done.

Davis Knaub

Monday, May 5, 2014

Mr. Shapiro

“Crime and Punishment” Term Paper

It is without a question that the most powerful forces in our society are the forces that lie within our very own minds. These forces, much like a parasite on a self-inflicting victim, grow exponentially until they entirely consume their hosts’ lives. It is a demonstration of guilt in the classic “Crime and Punishment” that illustrates this idea to the fine point as the novel documents one seemingly ordinary man’s descent into madness after inflicting himself with a guilty conscience. From various states of delusion to ultimate confession, Raskolnikov from Doystoyevsky's "Crime and Punishment" is driven to various mental states throughout the novel illustrating the raw power of guilt as it consumes a person's mind. 

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 (Dostoyevsky 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(Dostoyevsky 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. 

  A surprising fact about this book is the fact that the “crime” occurs so early in the novel. The rest of the book, Raskolnikov suffering from what he has done, is the “punishment”. The type of punishment that Raskolnikov occurs seems to surprise many as well. More than likely, most authors would have had the character commit the crime, and then the rest of the novel be a depiction of him or her evading the authorities or perhaps their time incarcerated. All of these choices Fyodor Dostoevsky made essentially boil down the same concept that runs the majority of the novel, guilt. After all, almost the entire novel is focused on the effects that guilt has on the character solidifying the idea that Dostoyevsky thought it was a relevant topic. Readers slowly start to see the guilt sink in at first, and then realize a few pages later how far Raskolnikov has truly come. Initially, it is easy to think that he is just losing his mind or even mentally ill, but the idea how or why all of this is happening to him eventually comes across a reader’s mind. The most obvious answer is guilt. All of the scenarios that Raskolnikov initially showed his progression into delusion are related with this guilt. Whenever anybody mentions anything about the crime, he is virtually incapable of remaining calm like one would think he should do. He instantaneously becomes fidgety, uncomfortable, and begins speaking of nonsense. At several points in the story, in fact, Raskolnikov even loses consciousness and falls to the ground. This evokes feelings of pity towards Raskolnikov as it shows that he, under it all, is truthfully just a scared kid plagued with a few very serious mental disorders. Having that image of a scared kid is important in being able to compare Raskolnikov from his life a year earlier. He was described as a young, intelligent man trying to support himself in the big city, but hopelessly in debt to his land lady despite tutoring children to bring in extra income aside from his studies. Seeing that a person, and this person, a relatively successful and level-headed young many, can fall this far from reality partially from the role that guilt played in his mind is astonishing. It helps to convey the raw power of the mind and what it can do to harm its host. Despite from being delirious and passing out in several instances, Raskolnikov is notably a much meaner character than he was before the crime. The letter that Raskolnikov receives from his family about his sister’s engagement sets him into pure fury as he berates them out loud. There is no way that news of this kind could provoke this type of reaction from a mentally stable individual, an individual trying to cope with some serious problem in their life; guilt. 

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 (Dostoyevsky 217).” 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. 

The pinnacle of the novel appears to occur towards the very end of the plot. After all that readers have witnessed, Raskolnikov fighting furiously to overcome his own guilty conscience, it ends in a way that was truly surprising. As previously mentioned, the entire concept of the title “Crime and Punishment” indicates that there, at some point, will be some punishment for Raskolnikov. Readers are left in the dark in this aspect as this novel ends with what appears to be the end of Raskolnikov’s punishment as well. A literary epiphany of sorts occurs during the latter portion of this novel. After his episodes of coming in and out of consciousness intensify into long periods of black-outs where he cannot remember anything, Raskolnikov finally comes to the realization that he can no longer continue living his life the way he has been living it the past several months, run by the power of guilt. Making his way to the police station, Raskolnikov finally admits the crime to Sonya, who urges him to do something peculiar. She tells Raskolnikov that in order to find salvation for his sins, he is going to need to admit his crimes with a public declaration at a historic crossing of roads in town. This brings up the idea on how one can get rid of guilt. Readers can see from this novel that guilt is an incredibly powerful force that cannot be ridded with ease. Raskolnikov forgiving himself silently is not a powerful enough act to overcome the hold of guilt, instead he must publicly declare his guilt, an act that emasculates him, in order to gain control over his life once again. 

This novel undoubtadly teachers a powerful lesson. The power that guilt has on a person is something that can truly not be matched by any outside force. Once it creeps itself into the self-inflicting victim’s mind, it is there to stay until it conquers its host entirely. Much like a parasite, guilt grows and grows until it entirely disables the body it is living in. Raskolnikov, like any guilty person, cannot get rid of this guilt until he is finally able to make one powerful observation; the guilt is much stronger than he will ever be. It is only after this point that a person, like Raskolnikov, can begin to repair their tainted lives and the damage that the guilt and the cause of the guilt have caused. 

Dostoyevsky, Fyodor. Crime and Punishment. . Reprint. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Christian Classics Ethereal Library, 1999. Print.