Ayeni Wuraola

21/1098
European Continental Literature

Historical background on the author

Fyodor Mikhaylovich Dostoevsky was born November 11, 1821, the
second of seven children and died 1881. Dostoevsky’s early education
was in an army engineering school, where he was apparently bored with
the dull routine. He spent most of his time, therefore dabbing in literature
matters and in reading the latest authors; his penchant for literature was
obsessive. And almost as obsessive was Dostoevsky’s preoccupation with
death for while the young student was away at school, his father was
killed by the serfs on his estate. This sudden and savage murder
smoldered within the young Dostoevsky and when he began to write, the
subject of crime and murder in particular was present in every new
publication. Its of course, the central concern of Crime and Punishment.
Dostoevsky was never free of the horrors of homicide and even at the end
of his life, he chose to write of another violent death the death of a father
as the basis of The Brothers Karamazov.
After spending two years in the army, Dostoevsky launched his literary
career with “Poor Folk”, a novel that was an immediate and popular
success and one highly acclaimed by the critics. Never before had a
Russian author so thoroughly examined the psychological complexities of
man’s inner feelings and the intricate workings of the mind. Following
“Poor Folk”, Dostoevsky’s only important novel for many years was
“The Double”, a short work dealing with a split personality and
containing the genesis of “Crime and Punishment”. Perhaps the most
crucial years of Dostoevsky’s melodramatic life occurred soon after the
publication of Poor Folk. These years included some of the most active,
changing phases in all Russian history and Dostoevsky had an unusually
active role in this era of change. Using influences acquired with his
literary achievements, he became involved in political intrigues of a
questionable nature. He was for example, deeply influenced by new and
radical ideas that were entering Russia from the West, hoped to
revolutionize Russia with all sorts of Western reforms. Dostoevsky
published many articles concerning various political questions knowing
fully well that they were illegal and that all printing was controlled and
censored by the government. The rebellious writer and his friends were
soon deemed treasonous revolutionaries and placed in prison. After nine
months, a number of them including Dostoevsky were tried found guilty
and condemned to be shot by a firing squad. The entire group was
accordingly assembled, all preparations were completed and the victims
were tied and blindfolded. Then, seconds before the shots were fired, a
messenger from Tsar arrived. A reprieve had been granted. Actually the
Tsar had never intended that the men were to be shot but he used this
cruel method to teach him and his friends lesson. This harrowing
encounter with death, however, haunted him for the rest of his life. After
the commutation of the death sentence, Dostoevsky was sent to Siberia
and during the four years in prison there, he changed his entire outlook on
life. During this time, in horrible living condition, he began tore examine
his values. A total change occurred within the man. He experienced his
first epileptic seizure and began to reject a heretofore blond acceptance of
the new ideas that Russia was absorbing. He underwent a spiritual
regeneration so profound that he emerged with a prophetic belief in the
sacred mission of the Russian people and that eventually Russia would
rise to dominate the world. It was also in the prison that Dostoevsky
formulated his well known theories about the necessity of suffering.
Suffering became man’s chief means of salvation.
Dostoevsky’s last novel, The Brothers Karamazov was his great
masterwork and is considered today as a masterpiece of western
literature. Only a year after its publication, Dostoevsky was dead, but
already he was acknowledged to be one of Russia’s greatest writers.

INTRODUCTION
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky was written in the 1866.
The novel follows a similar Gothic writing in detailing Svidrigailov’s
suicide. A St.Petersburg storm acting as the backdrop to Svidrigailov’s
nightmares and final hours at the end of the novel.
Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov, a former student, lives in a tiny
garret on the top floor of a run-down apartment building in St.
Petersburg. He is sickly, dressed in rags, short on money, and talks to
himself, but he is also handsome, proud, and intelligent. He is
contemplating committing an awful crime, but the nature of the crime is
not yet clear. He goes to the apartment of an old pawnbroker, Alyona
Ivanovna, to get money for a watch and to plan the crime. Afterward, he
stops for a drink at a tavern, where he meets a man named
Marmeladov, who, in a fit of drunkenness, has abandoned his job and
proceeded on a five-day drinking binge, afraid to return home to his
family. Marmeladov tells Raskolnikov about his sickly wife, Katerina
Ivanovna, and his daughter, Sonya, who has been forced into
prostitution to support the family. Raskolnikov walks with Marmeladov
to Marmeladov’s apartment, where he meets Katerina and sees
firsthand the squalid conditions in which they live.
The next day, Raskolnikov receives a letter from his mother, Pulcheria
Alexandrovna, informing him that his sister, Dunya, is engaged to be
married to a government official named Luzhin and that they are all
moving to St. Petersburg. He goes to another tavern, where he overhears
a student talking about how society would be better off if the old
pawnbroker Alyona Ivanovna were dead. Later, in the streets,
Raskolnikov hears that the pawnbroker will be alone in her apartment the
next evening. He sleeps fitfully and wakes up the next day, finds an ax,
and fashions a fake item to pawn to distract the pawnbroker. That night,
he goes to her apartment and kills her. While he is rummaging through
her bedroom, looking for money, her sister, Lizaveta, walks in, and
Raskolnikov kills her as well. He barely escapes from the apartment
without being seen, then returns to his apartment and collapses on the
sofa.

Waking up the next day, Raskolnikov frantically searches his clothing for
traces of blood. He receives a summons from the police, but it seems to
be unrelated to the murders. At the police station, he learns that his
landlady is trying to collect money that he owes her. During a
conversation about the murders, Raskolnikov faints, and the police begin
to suspect him. Raskolnikov returns to his room, collects the goods that
he stole from the pawnbroker, and buries them under a rock in an out-of-
the-way courtyard. He visits his friend Razumikhin and refuses his offer
of work. Returning to his apartment, Raskolnikov falls into a fitful,
nightmare-ridden sleep. After four days of fever and delirium, he wakes
up to find out that his housekeeper, Nastasya, and Razumikhin have been
taking care of him. He learns that Zossimov, a doctor, and Zamyotov, a
young police detective, have also been visiting him. They have all noticed
that Raskolnikov becomes extremely uncomfortable whenever the
murders of the pawnbroker and her sister are mentioned. Luzhin, Dunya’s
fiance, also makes a visit. After a confrontation with Luzhin, Raskolnikov
goes to a cafe, where he almost confesses to Zamyotov that he is the
murderer. Afterward, he impulsively goes to the apartment of the
pawnbroker. On his way back home, he discovers that Marmeladov has
been run over by a carriage. Raskolnikov helps to carry him back to his
apartment, where Marmeladov dies. At the apartment, he meets Sonya
and gives the family twenty rubles that he received from his mother.
Returning with Razumikhin to his own apartment, Raskolnikov faints
when he discovers that his sister and mother are there waiting for him.

Raskolnikov becomes annoyed with Pulcheria Alexandrovna and Dunya

and orders them out of the room. He also commands Dunya to break her
engagement with Luzhin. Razumikhin, meanwhile, falls in love with
Dunya. The next morning, Razumikhin tries to explain Raskolnikov’s
character to Dunya and Pulcheria Alexandrovna, and then the three return
to Raskolnikov’s apartment. There, Zossimov greets them and tells them
that Raskolnikov’s condition is much improved. Raskolnikov apologizes
for his behavior the night before and confesses to giving all his money to
the Marmeladovs. But he soon grows angry and irritable again and
demands that Dunya not marry Luzhin. Dunya tells him that she is
meeting with Luzhin that evening, and that although Luzhin has
requested specifically that Raskolnikov not be there, she would like him
to come nevertheless. Raskolnikov agrees. At that moment, Sonya enters
the room, greatly embarrassed to be in the presence of Raskolnikov’s
family. She invites Raskolnikov to her father’s funeral, and he accepts.
On her way back to her apartment, Sonya is followed by a strange man,
who we later learn is Svidrigailov. Dunya’s lecherous former employer
who is obsessively attracted to her.
Under the pretense of trying to recover a watch he pawned, Raskolnikov
visits the magistrate in charge of the murder investigation, Porfiry
Petrovich, a relative of Razumikhin’s. Zamyotov is at the detective’s
house when Raskolnikov arrives. Raskolnikov and Porfiry have a tense
conversation about the murders. Raskolnikov starts to believe that Porfiry
suspects him and is trying to lead him into a trap. Afterward, Raskolnikov
and Razumikhin discuss the conversation, trying to figure out if Porfiry
suspects him. When Raskolnikov returns to his apartment, he learns that a
man had come there looking for him. When he catches up to the man in
the street, the man calls him a murderer. That night Raskolnikov dreams
about the pawnbroker’s murder. When he wakes up, there is a stranger in
the room.
The stranger is Svidrigailov. He explains that he would like Dunya to
break her engagement with Luzhin, whom he esteems unworthy of her.
He offers to give Dunya the enormous sum of ten thousand rubles. He
also tells Raskolnikov that his late wife, Marfa Petrovna, left Dunya three
thousand rubles in her will. Raskolnikov rejects Svidrigailov’s offer of
money and, after hearing him talk about seeing the ghost of Marfa,
suspects that he is insane. After Svidrigailov leaves, Raskolnikov and
Razumikhin walk to a restaurant to meet Dunya, Pulcheria Alexandrovna,
and Luzhin. Razumikhin tells Raskolnikov that he is certain that the
police suspect Raskolnikov. Luzhin is insulted to find that Raskolnikov,
contrary to his wishes, is in attendance at the meal. They discuss
Svidrigailov’s arrival in the city and the money that has been offered to
Dunya. Luzhin and Raskolnikov get into an argument, during the course
of which Luzhin offends everyone in the room, including his fiancee and
prospective mother-in-law. Dunya breaks the engagement and forces him
to leave. Everyone is overjoyed at his departure. Razumikhin starts to talk
about plans to go into the publishing business as a family, but
Raskolnikov ruins the mood by telling them that he does not want to see
them anymore. When Raskolnikov leaves the room, Razumikhin chases
him down the stairs. They stop, face-to-face, and Razumikhin realizes,
without a word being spoken, that Raskolnikov is guilty of the murders.
He rushes back to Dunya and Pulcheria Alexandrovna to reassure them
that he will help them through whatever difficulties they encounter.

Raskolnikov goes to the apartment of Sonya Marmeladov. During their

conversation, he learns that Sonya was a friend of one of his victims,
Lizaveta. He forces Sonya to read to him the biblical story of Lazarus,
who was resurrected by Jesus. Meanwhile, Svidrigailov eavesdrops from
the apartment next door.

The following morning, Raskolnikov visits Porfiry Petrovich at the police

department, supposedly in order to turn in a formal request for his
pawned watch. As they converse, Raskolnikov starts to feel again that
Porfiry is trying to lead him into a trap. Eventually, he breaks under the
pressure and accuses Porfiry of playing psychological games with him.
At the height of tension between them, Nikolai, a workman who is being
held under suspicion for the murders, bursts into the room and confesses
to the murders. On the way to Katerina Ivanovna’s memorial dinner for
Marmeladov, Raskolnikov meets the mysterious man who called him a
murderer and learns that the man actually knows very little about the
case.

The scene shifts to the apartment of Luzhin and his roommate,

Lebezyatnikov, where Luzhin is nursing his hatred for Raskolnikov,
whom he blames for the breaking of his engagement to Dunya. Although
Luzhin has been invited to Marmeladov’s memorial dinner, he refuses to
go. He invites Sonya to his room and gives her a ten-ruble bill. Katerina’s
memorial dinner goes poorly. The widow is extremely fussy and proud,
but few guests have shown up, and, except for Raskolnikov, those that
have are drunk and crude. Luzhin then enters the room and accuses Sonya
of stealing a one-hundred-ruble bill. Sonya denies his claim, but the bill is
discovered in one of her pockets. Just as everyone is about to label Sonya
a thief, however, Lebezyatnikov enters and tells the room that he saw
Luzhin slip the bill into Sonya’s pocket as she was leaving his room.
Raskolnikov explains that Luzhin was probably trying to embarrass him
by discrediting Sonya. Luzhin leaves, and a fight breaks out between
Katerina and her landlady.

After the dinner, Raskolnikov goes to Sonya’s room and confesses the
murders to her. They have a long conversation about his confused
motives. Sonya tries to convince him to confess to the authorities.
Lebezyatnikov then enters and informs them that Katerina Ivanovna
seems to have gone mad—she is parading the children in the streets,
begging for money. Sonya rushes out to find them while Raskolnikov
goes back to his room and talks to Dunya. He soon returns to the street
and sees Katerina dancing and singing wildly. She collapses after a
confrontation with a policeman and, soon after being brought back to her
room, dies. Svidrigailov appears and offers to pay for the funeral and the
care of the children. He reveals to Raskolnikov that he knows
Raskolnikov is the murderer.
Raskolnikov wanders around in a haze after his confession to Sonya and
the death of Katerina. Razumikhin confronts him in his room, asking him
whether he has gone mad and telling him of the pain that he has caused
his mother and sister. After their conversation, Porfiry Petrovich appears
and apologizes for his treatment of Raskolnikov in the police station.
Nonetheless, he does not believe Nikolai’s confession. He accuses
Raskolnikov of the murders but admits that he does not have enough
evidence to arrest him. Finally, he urges him to confess, telling him that
he will receive a lighter sentence if he does so. Raskolnikov goes looking
for Svidrigailov, eventually finding him in a cafe. Svidrigailov tells him
that though he is still attracted to Dunya, he has gotten engaged to a
sixteen-year-old girl. Svidrigailov parts from Raskolnikov and manages
to bring Dunya to his room, where he threatens to rape her after she
refuses to marry him. She fires several shots at him with a revolver and
misses, but when he sees how strongly she dislikes him, he allows her to
leave. He takes her revolver and wanders aimlessly around St. Petersburg.
He gives three thousand rubles to Dunya, fifteen thousand rubles to the
family of his fiancee, and then books a room in a hotel. He sleeps fitfully
and dreams of a flood and a seductive five-year-old girl. In the morning,
he kills himself.

Raskolnikov, who is visiting his mother, tells her that he will always love
her and then returns to his room, where he tells Dunya that he is planning
to confess. After she leaves, he goes to visit Sonya, who gives him a cross
to wear. On the way to the police station, he stops in a marketplace and
kisses the ground. He almost pulls back from confessing when he reaches
the police station and learns of Svidrigailov’s suicide. The sight of Sonya,
however, convinces him to go through with it, and he confesses to one of
the police officials, Ilya Petrovich.
A year and a half later, Raskolnikov is in prison in Siberia, where he has
been for nine months. Sonya has moved to the town outside the prison,
and she visits Raskolnikov regularly and tries to ease his burden. Because
of his confession, his mental confusion surrounding the murders, and
testimony about his past good deeds, he has received, instead of a death
sentence, a reduced sentence of eight years of hard labor in Siberia. After
Raskolnikov’s arrest, his mother became delirious and died. Razumikhin
and Dunya were married. For a short while, Raskolnikov remains as
proud and alienated from humanity as he was before his confession, but
he eventually realizes that he truly loves Sonya and expresses remorse for
his crime.

THEMES
Alienation
Alienation of an individual in a society is one of the major themes of the
novel. Raskolnikov, the protagonist of the novel, takes pride in what he
sees as his act of achieving greatness, even if that act is equivalent to a
crime. This self-reflection over the act separates him from the rest of the
people around him, including his mother and sister, Dunya. Also, he
thinks that other people are tools of the big scheme imagined by his
intellectual capability. As the guilt grows deeper, he faces extreme
delirious mood swings. He pushes away his well-wishers including his
best friend, Razumikhin and kind police officer, Porfiry Petrovic. He also
avoids his mother, sister, and Sonya, his loyal beloved. He finds himself
alienated throughout the story until he accepts Sonya’s love.

Crimes and Morality

Crimes, morality and the ensuing sense of guilt are some other thematic
strands in the book. There is no doubt that Raskolnikov has committed a
grave crime and deserves punishment. However, at first, he assures
himself that such crimes are often committed by great people – a bizarre
justification for his crime. As he becomes aware of his crime, he becomes
mentally unstable. He initially claims that a pawnbroker has no morals
and that her death does not matter. Later, his transformed behavior alters
in the story. Moreover, as an intellectual, Raskolnikov has already voiced
his opinion to give legitimacy to his action when he wrote a magazine
article to claim that great people always commit a crime, giving examples
from history. When he comes to know about Sonya’s prostitution and
Marmeladov’s alcoholic addiction, he is redeemed.
Free Will and Coincidence
Raskolnikov’s act of murdering two old ladies poses a serious question to
the readers whether he has free will, or it is just a chance he had taken. If
there were no painters, Raskolnikov might not have escaped. His meeting
with Marmeladov is also a chance. When Marmeladov is run over, he
assists his family. Coincidentally, he later meets Sonya who becomes his
close friend and love. Dunya’s meeting and seduction by Svidrigailov is
also a coincidence. However, because of free will, she does not fall prey
to his plotting.

Madness
Raskolnikov seems to touch the brink of madness after murdering two
people. His lifestyle demonstrates his mental collapse. He talks to himself
in public and continues staying in the bed without eating for days. His
aimless roaming in Petersburg and mindless actions show that his friends
and relatives have sensed his madness or near-madness situation.
Marmeladov’s alcoholic addiction is also a type of madness. However, he
does not face the same mental conflict as Raskolnikov. Marmeladov’s
wife faces madness after his death. Dunya rejects Svidrigailov and almost
kills him. Later, as he could not bear the rejection, he commits suicide.

Suffering
Sufferings redeem as well as destroy an individual. Raskolnikov suffers
from mental torture after killing two women. Even Sonya suffers
materially because of her father’s alcoholic addiction. The sufferings
destroy Raskolnikov’s mental capability. On the contrary, it redeems
Sonya when she helps him. Sonya is a source of redemption for
Raskolnikov. Moreover, suffering also means to suffer from financial and
physical hardships. Marmeladov’s addiction leads his family to suffer
from poverty. Sonya is forced into prostitution for the same reason.

Nihilism
Nihilism means nothingness or the rejection of humanitarian bonds or any
other relations for materialism. Raskolnikov’s murder of Alyona and her
sister is based on purely practical grounds. The valuables or money stolen
was not to achieve high status or greatness. His comments about her that
she was a louse and has been better off the social radar points to this
thematic idea. At first, Raskolnikov is a nihilist. However, later when he
discovers his love for Sonya, he leaves it.

Moral Framework
Every society has a moral framework used by people to justify their
actions. Abandoning this framework is dangerous to society. However,
there are also exceptions. Raskolnikov justifies his murders on the logical
grounds that he wants to achieve greatness. Later, he becomes a victim of
an ethical dilemma. The morality of that time of Russia does not allow
him to murder merely for his desire of achieving greatness. That is why
Razumikhin argues that living souls should be given preference over
close abstract concepts.

Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism is associated with nihilism. It means the happiness of the
greater number of people. Raskolnikov gives justification to his crime of
killing the old woman on the basis of utilitarianism arguing that the old
lady deserves death as she was not practically useful for society.

Style of the novel

Crime and Punishment is written in the third person. However,
Dostoevsky's narrative focus shifts throughout the novel. Crime and
Punishment is widely credited as the first psychological novel and in
many passages, Dostoevsky is concerned with the state of mind of the
central character, Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov.

Significance of Crime and Punishment

The significance of crime and punishment in literature lies in its profound
exploration of moral dilemmas, psychological depth and social critique.
The novel addresses universal themes like guilt, nature of justice.
Dostoevsky portrayed the use of psychological realism in literature,
portraying the complex internal struggles of the protagonist, Raskolnikov.
It delves into his mental state exploring his motivations, guilt and
eventual path towards redemption. However, the novel’s rich
philosophical, psychological and social themes make it a cornerstone of
world literature.
It keeps us thinking that even if we do wind up breaking the law, it won’t
be the end of the world. We can always find a way back. However, it also
serves as a warning not to get carried away, particularly in the current era
where individuals are free to choose their own morality, values and level
of intellectual freedom.