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Dostoevsky

            Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky's life was dark and dramatic as his novels were. His father's drunken brutality led to his murder by his own serfs. At the age of 28 he was imprisoned for alleged subversion against Tsar Nicholas. He was in prison for ten years. While in prison he made many changes in his philosophies and it was greatly shown in his novels. "Man is a mystery. If you spend your entire life puzzling it out then do not say you have wasted your time. I occupy myself with this because I want to 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 crime. This information brings me to a statement that I feel reflects the entire novel. Through pain and suffering, guilt will bring confession. Knowledge of crime or bad deeds lead to guilt. " I was not delirious, I knew what I was doing," he cried straining. "I was quite myself do you hear?" (Dostoevsky 310) This quote shows that Raskolnikov knew what he was doing and that he was guilty. Even through his extraordinary man theory he knows that he had done wrong. He would like to believe that he was in the right but in the back of his mind he knows that he is in the wrong. "Good God, am I going out of my senses?"(Dostoevsky 130) This shows that he doesn't know what is happening to himself. He thought that he would have no remorse for this crime but he came out with a lot of guilt. 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 extraordinary man for one purpose only, to justify in his own eyes a quick and easy way for profit.


Essays Related to Dostoevsky

1. A Gentle Creature by Dostoevsky

... from a typical fairytale, revealing the end of the story to the reader. The narrator then begins the story as a long flashback. Dostoevsky in his introduction explains that the story is mean to be read as if, "A stenographer could have overhead him and taken down his words in ... trust. It was on a whim for the pawnbroker. "Revenging myself on society" was how he said people might describe his actions. (Dostoevsky 679) Every single conversation he had while she frequented his store, his marriage proposal, and when he got her to sing to him were all small ... this however. After he reali...

  • Word Count: 546
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Has Bibliography

2. Morrison's and Dostoevsky's Word Choice

... the politicians in Morrison's lecture, the idea of inclusion versus exclusion is apparent in the novella, Notes from the Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky, as well. Dostoevsky takes this crude and radically expressive man, known as the underground man, and makes him into the narrator of the piece. Within the ... first sections of the work, the underground man appears to be rude, condescending and someone that most readers cannot identify with. However, Dostoevsky begins to submerge the reader into the piece through the human principles of conformity and exclusion, just as Morrison's poli...

  • Word Count: 1711
  • Approx Pages: 7
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

3. Dostoevsky's Revolutionary Hero

... The fictional author of Dostoevsky's Notes From Underground claims that he has all the traits of the anti-hero. He torments others out of spite; he is weak, petty, and spineless. ... Meaning, explains that "voluntary movement toward the good would mean reintegration of cast-off material, voluntary incorporation of what is indigestible" (pg. 332). I think this is hat Dostoevsky's character is attempting to do in the second half of this novel. He has decided to confront the memories that he was afraid of, and do so with complete ... undergo a second initiation suffer more deeply and prof...

  • Word Count: 1484
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Has Bibliography

4. Fyodor Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov

Fyodor Dostoevsky's "The Brothers Karamazov" When answering to Ivan's challenge, first I must put myself in Alyosha's position. Since Alyosha is a devout Christian, he should understand that every Christian should act and think ... ...

  • Word Count: 1001
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: High School

5. crime and punishment

... and Punishment brought about a new era of Russian literature, Realism. Crime and Punishment replaced the elegant style of Romanticism with fictional realism, depicting individual behavior and human development. Dostoevsky's pragmatic approach to writing influenced twentieth-century literature by portraying social and political realities. The novel's main character, Raskolnikov, a poverty-stricken young, haughty man, was a former ... the murder to Porfiry Petrovitch. Ironically, Raskolnikov is punished more from his emotional suffering than he is punished in prison where he undergoes spir...

  • Word Count: 1662
  • Approx Pages: 7
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

6. The Divine Trinity

... dove, the voice as God the Father, and Jesus as the Son of God. In the novel Crime and Punishment by Fydor Dostoevsky, Dostoevsky utilizes three unlikely characters to portray this same image of the Holy Trinity. The author chooses seemingly morally corrupt and flawed individuals to ... paralleled to the love that God has for his children. Razumikhin demonstrates his father-like characteristics by showing love through offering safety and guidance. Dostoevsky makes it clear that Razumikhin is a significant character for a reason. Razumikhin will play an important role as the Father becaus...

  • Word Count: 1936
  • Approx Pages: 8
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

7. Crime and Punishment - Signifi

... of his thoughts inward where he constantly retracts and contradicts every thought in his mind, providing him with a torturous and inexhaustible annoyance. On the very first page of his novel, Dostoevsky even states that Raskolnikov's living space "was more like a cupboard than a room" (1). This description can be perceived as a direct metaphor to Raskolnikov's state of mind after committing the murder - all ... is also in his tomb where Porfiry Petrovitch, a detective, discloses that he knows Raskolnikov is indeed the murderer; Raskolnikov's insane personality then "dies" upon hearing t...

  • Word Count: 1326
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

8. Crime and Punishment - Significant Themes, Etc.

... of his thoughts inward where he constantly retracts and contradicts every thought in his mind, providing him with a torturous and inexhaustible annoyance. On the very first page of his novel, Dostoevsky even states that Raskolnikov's living space "was more like a cupboard than a room" (1). This description can be perceived as a direct metaphor to Raskolnikov's state of mind after committing the murder - all ... is also in his tomb where Porfiry Petrovitch, a detective, discloses that he knows Raskolnikov is indeed the murderer; Raskolnikov's insane personality then "dies" upon hearing t...

  • Word Count: 1258
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

9. Psychoanalysis in Crime and Punishment

... flung up everything, and would have gone to give himself up, and not from fear, but from simple horror and loathing of what he had done." With this emotional torment, Dostoevsky shows the weakness of Raskolnikov's emotional stability. As a detective, Porfiry Petrovitch understands that criminals overcome with guilt have few options. The wrath of mental torture forces a criminal to ... either confess or go insane. Porfiry employs specific investigatory tools in the interrogation of Raskolnikov. As the story develops, Dostoevsky allows Petrovitch to launch psychological attacks on with in ...

  • Word Count: 1005
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

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