I.
Introduction
a.
Julian Barnes wrote in his novel, The Sense of An Ending, you can base
someone’s actions off of their mental state or you can base their mental state
off of their actions. Therefore, you can analyze someone’s psychological
mindset based upon behavior. In Fydor Dostoyevsky’s classic novel, Crime and Punishment, the main
character’s, Raskolnikov, psychological state can be defined by examining his
character before, during, and after the murders he commits. Due to the
murders taking place, it forced Raskolnikov to go through a psychological
change, leading to burying a piece of himself and accepting who he truly is.
II.
Define Crime & Murder
a.
Legal definition of crime:
i. Crime
1.
“No act is a crime if it has not been previously
established as such either by statute or common law.”- Cornell Law
2.
Classified as felonies or misdemeanors
3.
In order to be convicted for a crime you must
have an element of act (actus raes) and a mental state (mens rea) – Paraphrased
from Cornell Law
ii. Murder
1.
Intestinally causing the death of another person
without extreme provocation/ legal justification
2.
Causing the death of another while committing/
attempting to commit another crime
3.
First Degree murder
a.
Unlawful killing that is both willful and
premeditated
b.
Willful
c.
Deliberate
d.
Premeditated
iii. Voluntary
manslaughter
1.
Intentionally causing the death of another when
acting under extreme provocation
b.
Raskolnikov’s Definition of Crime
i. “because
of some everyday setback or financial difficulty, lets say, or because you
wanted to further the interests of all humanity in some way- to step across an
obstacle?... Well, by robbing and murdering someone, for example?...” (pg. 315)
ii. “The
second category all break the law, are destroyers, or have the tendency that
way, depending on their abilities. The crimes of these people are, of course,
relative and multifarious…. I speak in my article their right to crime.” (pg.
310)
c.
Compare the two
III. Analysis
of Raskolnikov
a.
Dropped out of school
b.
23 years old
c.
Dark and twisted
d.
Antisocial
i. “so
isolated from everyone else, that he was actually afraid of meeting anyone at
all.” (pg. 5)
ii. “but
for some time now he had been in a tense, irritable state of mind that verged
upon hypochondria. So absorbed in himself…” (pg. 5)
e.
Poor
f.
Fearful
i. “morbid
sensation of fear”
g.
Reflective/ Thoughtful
i. Rambles
to himself
ii. Reflects
back to the past a lot
iii. “details,
that matter more than anything else!”
iv. obsessed
with details
v. always
in his head
vi. observant
h.
“ceased to be aware of his surroundings.”
i.
Eager for new information
j.
Does things mechanically
IV.
Crime itself
a.
Crime #1: Alonya
i. Planned/premeditated
(law definitions)
1.
“Rehearsal of undertaking”
ii. Motives
1.
Ways to classify murder
a.
Emotional, social, relgious, ecnomic, political,
motivation (Sohail)
2.
Personal revenge- angered by pawn broker and
took law into own hands instead of reporting
3.
Comes from his head but does not keep anything
iii. Purpose
1.
Feels as if the pawn broker is a waste in
society
2.
Trying to kill off someone who is “a louse” just
like himself
iv. Mental
state
1.
Root name “Raskol” means “split”
a.
Split personality?
b.
Number two frequently used indicating a split
i. Two
murders, two crosses, two months
c.
Razumikhin’s description of Raskolnikov
i. Part
3 chapter 2
ii. Sullen,
gloomy, arrogant, proud, recently insecure, hypochondriac
iii. Kind
but would rather harm than “speak his heart out in words”
iv. “As
if there really were two opposite characters in him, changing places with each
other.”
d.
Part 3 ch. 6
i. Fractured
state of mind
ii. Trapped
in “Napoleonic mind set”
iii. Believing
that only thing that matters is success- feeling anxious because he feels that
the murder was unsuccessful
iv. Feels
that the use of his crime was not able to dismiss the guilt
e.
Loss of state of mind
i. Excessively
cleaning the clothes.
ii. Mind
darkening
iii. Plan
failing, going to pieces
2.
Doing what Fromm says- exhibiting malignant
violence
3.
Rationalizing violent act of murdering Aloyna to
give his crime justification and meaning
4.
Manic depressive illness
a.
“these emotionally disturbed people feel
threatened and attacked” so they feel the need to kill (Sohail)
5.
“Behavior reflects personality”
v. Sequence
of events – logical? Illogical?
1.
Crime scene analysis
a.
“fantasies involvement, psychological reason,
personality left at scene” (Profiling a murder)
b.
“sneaks into home”
c.
Left decapitated body in the middle of the room
d.
Weapon- axe
i. Brought
weapon
ii. Not
weapon of opportunity indicating no positive relationship prior to murder
e.
Kills without thinking
i. Acts
mechanically
vi. Cause/effects
1.
“pushed to the brink by the victim”
V.
Aftermath of crime
a.
Loses his sanity and humanity
b.
Mourns loss of sanity as if lost a loved one
c.
Five stages of loss
i. Denial/
isolation
1.
New feeling that he could no longer address
people
2.
Locks himself in his apartment
3.
Sleeps for days on end or pretends to sleep to
avoid confrontation
4.
“Killed a concept not a human being”
ii. Anger/
emotions are heightened
1.
Pg. 165 discussion with Zamoytov
iii. Feels
helpless
iv. Depression
v. Acceptance
1.
Confesses to Sonya pg. 419
a.
Did not kill for money only killed for himself
d.
Guilt
i. Goes
into delirious state of mind
ii. Hallucinations
1.
Keeps seeing blood
VI.
Define sociopath/psychopath
a.
Psychopath
i. A
person with a personality disorder, which manifests an oral and antisocial
behavior, lack of ability to love or establish meaningful personal
relationships, extreme egocentricity, failure to learn from experience, etc.
b.
Sociopath
i. A
person with a psychopathic personality whose behavior is antisocial, often
criminal, and who lacks a sense of moral responsibility or social conscience.
c.
Analyze Raskolinikov’s behavior to the
definition to see which one suits him and why
VII. Define
Punishment and analysis
a.
The imposition of hardship in response to misconduct
VIII. Conclusion
a.
Murder did not cause him to lose his mind, it
was already lost. He committed murder out of revenge and for hating himself.
Out of the murder came his rebirth and his acceptance of who he is.
