Religion as Societal Conformity in Crime and Punishment Essay

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

    This is how Raskolnikov is able to commit his crime: his intellectual side ignores his conscience and is able to commit the crime in a rational and orderly way. It is his dual character that serves as his punishment. One side of him is able to commit the murders, so the other must bear the punishment. He is tortured by the cruelty in mankind, and yet he himself is able to repeat it.

The mood of confusion due to the characters disorientation from his guilty conscious is what manipulates the tone. The mood and tone are also expressed during the state of agitation the character encounters when battling his conscious about committing the murder in the first place. Going back to the point of the characters un-confessed sin which is his main cause of his torture; there comes the moment of truth within the story. In the excerpt, the author says, “There had been little difficulty about his trial. The criminal adhered exactly, firmly, and clearly to his statement… He explained every incident of the murder” (lines 4-6). This is the point in the story where Raskolnikov unleashes the demons in his mind and confesses to his sin. It’s shown here just how brutal the battle with his guilty conscious truly was, by Raskolnikov being pushed to a confession, stating the exact incidents and not missing a single detail, all while showing absolutely no remorse for himself. There is finally a sense of hope that is shown for the main character at the end of the excerpt when the author describes the moment in prison after his confession. When the author says “In prison, how it happened, he did not know. But all at once something seemed to seize him and fling him at her (Sonia’s) feet. He wept and threw his arms round her knees. They were both pale and thin; but those sick pale faces were bright with the dawn of a new future, of a full

In Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment Raskolnikov comes from a poor family and went to Petersburg in order to study. After a while Raskolnikov becomes destitute, living miserably. Raskolnikov is prideful, stubborn, and charismatic,which makes him an interesting character. Raskolnikov’s deep pride is one reason for him killing Alyona the old pawnbroker. Yet, Raskolnikov believed that killing Alyona would help humanity and take away evil from society. Such sentiments are spoken by a man he overhears, “"Kill her, take her money and with the help of it devote oneself to the service of humanity and the good of all. What do you think, would not one tiny crime be wiped out by thousands of good deeds?" With strong intentions on helping others, he is

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.

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.

Crime and punishment, a novel written by Fyodor Dostoevsky, gives us an insight into the protagonist’s inner thoughts, going deep into Raskolnikovs mind. He is a handsome, prideful young man that wears tattered clothes, and struggles to keep a roof over his head. Although he lives in a filthy town full of drunks, and prostitutes, Raskolnikov has always felt more superior than others. He believes that if he were to break a law he will receive no punishment and if he commits sin, he will feel no guilt. Due to his thinking, Raskolnikov murders a pawnbroker, Alyona Ivanovna, who he despises due to fact that she robs homeless out of their money, and Alyona’s sister, Lizaveta, because she walks in the house at the exact time the murder was committed.

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 characterization of Raskolnikov and the development of his ideas throughout Crime and Punishment repeatedly bring to light the danger of isolationism and its devastating psychological effect on not only Raskolnikov but also those around him. From the very first glimpse of Raskolnikov’s character, Dostoevsky reveals a very complex and intriguing split personality character that has the potential to cause destruction and disrupt peace within the book. As the author continue to expose Raskolnikov’s schizophrenia characteristic, his split personality becomes more profound due to the mental anguish before and after his crime. The readers begins to witness how Raskolnikov’s personality evolves and end up controlling his decisions and actions so much so that he is trapped between the fight of instinct and reason. With his

When first reading Crime and Punishment, I had little understanding of Raskolnikov’s reason of confession and his feeling of guilt in the novel. Because, I thought that Raskolnikov truly believed in his own theory that he is an extraordinary man. I also believed that he was a cold lifeless person for killing a old lady just because he thought she was vermin. But, after reading the novel a group presented to the class the theme of guilt and why it was so important to the novel; I soon came to the realization that the novel heavily shows that guilt leads to suffering which means your suffering can lead to your death. After listening to this group present their idea of guilt I reflected on where else guilt led to suffering and one moment that

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.

Throughout the story we are shown that he is not above the emotions and guilt that are the basic human reactions to an action as extreme as murder. His downfall comes because of this very fact, as he mentally and physically deteriorates under the stress of his culpability. His arrogance is proven to be the unfounded and foolhardy ideas of one who is truly a deeply insecure and unstable person (though Raskolnikov never truly realizes this).

Therefore Amoia notes that, "as the implications of the deed unfold in his conscience, Raskolnikov attempts to jusitfy his actions as a 'rational' crime" (53). Though he understands that he will be able to escape the physical punishement for the crime, he has yet to comprehend the burden that comes with such an unethical action. Even when Porfiry suggests that the criminal who murdered the pawnbroker may run away but, "psychologically he won't escape" (287), Raskolnikov becomes infuriated and accuses Porfiry of trying to scare him. However, Raskolnikov fails to understand the meaning behind Porfiry's words perhaps because he still chooses not to rely on his conscience and confess to the crime.While the superiority complex sets him apart from the society in the beginning, his piercing conscience distances him from people later on in the novel. He refuses to speak to Razumuikhin or to his family. It only before he goes to jail, that he decides to see his mother. Even when he does so, he is relieved that Dunya is not in the room. He later admits to Dunya that he doesn't, "even remember why [I] even went" to meet his mother. His conscience does not allow him to face his loved ones and eventually, he tries to isolate himself from society. While Raskolnikov tries to alienate himself from his own conscience, he is alienating himself from humanity in general.

Raskolnikov lives an ordinary life as an ordinary man. He is a good man and has a good heart, but he soon commits a crime that will forever change his life. Raskolnikov is a good man; I believe he is kind, generous, and selfless. Now, how are all of these positive traits found in a murderer? I think was caught in a psychotic moment, his mental state was not all there, and he had a dream, he made a plan, and he committed this terrible crime. A good example of Raskolnikov being a kind hearted person, and selfless is when he sees a young girl at the end of the street, he sees by her a rough looking man staring at her. He starts to get very worried what this man might do to this young girl. He goes down the street to get this young girl, and he pays for a taxi to get her home. This was so generous, and small yet so impactful. Raskolnikov cared about what might happen to this young girl, and did something about it. This showed how selfless Raskolnikov is, and what a kind heart he has. I think this shows Raskolnikov’s true character. From here, he makes some terrible decisions, and is engulfed by guilt, but I believe he is a generous, kindhearted person. In this book, Crime And Punishment, Raskolnikov goes from being an ordinary man with an ordinary life to a murderer, tortured by guilt, haunted by the memory of his crime, and him finding himself again in society after the murders.

           There are many different types of crimes that happen within the novel itself and it is evident that the authors Christian beliefs influenced the very background of the characters and crimes committed. The main character in the novel, Raskolnikov, has a very unique religious outlook for the time period in which he lived. Raskolnikov was raised in a Christian family which he eventually outgrew and followed new beliefs. He was not necessary a nihilist because he believed in a higher morality and nihilists did not have any sense of morality. He did however, have a sense of direction in regard to utilitarian motives. Very early on in the novel, Raskolnikov receives a letter from his mother in which she makes a remark acknowledging that he has strayed from religion but she still prays for him. Reading this letter causes Raskolnikov much pain and even though it is not blatantly acknowledged, it is sensed that Raskolnikov has some bitterness toward the idea of returning to religion. By making Raskolnikov’s character non-religious, Dostoevsky