Superiority Theme Development in Crime and Punishment Everyone has their own ideas about what makes one person better than another, despite the fact that in the end, we are all human and therefore we should probably learn to treat each other equally. In Crime and Punishment, the main character, Raskolnikov, has his own ideas about superiority. He believes that some men are so much better than others that it is a necessity for them to break laws, and consequently, become great men. "He has done the murder for which he suffers upon a theory, if not a principle: the theory that the greatest heroes and even benefactors of the race have not hesitated at crime when it would advance their extraordinary purposes or promote their development”
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Throughout the novel, Raskolnikov changes in so many ways, and his ideas regarding superiority play a large part in those changes. While his thoughts about superiority are involved in Raskolnikov’s changes, his changes also play a large part in the development of the theme of superiority. "At the beginning of the novel Raskolnikov interprets the act of crossing the threshold of the law as the prerogative of remarkable individuals, a prerequisite for great achievements. In this sense Raskolnikov's crime becomes a measure of his own worth. Ironically his repeated, mercurial, and ultimately conflicting efforts to justify his crime, none of which prove satisfactory even to himself, come to represent Raskolnikov's failure to become an exceptional man”(Crime). Raskolnikov’s thought that in order to be an exceptional man you have to be able to break the law without facing repercussions, “Raskolnikov cites the French emperor Napoleon as the epitome of the superman type. He argues that Napoleon rose to power by overstepping the laws that govern ordinary people. Napoleon made his own
Throughout the novel, Raskolnikov changes in so many ways, and his ideas regarding superiority play a large part in those changes. While his thoughts about superiority are involved in Raskolnikov’s changes, his changes also play a large part in the development of the theme of superiority. "At the beginning of the novel Raskolnikov interprets the act of crossing the threshold of the law as the prerogative of remarkable individuals, a prerequisite for great achievements. In this sense Raskolnikov's crime becomes a measure of his own worth. Ironically his repeated, mercurial, and ultimately conflicting efforts to justify his crime, none of which prove satisfactory even to himself, come to represent Raskolnikov's failure to become an exceptional man”(Crime). Raskolnikov’s thought that in order to be an exceptional man you have to be able to break the law without facing repercussions, “Raskolnikov cites the French emperor Napoleon as the epitome of the superman type. He argues that Napoleon rose to power by overstepping the laws that govern ordinary people. Napoleon made his own