Raskolnikov's Suffering In Crime And Punishment

Crime and Punishment, by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, is the story of Rodion Raskolnikov and his suffering. The book starts off in Petersburg, Russia. Raskolnikov is a college dropout, who is obsessed by his Great Man Theory. In this theory, great men rule the world. They are able to go around the laws, for the bettering of humanity. Raskolnikov wants to fit into his own theory. He wants desperately to be a great man. To test his theory, he kills a cheating pawnbroker. The realization of what he has truly done slowly sets in. He realizes that he is an ordinary man, who simply committed a crime. This realization leads to physical and mental suffering. This suffering eventually leads him to redemption. Raskolnikov’s overcoming of his pride …show more content…
Slowly the thought that he might not be a great man sets in. Raskolnikov enters a state of paranoia “At first moment he thought he would go mad. A terrible chill seized him . . . Suddenly he remembered that the purse and all the things he had taken. . . . In a flash he hastened to take them out . . .” (p. 85-86). He is disturbed and becomes very sick, mentally and physically. He would wake up in the night with the fear of being caught. While being talked to at the police station, he overhears people talking about the murder and he faints. Moreover, during his questioning with the court investigator, Porfiry, he was unable to think clearly. In another questioning by Porfiry, Raskolnikov “felt like flinging himself on Porfiry and strangling him on the spot” (p.315). Raskolnikov would snap back to reality after moments of insanity. Besides the apparent physical suffering, Raskolnikov suffered a great deal mentally. This mental suffering also stemmed from the fact that he, in fact, did not fit into his own Great Man Theory. Raskolnikov was unable to take the next step, which would be stealing money and putting it to good use. The money would go towards him getting his education and helping more people. This failure to move forwards after his theory, by definition, made him not a great man. Raskolnikov killed the woman and was plagued by his conscience. Raskolnikov killed “ . . . for myself alone. . . . I had to know and I had to know right away: was I a louse like all the rest or was I a man?” (p. 399). He was a louse. He did not kill for the bettering of humanity, or his mother, or to provide the means and power of becoming a benefactor to mankind, rather, he killed for himself. All this suffering was because his pride lead him to murder an innocent woman. This murder leads him to suffer