Wendell Pfeffer
4/6/14
Term Paper part 1
Wendell Pfeffer
4/6/14
Term Paper part 1
The sheer power of guilt can be chaotic to the human brain, however in Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment Raskolnikovs change in character is not driven solely by pure guilt but by the possibility of being physically punished as well. The psychology of why Raskolnikov ever committed the murder in the first place relates to the concept of tablerosa. Although each and every human is born with a clean slate or tablerosa we have always had a tendency to commit to doing violent things. We find pleasure from killing, hurting and destroying things. Since the beginning of our time each and every human has fulfilled this desire of violence through war and fighting etc. Now even though we have evolved into more sophisticated human beings violence is still brought up through common sports such as football, soccer, and MMA etc. Don’t get me wrong war is still a common thing in our time but the reasons aren’t sufficient. Back then men went to war to save their home country from extermination not corrupt politicians.
Going back to nineteenth century Russia, Raskolnikov thought that he was wasting his time and thought that he needed to do something that benefitted everyone. He believed that he can make society a better place if he gets rid of the pawnbroker lady. The pawnbroker lady had been basically stealing poor peoples possession’s by offering an incredibly low price. A price that seemed incredibly unfair for the seller but suitable for her. She had no feelings of contempt for the lower classes coming to her door and selling their items. Raskolnikov was one of her victims and he felt cheated. Knowing that her death will create a positive atmosphere among his society he feels it is okay to kill her. Raskolnikov kills her but does so without a clear conscious. He doesn’t think about the possible consequences to his actions. The reason for this also lies behind the idea that I discussed earlier about the psychology of the human brain. Yes the pawnbroker lady was screwing him and everyone else over but the main concept here lies behind our natural behavior. He killed her because he had the desire to do so. If he didn’t have such a great desire to commit a violence act then he would have thought out the consequences to the crime he was about to commit. Raskolnikov didn’t do that and thus when he committed the murder realized the seriousness of his position. He didn’t know exactly what was going to happen to him following the crime and worse didn’t know what his friends and family were going to think of him. All he knew was that the outcome was not going to be good if he was found guilty of the murders. As a result this put him into a state of desperation. He kept thinking over the details of the crime hoping that there wasn’t any evidence to convict him. Unfortunately, Raskolnikov couldn’t take it and thus was left delirious while lying in bed for a good couple of days.
Going back to nineteenth century Russia, Raskolnikov thought that he was wasting his time and thought that he needed to do something that benefitted everyone. He believed that he can make society a better place if he gets rid of the pawnbroker lady. The pawnbroker lady had been basically stealing poor peoples possession’s by offering an incredibly low price. A price that seemed incredibly unfair for the seller but suitable for her. She had no feelings of contempt for the lower classes coming to her door and selling their items. Raskolnikov was one of her victims and he felt cheated. Knowing that her death will create a positive atmosphere among his society he feels it is okay to kill her. Raskolnikov kills her but does so without a clear conscious. He doesn’t think about the possible consequences to his actions. The reason for this also lies behind the idea that I discussed earlier about the psychology of the human brain. Yes the pawnbroker lady was screwing him and everyone else over but the main concept here lies behind our natural behavior. He killed her because he had the desire to do so. If he didn’t have such a great desire to commit a violence act then he would have thought out the consequences to the crime he was about to commit. Raskolnikov didn’t do that and thus when he committed the murder realized the seriousness of his position. He didn’t know exactly what was going to happen to him following the crime and worse didn’t know what his friends and family were going to think of him. All he knew was that the outcome was not going to be good if he was found guilty of the murders. As a result this put him into a state of desperation. He kept thinking over the details of the crime hoping that there wasn’t any evidence to convict him. Unfortunately, Raskolnikov couldn’t take it and thus was left delirious while lying in bed for a good couple of days.
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