Jada Williams-Davis
Per.2nd 3/28/2013
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT
Prompt: 2004, Form B

In Dostoevsky’s novel “Crime and Punishment”, Raskolnikov is the main character as the story is told almost exclusively through his point of view. Raskolnikov decides to plan his idea of the perfect crime, the murder of an old woman who is a pawnbroker, but when he actually commits the crime he embraces both a mental and physical devastation throughout the rest of the novel. The psychological journey the reader takes as they read the novel arises from this particular crime. Dostoevsky depicts the twisted mind of Raskonikov before and after his murder, making it evident what drives him to commit the crime and why. The story begins with Raskolnikov, a former student, who appears to be completely alienated from the world around him. He seems to have this resentment toward humanity leaving him to always remain alone. He already had an idea regarding the crime and had planned this out thoroughly but yet, he still could not bring himself to it. He is unsure and it is apparent in the context that he was dealing with an affective internal conflict. The reader sees how he struggles with his uncertainty “If I am so scared now, what would it be if it somehow came to pass that I were really going to do it?” He thought just before he visited the old woman. The reader can apprehend how he is reluctant to the idea of literally murdering her but he also still has the desire to do it. This idea contributes to the understanding of Rasholnikov’s mindset and furthermore his actions. However, Raskolnikov does murder the lady and the scene is conveyed to the reader in a cohesive manner through his perspective. The reader sees how he evolves from being uncertain of whether to commit the crime before then somehow convinced that the crime is in fact justified afterwards. He does suffer from exhaustion and this resolves to him fainting in the police station, making himself a suspect as the question arises, why he is suffering such a delirium right after this crime has been committed? This predicament of him fainting had a huge significance on the work as the suspicions of him worsen and soon, Porifiry, the lawyer for the case realizes that Raskolnikov is the killer. As the novel continues Raskolnikov gives a number of different reasons for murdering Alyona, many of which involve pride. The clearest, most powerful reason seems to be a desire to prove his superiority to the rest of humanity, which exclaims his self alienation. The discussion of Raskolnikov’s article “On Crime” introduces the philosophical justifications for such a murder. In the article he argues, that men who are “extraordinary” are superior to the majority of humanity and thus have the right to violate laws. He wants overstep boundaries to be the extraordinary male he mentioned in his article. He also claimed that he committed the crime because the society would be better off without her. Raskolnikov’s justifications for the crime pertain to the novel’s essential meaning as the reader begins to really understand why a guy so young and bright decided to do something so evil and condescending.

Raskolnikov is trapped in his mind and unable to conceive the true reality of what he is doing to himself and those who care for him. The reader is able to distinguish in the story what might not be clearly acknowledged, such as we never really find out whether Porifiry really had evidence to arrest Rakolnikov, Although Raskolnikov still confesses because he realizes he does not want to deal with the moral destruction within him any longer. He also would rather confess to the crime than be framed and arrested out of his control. Throughout the novel the reader understands Raskolnikov more, we realize why he had committed the crime and what, he thought was the perfect crime, had eventually led him to.