Dostoevsky

John Vanderpool

Dostoevsky Essay

Fydor Dostoevsky’s novel Crime and Punishment, written in 1866, focuses on the themes of death, guilt, greed, and human emotions which he portrays in the protagonist Raskolnikov. Dostoevsky was born into a wealthy Russian family with a strict moral code. It is apparent in his writings that Dostoevsky was brought up with a love for mankind and through Raskolnikov, the main character in Crime and Punishment, Dostoevsky shows how horrendous humanity can become. Both Dostoevsky and his character Raskolnikov seem to share similar personality traits. The author and character both embody compassionate and caring qualities. Dostoevsky shows, with the aid of his novel, how much humanity is flawed because Raskolnikov is distorted from a kind considerate man into a cold-blooded killer.

In the first chapter of Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment the reader is introduced to Rodion Romanovitch Raskolnikov, a young man renting a room in St. Petersburg. From the start of the novel the author makes it glaringly clear that Raskolnikov is deeply impoverished. He goes to an old woman who is living in St. Petersburg as a pawn-broker. He comes to her selling a silver pocket-watch; she reminds him that he hasn’t redeemed his previous pledge. Because of this, she takes a hefty chunk out of his payment for the watch. Money is extremely tight for Raskolnikov so naturally he is very upset with Alonya telling her that he will be back with a silver cigarette case. Throughout the book the reader sees many sides to Raskolnikov. The desperate side of Raskolnikov is the part of him that does not relate with Dostoevsky. Dostoevsky was born into a rich family. Although money was not a problem his home life was a rough one and so he gained a tight bond with his brother Mikhail (Toutonghi). Although Dostoevsky did not know quite how an impoverished young man would feel, he did have an understanding of the depression that Raskolnikov feels through the novel.

In the second chapter of the novel the reader is faced with one of Raskolnikov’s other personalities. He goes to a tavern to use some of the money he just got from the old woman. While in this tavern Raskolnikov meets a man, Marmeladov. Marmeladov is obviously very drunk, and while Raskolnikov talks with him he finds out that he was married to a widow named Katerina Ivanovna. She has had three children before the marriage and the marriage was going fine for awhile until Marmeladov lost his job and turned to liquor. To make up for the loss of income Marmeladov’s daughter from his first marriage, Sonia, leaves to become a prostitute. He had gotten a stroke of luck when he got his job back but the call of the bottle had caused him to leave his family for five days with the money that his wife was saving. Hearing this Raskolnikov convinces him to return to his family. He takes Marmeladov back to his house where he is berated by his wife. Not wanting to instigate anything, Raskolnikov leaves but not before placing some money on the windowsill. While he walks home he thinks about Sonia and the decadence of humanity. This is one of the sides that Raskolnikov shares with Dostoevsky. Mankind’s flaws are the central ideas behind the majority of his novels. It is this compassion in Raskolnikov that conflicts with his decisions later on in the novel.

In the third chapter Raskolnikov receives a letter from his mother. It tells him that his sister has found a wealthy suitor named Luzhin and that they will be able to pay for his studies and maybe even get him a job at Luzhin’s office. After reading this he begins to walk the streets in distress. He believes that his sister is only marrying Luzhin to help his financial problems. He then begins to hate Luzhin as he thinks of Sonia’s similar situation.