Raskolnikov is depicted as “crushed by poverty, but the anxieties of his position had of late ceased to weigh upon him” (Dostoyevsky 3). During 1861, the Emancipation Reform had recently taken place. After the defeat of Russia in the Crimean War, Russian officials declared to give rights to the serfs. The serfs were treated poorly leading to protests and eventually leading to the Reform. The Emancipation Reform put Russia backward socially and economically. The serfdom illustrated Russia’s weaknesses and Raskolnikov was a representation of an individual struggling with Russia’s difficulties. The economy was suffering and the need for money became crucial for regular basic needs to survive. Fyodor Dostoyevsky, the author of the novel, considers …show more content…
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, …show more content…
He shows egotistical, cowardly, and humane trait. Raskolnikov’s egocentric behaviors make him only care for himself and relate every situation back to himself. However, his humane side is occasionally seen throughout varied events. Similarly, these characteristics brought out his divided character. Raskolnikov continues to be thought-provoking character who has matured as a character in some
A shy and timid seventeen year old girl, Sonia is wary of Raskolnikov when she first meets him. Her tenacious religious faith is a vital part of her character; she is shy and timid, but also truly compassionate and altruistic (especially towards Raskolnikov). In this sense, Raskolnikov is quite different from Sonia; where he is uncaring and ignorant, she is warm-hearted and thoughtful. Sonia helps to bring back the humane aspects of Raskolnikov’s personality. “There, not far from the entrance, stood Sonia, pale and horror-stricken. She looked wildly at him… There was a look of poignant agony, of despair in her face...His lips worked in an ugly, meaningless smile. He stood still a minute, grinned, and went back into the police office” (Dostoevsky 447). At this moment in time, Raskolnikov had gone into the police station to confess his crime, but in a lack of better judgement, he returns back to Sonia without telling about his crime. Had Raskolnikov not been motivated by the repugnant look on Sonia’s face, it is unlikely that he would have gone back into the police station. This is perhaps the prime example of how Sonia brings out the best in Raskolnikov. Sonia’s sympathetic and doting personality is polar to Raskolnikov’s selfish beliefs and his “extraordinary man theory”. However, when all is said and done, Sonia guides Raskolnikov to face the punishment of his wrong doing. Had Raskolnikov not had a tenacious relationship with Sonia, it likely would have taken him a much
Ralkolnokove justifies his crime through a philosophy he has come up with: the man with power is the man to rule over all others. But this power is given only to those who dare take it. Raskolnikov wanted to see if he had the courage to take that power. He also had to
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
While walking on the street, Raskolnikov is enraged by a man who is preying upon a drunken girl. All of the sudden, Raskolnikov has a complete shift in attitude toward the situation and becomes indifferent to what the man does with the girl. In this scene, Dostoevsky uses diction, figurative language and dialogue to convey the complexity of Raskolnikov’s thoughts and feelings. With this insight he provides, Dostoevsky reveals an inner-conflict that Raskolnikov struggles with: his desire to be protective and have good morals, which conflicts with his pessimism and lack of control over his emotions.
Over the course of Crime and Punishment, Raskolnikov's frequent inconsistency reveals the conflict between his logical persona and his emotional persona. Razumihin attempts to describe the personality of Raskolnikov to Dounia and Pulcheria Alexandrovna and says, "It's as though he were alternating between two characters" (200). This statement is very typical to Razumihin in that he is exactly
First, let me introduce you to the main character himself otherwise known as the murderer in this story. Raskolnikov is the main protagonist of the novel, making the story in his point of view. He is very alienated from society due to his
In a passage excerpted from the novel Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky, Raskolnikov fixes his attention on a girl who is staggeringly drunk. While Raskolnikov is watching her, he notices a large man who is also paying special attention to the drunk girl; however, the stranger is clearly intent on taking advantage of the girl. Raskolnikov notifies a police officer of the circumstance in order to protect the girl, and in an instant he changes his mind and decides that he does not care about what happens to the girl, and scoffs at himself for ever getting involved. Dostoevsky uses this event to reveal the two characteristics that Raskolnikov often switches between: being a morally good person who helps others, and a cynic who cares only about himself. Dostoevsky shows Raskolnikov’s complex and quick changing character through the literary devices of tone, diction, and point of view.
The media portrayed Marilyn's lifestyle as the independent powerful successful woman. Her brief life was very busy she never really had time to step back and live her life. She lived a life to maintain her reputation as well and to impress the media. Marilyn life in general was controlled by so many outside factors, and not by herself. I believe she was exhausted of been such a public figure that everyone paid so much attention to her that she couldn't bare the pressure to me. She suffered depression, and at some point she got so frustrated with the way her life was leading and she couldn't reverse it and decided to take pills in excess to claim her own
As a prolonged attempt to preserve his fragile ego, Raskolnikov’s experience with guilt reveals his weak self-esteem. Thus, although Raskolnikov fails his own test of strength, his double murder opens his eyes to the emotional vulnerability he did not expect to see in himself, instilling an ever-present sense of guilt that characterizes the remainder of the novel.
when raskolnikov wakes up from his dream, as mentioned before, he determines that he will not commit the murder. He makes his way towards the Haymarket even though he has no reason for going there, and overhears Aliona's younger sister, Lizaveta, say that she will be out of the house since she will be meeting her friends. Raskolnikov wonders if it was his destiny to be in the Haymarket at that particular time and if it was a sign that he should kill Aliona instead of backing down from his original plan. In the second quote provided for the response, the narrator mentions that Raskolnikov began to feel that he had no more control over his freedom of will because now that he was given the seemingly perfect opportunity, his plan was too grand
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.
After the murder, his restless conscience tortures him, leading him into madness. Throughout the novel, Dostoevsky describes Raskolnikov as “delirious” and “fanatical,” likening him to a madman. Stemming from his guilt, this condition, remarked upon by his friend Razumihkin, the doctor Zossimov, the inspector Porfiry Petrovich, and others, consumes him and manifests as a physical disease. By portraying him as diseased, Dostoevsky links his murder with corruption – a corruption so great that it infects both his mind and body.
Poverty is an essential motif in Crime and Punishment that enables characters to expose their isolation from society. Raskolnikov demonstrates the true effect that poverty can have on an unemployed man in the 1860s. Razumikhin is seen as Raskolnikov’s foil character that reacts to his form of poverty in the opposite way of Raskolnikov towards society. The weight of being desperately pour effects Marmeledov to extensive lengths that ultimately ends in his death.
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
Even when Raskolnikov was asleep he received painful messages of others who were suffering, just as he was. In one particular instance, before the double-murder, Raskolnikov is brought back to the poverty he suffered throughout his childhood. He once again feels a great empathy toward the suffered, but this time