Table of contentsAnalysis of Raskolnikov's character: complex, tormented and deeply conflictedHis pride and complicated relationship with SoniaConclusionFyodor Dostoyevsky's iconic novel "Crime and Punishment" is set in Saint -Petersburg, in Tsarist Russia, in the 1860s. Orthodox Christianity is still the country's primary religion today, with an extremely faithful Christian population. Religion was important so that people could have hope in times of turmoil in a restrictive society; its true meanings meant that the emphasis was on morality. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get the original essay Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov, the protagonist of the novel, was raised as a Christian. However, a series of events, including poverty and mental illness, lead him to gradually abandon his faith and adopt a nihilistic outlook. Raskolnikov's decline further alienates him from everyone around him, as he begins to turn away from traditional value systems such as family, religion, and society. The ethical expectations placed on him lead to the decision to murder a pawnbroker based on utilitarian ideas that his death would benefit others. Raskolnikov is surprised to find that after committing murder, he believes it is justified for the good of humanity; however, it does not take him long to discover that he also yearns for redemption for what he has done. Beginning with the murder, the novel focuses on Raskolnikov's gradual breakdown and deconstruction of his identity as well as his alienation from his original morality. The way his guilt is represented by his increasing madness and loss of identity shows his true awareness of his actions. The epilogue concludes the book by showing Raskolnikov's transformation into a human being. His estrangement from society due to the murder ends when he realizes that he is not above the moral law and admits his love for Sonia, resolves Raskolnikov's inner struggle regarding his superiority and morality . Analysis of Raskolnikov's character: complex, tormented and deeply conflicted Raskolnikov is depicted as a complicated character from the beginning of the novel. The very meaning of the name Raskolnikov derives from the Russian word "raskolnik", which means schismatic or divided. He is an extremely proud and contemptuous character, but emotionally separated from humanity. The beginning of the novel exposes the first ideas of isolation in which the use of his so-called excessive reputation masks the end of his career. She is a person who focuses on her reputation, her appearance, and the impression she makes on others who she cares about. His pride is enhanced by his natural beauty: “…exceptionally handsome, above average height, slim, well built, with beautiful dark eyes and dark brown hair. The writer uses his appearance to exaggerate the contrast with his situation. Described as a poor former student struggling to survive, living in poor conditions, he always seems his self-important and intellectual self. Fyodor Dostoyevsky also portrays Raskolnikov as a man torn between two worlds. One of them is his ability to be cold and calculating; In this case, he has the arrogance to believe that he has the superiority of a divine position. The other half demonstrates outlooks of kindness and humility, where he is able to recognize "...the boundaries created by the laws of God and man." This division in his character is important because it causes a conflict between himself and morality. Hestruggles to find his way to being who he really is; signs of an internal battle can be recognized in the early stages of Raskolnikov's character development. The idea of ​​masking his struggles in his personal life through appearance and narcissism foreshadows his feeling of duty to murder someone who is worth less than him. His meeting with pawnbroker Alyona Ivanovna, a weak 60-year-old woman, proves his troubled morality as he shocks himself with the concept of murder for money. However, he is convinced that he is smart enough to carry out such a horrible plan; he sincerely believes that he could escape legal punishment, thereby undermining the moral punishment he must suffer. Raskolnikov's battle of morals begins to overwhelm him to the point where it plays a role in his subconscious. He has the first of 4 dreams of himself as a child, accompanying his father to a funeral service for his grandmother and to a visit to his brother's grave. On the way to the church, they encounter a group of drunken peasants led by a man named Mikolka, who calls his friends to ride on his cart and be pulled by a skinny old mare. When the horse is unable to pull the weight of all the men in the cart, Mikolka and her men beat her to death in front of young Raskolnikov. He is only awakened from his dream after the mare has been killed with whips and iron bars: “The blow fell; the mare staggered, fell backwards, tried to pull, but the bar fell again with a swing in the back and she fell to the ground like a log. Behind Mikolka's act of violence lies a larger plan to kill the pawnbroker. Despite the differences in criminality, the act of murder is equal to both murderers. Dreams convey the most deeply guarded secrets or hidden clues to inherent dangers. The image of the peasant standing over the mare with an ax foreshadows Raskolnikov's fatal blows. Awakening to the shock of the moment, Raskolnikov has a complete change of perspective on Alyona, in his mind, for a moment, he considers her as his innocent victim: “God! he exclaimed, "but is it possible, is it possible that I really take an ax and hit her in the head and smash her skull... slip into the hot sticky blood, break the lock, fly, tremble and hide, all covered in blood... with the ax... Lord, is it possible In the dream, Dostoyevsky uses dreams to describe Raskolnikov's abnormal psychological mind He sees himself much more? that the murderer. There are four "Raskolnikovs" in this dream: the Mikolka-Raskolnikov who seeks to assert the power and ownership of others through the irrational extinction of human life; the mare Raskolnikov who feels helplessly trapped and defeated; ; the boy Raskolnikov, who compassionately leaps to try to save a life; and finally the father Raskolnikov, who intervenes to stifle the child's sincere and heroic benevolence. Here, the most important Raskolnikov of the quadrille is the boy, who takes responsibility and tries to right the wrong. Raskolnikov struggles to understand what he feels and therefore what he wants; it relates to death and mercy. His ultimate realization is that he is embarking on Mikolka's path and that he might actually "take up an ax" to carry out his plan. The dream, however, is even more of a prescription for his penchant for the murderous character: it urges Raskolnikov to confront his own Mikolka instincts, to come clean, to finally "tighten his knees" and accept love. As such, even before killing Alyona, Raskolnikov craves confession deep within him. The end of the first part of the novel describes Raskolnikov before thepawnshop door; despite his decision to ultimately murder, he is aware of the caution he must exercise. As Alyona opens the door slightly, he pushes his way in, fearing that she will let him inside. His panic fuels his fear of mistakes in his plan and he doesn't want to risk losing this precious opportunity. Raskolnikov planned his crime several times, but his nervousness creates clouded judgment as his carefully obsessive plan turns into a stream of paranoid movements, especially when Alyona becomes very suspicious of Raskolnikov's affairs. He waits for her to begin opening the promised gift, a cigarette case; while distracting her, he took the opportunity to remove the ax from his pocket: “Then [Raskolnikov] dealt [Alyona] again and again a blow from the blunt side and in the same place. Blood gushes out like from a spilled glass, the body falls back. Raskolnikov hits the old woman repeatedly and brutally and she dies within seconds. From there, the crime becomes less and less “reasoned”, less and less planned. He becomes confused, and even the nature of the blows themselves (struck with the rounded end of the axe) indicates that Raskolnikov proceeded with haste and emotion. Furthermore, Raskolnikov's narrative point of view objectifies his victim as "glass"; emphasizing not only his complete focus on the mechanical movement of the hacking action, but also the pointlessness of her death to him in that moment as he depicts her as a mere object. Raskolnikov's weapon of choice for committing these murders also reflects his inner chaos. He considers using a knife but decides he does not want to rely on strength or precision to accomplish the deed. The narrator notes that with each of Raskolnikov's decisions: "...the more definitive they were, the more hideous and absurd they became in his eyes." Even Raskolnikov thinks being an ax murderer is ridiculous. It's cumbersome and complicated, but part of Raskolnikov thinks it's the only option. His disorganization is also reflected in the spontaneous murder of Lizaveta, the pawnbroker's mentally disabled half-sister. She is called "submissive" and is described as: "such a gentle and gentle creature, ready to endure anything, always ready to do anything." Raskolnikov finds himself in the situation of having to assassinate Lizaveta; despite her insignificance to most of the characters, including himself, his paranoia changes his perspective on her. Suddenly, a weak character poses a threat to a "smart student", and Raskolnikov knows he must be completely invisible stealing the pawnbroker's belongings when he escapes from the crime scene. After the murder, Raskolnikov's struggle between his conscience becomes very one-sided. Paranoia takes over when he also decides to kill Lizaveta for good measure. At this point, he wants to make sure nothing and no one can catch him. Fear leads him to destruction as conscience has taken over him. “Surely it’s not starting yet!” Surely this is not my punishment that is coming to me? It is!' Raskolnikov is obsessed with possible evidence of his crime. The phrase "come upon me" suggests two interpretations of the passage: that the initial phase of Raskolnikov's punishment is inflicted by a force of justice (sometimes interpreted as God) and that Raskolnikov personifies the punishment as a force of justice in itself. The rise of guilt and paranoia manifests itself in illness. In addition to Raskolnikov's restlessness and sometimes unconsciousness, his mental instability causes him to lose all sense of reason. His pride and complicated relationship with Sonya Dostoyevsky show the frenzied nature with which Raskolnikov sees himself and sees that his reason isfainting and his mind uncontrollable: “In the darkness of the evening he was brought back to consciousness. My God, what screams it was! Never before had he heard such unnatural noises! Raskolnikov's symptoms of bipolarity and psychosis prove his true instability due to the murder, loss of interest in daily actions, anxiety and sleep problems show that he has ravaged his guilt. His pride and narcissism momentarily disappeared and this brought out Raskolnikov's true fear of doing what is not right in the eyes of "God". Here the true power of religion and morality has overcome him; his attempt to establish the “truth” of his superiority only led to the failure of what he had imagined. During Raskolnikov's mental torture, Zamyotov, an employee of the St. Petersburg Police Department, encounters Raskolnikov still in his ill state after stumbling into a tavern. He draws Zamyotov into a half-mocking conversation where he seems about to confess: “Raskolnikov’s eyes were shining; he became terribly pale...A terrible word trembled on his lips, like the hook of this door: another moment and he would jump; another moment and he would let go; one more moment and it would be said! Raskolnikov thinks about what he is about to say, aware of the risk of letting a confession slip. However, this highlights his desire to free himself from the guilt that is impossible to ignore, and he appears crazy to Zamyotov. Dostoyevsky also uses anaphora when he repeats the phrase "another moment." This further highlights how uncontrollable Raskolnikov's need to confess is, whether because he feels guilty or because he has simply allowed himself to become overwhelmed by the constant talk of the murders. Reaching the peak of his guilt, Raskolnikov is in pure isolation; he knows he's on the verge of madness and desperately needs the pressure off his shoulders. Taking a first step towards rebuilding his soul and returning to humanity by finally confessing the truth to someone, he decides to visit Sonya, a merciful and suffering prostitute. His choice of confidant highlights his undying pride; being able to talk to someone who will pity him means he can manipulate his image and maintain his reputation. Additionally, Raskolnikov's underlying love for Sonya signifies the trust he must have in her, his emotions towards her make her somehow worth a reason for confession, despite his battle between what is right and his reputation: “I have to tell him. No, I can't tell him. But I have to do it. But I can't. Upon meeting her, he tries to justify his murder to Sonya before admitting it. He argues that, in certain circumstances, it is better to kill one person than to let several people suffer. But Sonya, invoking Christian teachings, says that killing is always wrong, even if killing would save others. She maintains that killing cannot make someone extraordinary: “'Oh hush, hush,' cried Sonia, clasping her hands. “You turned away from God and God smote you, delivered you over to the devil!” » The moment of revelation is oblique. Raskolnikov still does not have the courage to say out loud the truth about what he did. But he knows that Sonia implicitly understands the price of what Raskolnikov did. She understands that, while he is still alive, a part of him is as dead as the two women he murdered. At this point, even though Sonia lives a heartbreaking life of struggle, working as a prostitute so her family can eat, her life is paradise compared to the hell Raskolnikov has created for himself. Dostoyevsky explains that neither poverty nor any.