Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky essays

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky essays Crime and Punishment is a book written by Fyodor Dostoevsky who spent four years at a labour camp in Siberia, followed by four years of military service. Raskolnikov's time in a Siberian prison, described in the Epilogue of Crime and Punishment, is based on Dostoevsky's own experiences at a similar prison. Crime and Punishment is the story of a poor man in Russia who can only purge himself of his guilt through suffering. The book deals with the mental and physical tribulation brought upon him by his crime. His troubles are compounded by the conflicting personalities, which he possesses. The reader is inclined to characterize him by his cold, intellectual side. Yet, without the contrasting humane side of his nature, Raskolnikov never realizes the errors in his theory and actions. Raskolnikov is defined by the dualistic nature of his personality, with each facet being just as vital as the other. During his time in prison Fyodor Dostoevsky underwent something of a political conversion, rejecting the radical socialist positions that had led to his arrest in favour of a conservative concern for traditional values. His dismissal of leftist political thought is evident in Crime and Punishment. For instance, Raskolnikov's crime is motivated, in part, by his theories about society. Lebezyatnikov, whose name is derived from the Russian word for "fawning," is obsessed with the so-called new philosophies that raged through St. Petersburg during the time that Dostoevsky was writing the novel. Luzhin, a mid-level government official, is continually afraid of being "exposed" by "nihilists." Raskolnikov, the protagonist is a complicated man who commit a crime. Raskolnikov murders a woman who was a plague to mankind, especially the poor of Russia: Alyona Ivanovna. In the chilling process however, he also murders her younger sister, Lisaveta Ivanovna. The crime of Raskolnikov reverberates on a much deeper, moral level inside his own head. He igno...