Dostoevsky s Crime And Punishment - 1676 Words

Throughout the novel, Crime and Punishment, the prime focus is the continuous struggle between good and evil. Characters like Raskolnikov, Marmeladov, Sonya, and Svidrigailov would be considered horrible people upon first glance, but when you dig deeper they each possess goodness despite their wrongdoings. However, Each character possess different levels of morality, some more than others. Dostoevsky exposes these different levels between characters like Sonya and Svidrigailov. The novel starts of with Raskolnikov entering into collusion with evil. He is taken over by it and lets evil enter his soul. Nevertheless, Raskolnikov’s ultimate responsibility is never denied by Dostoevsky. In fact, he shows that Raskolnikov must reclaim his soul†¦show more content†¦He becomes disgusted with the fact that he would â€Å"really take an axe† and crack her head open (page 78). He prays to the lord, â€Å"show me the way and I shall give up this - this damnable dream of mine!† (page 79). However, after the incident â€Å"his casuistry was as sharp as a razor, and he could no longer find any conscious objections to his plans in his mind (page 89). There is a scene in the novel where a student talks to an officer in the restaurant about potentially murdering the old woman. The officer asks the student if he could ever kill her himself. To which the student replies, â€Å"Of course not! I was merely discussing the question from the point of view of justice. Personally I’d have nothing to do with it† (page 85). Raskolnikov overhears this conversation and of course the question that was posed by the officer was theoretical, but Raskolnikov is intrigued by it. The students logic matches up with Raskolnikov’s psychology, pushing the idea further into his head that there is justice in killing the old woman. Which further settled his plan, especially after he previously learned that â€Å"at exactly seven o’clock the old woman would be entirely alone in the house.† He went home, feeling like â€Å"a man sentenced to death...with all his being that he no longer possessed any freedom of reasoning or of will, and that everything was suddenly and irrevocably settled† (page 81). On the way to the