Raskolnikov's path in the novel "Crime and Punishment"
The action unfolds in an extremely short period of time (within nine and a half days, not counting the epilogue, which tells about the events taking place a year and a half later).
The main character of the novel is Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov, a former student at the Faculty of Law of St. Petersburg University. He has been in St. Petersburg for about three years, where he came from a provincial town where his mother and sister live. Father died. His mother and sister, denying themselves everything, regularly send him money so that he can study at the university.
Even as a child, Raskolnikov learned about the cruelty of the world and experienced acute compassion for the “humiliated and insulted.” Raskolnikov went to law school not because he wanted to become a lawyer, like Luzhin, but because he wanted to understand the problem of crime. His mother and sister do not understand him, thinking that he can work as Luzhin's assistant. And he left the university, most likely, not because he could not support himself. He is the author of the article “On Crime”. In the article he argued that a genius can sometimes, if necessary, commit a crime. Raskolnikov considered himself a genius. He will later “atone for his crime with a thousand good deeds.” Even then, after the crime, he does not find errors in his logical constructions and is angry that his nerves could not stand it.
His mother believes that he left the university because he could not support himself due to the fact that she stopped helping him and he lost his lessons. The last time she sent him money was four months ago. Two months ago, Raskolnikov learned about the humiliating position of his sister in the house of the landowner Svidrigailov, wrote to his mother about this, but received no answer.
A month and a half before the crime, Raskolnikov met the pawnbroker Alena Ivanovna, and took her sister’s ring as a pawn to her. During his first visit to the old woman, he developed a disgust for her. He decided that if he killed the old woman and robbed him, and then performed a thousand good deeds with her money, then it would be fair. His decision to kill the old woman had been ripening for more than a month, and after a letter to his mother, he realized that he could no longer hesitate. To save his sister from Luzhin, Raskolnikov finally decides to commit a crime. Raskolnikov long ago, even in his article, gave himself moral permission to commit this crime. He believed that he could do everything in cold blood, without leaving evidence, because the planned murder of a “malicious louse” that “eats someone else’s eyelid” is “not a crime.” He believes that “everything is in the hands of man.” Most of all, he is tormented by the question of whether he is capable of taking this step. He's been toying with this idea for a month now. He believes that for the sake of a happy future, a person can allow himself to “step over the blood.” The main idea of Raskolnikov’s article is “permission of blood according to conscience.” He calls his crime “a new step, a new word of his own.” In fact, Raskolnikov’s theory about the “right” of the strong, about two categories of people, and the convention of moral prohibitions was not a “new word.” Similar ideas were expressed by Max Stirner in his treatise “The One and His Property” (1844), in Napoleon III’s book “The History of Julius Caesar” (1865).
After a letter to his mother, he decided that he would rather sacrifice himself for the sake of his loved ones. But only later will he understand that they will not accept such a sacrifice.
Raskolnikov was terribly lonely even before the crime. The author depicts the tragedy of the hero's loneliness. Rodion has a deep conflict with the world, but his loved ones do not understand this. At the same time, Raskolnikov is not opposed to the society in which he lives. He absorbed its “poisons and beginnings.” His soul is a reflection of this world. That's why his soul is so sick.
The idea of killing the old woman grips Raskolnikov like a passion from which he is unable to free himself. Dostoevsky shows that a passion for crime, even something as terrible as murder, is deeply hidden in a person’s subconscious. This passion is everything: the desire to take revenge, restore justice, help yourself and your loved ones.
After the crime, Raskolnikov tries to live as if nothing had happened, but he fails, he is worried, his hands are shaking, he breaks down, gives himself away, is afraid that he will be arrested. On the other hand, he always wants to confess, to tell someone about his crime. In the police office, he suddenly wanted to confess to the quarterly supervisor Nikodim Fomich, who impressed him as a decent person. After visiting Luzhin, who reminded him of his senseless sacrifice, he goes out into the street in search of at least some way out. He enters the Crystal Palace tavern, where he meets Zametov from the police office and actually confesses to him the murder. The decision to go to the office and confess gradually becomes stronger. But at this time, the official Marmeladov, whom he met in a tavern before the crime, dies. Raskolnikov understands that Marmeladov’s family, especially his daughter Sonya, needs him, and decides to fight some more.
Then his mother and sister come to St. Petersburg. Svidrigailov arrives. Raskolnikov needs to continue to fight for himself, not to give up, because he needs to save Dunya from Luzhin and Svidrigailov. Therefore, he is fighting a real duel with investigator Porfiry Petrovich, who suspects Raskolnikov. In the end, Porfiry Petrovich invites him to turn himself in, otherwise he will arrest him. Raskolnikov has no choice, but even in hard labor he does not repent.
In Dostoevsky's novels, the plot is not the main thing. The fact that Raskolnikov killed the old woman and Lizaveta is not the main thing. The main thing is the questions that Dostoevsky poses. The question of the injustice of the world is, of course, the main one. The point is not that Raskolnikov killed. The point is that he had no other way out of his situation. But this is also not a solution. The point is not that Katerina Ivanovna sent Sonya to the panel. But the point is that there was no other way out. Crime is a search for an “exit” from a hopeless situation. But then, after the murder, it turns out that the world is not only a “vale of tears” and suffering, one can completely reconcile with it. After the crime, he begins to appreciate life and is ready to live “at the height of space.”
Another problem of the novel: is it possible to build a happy future if for this you need to kill a useless and harmful old woman? The officer and the student are talking about this in the tavern. Raskolnikov sets up such an experiment.
Raskolnikov has already traveled different paths. For example, the path of altruism, while still studying at the university, helped his sick friend, and then, when he died, his father. Then he began to look for other ways to fight evil. Different heroes of the novel represent different paths: the path of Svidrigailov, Luzhin, Sonya.
In his situation, Raskolnikov faces different opportunities in the Russian reality of that time. After graduating from university with great difficulty, he became a lawyer and, at best, worked in a law office under the leadership of Luzhin. This is the path his mother and sister see for him. But it is difficult for the reader to imagine Raskolnikov in this role. Or there is another possibility of existence: to translate empty articles from German that the publisher orders, for example, “Is a Woman a Man,” as the energetic, enterprising Razumikhin does. You can drink yourself like Marmeladov. You can plunge into debauchery, like Svidrigailov. You can kill and rob the old money-lender. None of these paths are acceptable for Raskolnikov. At the end of the novel, the author offers Raskolnikov a utopian way out. But in reality, Raskolnikov has no choice.
In order to endure a crime, you have to be a scoundrel, you have to lie, you have to agree to have Mikolka judged instead of you, to have Razumikhin look after you, a criminal, and cover for you, to deceive your mother and sister - Rodion cannot stand all this.
After the crime, different paths also open up for Raskolnikov: to forget himself in wine and debauchery; commit suicide, become a scoundrel like Luzhin; go confess to the office. In the end, he is inclined to the latter decision, but its implementation was prevented first by the death of Marmeladov, then by the arrival of his mother and sister.
Dostoevsky constructed the novel in such a way that everyone is to blame for Raskolnikov’s crime, even his mother and sister. And Sonya indirectly. After all, Marmeladov’s story also pushed him to murder.
Even before the murder, he decided that he would go to Sonya, tell her everything, she would understand, she is the same sinner. And she demands that he confess to the crime and, therefore, go to hard labor.
If Raskolnikov's theory had triumphed, it would have led to the disunity of people, to the war of all against all, which he dreams of in the epilogue. Only after this dream does he finally abandon his theory.
Raskolnikov fell in love with Sonya in prison, and this is to some extent reminiscent of how Onegin fell in love with Tatyana at the ball, where she was the first, everyone smiled and bowed to her. The prisoners also fell in love with Sonya; she was an ideal for them.
A person is saved only by love, that is, if he loved someone in life. In this sense, love saved Raskolnikov. Onegin is also saved by love. If Raskolnikov was able to love Sonya, then he is saved. The drunkard Marmeladov, who before his death was carrying a sugar cockerel to the children, is also saved.
Source: Tusichishny A.P. Russian literature of the second half of the 19th century - M.: FLINTA, 2013
Raskolnikov's steps towards crime
l option
This is a man of ideas. The idea embraces him and owns him, but, having the property that it dominates him not so much in his head, but by being embodied in him, passing into nature, always with suffering and anxiety, and, having already settled in nature, requires immediate application to the point.
F. M. Dostoevsky lived and worked in an era when dissatisfaction with the existing order was growing in the country. The writer showed in his works people who tried to protest against the reigning evil. Such is Rodion Raskolnikov, the main character of the novel “Crime and Punishment,” a novel about Russia in the mid-19th century, about the inhabitants of its capital, those who died and are dying, and about St. Petersburg itself.
At the beginning of the novel, in this very city, on a hot July day, we meet a young man wandering in melancholy; as it later turns out, former student Rodion Raskolnikov. “A long time ago, all this present melancholy arose in him, grew, accumulated, and recently matured and concentrated, taking the form of a terrible, wild and fantastic question that tormented his heart and mind, irresistibly demanding resolution.” What is this question that has tormented Raskolnikov so much?
Already from the first pages of the novel, we learn that this man “encroached on some business, that a month ago a certain “dream” was born in him, when he was forced to pawn a ring, a gift from Dunya’s sister, to the old pawnbroker. So the thought of killing Alena Ivanovna, this pitiful old woman who profited from the misfortunes of poor people, arose in Raskolnikov’s head and began to grow with incredible speed. Soon he “involuntarily got used to considering this “dream” as an enterprise,” and a conversation he accidentally overheard in a tavern between a student and an officer about this same “insignificant, evil, sick old woman, useless to anyone and, on the contrary, harmful to everyone,” only confirmed the idea of murder . It flared up in his brain with renewed vigor when he read the letter he received from his mother. The realization that his sister, Avdotya Romanovna, was sacrificing herself for his sake tormented and tormented his heart, and all thoughts about the future fate of his mother and sister, even about the future in general, rested on this monstrous idea, which “suddenly appeared not to be a dream, but in some new, menacing and completely unfamiliar form, and he suddenly realized it himself...”
The next step towards the crime was a meeting in a tavern with Marmeladov, whose story left an indelible mark on the soul and consciousness of the hero of the novel. Having heard the stories of Sonechka and Katerina Ivanovna, and seeing the poverty in which the Marmeladov family lives (he was no longer interested in his own poverty), Raskolnikov becomes even more convinced that the world is unfair. The world is full of evil, it is ruled by rich and cruel, unworthy people, such as that dense, fat gentleman who intended to take advantage of the helplessness of the unfortunate drunken girl he met on the boulevard.
Yes, the world is unfair. Rodion Raskolnikov took up arms against this unjust world. And the old woman-pawnbroker became for him the embodiment, the symbol of this evil, violence, injustice. It turns out that Raskolnikov killed her in order to make life easier for other people, it’s not even about money. But then he should have felt like a hero, a savior, or at least not felt remorse, but after committing the crime, Raskolnikov felt something completely different.
This means that there is some other reason why this former student committed a crime. Six months ago, when he quit studying at the university, Raskolnikov wrote a certain article “On Crime,” in which he briefly outlined his theory, which consists in the fact that all people are divided into two categories: into “lower” and into “actually people, that is, having the gift or talent to say a new word in their midst.” Moreover, these “actually people” have the right “for their idea” to “step over” even a corpse, through blood, that is, to kill. Raskolnikov, according to his theory, imagined himself to be a person belonging to the category of “those who have the right” to commit a crime; and he committed the murder only because he needed to find out then whether he was a “louse” like everyone else, or a man, whether he could “step over” or not; "creature" whether he is "trembling" or "has the right."
Therefore, all of the above events that pushed him to kill the old woman were only an excuse, an attempt to justify and justify his action. It turns out that it was not the life around him that influenced Rodion Raskolnikov’s decision, but only personal convictions forced him to commit a crime. On the other hand, I think that this crime was destined for Raskolnikov; he had to commit it in order to, through suffering “and only through it, come to happiness,” the awareness of the truth. Indeed, in the novel “Crime and Punishment” Dostoevsky reflected his conviction that the highest virtue consists of humility and obedience, and the lot of humanity is endless torment and torment, and “suffering is life.”
Option II
In the novel “Crime and Punishment” by F. M. Dostoevsky, the author tells us the story of a poor resident of St. Petersburg - citizen Raskolnikov.
Rodion Romanovich, having committed a crime, crossed the line of the law and was severely punished for this. He understood perfectly well that this idea of murder was terrible and vile, but he could not get it out of his head. Raskolnikov thought a lot about what he had planned, as a result of which questions arose that he had to answer. For example, he wanted to know why almost all criminals are so easily found and extradited. It turns out that they had an eclipse of reason at the very moment when it was most needed. But Raskolnikov was sure that this would not happen to him, he just had to decide on something quickly.
However, Rodion could not make a choice for a long time. His decision was influenced by many events that happened to him and around him. The first thing that gave him this idea was that terrible quarter of St. Petersburg where Raskolnikov lived, as well as his closet, which “looked more like a closet.” Every time he was on the streets, he came across many drunken people who evoked “a feeling of deepest disgust,” and the stench from the tavern drove him crazy. Soon Raskolnikov came to the decision that it was time to make a test. He visited the old woman, watched her every action and at the same time planned how it would happen. Rodion was very excited at that moment, all these thoughts disgusted him, but he could not help but think about it.
Raskolnikov’s second step towards crime is a story about the fate of the Marmeladov family. Sonya evoked great sympathy from Raskolnikov. A young, beautiful girl sacrifices her life for the good of others. Dunya, Raskolnikov’s sister, wanted to do the same thing. Marrying a rich man is a way out of a difficult situation, a guarantee of a prosperous life for your mother and brother. Raskolnikov was completely against marriage; he did not want sacrifices for it. This crazy act was also influenced by the girl Rodion met on the boulevard; she was drunk and completely defenseless.
Raskolnikov knew that the cause of all the suffering of humiliated people was poverty. The only thing that could stop this suffering once and for all was crime. After all, with the money that the old woman had, it was possible to save dozens of families from poverty, from death, from shame. One day Raskolnikov had a dream: in front of his eyes, Mikolka was beating a horse, and he, covered in tears, felt sorry for it. This dream showed all the best, human that is in Raskolnikov, as well as all his aversion to crime. Rodion deliberately undertook this task, although he knew that he could not stand it. Shortly before the crime, he was not himself, pale, weak. And how he asked God: “Lord, show me my path, and I renounce this damned... dream of mine!” But, probably, God could not help him, such was his fate.
Rodion wanted to become Napoleon - he didn’t; I wanted to help myself and my family, but I didn’t; I didn’t want to test the theory - I tested it, and in return I received nothing but suffering. Raskolnikov believed that he belonged to “extraordinary” people. It turns out that he was wrong. “Extraordinary” people break laws and are not tormented by their conscience, but Raskolnikov was unable to endure such torment, which was followed by sincere repentance and admission of his guilt. And so it happened: Raskolnikov was able to cross the line of the law, but remaining beyond it was beyond his strength.
