Raskolnikov's theory and its collapse in Dostoevsky's novel Crime and Punishment essay
The main character of the world famous novel by Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky “Crime and Punishment” is a poor student Rodion Raskolnikov.
A young man, driven into a dead end by life's circumstances, comes up with a theory. It is based on the natural inequality of people: some are insignificant, while others “have the right.” The latter are intended to move the course of history and humanity forward, and the rest are the moving mass. The leading part of people “has the right” to disobey generally accepted laws: to accomplish great things, sacrifices, including human ones, are necessary (and completely fair). Rodion decides to test his theory and find out whether he belongs to this upper class, or is a “trembling creature.” To achieve this goal, he plans to kill the old money-lender, but as a result he also kills her sister Lizaveta. He takes almost no money, and what he managed to take he hides. According to his theory, his conscience should not have tormented him after this act: after all, this was a murder for the good of humanity (Raskolnikov believed that by getting on his feet financially, he would achieve a lot and benefit society). However, his internal torment after the murder is so great that it drives him to severe physical illness.
For the first time he confesses to his crime to Sonya Marmeladova. In his eyes, this girl is filled with virtue, because she sacrifices her own purity for the sake of her family. He trusts her, since she also “transgressed” moral laws in the name of good. The difference in their crimes is that this highest good (goal) in Raskolnikov’s case is fake.
The hero's awareness of the immorality of his act comes not only from the uncontrollable pangs of conscience, but also from his awareness of the equality of people. Being part of a disadvantaged section of society, he communicates with people of equal status. The Marmeladov family, with its unhappy existence, evokes pity from Raskolnikov. He sees that regardless of living conditions and social status, people feel and experience the same. Everyone is forced to fight with all their might against the blows of fate, everyone can experience love, everyone strives for happiness.
In the novel, the main idea is Raskolnikov’s thought about the inequality of people, according to which the upper class, for the good of society, has the right to step over moral rules, even over someone’s life. An attempt to translate the theory into reality turned into its collapse. Raskolnikov cannot stand the pangs of conscience, admits the injustice of his theory, repents and surrenders to the authorities. With this plot, Dostoevsky wanted to say that no matter what difficult circumstances a person is driven into, it is always important not to lose one’s moral values and guidelines, not to cross the line of good and evil.
The collapse of Raskolnikov's theory
After the crime was committed, he realized that, despite the murder, he was unable to step over himself, over the moral line, and remained a “trembling creature.” And this thought oppresses him all the time until his exposure, during the trial. And a whole year in hard labor. He never fully admitted the inconsistency of his theory. Although illness and delusional dreams forced him to look at his conclusions with different eyes. He finally realized that if everyone thought like him, it could lead to chaos, similar to what he saw in his dream. He saw that people were struck by some kind of ulcer, the consequences of which were madness and permissiveness. Entire villages, entire cities and peoples became infected and went crazy. This dream, in an allegorical form, showed him where his theory could lead. Still, a turning point in his soul took place, and this was greatly facilitated by Sonya, who followed him to hard labor and was such a vivid example of love and self-sacrifice that she could not help but influence him.
In this essay you read about Raskolnikov’s theory and its collapse. We tried our best, but Dostoevsky, of course, wrote better. Therefore, we advise you to take the time to read the immortal “Crime and Punishment” and understand more deeply the idea of the poor student and its downfall.
Essay Raskolnikov's theory and its collapse
Fyodor Ivanovich Dostoevsky created many works, many of which are still popular and loved by readers, which make people think about important issues. One such work is “Crime and Punishment.”
In this work, the main character is Rodion Raskolnikov. This is not an entirely ordinary person; in one of his articles, he described a theory he invented about the exceptionalism of some people. Its essence is that individuals “with the right” can do anything in order to achieve a great good goal: kill, steal, etc. While “trembling creatures” are precisely the material needed to preserve life and continue the existence of humanity.
The main character himself initially considered himself to be in the first category of strong, necessary people. He was practically sure of this, and in order to prove the theory to himself, he commits the murder of the old pawnbroker. According to Raskolnikov, this old woman was a louse who only disturbed everyone and did not give them a peaceful life. After the murder, the hero is not himself for several days, he cannot resolve the internal conflict, because he did not want to kill the pawnbroker, much less her sister. His feverish thoughts and several days of introspection led him to the police station, where Raskolnikov himself confesses to the murder. Consequently, this makes him a “trembling creature” and undermines the basis of the theory. This is where its collapse begins.
The main idea of the work and the origin of Raskolnikov’s theory
“Crime and Punishment” by F. M. Dostoevsky is an ideological novel in which non-human theory collides with human feelings. The writer, a great expert in human psychology, an attentive and sensitive artist, tried to understand reality, to find out the degree of influence of popular ideas of individualistic theories and the reorganization of life on a person. In his novel, he sought to show how the delusion of still fragile minds can lead to the shedding of blood, murder, breaking and crippling young destinies.
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Note 2
The main idea of the work is revealed in the image of Rodion Raskolnikov, a poor student, a gifted, intelligent person who does not have the opportunity to continue his studies and drags out a miserable existence, unworthy of a person.
The writer, depicting the wretched and pitiful world of the St. Petersburg slums, reveals step by step how a terrible theory arises in the hero’s mind.
This theory is not a figment of the imagination of a great writer. Among his contemporaries there were quite a lot of young educated people who were seriously interested in Nietzsche's ideas. It was his teaching that gave rise to this kind of belief, which was popular among young people who were in search of a way out of their humiliating, beggarly situation. Dostoevsky's works raise current problems of modern society. The vices generated by social inequality - drunkenness, crime, prostitution - have overwhelmed Russia. People, in an attempt to escape from the terrible reality, became carried away by the idea of individualism and forgot about eternal moral values and the commandments of the Christian religion.
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Course work Raskolnikov's theory and its collapse 400 ₽ Abstract Raskolnikov's theory and its collapse 250 ₽ Test paper Raskolnikov's theory and its collapse 210 ₽
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Raskolnikov, possessing very extraordinary abilities and dreaming of a brilliant future, is forced to live in poverty and endure humiliation. These circumstances had a detrimental effect on the psychological state of the protagonist of Crime and Punishment. Raskolnikov leaves his studies at the university, locks himself in his stuffy room and ponders the plan of a terrible crime. The conversation he overheard by chance seems like a strange omen to Rodion Raskolnikov. Certain phrases and thoughts repeated the theses of the article “On Crime” he wrote for the newspaper. Fascinated by this idea, the main character of the work decides to bring his theory to life.
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“Raskolnikov’s theory and its collapse” - in Russian language and literature
Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky wrote the philosophical and psychological novel “Crime and Punishment” in 1865–1866.
In it, he describes the events that happened to the hero over 15 days, his mental suffering, the actions that led him to agony. The main character of the work lives in St. Petersburg, which is shown as joyless and “yellow”.
Dostoevsky describes the life of one of the representatives of the lower class of society, Rodion Raskolnikov, who dared to “attempt” a crime.
What theory did Raskolnikov have, and what led to its collapse?
The main character of the novel, Rodion Raskolnikov, harbors a secret plan, which is based on his theory. As he himself wrote six months ago (from the moment of the events in the novel) in his article: “... people are generally divided into two categories: the lowest... and... those who have the gift of saying a new word...”. Rodion believed that thousands of lives could be saved by destroying one.
By this one he meant the old money-lender. Raskolnikov considered it the evil from which people should be saved. He sought to classify himself as one of the people “having the right” and committed a double murder. His theory assumed the absence of mental anguish and remorse, but in life everything turned out to be not so simple.
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Having killed not only the old woman, but also Lizaveta, Raskolnikov steps over his conscience, but not his human essence, because he is a citizen and a person.
After the crime is committed, Rodion’s theory turns out to be untenable, since it is impossible to achieve happiness through a crime. Raskolnikov is convinced of this from his own experience.
Sonya was the only person to whom Raskolnikov confessed to the murder and who helped him rethink his life. Largely thanks to her, he decided to confess to the crime. The theory suffered a final collapse only in hard labor.
After a dream about a fatal illness, the main character begins a new life and takes the path of atonement for sin. Sonya was next to him. It was with her that Raskolnikov went through his difficult path. Her support, which at first caused only contempt, helped him.
He felt unity with her “... How can her convictions not now also be mine? ... " Thus, Rodion himself becomes convinced of the falsity of his theory.
Essay “The theory of Rodion Raskolnikov, its failure and collapse”
Raskolnikov's idea was doomed to failure from its very inception. Not because it is not true, because in fact the world is divided into “the mighty of this world” and “trembling creatures,” but because the consciousness of the protagonist was not able to withstand its dependence on this theory. Raskolnikov, a good theorist, having thought through all his actions to the smallest detail, did not take into account his own human qualities, he forgot about conscience, shame, and the natural fear inherent in man. The hero, in fact, decides not to kill, but to undertake a great act of self-knowledge, and now, after what happened, the terrible tragedy of self-recognition and self-deception plays out in him. The more he recognizes himself, the more he feels the presence of the human principle in himself, the more terrible he becomes, the further he moves away from the desired result, the more persistently he tries to deceive himself. Most of all, the hero is tormented by his torment.
But according to his plan, he was not committing a crime - “won’t one tiny crime be atoned for by thousands of good deeds? In one life - thousands of lives saved from rot and decay. One death and a hundred lives in return - but this is arithmetic! And what does the life of this consumptive, stupid and evil old woman mean on the general scale? Nothing more than the life of a louse or a cockroach, and not even worth it; because the old woman is harmful,” he allowed himself, by the right of the “strong,” to kill a creature that brings only evil. This was a well-thought-out scheme.
But after what he had done, he was terribly afraid of everything: he flinched from any stranger’s shout on the street, from a rustle in the room where he was completely alone, he did not want and could not see his mother, Dunya. A terrible thought comes to his mind: humanity has awakened in a hero. But the deed is done, “the bridges are burned, the Rubicon is crossed,” he will have to answer according to the earthly, human, eternal law. And the knowledge he so strived for turned out to be a terrible disappointment: he turned out to be just a sinner in the world of ordinary people. Raskolnikov realized that he should not have done this. The hero enters into a fight, but not with an external enemy, but tries to cope with a force beyond his control - his own subconscious. The hope is growing in his mind that his perfect calculations will be justified, meanwhile, horror already reigns in the subconscious.
Raskolnikov's theory and its collapse. Essay, abstract
- Composition
Crime and Punishment is an ideological novel in which non-human theory collides with human feelings.
Dostoevsky, a great expert on human psychology, a sensitive and attentive artist, tried to understand modern reality, to determine the extent of the influence of the ideas of revolutionary reorganization of life and individualistic theories that were popular at that time on a person.
Entering into polemics with democrats and socialists, the writer sought to show in his novel how the delusion of fragile minds leads to murder, shedding of blood, maiming and breaking young lives.
The main idea of the novel is revealed in the image of Rodion Raskolnikov, a poor student, an intelligent and gifted person who does not have the opportunity to continue his education at the university, eking out a miserable, unworthy existence. Drawing the pitiful and wretched world of the St. Petersburg slums, the writer traces step by step how a terrible theory arises in the hero’s mind, how it takes possession of all his thoughts, pushing him to murder.
This means that Raskolnikov’s ideas were generated by abnormal, humiliating living conditions. In addition, the post-reform disruption destroyed the centuries-old foundations of society, depriving human individuality of connection with the long-standing cultural traditions of society and historical memory.
The person’s personality was thus freed from any moral principles and prohibitions, especially since Raskolnikov sees a violation of universal moral norms at every step. It is impossible to feed a family with honest work, so the petty official Marmeladov finally becomes an alcoholic, and his daughter Sonechka goes to work, because otherwise her family will die of starvation.
If unbearable living conditions push a person to violate moral principles, then these principles are nonsense, that is, they can be ignored. Raskolnikov comes to approximately this conclusion when a theory is born in his fevered brain, according to which he divides all of humanity into two unequal parts.
On the one hand, these are strong personalities, “super-men” like Mohammed and Napoleon, and on the other, a gray, faceless and submissive crowd, which the hero rewards with the contemptuous name - “trembling creature” and “anthill”.
Possessing a sophisticated analytical mind and painful pride. Raskolnikov quite naturally thinks about which half he himself belongs to. Of course, he wants to think that he is a strong person who, according to his theory, has the moral right to commit a crime in order to achieve a humane goal.
Essay on the topic Raskolnikov's theory and its collapse
A very appropriate word for this theory is “collapse.” She did not “leave” from Rodion’s consciousness, but rather crashed. Unfortunately, Raskolnikov managed to do something because of her that he will regret and cannot be corrected in any way.
Actually, his theory is simple and ugly. He divided people into those who were worthy and those who were not. “Real” people are allowed everything. They have ideas and power to change our lives. (Rodion cites Napoleon as an example.
) And these people, for the sake of their great plans, are allowed more than others. Society itself is ready to forgive them for any crimes; they themselves are ready to commit murder. And the rest is biomass, which, it seems, is not a pity.
All these ordinary people are needed only so that one day a genius will be born from the masses.
This all sounds terribly cruel. The investigator immediately saw the inhumanity of these ideas, and even postponed Raskolnikov’s article. Sonechka was horrified by such thoughts, which were absolutely not Christian. Parents and friends were all horrified by these ideas of the young man.
Raskolnikov committed a crime, but did not take the money. In vain he asked himself a question like “is it weak”: if I kill, go through everything, then I’m a man, but no, no.
Have you proven it to yourself? No, he committed a crime, but by doing so he doomed himself to torment: nightmares and remorse.
Another big question would Napoleon be able to kill the old woman, even for money? Sending troops into battle (and the military also understands what they are doing) is one thing, but to kill with your own hands... I think I would be disdainful! And those who were sent to execution were also tormented by their conscience. For example, Ivan the Terrible, as I read, often repented in church and had nightmares... But the era, by the way, was more cruel.
In general, Raskolnikov’s theory does not stand up to criticism. She pushes her creator to commit a crime, which drives the hero almost to the point of insanity. And he himself gets confused, he himself admits to his sin. His life is almost destroyed; he can no longer believe in anything in hard labor.
The main critic of this philosophy is the investigator, but also, on the other hand, Sonechka. There are two forces here - reason and love. I think that they saved the hero from another crime - suicide, this theory and its consequences ate him up from the inside.
He may have ended up in hard labor, but he is still ready to start life over!
Essay 2
The hero of the novel F.M. Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment" - former student Rodion Raskolnikov, crushed by poverty. Observing the lives of the people around him, Raskolnikov sees human suffering, poverty, humiliation.
Petersburg appears before him as a city of slums and luxurious quarters, in which theft, poverty, vagrancy, and prostitution flourish. A feeling of protest is born in Raskolnikov.
How can I change the existing order? We must rise above this world.
Raskolnikov creates a theory in which all people are divided into two categories: “lords” and “trembling creatures.” The first are the people who rule the whole world. They can destroy everything in their path to achieve their goal.
According to Raskolnikov, Mohammed, Napoleon, and Newton belong to this group. The latter must obey the former. Raskolnikov has no doubt about the infallibility of his theory. She justifies “blood according to conscience.” He just needs to find out who he is.
To check this, Raskolnikov goes on a murder spree.
Raskolnikov's idea fails not only after, but also at the very moment of its implementation. A squeamish disgust for what he is doing grows in him. After the murder of the old woman, Raskolnikov “wanted to give up everything and leave,” and when Lizaveta became his second victim, he wanted to get away from here quickly.
After the crime, Raskolnikov experiences shock, alienation from loved ones and self-loathing. The hero realizes that he did not “kill the old woman, but himself.” He couldn’t step over the blood, which means he’s not one of the people of the “highest” rank. It was as if the crime had erased him from life, stood as a wall between him and people, and this loneliness becomes unbearable.
To debunk the idea of a strong personality, the author uses a system of doubles. Luzhin and Svidrigailov also believe that “everything is permitted” to the “powers of this world.” Raskolnikov feels that the false theory brings him closer to them, but he, on the contrary, wants to protect people from the Luzhins and Svidrigailovs. The theory led the hero into a hopeless dead end.
Sonya Marmeladova has the strongest influence on Raskolnikov and on his decision to stop the “rebellion”. She suffers with him, but cannot accept his theory. Sonya helped save Raskolnikov's soul. Dostoevsky shows that a person can understand the truth only by being close to others.
Raskolnikov realized the disastrous nature of his theory and its inhumane essence and abandoned it.
Raskolnikov's theory in the novel Crime and Punishment
The novel “Crime and Punishment” can be classified as social and philosophical. It was written by Dostoevsky in 1866, when a turning point was brewing in Russia, a time of confrontation between revolutionary forces.
People did not agree with the social structure of society, the shortcomings of which the author drew attention to in his work. The people were in such a situation that crime was often the only way out.
The main character of the work is Rodion Raskolnikov, a former student. He found himself in such a situation that he had absolutely nothing to live on, and he could not hope for the opportunity to improve his financial situation.
Rodion is kind, sympathetic, smart, but the need and hopelessness around him prompted him to think, during which a cruel theory was born. According to Raskolnikov, all humanity is divided into “trembling creatures” and “those who have the right.” The latter have the right to commit crimes for a specific purpose.
To achieve a great goal for the sake of humanity, people of the second group have the right to humiliate all the “tremblers” who come across their path.
The young man is inclined to believe that the well-being of the majority justifies the destruction of the minority. It is important for the hero to determine which group of people he himself belongs to. For this reason, he decides to commit a terrible act: to kill the old money-lender. In order to establish justice, the young man commits a crime.
From this moment the refutation of Raskolnikov's ideas begins. What he has done becomes torment and hard labor for him. The hero's conscience turned out to be higher than reasoning. He can't think about anything other than the murder he has committed. Rodion concludes that he is just a “trembling creature,” like everyone else around him.
He realizes the senselessness of what he did, but tries with all his might not to admit that his theory is untenable. What seemed like a way out to him led to a dead end. The hero is tormented by loneliness, he needs to confess to someone.
He decides to confess everything to Sonya Marmeladova, who is also a criminal, but her crime is completely against her own soul. The girl persuades Raskolnikov to confess to what he did. For murder, Rodion receives a well-deserved punishment. But even in prison, he continues to believe in his theory.
Only Sonechka’s kindness influences him in such a way that he truly repents and renounces his beliefs. A complete renunciation of the theory occurs after a dream in which people kill each other for the sake of world well-being. The result is the extermination of all living things. Only after these dreams does the hero become completely convinced of the meaninglessness of what he has invented.
He understands that everyone deserves to live, has the right to happiness, but well-being must be achieved by doing good, and not by exterminating those who are undesirable. Life shows Rodion Raskolnikov how unfair his beliefs were, and he begins to put Christian values at the forefront of everything.
Through Raskolnikov's repentance, Dostoevsky wants to convey to everyone that crime cannot be justified by any goals, that it will never lead to happiness. A person gets what he gives. To achieve well-being you need to follow the path of goodness.
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