... unlike any other mind in the world. In Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment the main character, Raskolnikov, has to deal with this situation after committing the worst crime imaginable: murder. A desperate young Raskolnikov, poor and starving, plans the perfect crime. Raskolnikov murders an old and loathsome pawnbroker; a woman that ... humanity. Raskolnikov performed the task, and afterwards, he faced his punishment. After committing the "perfect" crime, Raskolnikov went into a deep lapse of illness and delirium. This was just the beginning of his journey of the ultimate punishment. ...

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... religious and biblical themes in the novel, especially the story of Lazarus that Sonia reads to Raskolnikov. Religion plays an ironic role in Crime and Punishment, and many Christian themes appear within the novel (i.e., driver who whips Raskolnikov). The central story focuses on concepts completely contrary to the ideals of Christianity ... , (murder, trial, punishment, revenge) but also includes Christian themes and morals. Raskolnikov asks Sonia to read to him the story of Lazarus, and Sonia does so ... in the characters and in the novel? How does each character suffer and feel about ...

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• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Doystoyevsky's Crime and Punishment has been described as a psychological thriller that challenges the mind from beginning to end. It causes one to put self in the position of the main character and identify with the intense guilt that he felt. The story follows a young Russian intellectual who, as he deals with his guilt from an evil crime, tries to convince himself that he is ... extraordinary and did the right thing. Crime and Punishment is the tale of an individual's desire to have power, yet unable to cope with his own subconscious feelings of guilt. Raskolnikov is ... detached from the...

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• Grade Level: High School

By the end of Dostoyesky's Crime and Punishment, the reader is no longer under the illusion of the possible existence of "extraordinary" men. For an open-minded reader, and even perhaps the closed-minded ones too, the book is a journey through Raskolnikov's proposed theory on crime. It is a theory based on the ... more selfish philosophy focused on the rights to power which allowed one to act in a Hegelian manner. In committing his crime, Raskolnikov experienced the ultimate punishment as he realized that his existence was not that of the "extraordinary" man presented in his theory. In chapt...

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• Grade Level: Undergraduate

By the end of Dostoyesky's Crime and Punishment, the reader is no longer under the illusion of the possible existence of "extraordinary" men. For an open-minded reader, and even perhaps the closed-minded ones too, the book is a journey through Raskolnikov's proposed theory on crime. It is a theory based on the ... more selfish philosophy focused on the rights to power which allowed one to act in a Hegelian manner. In committing his crime, Raskolnikov experienced the ultimate punishment as he realized that his existence was not that of the "extraordinary" man presented in his theory. In chap...

• Word Count: 751
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• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... anarchy. Dostoevsky shows Porfiry opposed to both the legal and the moral transgressions of Raskolnikov's crime. He isn't that interested in putting the criminal behind bars; instead, he's committed to getting Raskolnikov to admit the error of his ways. He embodies Dostoevsky's theme that punishment imposed on a criminal does little good if the man himself rejects his own guilt. ... In addition, Dostoevsky further elaborates Raskolnikov's character by introducing his similarities to Porfiry. Porfiry is the only character that is Raskolnikov's intellectual equal and therefore understands ...

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• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... could murder, a madman, guilt, superiority, and alienation all have in common? They all are pawns that play much bigger roles by coming together to form the themes behind Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky. All these things and more are the backing for the different themes encompassed in the book. One such theme is that of superiority. Superiority is the trigger ... flees him and he becomes vulnerable. His mind becomes open to second-guessing and sorrow. Another of the themes pertaining to the psychological state of a criminal after a crime has been committed is alienation. When...

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... motif of the need of suffering is used throughout the novel to produce the book's theme: great suffering leads to salvation and the expiation of man's sins. In Crime and Punishment, several characters undergo much pain and personal anguish. Rodion Romanovitch Raskolnikov and Katerina Ivanovna Marmeladov are two characters in the novel that undergo suffering and inner turmoil. Both these characters ... suffer throughout the novel in many different fashions but the effects of their suffering are the same. Raskolnikov's suffering has a direct relationship with his guilt over his crime. It ...

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• Grade Level: High School

... 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, ... 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 desc...

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... . Emily wrote "Much madness I divinest sense/ To a discerning eye" which holds true for writers of all types in the past, present and future. The same stands for Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, where the lead character, Rodion Raskolnikov, demonstrates multiple stages of craziness but when examined by the a sensible reader his actions seem to be profound logic. As the novel begins Raskolnikov ... allows him to atone for his crimes; Sonya embodies his need for suffering and redemption. Raskolnikov's madness not only drives the plot but rather is the plot itself for Dostievsky's ...

• Word Count: 876
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• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... . Emily wrote "Much madness I divinest sense/ To a discerning eye" which holds true for writers of all types in the past, present and future. The same stands for Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, where the lead character, Rodion Raskolnikov, demonstrates multiple stages of craziness but when examined by the a sensible reader his actions seem to be profound logic. As the novel begins Raskolnikov ... allows him to atone for his crimes; Sonya embodies his need for suffering and redemption. Raskolnikov's madness not only drives the plot but rather is the plot itself for Dostievsky's ...

• Word Count: 856
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

A highly used theme in the book crime and punishment is alienation. Raskolnikov alienates himself from society because he feels as if he is "superior" to others. He feels as if he doesn't need to relate ... him of the murders. According to Raskolnikov's theory, he thought the reason he committed the crime was because he thought he as superior. After! committing the crime, he became ill, either the crime commited makes you become ill, or illness makes you commit the crime. Raskolnikov thought he was helping the society by his right to eliminate unneeded people. But ... from his delirium. Towa...

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• Grade Level: High School

A highly used theme in the book crime and punishment is alienation. Raskolnikov alienates himself from society because he feels as if he is "superior" to others. He feels as if he doesn't need to relate ... him of the murders. According to Raskolnikov's theory, he thought the reason he committed the crime was because he thought he as superior. After committing the crime, he became ill, either the crime commited makes you become ill, or illness makes you commit the crime. Raskolnikov thought he was helping the society by his right to eliminate unneeded people. But ... from his delirium. Towar...

• Word Count: 935
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• Grade Level: High School

... to step over a corpse or wade through blood, he can, I maintain, find himself, in his conscience, a sanction for wading through blood- With these words, Dostoevsky, author of Crime and Punishment, gives the reader a clear look at the type of ideas which fill the mind of his main character. Raskolnikov, the protagonist, sums up his overtaking beliefs in this quote that ... himself, and isolated from his fellows that he dreaded meeting, not only his landlady, but anyone at all." Raskolnikov's feelings of superiority made him loath social interactions. After the crime, guilt replaced superio...

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Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment is the story of a poor man in Russia who mentally destroys himself of his guilt through pain and suffering. It analyzes the mental and physical conflicts brought upon himself by his crime. His complications are put together by the conflicting personalities which he shows. The reader is encouraged to characterize him by his cold, ravenous side. Yet, without the warm ... of Raskolnikov being told in the novel, the reader can only see him as an evil murderer, and not an mislead victim, as Dostoevsky tries to show. In the novel Crime and Punishment, Raskolnikov s...

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Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment is a novel about the psychological exploration of the protagonist, Raskolnikov. Initially, Raskolnikov's conflict is whether or not he should murder the pawnbroker. After the crime is committed, his conflict becomes whether or not he should confess and return to society. These two compelling differences pull Raskolnikov's mind in different directions, which enlightens the novel. The ... Sonia gives Raskolnikov before he goes to the police station to confess is another symbol. In Catholicism, the cross symbolizes Jesus" self-sacrifice for his follower...

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Max Rametta October 18, 2002 Dr. David Sauer English 123 Frank vs. McKenna The novel Crime and Punishment, by Feodor Dostoevsky, depicts the moral dilemmas of Raskolnikov after he commits a heinous crime by murdering two innocent people. Two critics, Joseph Frank and George McKenna, have pondered whether or not ... stressed the right of a superior individual to act independently for the welfare of humanity" (Frank 572). Raskolnikov believed his actions would benefit the poverty, crime-stricken community in which he lived. He believed that the crimes he committed were not necessarily crimes, b...

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In Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, Dostoevsky explores the psychological aspects involved in criminal investigation and its effects on criminals. He focuses not on the actual murders, but instead on the way the murders force the main character to deal with tormenting guilt. By shifting the focus, Dostoevsky suggests that guilt can destroy the human psyche worse than any punishment by the hands of ... shares some of her qualities in stating, "I am perhaps viler and more loathsome than the louse I killed." Thorough the use of such strong self-hatred, Dostoevsky suggests that the actua...

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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

In Crime and Punishment, by Fyodor Dostoevsky, there is a wide array of characters ranging from major and very important to the plot to minor and has almost no importance to the story. For example, ... impoverished person in St. Petersburg. If everyone who was poor was in Raskolnikov's situation, they would all do the same thing, but in a different way. The novel shows the poverty, crime, and isolation of a city and one man's attempt to change the society forever....

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... be killed; yet Raskolnikov finds himself trying to find a reason why she was killed too. The obvious one for me is that he did not want any witnesses to the crime, yet Raskolnikov only thinks of her death after he has exhausted reasons for the pawnbroker's death. The second and most obvious reason for murdering the pawnbroker is to get money ... not Raskolnikov remains uncaught or the police nail him down to the murders. However, I believe that both possibilities will have the same result. The police will probably kill Raskolnikov as punishment for his crime, or Raskolnikov's mind will ...

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... right and wrong, as sacrifice is usually letting go of something important in order to do what is right. Sacrifice literally means to sell or give away at a loss. In Crime and Punishment, many characters gave something away that left them at a loss but also may have helped them in the long run. Sacrifice is shown as a necessity through the characters of ... order to give her peace of mind. This sacrifice helped Pulcheria because she would have worried far too much if she had known what was happening to Raskolnikov and the crime that he commited. Lastly at the end of the novel, Raskolnik...

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Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment is the story of a poor man in czarist Russia who can only purge himself of his guilt through suffering. It deals with the mental and physical tribulation brought upon him by his crime. His troubles are compounded by the conflicting personalities, which he possesses. You are inclined to characterize him by his cold, intellectual side. Yet, without the contrasting humane ... ...

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• Grade Level: High School

Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment is the story of a poor man living in Russia named Rodion Raskolnikov. There are two different sides to his personality he is both kind and generous, and cold and unemotional ... mainly on his conflicting personality which he possesses. Raskolnikov's cold side leads him to develop his theory, that there are super men and these men have a right to commit any crime if they have something of worth to offer humanity. This side of him bases all decisions on reason and rationalization (although it is sometimes incorrect), rather than on feeling. It ... ...

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... be a man." This quote is from a letter that Dostoevsky sent to his brother at the age of eighteen. The quote shows the mindset of the author. This mystery is what Crime and Punishment is about. Dostoevsky reveals this mystery through guilt. He shows that almost everybody has a sense of guilt. This guilt will not let you get away with the ... extraordinary man theory seemed to be a scapegoat for himself. There was not a really big need for the pawn-broker to be killed. She was not really hurting anyone. "In Crime and Punishment Raskolnikov constructed his whole theory of the extraordinar...

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In the novel Crime and Punishment, the so-called "extraordinary man" theory plays an important role. Raskolnikov, downtrodden, and psychologically battered, believes himself to be exempt from the laws of ordinary men. It is this creedo ... can look at it from both the Hegelian and Neitzschean point of view. For the first five sections of Crime and Punishment, Raskolnikov takes a Hegelian view of his crime. He convinces himself that he killed Alyona Ivanovna because she was a bloodsucking leach on the body of the poor. Raskolnikov believes he is doing mankind a service by removing the dishone...

• Word Count: 643
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• Grade Level: High School