Gabriel's term paper part 1

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky is a novel that has made a significant impact on society for its profound and complex themes and the twisted mentality of a sociopathic criminal. Raskolnikov, the protagonist of the story, appears to be a man whose mind does not function as the rest of society does. As a result, this drives him to commit the dreadful crime of stabbing and taking the lives of two innocent women. Although he constantly attempts to convince himself that he did this as a favor to society, it is evident that he feels as if he is above society – as if he had the right to play God. This is known as the superman theory, which occurs when a person feels he is superior to others for no apparent reason. This crime drives Raskolnikov to become tortured by an exponentially worsening guilt that he faces every moment of every day. This guilt drives him to further alienate himself from society, and also drives him to act irrationally. He becomes so overwhelmed with guilt that he becomes critically ill on multiple occasions. He faces extreme paranoia daily and is constantly anxious and worried about covering up the evidence and hiding the truth from others who attempt to help him. Raskolnikov’s true punishment in the story is in fact his psychological punishment – his overwhelming guilt that slowly leads him to his downfall.

From the beginning of the novel, it was evident that Raskolnikov had a different thought process than others. He did not see the world as others did, which led him to be unable to function in society. As a result, he alienated himself from others. He did this with the sensation that mankind was inferior to him; that no one could understand him. This feeling drove him to feel as if he had the right and authority to rid the world of the pawnbroker. He spent a lot of time scheming the ultimate plan and contemplating whether or not he should follow through with it. When he finally built the courage, he decided to follow through with his plan and stab her at her own house. However, her sister unfortunately came in and witnessed the murder, which made Raskolnikov freak out and kill her too. Killing the pawnbroker’s sister confirms the fact that he knew he was doing wrong and he knew he was guilty of a terrible crime in his subconscious, whether he wanted to know it or not. This is the first of countless acts supporting his devastating burden of guilt. He proceeds to attempt to cover up all the evidence by disposing of his knife and clothes, further emphasizing his guilty conscience. While hiding the evidence, he displays intense paranoia right from the start as he realizes the potential consequences if he were to be caught. He then decides to alienate himself more than before, but for different reasons. Previously, he simply did not wish to associate himself with society. Now, he fears for his life that he will be imprisoned or even executed. However, what he does not realize is that his punishment as already begun: the psychological torment that he must endure greatly surpasses any form of imprisonment or physical punishment that he could potentially face.