Term Paper

Soon after Raskolnikov comes to the realization that the guilt is taking over his life in a way that he can no longer function properly, he tries to rid himself of the guilt in several ways. The first of these manners in which Raskolnikov tries to make himself feel less culpable of a clearly cold-blooded murder, is justification of this act. Still not able to admit to anybody else what he has done, a clear indicator that he knows what he has done is not culturally nor morally acceptable, Raskolnikov begins to explain why he committed the crime in the first place. He almost tries to portray himself as a Robin Hood-like character riding the world of one less greedy individual. This brings up a question that readers begin to contemplate throughout the rest of the book, was what Raskolnikov did so wrong? He claims that the old woman was greedy and the money that she made could have fed at least “one hundred hungry families”. On one hand, Raskolnikov is right that that the woman was a greedy individual, but was it his choice to decide how she spent or didn’t spend her money? And if he did not like how she chose to live her life, dis she deserve to die? He clearly knows that what he did was wrong, despite the fact that he tries again and again to justify it. If he didn’t think that there was anything wrong with what he had done, he wouldn’t run from the police, he would be proud of leaving the world with one less curmudgeon, and he without question would not be in the mental state of delusion that he is in for nearly the entire novel. Raskolnikov tries time and time again to prove to himself that what he did was justifiable, but any attempts at convincing himself of this belief appear to be ineffective as he continues throughout the book with delusions of which are seemingly brought on by the heavy burden that guilt brings when it sets itself within a person’s mind. As he begins to come to the realization that what he did was actually wrong, he stops fighting his delusional state. Instead, he almost seems to embrace the fact that he has become psychotic. From what readers can gather when Raskolnikov talks to himself, out loud and in his mind, he seems to be getting worse and worse in terms of mental status. Comparing him with Razumikhin, nearly the exact opposite of Raskolnikov, allows readers to show ow fully this guilt has taken hold of Raskolnikov’s mind. It seems that Razumihkin is a representation of what Raskolnikov once was, and one bad decision has driven him to a point where it is imaginable to think he could have ever been different.