As the plot unfolds in Dostoevsky’s novel Crime and Punishment, the main character in this story, Raskolnikov commits the immoral act of murder by brutally executing characters, Alyona and Lizaveta. Although Raskolnikov killed both of these women, the murders themselves, however, are very different in a legal sense. Raskolnikov’s killing of Alyona fits all the criteria of a first degree murder, while the murder of Lizaveta contains all the qualities of second degree murder.
Raskolnikov planned to murder Alyona. He followed through with his plan by killing her with an axe. Prior to this crime he spent a significant amount of time thinking about and developing a specific plan to kill her. On pages 61 through 65 the author describes how Raskolnikov thought out the details of the act. He designed a technique to carry the murder weapon, an axe, by hanging
In conclusion, Raskolnikov acted with malice and premeditation along with evil intentions as he planned and murdered Alyona. He thought out the act in detail before it was committed, although this plan was disregarded during the act. The killing of Lizaveta, however, was performed in the heat of the moment, without being planned or in advance and was a killing incidental to a felony. Raskolnikov intended to kill Alyona, but was propelled by circumstances rather than preplanned intent, to kill Lizaveta as well. A murder committed with such brutality but without premeditation is considered by law to be second degree murder and the perpetrator deserves the sentence received.
Raskolnikov’s murder of Lizaveta was of a different nature. It was so different that, in legal terms, it would be considered an act of second-degree murder. He, during the carnage he wreaked on Alyona, was care
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