Raskolnikov’s experiences …show more content…
Dostoevsky’s commentary on these issues makes reading the novel a memorable and inspiring experience. Dostoevsky has inspired many great thinkers in history, such as Robert Louis Stevenson, Franz Kafka, Albert Camus, and Iris Murdoch (“Crime and Punishment”). Not only is Crime and Punishment inspiring for writers and philosophers, but it is also inspiring for the average person. Raskolnikov’s inner dilemma is strikingly similar to the dilemma people currently face when pondering the morality of capital punishment or war. Many Westerners firmly believe in the separation of church and state, but Crime and Punishment forces them examine whether modern secularist culture is causing a decline in morality. Drinking is not as severe a problem in developed Western countries as it was in nineteenth century Russia, but alcoholics and drug addicts certainly drain poor families’ income. In underdeveloped countries, drinking may have as devastating an effect on families as it did in Crime and Punishment. Many of the issues Dostoevsky discusses are timeless. His thought-provoking opinions are one of the reasons Crime and Punishment is still so well-known