Finito

Wendell Pfeffer

Term Paper –Crime and Punishment

5/4/14

 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.

           

After Raskolnikov committed the murders his character completely changes as he thinks over the consequences to his actions. He recounts over the whole process from the beginning to the end of the murder and even obsesses over the incredibly small details. This is to make sure that he didn’t leave a trace of evidence that can directly be brought back to him. Still though even after making sure that everything was okay he enters a state of paranoia as he makes up wrong occurrences in his head that never even happened. This is when Raskolnikov really begins to fear for his freedom as an individual. He does not want to spend the rest of his life in a Siberian prison and thus becomes delirious, sick and mentally ill. This forces him to spend the next few days in bed. At the time when I was reading Crime and Punishment I was a little bit perplexed to find out how people were not realizing that Raskolnikov was the one responsible for committing the murders. I mean two people are killed and on the same day a well-known client of the victim becomes sick and lies on a bed incapable of functioning, it’s evident that there was something wrong here. People simply were just helping him and hoping that he would get better. I mean I understand the people’s point of view and how they must of thought that Raskolnikov would never do such a thing, but it’s obvious! Instead of realizing and putting Raskolnikov under bars they blamed the entirety of the crime on the painter. Porfiry on the other hand in my opinion was the only intelligent person here because he was the only one that became suspicious of Raskolnikov when he was in bed. While he was sleeping he searched his whole apartment for clues or anything that might lead to the crime. Unfortunately he found nothing, but the main point here is that out of everyone he was the only one that was able to determine who was the actual person responsible for the crime. 

            The internal remorse and fear of being punished is really taking a toll on Raskolnikov. His character, physical appearance, and state of mind have all degraded immensely. Every time he hears information about the murder his face turns pale and becomes extremely insecure. He also begins to act in a strange manner making it seem really obvious that he did something wrong. His mind and body cannot seem to rest until he truly believes that he is safe from prosecution.

           

            It isn’t out of the norm for a human being to act violently towards another in a natural environment, but in a modern society that behavior is quelled to an extent with laws and punishments. If a person adheres and acts in their natural behavior they will be severely punished if caught. Unfortunately for Raskolnikov these punishments have become a reality because he acted within his own natural behavior. He killed Lizaveta and the old pawnbroker lady and can now be possibly thrown into a Siberian prison for the rest of this life. The idea of being locked up separate from his family and friends is really causing Raskolnikov to live with fear. He is trying his best to conceal this fear but it hasn’t been going well for him. Every time he is with people he asks questions about the murder in a strange way almost making it seem that he was the one that committed them. I understand what Raskolnikov is trying to do here. He wants to let people know that he doesn’t know anything about the murder and instead wants to make it seem that he is eager to find out the details to the crime. But instead of accomplishing this, people are now somewhat contemplating the reasons behind his erratic behavior. This type of behavior is demonstrated when Raskolnikov goes and retrieves his personal items from Porfiry. It was suppose to be a quick and easy encounter with the chief of police, but instead turned into a bad scenario. Raskolnikov turned pale and made it apparent that he did something wrong. As a result Porfiry became suspicious and began to question him indirectly about the murder. The sole purpose of those questions were to see if he would react naturally to them but he unfortunately did not. In the end Porfiry justifications were solidified and Raskolnikov state of mind worsened. Raskolnikov now realized that he was in trouble because the person in charge of the crime now thinks that he is the culprit. I don’t know why Raskolnikov decided to visit Porfiry. Raskolnikov knew that his physical state was in bad condition but yet decides to visit the person that could land him in jail. Things could have gone much differently for Raskolnikov if he hadn’t done this or if he acted naturally. Porfiry could have ignored Raskolnikov or maybe could have wrongfully blamed someone else for the crime. Another thing that interested me in this section was Razumkhin. When Raskolnikov asked him if he would accompany him to Porfirys to retrieve his items he surprisingly accepted in a repeated strange fashion. I know Razumkhin and Raskolnikov are friends but it seemed as if he wanted his best friend to be caught.

            After the encounter with Porfiry Raskolnikovs state of mind has worsened. His strange and unnatural behavior really made it clear to Porfiry that he is guilty and as a result becomes restless. Raskolnikov is now trying to find ways to escape persecution. He even considers moving to the United States to start a new life but the love he has for his family and friends are preventing him from doing so. So instead of leaving Raskolnikov has decided to stick around and continue on with his normal routine. I know this might seem good but in turn his presence has made it fairly easy for Porfiry to continue on studying him, specifically his behavior.

            After a series of days pass Raskonikov gets called into Porfirys office for questioning. What was supposed to be a quick and calm encounter between the two turned into a complete nightmare. This was due to Porfirys strategy when encountering Raskolnikov. Instead of going straight to the point with the murder he would just talk about things that did not pertain to the crime for a good couple of minutes. The reason Porfiry did this was because he wanted Raskolnikov to feel frustrated and anxious to such a degree so that he would confess to the murders. He didn’t confess but instead demonstrated his guilt profusely. Porfiry even tells Raskolnikov that “he couldn’t give himself away more then he already has” (Crime and Punishment 334). At this point in time Raskolnikov came to the conclusion that he was going to be thrown into prison. He had already basically given himself up and was ready to face the charges. But right when he was about to leave Porfirys office something strange happened. A man named Nikolai falsely confesses to the murders. Porfiry as a result felt so confused that he looked at both Raskolnikov and Nikolai in a strange manner. Raskolnikov on the other hand now believes that now he won’t get charged for the murders and thus he feels a sense of rejuvenation within himself. He now doesn’t have to worry about spending the rest of his life in a prison that is secluded from everyone he knows. This sense of relief however did not last as a few days later Porfiry comes and visits Raskolnikov and tells him that he is the one that committed the murders. Raskolnikov denies the claims but it serves no use, Porfiry already knows that he is the true killer.  Nikolai’s confession to the murders only gave Raskolnikov a few more days of freedom. At the end of their conversation Porfiry leaves Raskolnikov with two choices and that is to either confess to the murders and receive a lighter punishment or wait until Porfiry has enough evidence to convict Raskolnikov and have him serve the full and extensive penalty that he deserves. Porfiry thus leaves Raskolnikvs in a questionable state. Raskolnikov thinks he should confess to the murders in order to receive a lighter punishment, but at the same time he wants to remain a free man. The problem with keeping his freedom is that it will probably be only for a couple of days and his punishment will become worse. So with Sonya’s help he confesses to the murders. The only reason Raskolnikov confesses is because he would receive a lighter punishment then if he would wait. This shows how Raskolnikov never really cared for the people he killed. All he really cared about was himself and his fate. The aftermath of his crime would have gone much smoother if he knew that there wouldn’t be any sort of punishment afterwards.

Works Cited:

Dostoyevsky, F., & Garnett, C. (199). Crime and punishment. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Christian Classics Ethereal Library.