Crime and Punishment

“We humans can get used to anything, villains that we are!”

For all of Raskolnikov’s alienation, he still considers himself part of society here, using the pronoun “we” (55) to emphasize his involvement in and complicity with its crimes. Raskolnikov’s framing of humanity suggests that he is not irredeemably alienated.

“Am I really, really going to take an axe and start beating her on the head, and split her skill open…and slip on her warm, sticky blood.” 

Raskolnikov’s narration finally explicitly states his plan to commit a grisly murder for the first time. While, he is fully aware of the violence that he intends to inflict, he seems to almost be watching from the outside, unable to stop himself. His reluctance to actually describe his plan reveals a trepidation and worry that leave open the possibility of redemption.

“One life for thousands of lives, rescued from corruption and decay!”

The key element of Raskolnikov’s plan is his target. He views the pawnbroker as a parasite, someone who takes from society and does not contribute. Raskolnikov convinces himself that by killing the pawnbroker, he will be rescuing people from “corruption and decay” (85). However, this delicate moral equivocation becomes obsolete when Raskolnikov kills another person.

“All this is just convention, it’s all relative, all meaningless.” 

Raskolnikov believes that societal expectations ultimately mean nothing, as the most polite and well mannered of the characters are far from the happiest or most moral. Social conventions do not really connect people—they are hollow and do not actually prevent alienation. Raskolnikov’s horrific realization is that social mores are meaningless.

“We’ve got to turn you into a proper person.” 

Razumikhin’s critical comment about Raskolnikov’s clothing is an optimistic and naïve approach to Raskolnikov’s problems. Aesthetics can dress him in the presence of normalcy, but will do nothing for the alienation at the core of Raskolnikov’s being. Razumikhin wants to cover Raskolnikov’s pain and pretend that it does not exist.

“And it wasn’t any planning on his part, it was pure luck that saved him!”

Razumikhin’s theories about who committed the murder are an example of dramatic irony—a situation in which the audience has information that the characters do not. Razumikhin refers to the murderer as a lucky fool, not a criminal mastermind. The actual murderer, Raskolnikov, is forced to sit and listen to his friend’s criticisms so as not to incriminate himself, while internally becoming annoyed that his acts are seen as foolish.

“He looked with dislike at the new wallpaper as if sorry that everything was so changed.” 

Raskolnikov returns to the scene of the crime and he is horrified that the apartment has been redecorated. The new wallpaper and the paint are a comment on the impermanence and the meaningless of Raskolnikov’s actions. The murder has traumatized him and turned him into an emotional wreck. City life, however, quickly redecorated the victim’s apartment as though she never lived. The defining moment of Raskolnikov’s life is papered over and forgotten while he continues to suffer.

“Sonia stood in the doorway, not crossing the threshold.”

Sonia sees the reality of Raskolnikov’s living conditions and feels shame that she has taken money from a man who can barely afford to feed himself and that she insults the home of a good, honorable man with her presence.

“How to avoid being one’s own self, how to be as little like oneself as possible!” 

Razumikhin harbors the same fears of social alienation that plague Raskolnikov, but he plays by society’s rules to find happiness. He works hard and always stays cheerful and polite as a way “to avoid being one’s own self” (181). Society demands that people adapt and change from their true selves. Razumikhin accepts this demand while Raskolnikov rejects it.

“I’m sure that he’s capable even now of doing something that no one in the world would dream of doing.”

Pulkheria Alexandrovna worries about her son’s alienation. She recognizes that he has separated himself from people and that he has broken free from the behavioral constraints. While she may not yet recognize that her son is a murderer, Raskolnikov has always confused and worried her. Only now is she beginning to understand the extent of his mental instability.

“If she’d been lame, or hunchbacked, I think I’d have loved her even more.”

Raskolnikov is drawn to suffering. He obsesses over his own pain, recognizes pain in others, and feels compelled to help. The landlord’s daughter is one example of Raskolnikov’s capacity for sympathy. He was drawn to the girl because she was always sick and her suffering made him love her. Sonia and Marmeladov’s children also benefit from Raskolnikov’s extraordinary desire to take other people’s suffering upon himself and ease their burdens.

“Society is too well protected by sentences of exile, prisons, criminal investigations, labor camps—what’s the worry? Go and catch your thief!” 

Forced to speak loudly and declaratively about criminality and punishment during his conversation with Porfiry in an attempt to divert the magistrate’s suspicions, Raskolnikov spouts opinions that are not his own. Raskolnikov criticizes society for being “too well protected” (227) by the punishments it administers—an ironic statement, as his desperate desire to escape punishment leads to him calling for stricter and harsher punishments.

“Oh, never, never shall I forgive that old woman!” 

Raskolnikov blames Aliona Ivanovna for his mental turmoil. The murder has traumatized him and he cannot escape his mounting paranoia and guilt. Raskolnikov is still not ready to achieve redemption, however. He continues to blame others, even the victim, for his actions. Only when Raskolnikov takes responsibility for his deeds will he be able to overcome his alienation and reintegrate into society.

“Rarely if ever had anyone carried away so much venomous hatred in his heart as this man nursed against Raskolnikov.”

Luzhin’s hatred for Raskolnikov mirrors Raskolnikov rage at Aliona Ivanovna. Luzhin fixates on his hatred, illustrating how negative emotions corrupt a person. Luzhin does not descend to the depths that Raskolnikov did, but his capacity to hate shows that Raskolnikov is not unique.

“What’s wrong with you?”

Pulkheria Alexandrovna finally asks the question we all want to pose to Raskolnikov. No one truly understands Raskolnikov’s mental state. The complexity of his crisis of morality is the key issue of the novel—an issue that has no direct solution. So much is wrong with Raskolnikov, so much is wrong with everyone else, and so much is wrong with the society that there is no answer to Pulkeria’s question.

“But maybe God doesn’t even exist.” 

Raskolnikov mocks Sonia’s religiosity, suggesting that God may not even exist and that her beliefs are meaningless and childish. But Raskolnikov’s inability to commit to his own lack of belief reveals his insecurity. He does not say that God does not exist. Instead, he relies on a hedging “maybe” (269), unable bring himself to definitively say that there is no higher power in the universe. Raskolnikov is not as steadfast and as certain as his mocking tone makes him seem.

“Everything cuts both ways, it all cuts both ways now.”

Raskolnikov’s words manifest his fractured mind. Split into a cold, calculating self and a more romantic, altruistic one, he does his best to reject the more humane side of himself. But the aftermath of the murder frays his personality and mental state even more. While everything once cut one of two ways, now everything cuts all ways.

“He was one of that vast and varied crowd of mediocrities, lifeless stillborns, and stubborn-headed ignoramuses, who rush to embrace the latest fashionable craze and instantly vulgarize it, producing a ridiculous caricature of whatever they themselves may sometimes sincerely believe in.” 

Luzhin loathes Lebeziatnikov as a pretentious idiot with nothing of real value to say. Lebeziatnikov loathes Luzhin as rude, vapid, and cynical. Luzhin criticizes Lebeziatnikov for being part of the “vast and varied crowd of mediocrities” (300) but the same could be said of himself. Luzhin has no real beliefs beyond his own self-interest. He does not believe in anything, so anyone with sincere political opinions seems absurd or vulgar to him. Lebeziatnikov’s criticism of Luzhin proves correct.

“He tried to smile, but there was something helpless and unfinished in that pale smile.”

Raskolnikov is losing the ability to fake normality, unable to generate a believable smile. A smile connotes happiness, something Raskolnikov can no longer express. His smile is helpless and unfinished. Raskolnikov tries to smile, suggesting that he wants to overcome his social alienation, but he fails.

“Power is only granted to the man who dares to stoop and pick it up.”

Raskolnikov views power as only available to those who are willing to degrade themselves to get it. Raskolnikov tried to prove that he was an important man by stooping down to abandon his humanity and murder two people. However, Raskolnikov is wrong. His experiment has not made him more powerful, as it has only led to more suffering.

“He was suddenly scared by the thought that Porfiry regarded him as innocent.”

Raskolnikov has flitted between a desire to confess and a desire to escape punishment for so long that the idea of being free now terrifies him. The painter’s false confession scares Raskolnikov that he might not be punished as he deserves. The sudden fear that grips him after the false confession is a step toward accepting true responsibility for his crime.

“I’ve come for your crosses, Sonia.”

Raskolnikov turns to Sonia for redemption. He wants to confess to his crimes, so he accepts both the wooden cross she gives him to wear and a public humiliation at a crossroads she insists he undergo. For him, these crosses symbolize his belief that Sonia’s worldview offers more than his own.

“Raskolnikov repeated his statement.”

Raskolnikov has finally come to terms with the consequences of his actions, accepting the need to confess. The fact that he repeats his statement demonstrates that his actions are deliberate and sincere, not impulsive.