Crime And Punishment By Fyodor Dostoevsky

Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment is a psychologically charged novel in which the primary element that plagues the protagonist, Rodion Raskolnikov, is not a person but rather an idea; his own idea. Raskolnikov has an unhealthy obsession with rendering himself into what he perceives as the ideal, supreme human being, an übermensch. Raskolnikov forms for himself a theory in which he will live purely according to his own will and transcend the social norms and moralities that dominate society. Raskolnikov suggests that acts commonly regarded as immoral are to be reserved for a certain rank of “extraordinary” men. Raskolnikov’s faith

In Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoevsky uses the role of women to further the understanding of thematic topics of the novel. The most prominent woman in Crime and Punishment is Sofia Semionovna Marmeladov, also known as Sonia, who is Raskolnikov’s beloved and the young daughter of Marmeladov. Sonia is forced into prostitution as a teenager and throughout the novel; Sonia is scorned by the people of the town because of it. Dostoevsky portrays Sonia as a multifaceted character causing many different thematic ideas to unfold throughout the novel. Contrary to the way society thinks of Sonia, Dostoevsky’s opinion on Sonia creates her role in the novel as a savior and an angelic character, which is seen through direct and indirect characterization, interaction with other characters, and allusions.

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.

The protagonist, Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov, a former student, decides to murder and rob an old pawn broker, Alyona Ivanovna, not due to his desperate need of money, but due to a theory he wants to test. Raskolnikov leaves no evidence which would lead the investigation to him; however, the police lieutenant in charge of the case, Porfiry Petrovich, a meticulous thinker, understands Raskolnikov’s theory and has a big role in influencing the student to confess. Between the murder and the confession, Raskolnikov undergoes a long and painful process of thought. His friend, Razumikhin Prokofych, along with a prostitute and his future significant other, Sonia Semyonovna Marmeladova, are part of the protagonist’s path. In the end, Sonia turns out to be Raskolnikov’s salvation as she helps him find redemption and start living

Crime and Punishment, a Russian novel by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, is an engrossing story about an ex-student, Raskolnikov, who plans a murder against an innocent pawnbroker. Raskolnikov the main character and narrator of the story, is a very poor young man who lives on the top floor of a dilapidated apartment in St. Petersburg. Although his plan to kill the pawnbroker Alyona Ivanovna is obvious early on in Crime and Punishment, his reasoning behind committing the murder is a mystery. Through out the novel, Raskolnikov surfaces many different reasons as to why he killed Alyona, but all the reasons are proven false except for the last one he gives. Raskolnikov’s need for money to support his family, and his

Dostoevsky’s beliefs and philosophies are reflections of the Russian philosophies from his era. He incorporates many of his own opinions and beliefs into his work in Crime and Punishment. Dostoevsky’s insight affects the novel as he integrates his views into his characters.

In Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoevsky discusses justice, questioning who or what determines this ideal. Primarily, he focuses on a man named Raskolnikov, who murders two women and then wrestles with his motives. As Raskolnikov’s hopeless outlook drives him to madness, his friend Sonia reveals an alternative view of justice, which allows for redemption. Through analyzing his character’s viewpoints, Dostoevsky never explicitly defines justice; instead, he exposes his audience to different interpretations to form their own conclusions. However, by depicting Raskolnikov spiraling into madness, Dostoevsky guides his reader to reject justice as determined by man in favor of it established by a higher power.

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.

Crime and Punishment, written by Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky; is a philosophical crime fiction novel. The story is very powerful in that it goes beyond the book and into the lives of the audience; making the audience feel some type of relation between themselves and the story. Dostoevsky was brilliant in creating a fictional world where the characters seem to be found within the audience, transitioning from a fictional story to a self-help book. He employes many life lessons in the story, which give the audience a new perspective on themselves.

Throughout the novel, Crime and Punishment by Fydor Dostoyevsky, the author uses characters who are alienated from society, to highlight values of society they are rejected from. Sonia Marmeldov, becomes alienated from society mainly for going into prostitution at a young age and then for falling in love with a murderer. The murderer, Raskolnikov, also faces rejection for his actions, and he later goes to trial where people stick up for him.

The characteristics of the genre the work does meet is provide the reader thought provoking questions over their morals of what is considered a crime and what punishment should be made by delving into the mind of a criminal tormented by the guilt of a murder which presented psychological aspects, and displaying a situation that involves a criminal with motive and events that led to his imprisonment.

Before the interactive oral, I noticed the numerous dreams and hallucinations in the novel Crime and Punishment, but I was not quite able to grasp the deeper meaning of some of the dreams and hallucinations. After this interactive oral, I see how important dreams are in this novel. They serve to illuminate the state of a character in a way that would not otherwise be clear.

In the novel “Crime and Punishment”, by Fyodor Dostoevsky, Dostoevsky expresses his disapproval of the Ubermensch theory by using his main character; Raskolnikov who tries to become an extraordinary person but fails to do so. Raskolnikov is put in a group where people maintain the idea that man is not actually equal but are divided into two separate groups which are; the ordinary people who are locked within the laws and tradition of society by only reproducing their own kind, and the extraordinary who believe that people should have the moral right to break laws if their violation is for the greater society.

During the semester we have read three very influential works: “Fathers and Children” by Ivan Turgenev, “What is to be done?” by Nikolay Chernyshevsky, and “Crime and Punishment” by Fyodor Dostoevsky. All of these novels are tied together with similar ideas. However, authors interpret them in different ways. One of the biggest ideas is about “Extraordinary Man Theory”. Chernyshevsky, in his novel, tries to show that ideal world consists of communities and each community should have ordinary folks, servile group, and extraordinary men, leaders of the community who have all the power and can persuade the rest of the commune to follow their ideas and beliefs.