*Spoilers*
I recently finished reading Crime and Punishment written by Fyodor Dostoyevsky in 1866.
While I enjoyed the book overall, I found certain aspects of it challenging. The Russian names are tough to pronounce, the dialogue can be stilted, and the references to Russian life can be confusing. However, the book brought up philosophical questions and was an engaging read.
The main character is Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov, who has dropped out of college and is having an existential crisis at the beginning of the book. He is wrestling with a question. Is he an extraordinary man or an ordinary one? He desires to be extraordinary, and to prove that to himself, he decides to commit a murder. In his mind, only extraordinary men can make their own rules, and don’t have to live by the same moral code as ordinary men.
Raskolnikov decides he wants to murder an old pawnbroker woman who he describes as a louse and of no use to society. Because he kills her for the greater good, he wants to use the money she hoarded to lift others out of poverty; that makes him extraordinary. He did not kill her out of malice or passion like an ordinary man might. Raskolnikov often references Napoleon as an extraordinary man. Napoleon killed many people but was looked up to and given power. He was able to kill because he was extraordinary. He didn’t ask for permission; he took what he wanted because, deep down, he knew he could.
After Raskolnikov commits the gruesome murder, which did not go as planned, he becomes very ill and begins to lose his mind. For the rest of the book, he is in a constant battle between what he wants to be, an extraordinary man who is self-serving and uncaring of emotions, and who he really is, a kind, caring man who enjoys helping others. The murder causing him so much suffering and distress points to the fact that he might not be extraordinary, but his pride doesn’t want to admit that.
Raskolnikov’s friend Dmitri Prokofych Razumikhin, or Razumin, is also a poor, struggling student but does not succumb to the same nihilistic thinking as Raskolnikov. He remains kind and helpful, taking care of Raskolnikov when he becomes ill and delirious after the murder. Raskolnikov’s mother and sister also moved to St. Petersburg after his sister, Avdotya Romanovna Raskolnikov, became engaged to a rich man. She doesn’t love him; he is self-absorbed and pretentious, but she wants to lift her family out of poverty. His mother and sister are worried about him and try to take care of him. Still, Raskolnikov constantly pushes them away and believes that he would be successful in becoming an extraordinary man if others didn’t love him.
Raskolnikov begins to have feelings for a poor, young prostitute named Sofya Semyonovna Marmeladov. Her father, who was an alcoholic, died after being run over by a carriage, and her mother is dying of consumption, tuberculosis, which is why Sofya became a prostitute in the first place, to help take care of her siblings. Sofya is timid and kind, remaining a devout Christian even though she is a prostitute. Raskolnikov feels a connection to her, another person who transgressed moral values, but tries to push away all of his emotions. He is rude to her and tries to reject her through most of the book, though he always goes back to her.
Poverty is a main theme of the story; most people in the book are poor and suffering. Raskolnikov often sees people begging on the street and drunks wandering around during the day. Those who are not in poverty usually take advantage of those who are like his sister’s fiancée, Pyotr Petrovich Luzhin. Luzhin only wants Avdotya because she is beautiful, smart, and, most importantly, poor. He wants someone like her to feel indebted to him. When Avdotya pulls away, he becomes indignant, believing it should have been impossible for a poor woman like her to rebuff a rich man like him.
The book rejects nihilism, a popular philosophy in Russia at the time. Raskolnikov doesn’t believe in God or an afterlife and tries to deny all emotional connections. He tries to live as an extraordinary man and create his own rules and morals. However, in the end, it doesn’t work; Raskolnikov is tortured by his own guilt, often delirious and hardly able to function. He constantly worries about being caught and is suspicious that anyone could be after him.
When it was Raskolnikov’s point of view, I always wondered if what was happening was real because he is so often delirious. Many dream sequences take place in the book that reflect what the characters are going through and can add to the feverish tone in some parts of the story.
The book is obviously not a light read, seeing as it’s about a murder and the terrible guilt and isolation that follows it. The characters sometimes have philosophical conversations, and their lives are often full of struggles. Learning about the extraordinary man concept was interesting; I had never heard of it before. Raskolnikov was an intelligent, normal person who happened to fall down a rabbit hole of a particular belief with devastating consequences.
The story explores themes of nihilism, utilitarianism, the idea of “extraordinary” men, guilt, alienation, and society.
I would recommend this book.
Rating 8.5/10
CozyWrites 
Leave a comment