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From the beginning of the novel, readers are made aware of the power of guilt both within the novel as a theme as well as in the mind of Raskonikov, a representation of a guilty conscience. What is odd, however, is that the act that causes the guilt is not only premeditated, but intricately planned and discussed within Raskolnikov’s mind. This not only demonstrates the main character’s obvious mental instability, but it raises doubt about the guilt in question. Having thought through the murder of the old pawn lady in such a detailed manner, the question of why Raskolnikov feels guilty cannot help but come into mind. After all, he visited the scene of the crime several times before the actual murder, decided how actually it would happen, and eventually stated he would “‘Kill her and take her money, so that afterwards with its help you can devote yourself to the service of all mankind and the common cause(66)”. The full magnitude of what he has actually just done, meaning the murder, has clearly not been solidified in Raskolnikov’s mind just quite yet, not nearly as much as it will in later portions of the book. At the beginning of the novel, the deranged Raskolnikov is still trying to tell himself that what he did was the right thing to do. Whether readers agree that the old pawn lady is an innocent bystander of a lunatic’s rathe or a greedy individual who had it coming from someone else if not Raskolnikov, surely it can be agreed upon that murder may not be the best of methods to deal with the problem. Raskolnikov, however, still tries to convince himsel of thise, assumably to offset the guilt that would soon destroy his life saying “Of course, she doesn’t deserve to be alive(66).” By making this statement, Raskolnikov demonstrates to readers that he still has a relatively strong grasp on what he is actually doing, meaning that had he been in a murder trial at this instant in the book, he most likely would have been found guilty for the murder as it was premeditated by a well-spoken, clearly intelligent Raskolnikov whose mental state has yet to fall into a state of delusion. Later points in the story, however, would surely result in a different verdict. Undoubtedly the trial would still find Raskolnikov guilty of the murder, but the jurors would plainly see a deranged lunatic who killed for no reason as they would be incapable to tell that it was truly the guilt that made Raskolnikov into this entirely different person, much different than the country student trying to make it in St. Petersburg that he presented himself at the commencement of the novel.