Ambiguity In Dostoevsky's 'Crime And Punishment'

The ability to distinguish a good person from an evil person is usually a simple task. Although in most literary works, it can be more difficult to differentiate between the two. In society people are quick to draw a line between good and evil but as people grow and face new experiences that line can become blurred and morals and values begin to change. In the novel, Crime and Punishment, Raskolnikov can be branded as a morally ambiguous character. Raskolnikov can be viewed as morally ambiguous because he is portrayed as if he has two different personalities. One side of Raskolnikov is warm and compassionate while another side of him is cold, unfeeling, and self-willed. Raskolnikov’s moral ambiguity is a vital role in the novel because Dostoevsky uses Raskolnikov to make the readers question the validity of a black and white world. Raskolnikov is caught between two contradicting situations. On one hand he is warm and compassionate, like in the second chapter of Part 1 Raskolnikov leaves money for Marmeladov and his family since one of his kids is selling herself to bring money in for the family while the other kids are going hungry because Marmeladov drinks their money away. On pages 45-47, while Raskolnikov is walking in town he comes across a fairly young but drunk girl. He points out that it looks like she has been taken advantage of , “She wore a dress of light silky material, but it was oddly put on, scarcely fastened,and torn open in back at the top of the skirt near the waist. A whole shred of …show more content…
Raskolnikov can not be placed as a hero or villain, because the reader knows murder is wrong but to what extent? Can murder be justified if it was to benefit the less fortunate? The reader will even question why society listens to labels of “right” and “wrong” and decides what is right and what is