Raskolnikov's State of Mind

314 Words2 Pages
Crime and Punishment written by Dostoyevsky portrays the moral dilemmas and mental torment of Raskolnikov, who is an ex-student in St. Petersburg. He comes from a family of a dependent mother and marriage-like sister whose responsibilities and duties as the only son and brother come upon Raskolnikov. Raskolnikov has some very ordinary human qualities such as he’s intelligent, compassionate and caring. However he can’t be assumed ordinary because he has a notion of nihilism in his mind, he suffers from the “Napoleon dilemma”. He considers himself “superman”, above the human race, beyond the society he lives in. He feels no human connection to his surroundings. The setting of the Raskolnikov’s also places a negative influence, doesn’t allow him to think positively. In the beginning of the story, Raskolnikov formulates and executes a plan to kill an mean pawnbroker, who just sits on all this wealth while there are so many needy around her. He performs the perfect crime with no witnesses and any evidences. Soon after the murder he starts to suffer from guilt and internal conflict and pressure. We begin to witness the dual personalities of the protagonist. At times he’s compassionate and weak who feels the strong urge to confess and be punished for his bad deed. But the other personality dominates his conscience by justifying his actions by the concept of being superman. He thinks the human made ethical and moral codes don’t apply to him. He’s feels it is up to him to diminish such a creature as the pawnbroker lady from the face of earth as he is allowed to make such decisions as it has higher purpose of existence. He’s mostly surrounded by poverty, drunks, prostitution, etc. The Russian word raskolnik the word his name is derived from means “divided,” which is appropriate since his most fundamental character trait is his alienation from human
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