Book Note: Crime and Punishment

I attempted to read Crime and Punishment by Dostoyevsky after my first visit to St. Petersburg in July 2015. However, I got distracted and did not finish it. I eventually picked it up again and read it from start to finish during the last two weeks of 2016, finishing the last chapter a few hours before midnight on New Year’s Eve.

The book was published in twelve installments in 1866 in the ‘Russian Messenger’ before being published as a single book. It was incredibly successful when it was first published and remains one of Dostoyevsky’s most famous works, and is still required reading in high schools across Russia.

Rodion Raskolnikov is a 23-year-old former law student who lives in extreme poverty in St. Petersburg. During his time at university, he wrote a paper in which he argued that there are two types of individuals in the world: ordinary people who lead ordinary lives, and a select few who are above the law, superior to the rest of humanity, and allowed to violate moral codes, including killing for the “greater good.” These ideas have strong echoes of nihilism, a rampant philosophy in late 19th century Russia that rejects all religions and moral principles. Utilitarianism, a concept which dictates that moral decisions should be based on the rule of the greatest happiness for the greatest amount of people, was central to nihilism. Raskolnikov believes that he is indeed a superior being and, based on this nihilist premise, decides to test his theory by killing an old and stingy pawnbroker named Alyona Ivanova. He justifies his crime by arguing that she is old, stingy, and will die soon, and that her wealth can make many others happy. However, after the murder, Raskolnikov enters into a world of guilt, madness, and mental suffering that culminates in his full confession of the crime and his decision to hand himself over to the police in the last paragraph of the book. Raskolnikov did not even bother to check how much money he took with him after the crime, suggesting that his crime was not motivated by financial gain but rather by a desire to prove his theory.

Despite its title, the novel barely focuses on the actual crime or the actual punishment, which are only briefly outlined in the two epilogues. Instead, the story unfolds in the events that happen between the crime and punishment and is mainly told from Raskolnikov’s point of view. The novel delves deep into how the crime impacts him as well as those around him, especially his mother and sister, who play a central role in the story.

Raskolnikov’s sister, Avdotya Romanovna (Dunya), moves to St. Petersburg with their mother, Pulcheria Alexandrovna Raskolnikov, to marry a rich, narrow-minded, and self-absorbed man named Pyotr Petrovich Luzhin. Raskolnikov is against this relationship from the very beginning and sees through Luzhin’s intentions to marry a desperately poor girl like Dunya, hoping she will be forever indebted to him. Despite his difficult mental state, Raskolnikov is able to decisively stand up and defend his sister in front of Luzhin and later in front of Svidrigailov, Dunya’s former employer who is also in love with her.

The relationship between Raskolnikov and his mother plays a brief yet important role in the novel. Raskolnikov’s mother is deeply devoted to him and would do anything for him to be happy and successful. She refuses to believe that her son could ever commit murder and holds him in high regard for his intelligence. When Raskolnikov leaves for prison without informing her, she suspects the worst but chooses not to ask any questions. Instead, she convinces herself that he is doing well and will soon return home. Her refusal to confront the truth takes a toll on her health, and she eventually passes away. Raskolnikov himself suffers greatly after committing the murder and realizes the pain he has caused not just to himself but also to those around him, particularly his mother. Despite the love and support he receives from his family, his friend Razumikhin, and Sonya, a caring woman who comes from a troubled background, he is unable to fully accept their kindness.

The theme of alienation emerges clearly and consistently for Raskolnikov after he commits the crime. His guilty conscience undergoes various phases of development, eventually leading him to confess first to those closest to him and then to the police. Porfiry Petrovich, an experienced crime investigator who sympathizes with Raskolnikov, realizes early on that he will either confess or go mad. Despite the pain his actions have caused himself and others, Raskolnikov continues to justify his crime to himself and to the courts.

Even in prison in Siberia, Raskolnikov remains alienated, unable to bond with fellow inmates who detest him. It is only at the end, when he surrenders his love to Sonya, that he begins to change. The novel ends with a new account, the account of a man’s gradual renewal, of his transition from one world to another, and his acquaintance with a completely unknown reality.

The book addresses significant social and political issues that shape the characters and the plot, such as the line between morality, the effects of poverty, devotion to family, and the treatment of women. It was my first real taste of Russian literature at its best, and I hope to return to it soon!