The Cycle
Landon Thomas
Crime and Punishment Final Essay
Period 2
Raasch
The book Crime and Punishment is a story of a young man named Raskolnikov who seems to be a victim of his own abnormal ideals. As Raskolnikov transgresses moral boundaries inherent in his Russian society, he goes through various stages of changing personality and mental acuity. These five stages are: before the murder, after the murder, after the illness, after the confession, and after the repentance. During each stage, Raskolnikov almost acts like an entirely different man from the stage before.
The first stage Raskolnikov goes through is his life leading up to the murder. At this point, Raskolnikov is an idealistic, but disturbed man. Throughout part one, he is disturbed by his own horrible thoughts of murdering the pawnbroker. He renounces those murderous thoughts several times throughout part one. For example, on page seven, he states, referring to his own thoughts of murder, “‘Oh, God, how loathsome it all is! and can I, can I possibly. . . . No, it’s nonsense, it’s rubbish!’ he added resolutely. ‘And how could such an atrocious thing come into my head? What filthy things my heart is capable of. Yes, filthy above all, disgusting, loathsome, loathsome!—and for a whole month I’ve been. . . .’ But no words, no exclamations, could express his agitation.” Raskolnikov is obviously very distraught at this point, but apparently, this wretched mentality has been occurring for a whole month in his life.
Raskolnikov had thoughts of murdering the pawnbroker several times throughout part one, but every time he renounced such thoughts, he would restore them as valid within a short amount of time afterwards. In chapter five, Raskolnikov once more restored those lethal thoughts. “He thought of nothing and was incapable of thinking; but he suddenly felt in his whole being that he had no more freedom of though, no will, and that everything was suddenly and irrevocably decided. Certainly, if he had to wait whole years for a suitable opportunity, he could not reckon on a more certain step towards the success of the plan than that which had just presented itself.” [56] Unfortunately for the pawnbroker, after this point, Raskolnikov never seriously doubted his own resolve until after the murder. Raskolnikov’s severe, bipolar attitude indicates that Raskolnikov was never sure of himself. He never knew whether he really wanted to go through with the murder or not.
The event that initially encouraged him to commit the crime was the conversation between the officer and the student. The student was telling the officer how it would be acceptable, or even admirable, to kill the pawnbroker, Alyona Ivanovna. This occurred during a flashback to a month earlier when Raskolnikov first got the idea to kill the pawnbroker. Raskolnikov did not treat this conversation as a mere coincidence (as he had pondering that thought earlier that day), but as a definitive sign that it was his right and even his responsibility to kill the pawnbroker. The sentence, “This trivial talk in a tavern had an immense influence on him in his later action; as though there had really been in it something preordained, some guiding hint. . . .” [59] shows this. The narrator even admitted that conversation was “trivial talk”, but Raskolnikov was in such a confused state that this mere coincidence was enough to convince him that the homicide had to occur.
There was a dream in part one that Raskolnikov had that deeply frightened him. This dream was probably a flashback to Raskolnikov’s younger life, as there were some strong implications in chapter five that pointed to this. The narrator described the meaning of the dream perfectly. On page forty-eight, the narrator described his theme this way, “In a morbid condition of the brain, dreams often have a singular activity, vividness and extraordinary semblance of reality. At times monstrous images are created, but the setting and the whole picture are to truthlike and filled with details so delicate, so unexpected, but so artistically consistent, that the dreamer, were he an artist like Pushkin or Turgenev even, could never have invented them in the waking state. Such sick dreams always remain long in the memory and make a powerful impression on the overwrought and deranged nervous system.” The narrator indicated the point of the dream very well in this statement. The dream showed that Raskolnikov had a lot of turmoil within himself. He was still wrestling with the thought of whether he should kill the pawnbroker or not.
Eventually, Raskolnikov is pushed over the edge and he commits a cold and calculated murder. All of his above actions and thoughts indicate that he was not entirely sure if murdering Alyona was the just thing to do. This shows that, although he had strong convictions and beliefs, he did not believe in himself enough to be able to actually go through with the moral transgression his beliefs required of him and to live with that choice.
The second phase of Raskolnikov’s life during Crime and Punishment was what occurred to him immediately after the murder. This phase is distinguished by the fact that Raskolnikov was ill throughout most of it. This stage occurs through part two into part three, chapter three. After that point, Raskolnikov does not seem to be ill any more. Immediately after the murder, Raskolnikov’s punishment has already begun. He immediately becomes very ill and he is so mentally confused and lost that he exclaims, “Surely it isn’t beginning already! Surely it isn’t my punishment coming upon me? It is!” [81] This is a very important line. Not only does it show that Raskolnikov is already suffering for his crime, but it indicates that he expected or even knew that his punishment was inevitable after the murder. Raskolnikov knew that he would suffer for his crime, but he committed it anyway. This odd point just exemplifies how unsure he was of his own convictions. He knew he was not an extraordinary man, but wanted to be one so badly that he was willing to sacrifice his mind to prove his theory (to others and himself). Perhaps he was sure of his convictions after all.
Whether or not Raskolnikov is sure of himself or not, he was definitely in a sorry state of affairs throughout this second stage. In chapter two, Raskolnikov has a second horrible dream. This time, the dream is about Ilya Petrovich beating his landlady, Praskovya Pavlovna. He never actually saw any of this, but he heard it all perfectly clear through his door. This probably was not a dream. He was probably awake when this happened, but he is in such a feverish delirium that he imagined it all. There was no clear time when Raskolnikov woke up before Natasya came in, also indicating that he was awake when it thought it happened. This daydream shows that Raskolnikov does not even have to be asleep to have bad dreams or hallucinations, which demonstrates how incredibly distraught he is at this time. Natasya comes in and tries to convince him it never happened, but he hardly believes her.
Raskolnikov is delirious through most of this stage, and he makes several odd decisions along the way. In part two, chapter three, he initially refuses a sum of thirty-five roubles from his mother, without practical reason. In chapter five, he completely insulted Luzhin, who, at the time, seemed like a Godsend to the Raskolnikov family. In chapter six, Raskolnikov made one of the strangest decisions in the book. He practically admitted his guilt to Zametov, a worker at the police station where Porfiry and Ilya Petrovitch were located. In chapter seven, Raskolnikov made an unusual choice when he left a rather large sum of money for the Marmeladov family. This seems to be uncharacteristic for Raskolnikov, given his ideals, but the real stupid part about it on his part was that he left twenty roubles, the exact amount of money that he stole from the pawnbroker. This could have raised suspicions as well. Raskolnikov continued to act strangely into part three. In the first chapter, he told Dounia that she could not marry Luzhin. They left in despair, thinking that he was simply delirious and did not mean what he was saying. “‘He is raving.’ Razumihin cried tipsily, ‘ or how would he dare! To-morrow all this nonsense will be over. . . .’” [172] In chapter three, Raskolnikov again ordered Dounia not to marry Luzhin.
All of these examples of odd behavior in Raskolnikov show that during this stage during the book, he is so incredibly distraught about the murder that he becomes ill (this sickness is probably derived from hypochondria more than anything else). He simply could not take the pressure and emotion pain of killing those women, so he slips into a delirium that lasts for several chapters. At this point one thing is clear: Raskolnikov is not as extraordinary as he may have once thought.
The rest of the book until the end of part six falls into the third stage: after illness. Raskolnikov seems to display increasing paranoia throughout this stage. His illness does not play a very significant role throughout the rest of the book, but he is definitely not at peace with himself yet. There are several examples of paranoid behavior exhibited by Raskolnikov in the following chapters. His first display of paranoid behavior was at Porfiry’s party. He overcompensated for his extreme discomfort (he was in the den of the jackals, after all) by trying to appear casual. Unfortunately, this attempt translated into hysterical laughter that may have drawn more attention to him than originally attempted. Two quotes best sum up the rouse (both refer to Raskolnikov’s laughter): “The extraordinary ferocity with which Razumihin received this ‘spontaneous’ mirth gave the whole scene the appearance of most genuine fun and naturalness.” [217] and “Raskolnikov was still laughing, with his hand in Porfiry Petrovitch’s, but, anxious not to overdo it, awaited the right moment to put a natural end to it.” [217]. These two sentences imply that his plan worked, but, in the end, many of the officers there still suspected him of murder.
Raskolnikov tells Razumihin about this suspicion in the next chapter and Razumihin even agrees that Raskolnikov’s analysis may be correct. “‘You are suspicious. That is why you weighed their words . . . h’m . . . certainly, I agree, Porfiry’s tone was rather strange, and still more that wretch Zametov! . . . You are right, there was something about him—but why? Why?’” [233]
Raskolnikov had yet another bad dream, this time in part three, chapter six. He dreamed that he was walking along the street and someone beckoned Raskolnikov to follow him. He eventually led Raskolnikov into the pawnbroker’s apartment, after which Raskolnikov lost sight of him. Raskolnikov found the pawnbroker in the corner, alive and well, but doubled over so he could not see her face. He immediately had the instinct to kill her with an axe (that magically appeared in his coat). After one swipe, she remained doubled over, but laughing at him. He then realized there were people all around him in the apartment whispering and laughing at him. He struck her several more times, but she was uninjured and each time her laughter and the whispers and laughter of the others grew stronger. He ran out of the apartment in a frenzy, but ran straight into a hallway crowded with people. They were all staring at him expectantly. His movement became frozen, then he woke up. The significance of this dream is that the murder is still haunting. Through his paranoia, he may be fooling several people and staying one step ahead of the police in avoiding arrest. However, this dream shows that this brilliant game of cat-and-mouse is irrelevant because Raskolnikov simply cannot live with himself after he committed such atrocities. Porfiry was right. Raskolnikov’s guilt would lead to his confession, not the police’s investigation.
Up to this point, Raskolnikov displayed a very paranoid personality. After that, Raskolnikov does a number of good deeds for his family and others that eventually leads to his confession. During this process, Raskolnikov helped his family by permanently erasing the evil Luzhin from the minds of his mother and sister. He also made some final amends with them near the end, as well. Even though he was a murderer, he still cared for them very deeply.
His confession was inevitable, as Porfiry had observed early in the book. Once he confessed to Sonia, it would only be a matter of time before he would report to the authorities. Sonia’s encouragement finally led him to the confession, both in her apartment and outside the police station.
The next stage, after confession, takes place in the epilogue, where Raskolnikov is living in a Siberian prison camp. Raskolnikov was still not at peace with himself. The confession was not enough. Raskolnikov still had just as much turmoil within himself as he did throughout the whole book. He even became ill again and had another horrible dream. He dreamed about a virus that infected all of humanity. The effects of this virus caused its victims to take up arms and fight each other. There was so much pandemonium that people would kill anyone and everyone they came across. The virus was so maddening that even armies that were established to kill could not maintain their organization, as the people within the ranks would soon fight amongst themselves. Eventually, all humans perished except for a select few who were spared. These chosen would rise up and start a new and better humanity for its peoples. This dream showed that Raskolnikov was still not at ease with himself. Another problem he was having was he was becoming reclusive in prison and his fellow inmates were beginning to seriously hate him for little apparent reason. This was not redemption and salvation for Raskolnikov. This was a life that was causing just as much inner turmoil as his life before he confessed.
There was still one more step Raskolnikov had to complete before his punishment was complete and he could return to society as an equal again. This was the last step in a process of three steps that would lead to his renewed health and well-being. First, his family and friends forgave him for his crime. This occurred when they all displayed infinite love even after they learned of his horrid crime. The second step was that society forgave him. This happened when he confessed at the police station. The third and final step that would lead to his redemption was that he had to recognize his error in both his actions and his ideals, and he had to forgive himself. This happened during the very end of the epilogue. When he fell to Sonia’s knees at the end of the book, he finally was to the point where he could love again, both himself and others. Right at that point, he entered stage five: after redemption. He repentance was complete. He needed no more punishment, as he was now forgiven on all accounts. The story was over: Raskolnikov was alive again. Even though he had some twisted ideas in the past, when he completed this last step, it proved that he could reach atonement. Everything in his life would improve after that point. The bouts of fever would end, as would the dreams. He would be at peace. Most importantly, however, he could fully enjoy life with the woman he loved at first sight. At the end of the book, everything was complete. The cycle of Crime and Punishment was at an end.
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