not generate violence. Approach to suffering is strictly rooted in the contrasting principles that the characters in the novel posses. Sonia, Lizaveta, and Mikolka’s way of life contradicts the principles that Raskolnikov lives by. Raskolnikov, in contrast, views himself as a Napoleonic figure, which takes his fate in his own hands in the beginning of the novel. By presenting these two opposing sides, Dostoevsky shows those who “step over” the laws to bring change into society and those who don’t. Raskolnikov establishes himself as a person who has new ideas.

The title of Feodor Dostoevsky’s work, Crime and Punishment, leads the mind to think that the book will focus on a great punishment set by enforcers of the law that a criminal will have to endure, but the book does not really focus on any physical repercussions of the crimes of the main character, Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov.