Good And Evil In Fyodor Dostoyevsky's Crime

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.

In order to understand Raskolnikov’s guilt, it is important to understand the religious influences at work in the time period and place he lived in. In St. Petersburg where Raskolnikov lives, there are strong Christian influences from the Eastern Orthodox Church. The Church condemns killing people with few exceptions. Although is not a devout believer, these influences are still at work in the book. It is clear that Raskolnikov is struggling to fight God away because, as he says that “once God’s will gets mixed up in it, nothing will be done” (389). He acknowledges that the guilt he has is God’s doing, and he struggles internally to get rid of it. The idea that he is not able to feel good about the murder that he knows improved society. He states that “what bothers [him] is this permission according to conscience” (253). Even though he wants to establish his own moral code, it is impossible for him to do so because of the influence of religion.

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.

Although the cross was initially supposed to show Raskolnikov's self-sacrifice, it began to show that he started down the path of recognizing the wrongs that he committed. Before he confessed his crime to Sonia he felt isolated from her as well. Since he fell in love with her, it was his biggest pain being cut off from her. When he finally trusted Sonia with the knowledge of his crime, she accepts him because he finally starts his reconciliation. He gathers strength from Sonia's acceptance of him, and that is what pushes him into confessing to society. His compassionate nature is what also pushes his actions once again. Since he felt disconnected from Sonia, his compassion is what pushed him into confining in her his secret to become closer to her. With Raskolnikov gaining spiritual reassessment at the end shows the special significance of Sonia as well through the novel. She gave herself (her love) to bring him back to society, like Jesus, and by doing so he would ultimatly save himself and recognize his sins, as he did. The strength from which Raskolnikov gained from Sonia influenced his reconciliation, reassessment, and stability to which then lead to the major importance of the

Being the protagonist in Crime and Punishment, Raskolnikov is subject to most ridicule and analysis for his moral ambiguity and outlandish views. After reading about his dreadful murder of Alyona and Lizaveta Ivanovna, many come to the conclusion that Raskolnikov is purely evil. His lack of guilt and belief of justification for his crime surely points readers in this direction. Raskolnikov remains convinced that he is superior and that it was his duty to kill such a worthless person. Although some may view this as evilness, others may perceive it as downright ignorant. His atypical way of thinking doesn’t necessarily make him evil, but that is how some comprehend it. At certain points in the story, we see Raskolnikov not as a deranged man, but instead as a compassionate human being. After the murder, we see him carrying out various charitable acts, perhaps as an attempt to atone for his unforgivable crime. For example, we see some good in him when he gives Sonya’s family twenty rubbles after Marmeladov passes on. We also see this when he attempts to rescue a drunk girl from a man by giving her money for a taxi. As much as Raskolnikov expresses that he was justified in his actions, through his mental and physical illnesses it is apparent that he feels some guilt about it. This guilt makes him seem at least a little bit more human. For these reasons, when all is said and done, it is difficult to determine

He immediately convinced himself that it was a sign that he must commit the murder the next night. The use of coincidence and environment as self-justification shows that he feels guilty and needs validation for his crimes. He cannot turn to God like Sonia because he is a selfish man and repenting means that he must admit to himself that he had done wrong. Instead of feeling disappointment in himself he will blame his actions on the world around him. Raskolnikov askes Sonia to read him a passage out of the Bible and she reads him the story of Lazarus.

Svidrigaïlov was a character who was sure of himself unlike the unstable Raskolnikov. He was wealthy and cared for others financially. Unlike Raskolnikov, Svidrigaïlov was willing to die in order to be put out of his misery. Raskolnikov wanted to live out his guilt and seek out a peaceful end. Even after a year in prison and still nine more years left there, Raskolnikov achieved much more in solitary confinement than living freely.

A Study of the literary techniques used by Fyodor Dostoyevsky in Crime and Punishment to convey the downfall and subsequent rise of the main character. "Crime and Punishment" by Fyodor Dostoyevsky is the story of a young student Raskolnikov and his need to murder an old woman to prove one of his many philosophies. The book begins with the murder, but the primary focus is on his reasoning and reactions before and after the act. It is set in St Petersburg where the main character, Raskolnikov, appears to be an ex-student living, in poverty, a life of lethargy.

During the time when Raskolnikov conversated with the Zamiotov at the restaurant, he was given an opportunity to confess but rather choose to be a wimp and leave. Suddenly Raskolnikov blurts, “[w]hat if it was I who murdered the old woman and Lizaveta? … is it possible though, I don’t think so… he left, quivering all over with a kind of wild hysteria…” (159-160). There were many opportunities given to Raskolnikov to confess in the presence of an officer. On the other hand, he choose to back out of his plan at the last second and leave keeping Zamiotov in thought. His delusional thoughts prevented him from confessing at this stage. Even at the point of confessing his sins to Sonia, Raskolnikov bluntly informs her “I learned [that] people won’t change, nobody can reform them, and it’s not worth the effort. It’s the law of their being… whoever is strong strong and self-confident in mind and spirit has power over them. [I] looked at Sonia but no longer cared whether she understood or not… Sonia realized that this dark catechism had become his creed and his law” (398). While Sonia is present in the room when Raskolnikov intends to confess, he indirectly states his confession. Raskolnikov was not courageous enough to verbally confess his crimes. He showed cowardice while talking to Sonia. Sonia is Raskolnikov’s love, in that manner Raskolnikov should be able to express himself freely,

Crime and Punishment Decades and decades have past, and the biggest threat to mankind is our self. Characterization is defined as the creation or construction of a fictional character. In the novel, Crime and Punishment, Dostoyevsky conveys the theme that man ultimately will defeat himself by the use of strong characterization. Dostoyevsky constructs the character Raskonikov by using strong emotions to portray the theme that man ultimately will defeat himself by the use of strong characterization.

Nihilism ran rampant in the intelligentsia in nineteenth century Russia. Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s novel, Crime and Punishment, illustrates this “new philosophy” in Raskolnikov. The central conflict of the novel revolves around the question of why Raskolnikov murdered the pawnbroker and her sister, and the psychological torment he endures after committing the crime. Aspects that aid in his decision to murder the women are his unspecified belief of Nihilism and his isolation from society. These two components can attribute to his psychological state when deciding to murder the women.

Until the part where Raskolnikov heard the students and an officer talks about the old woman, his only motive was to kill her for the better of human being—by removing a useless and harmful creature from this earth. However, when he confessed to Sonya he stated that the killing of the old woman was done because “I… I wanted to have the daring” (Ch.4, part 5, 740). Joseph Frank also mentions that there are two oppositions who critics that the changes in the motive is the weakness of the story, and there are those who disagree with that. However, Frank viewed that these two view are wrong because the point of the story is not about the motives; instead, it was about the shift in Raskolnikov explanation of the crime to “discover the truth about the nature of the deed that he committed” (Frank, 7). I also believe that it was indeed the truth. In the beginning, Raskolnikov always mention and makes himself feels better by chanting that his act wasn’t a crime that he committed, but it was an act of justice and tried to be the hero of the society—to become another Napoleon. However, that wasn’t exactly true. And in the end, Raskolnikov finally realizes that there’s no such thing as helping humanity by killing one harmful creature. This road for

In many great works of literature, it is hard to tell whether a character is good or evil, due to the fact that they do both good and evil deeds. Characters like this are known as being morally ambiguous. One example of a work of literature with a morally ambiguous character is Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky. In this novel, the main character Raskolnikov has a great deal of moral ambiguity. This plays a large role in the story, as Raskolnikov is constantly on the edge of being good or evil.

Crime and Punishment is a literary work known for it’s themes of religion and forgiveness. Dostoevsky reveals these themes through his characters; for instance, Sonia. Sonia manifests religious zeal. However, Dostoevsky contrasts this with her profession – prostitution. Indeed, this causes her to overcome moral obstacles, in turn strengthening her character. All this alludes to a greater message. Through Sonia, Dostoevsky addresses the absence versus the presence of religion by illuminating her strength to overcome these conflicting thoughts in juxtaposition to a nihilist character such as Raskolnikov.

Throughout the novel, Crime and Punishment, the prime focus is the continuous struggle between good and evil. Characters like Raskolnikov, Marmeladov, Sonya, and Svidrigailov would be considered horrible people upon first glance, but when you dig deeper they each possess goodness despite their wrongdoings. However, Each character possess different levels of morality, some more than others. Dostoevsky exposes these different levels between characters like Sonya and Svidrigailov.