The protagonist of Dostoevsky’s novel Crime and Punishment is a mediocre student Radion Raskolnikov, who commits a fatal crime. In the novel, Fyodor Dostoevsky shows that evil lurks in every person. Internal fears and insecurities, disappointments, poverty, and difficulties in life may catalyze the commission of a crime. Whatever are the factors that influenced Raskolnikov’s crime, murder remains murder. In the same way, the greed and avarice of the old Alyona Ivanovna do not justify the commission of such a violent and severe crime. Probably, a person who is unable to influence the development of inner anger deserves pity, but by no means sympathy, nor justifying.
At the beginning of the novel, Dostoevsky portrays Raskolnikov as a fanatic who is eager to test his theory. According to Rosenshield (2020, p. 79), the student was inspired by the Great Man idea, in which “actions of great men are justified by the god-like nature of their intentions.” Long before the crime, Rodion Raskolnikov was trying to prove the rights of “higher” people to commit crimes, to reject the laws if crimes are committed in the name of a great idea. Social injustice and hopelessness had originated an absurd theory about “higher” and “lower” representatives of society in the protagonist’s mind. He attributed himself to the “higher” and, according to the theory he had the right to commit the murder.
Through the protagonist’s image, Fyodor Dostoevsky shows that evil and cruelty may lurk in every person. As Saner (2010, p. 12) states, “people know what they are, but they do not know what they may be.” Therefore, it should not be assumed that the only reason for committing a crime was adherence to the given theory. Perhaps Raskolnikov already had the inner evil that was required to commit the murder. According to Weinberg (n.d., p. 1078), “people’s behavior is partly governed by their consciousness, so understanding behavior will necessarily require working out a detailed correspondence between the objective and subjective.” Thus, Raskolnikov’s intentions were stored deep in his subconscious and soul. Consequently, in every person’s soul, there may be held eternal stigmata in the form of fear, pain, and agony, hurting which may awaken people’s cruelty and anger.
The stigma for Raskolnikov were poverty and injustice, one of the reasons for which was his future victim, an old woman Alyona Ivanovna. The woman, in his opinion, was not bringing any benefit to society, but only poisoning his life with her stinginess and heartlessness. Raskolnikov describes her in the most unpleasant terms since she was lending money at a high-interest rate. According to Dostoyevsky (2019, p. 6), “she was a tiny, dried-up little old crone of around sixty, with sharp, evil-looking eyes and a short-pointed nose.” In his opinion, she belonged to the “lower” category and, consequently, deserved to be punished. According to Neupane (2020, p.165), “the protagonist murders a former pawnbroker, Alyona Ivanovna, and his sister Elizaveta with a hope of freeing the society from corruption.” By doing so, the main character eagers to reach justice and social balance in society.
The motivation for the murder, according to the villain, are good intentions. Raskolnikov believes that “a hundred thousand good deeds could be done and helped, on that old woman’s money, hundreds, thousands perhaps, might be set on the right path” (Dostoyevsky, 2019, p. 63). Throughout the novel he devalues her life, deciding that her money may help other people. Intrusive thoughts arise in his head and order to “kill her, take her money and with the help of it devote oneself to the service of humanity and the good of all” (Dostoyevsky, 2019, p. 63). Thereby, Dostoevsky describes how young people may get influenced by different theories and ideologies and may try to apply them before carefully and rationally analyze them.
Raskolnikov was longing to elevate violence justified by a primitive resentment, and took the first conscious step towards this, which should not be justified. However, ultimately, in the fight against inhumanity and cruelty, Raskolnikov’s actions themselves are inhumane. He acts cruelly, thereby only increasing the amount of evil in society. According to Neupane (2020, p.165), “he violates law of the land and moral codes to prove his extraordinary strength at the pretext of transforming society.” Such a cruel and evil doing should not be justified by no means. Even though the pawnbroker was indeed a malicious old woman, it should not explain the committed crime. Raskolnikov, like every other person, has no right to decide who deserves to live in society and who does not. His negative attitude towards Alyona Ivanovna, the pursuit of a Great Man theory, nor his social status should not excuse the murder.
The senselessness of the theory and the intentions of Raskolnikov may be also proved by the fact that he did not use the pawnbroker’s money for his initial goals. Instead, “he hides it under a rock for fear of being taken for his crime” (Neupane, 2020, p. 168). However, driven by fear, the protagonist realizes the cruelty of what he has done. One of the crucial characters who had influenced his confession was his wife, Sonia. According to Neupane (2020, p. 168), Sonia “encourages Raskolnikov to go to the police and confess his crime to God and ask for forgiveness.” Further, Dostoevsky describes the sufferings experienced by the criminal, thereby making him the victim of his own crime.
Throughout the novel, Fyodor Dostoevsky allegedly claims that through suffering lies the path to self-purification. Just like evil and cruelty, justice may lurk within every person. Internal punishment and remorse are the measures of a person’s weaknesses and vices. Raskolnikov goes through mental agony after realizing his own mental deformity. However, the confession does not negate nor justify the fact of the murder and does not remove his guilt.
References
Dostoyevsky, F. (2019). Crime and Punishment. Independently published.
Neupane, K. (2020). Questioning the notion of Superman in Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment.Patan Pragya, 6(1), 165–170.
Rosenshield, G. (2020). Crime and Punishment, Napoleon and the great man theory.The Journal of International Dostoevsky Society, 23, 78–104.
Saner, R. (2010). My Fall into Knowledge.The Georgia Review, 64 (1), 9-23.
Weinberg, S. (2008). Without God. Independently Published.