Term Paper outline

    Someone's mental state can be concluded based on his or her actions. In Dostoyevsky's  Crime and Punishment, Raskolnikov's mental state can be defined based off of his actions. The murder Raskolnikov commits has a major psychological impact on him.

1. Before the murder
      a. Raskolnikov overthinks every single detail of how the murder is suppose to happen
      b. Raskolnikov dreams of various scenarios that match how he actually kills Alyona
      c. He believes that he is doing something that will benefit the whole of society instead of doing                   harm
2.  The murder
     a. Raskolnikov starts to second guess himself as he gets closer to committing the murder
     b. As he waits for Alyona to answer the door, fear starts to get the better of Raskolnikov
     c. He starts to delay his actions but somehow he goes into a state of insanity
3. After the murder
     a. For days on end, Raskolnikov seems to be in a delirious state
     b. He secludes himself from others and is constantly sleeping in
     c. He starves himself and refuses help
     d. Guilt starts to take a toll on him
          i. Whenever the murder is brought up, Raskolnikov starts to feel ill
          ii. He tends to faint or become nervous in front of Porfiry and certain people
         iii. Raskolnikov faces a greater punishment than physical punishment; his punishment is his guilt                 clawing away at him
    e. In order to end his guilt Raskolnikov goes into detail about his theories on crime
          i. Someone who is above others in class can get away with committing a crime because they can
          ii. Raskolnikov believes that he is part of the "upper class" of society since he is educated when                 in fact, he is below most people