Guilt In Crime And Punishment By Dostoevsky

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

"Everything depends on circumstance and a man's environment. Environment is everything: the man himself is nothing" (Dostoevsky 359). Set in the tragic poverty-stricken milieu of nineteenth century St. Petersburg, Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment follows the psychological suffering of Rodion Raskolnikov, or Rodya, after he murders two women and steals their money. At the outset of this journey, Raskolnikov, overhears locals complaining about a bitter old woman who owns a pawn shop. Viewing himself as an equalizer, Rodya uses the locals’ animosity to justify to himself the murder of the austere pawn shop owner and her sister. Shifting between guilt, pride, and indifference, his already distraught mental state is exacerbated by the opinions of those who surround him. Sonia, his lover,

The mood of confusion due to the characters disorientation from his guilty conscious is what manipulates the tone. The mood and tone are also expressed during the state of agitation the character encounters when battling his conscious about committing the murder in the first place. Going back to the point of the characters un-confessed sin which is his main cause of his torture; there comes the moment of truth within the story. In the excerpt, the author says, “There had been little difficulty about his trial. The criminal adhered exactly, firmly, and clearly to his statement… He explained every incident of the murder” (lines 4-6). This is the point in the story where Raskolnikov unleashes the demons in his mind and confesses to his sin. It’s shown here just how brutal the battle with his guilty conscious truly was, by Raskolnikov being pushed to a confession, stating the exact incidents and not missing a single detail, all while showing absolutely no remorse for himself. There is finally a sense of hope that is shown for the main character at the end of the excerpt when the author describes the moment in prison after his confession. When the author says “In prison, how it happened, he did not know. But all at once something seemed to seize him and fling him at her (Sonia’s) feet. He wept and threw his arms round her knees. They were both pale and thin; but those sick pale faces were bright with the dawn of a new future, of a full

After killing Alyona Ivanovna, Raskolnikov takes notice of the two crosses that were in Alyona’s possession and deems them worthless; then, Raskolnikov irreverently discards them onto Alyona’s corpse. The act of discarding crosses onto his very sin further enforces the absence of reverence within Raskolnikov. This act demonstrates Raskolnikov’s total disregard for Christianity, for throwing the crosses back on the woman’s body is seemingly symbolic of his abandonment of faith. Discarding the crosses is contrasted when, later in the novel, Raskolnikov encounters them again. At that point he is about to confess to the murder and he takes up the crosses, now in Sonia’s possession, to take with him. He shows his newfound reverence when he puts on the cross and says “It’s the symbol of my taking up the cross. As though I had not suffered much till now” (411). By literally “taking up the cross” Raskolnikov demonstrates how he has accepted the tenants of Christianity and has begun to repent for his mortal sin. Additionally, his exclamation of suffering demonstrates that he is aware that he will suffer physically in prison, as well as suffer spiritually in hell. Raskolnikov’s previous irreverence is ended and he shows newfound respect regarding the cross. This exemplifies the novel’s idea that

Raskolnikov is in a state of severe emotional/psychological stress. He is at a crossroads where the toll may just be too much to bear. When he asks Sonia for the reading, on a deeper level, he is asking for some motivation or courage to keep going and to perhaps make the right choice. Raskolnikov is a dead man- at this point, he will either be found out for his crimes, or his guilt will eat him alive. The story of Lazarus offers him some hope and some motivation. It is a story he can identify with at this point in the novel. When Raskolnikov tells Sonia we is “necessary” to him, he is declaring his feelings in his own special way. For the first time, Raskolnikov is showing emotional vulnerability. Sonia is necessary to him in that he loves

One theme of Christianity is that redemption is achieved through suffering. Jesus himself believed in the method and even told Saint Faustina that she could “save more souls through prayer and suffering than will a missionary through his teachings and sermons alone" (Diary 1767). Evidently, the idea of redemptive suffering worked its way strongly into his novel Crime and Punishment. The protagonist, Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov, was an impoverished former student who lived in St. Petersburg. Raskolnikov believed that he could make the world a better place by murdering a crooked pawnbroker and taking her money to help the needy; Raskolnikov ends up murdering the pawnbroker as well as her innocent sister. Through Raskolnikov and Katerina’s journey to redemption Dostoevsky is able to convey that redemption is possible but only through a great amount of suffering.

In the novel Crime and Punishment, the color yellow holds a strong symbolism amongst some of the personas of the characters in the book. The symbolism in the novel can compare and contrast with the yellow theme that carries on through the short story The Yellow Wallpaper. The yellow in the short story builds a parallel by documenting the Author Fyodor Dostoevsky utilizes the color in order to evoke a more complex thought process on the psychological and physical changes within Crime and Punishment. Throughout the novel, the occurrence of yellow seems as though it represents a sort of corruption and suffering, varying within a substantial amount of the characters.

She knows that it is not her job to judge him for what he has done

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.

When first reading Crime and Punishment, I had little understanding of Raskolnikov’s reason of confession and his feeling of guilt in the novel. Because, I thought that Raskolnikov truly believed in his own theory that he is an extraordinary man. I also believed that he was a cold lifeless person for killing a old lady just because he thought she was vermin. But, after reading the novel a group presented to the class the theme of guilt and why it was so important to the novel; I soon came to the realization that the novel heavily shows that guilt leads to suffering which means your suffering can lead to your death. After listening to this group present their idea of guilt I reflected on where else guilt led to suffering and one moment that

Both Sonia and Porfiry are characterizations of good in the world, as Sonia is a “religious maniac” and Porfiry is a police officer, both of which are contrary to Raskolnikov’s character of a criminal. The two work together to break down the Ubermensch in Raskolnikov by helping him redeem himself through spiritual suffering. As Porfiry said, “suffering, Rodion Romanovich, is a great thing… there is an idea in suffering” (Dostoevsky 348). This is also supported by Sonia’s orders to Raskolnikov to “Go, at once, this very minute, stand at the cross-roads, bow down, first kiss the earth which you [Raskolnikov] have defiled and then bow down to all the world and say to all men aloud, ‘I am a murderer!’ Then God will give you life again” (Dostoevsky 415). Sonia helps Raskolnikov redeem himself by giving him unconditional love and compassion, and Porfiry helps him redeem himself intellectually. The spiritual suffering that they push Raskolnikov to go through is an important concept in Orthodox Christianity, which contrasts against the nihilist’s beliefs that religion is baseless and empty. Another religious aspect Sonia and Porfiry are connected by is the biblical story of Lazarus. Raskolnikov, like Lazarus, ‘died’ as a result of his crime. While Christ raised Lazarus from the dead in the story, Sonia and Porfiry play that role in Dostoevsky’s novel. By exposing Raskolnikov to redemption through religion, Sonia and Porfiry use their religious methods to make Raskolnikov understand the error in his ‘Napoleon Theory’. This is a denial of nihilism and Nietzsche’s Ubermensch, which results in the redemption of Raskolnikov’s purpose in life. From their actions, one can deduce that Porfiry and Sonia are altruists, but remain true to their altruistic nature without contradiction. As nihilism is portrayed in a

In the novel Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky, many of the characters serve as microcosms to the larger story as a whole. The negative portrayal of certain characters suggests that the consequences of living a self-serving and egocentric life are unavoidable, and that they all must compensate for their wrongs. Conversely, the characterization of the more selfless and altruistic characters, suggests that a life filled with positive actions is the noblest lifestyle and will be reciprocated by positive events in their own lives.

Both girls care very much for their lovers, and as a result, are very fearful of the consequences Raskolnikov and Faust will face if they continue going on about their sinful existences without repenting. Despite the severe nature of their lovers’ crimes, Sonia and Gretchen are not frightened of Raskolnikov or Faust; instead, the girls are concerned for state of the men’s souls. Upon hearing Raskolnikov’s confession, Sonia is worry-stricken, “what have you done to yourself”…“it was a good thing you came," (D354). Sonia is relieved that Raskolnikov confessed to her, because she believes that if he had not come to her, she might not have been able to help him save himself. However, she can’t help but become frustrated about Raskolnikov’s nonchalant attitude about his soul, “you don't understand, you don't understand! Oh God! He won't understand!”…“You turned

Throughout Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, Raskolnikov, a former student who is haunted by a murder he commits, struggles to determine whether his crime is justifiable. Raskolnikov’s dreams closely trace his mental states and the effect of the murder on his conscience. While consciously he believes this murder to be necessary to benefit society, his dreams evoke raw emotions that trace Raskolnikov’s journey towards repentance. Each dream that he experiences represents a step on the path of lifting the burden of this murder from his conscience and accepting his membership in society.

Without suffering, there is no hope of achieving redemption. This idea is straightforward; no one consistently achieves what they want, in this case redemption, without struggling in some shape or form in order to get it. In Crime and Punishment, A Russian man known as Raskolnikov murders an old pawnbroker and her younger sister. The work progresses to show that the motivation behind the murder is, among other things, to test a theory that Raskolnikov has about what kind of man he is. After an extensive series of subplots and nearly insane moral arguments with himself and those around him, Raskolnikov confesses and finds religion and redemption in a Siberian labor prison. Utilizing the world around him and his own life events throughout the piece, Dostoyevsky fills Crime and Punishment with the juxtaposition of characters, irony, and allusions in order to present the importance of suffering and hard labor as the only means to redemption.