FREE ESSAY ON FYODOR DOSTOEVSKY

FYODOR DOSTOEVSKY

Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky's life was dark and dramatic as his novels were. His
father's drunken brutality led to his murder by his own serfs. At the age of 28 he was
imprisoned for alleged subversion against Tsar Nicholas. He was in prison for ten years.
While in prison he made many changes in his philosophies and it was greatly shown in his
novels. "Man is a mystery. If you spend your entire life puzzling it out then do not say
you have wasted your time. I occupy myself with this because I want to be a man." This
quote is from a letter that Dostoevsky sent to his brother at the age of eighteen. The
quote shows the mindset of the author. This mystery is what Crime and Punishment is
about. Dostoevsky reveals this mystery through guilt. He shows that almost everybody has
a sense of guilt. This guilt will not let you get away with the crime. This information
brings me to a statement that I feel reflects the entire novel. Through pain and
suffering, guilt will bring confession.
Knowledge of crime or bad deeds lead to guilt. " I was not delirious, I knew what I was
doing," he cried straining. "I was quite myself do you hear?" (Dostoevsky 310) This quote
shows that Raskolnikov knew what he was doing and that he was guilty. Even through his
extraordinary man theory he knows that he had done wrong. He would like to believe that
he was in the right but in the back of his mind he knows that he is in the wrong. "Good
God, am I going out of my senses?"(Dostoevsky 130) This shows that he doesn't know what
is happening to himself. He thought that he would have no remorse for this crime but he
came out with a lot of guilt. The extraordinary man theory seemed to be a scapegoat for
himself. There was not a really big need for the pawn-broker to be killed. She was not
really hurting anyone. "In Crime and Punishment Raskolnikov constructed his whole theory
of the extraordinary man for one purpose only, to justify in his own eyes a quick and
easy way for profit. He had to come quickly, at the first good opportunity, to dishonest
means of wealth. The question arose in his mind: how is one to explain this desire to
oneself? As a weakness or a strength? It would have been much more simple and believable
to explain it as a weakness, but it was much more pleasant for Raskolnikov to consider
himself as a strong man and to justify his hand in someone else's pocket by this shameful
thinking" (Pisarev 157). Raskolnikov had to think this way in order to justify the murder
to himself. Denial is what he was going through throughout the whole novel. He refused to
believe that he was in the wrong so he made this theory to protect himself from his
thoughts of confession.
There is a way to get away from the law but there is no way to get away from the guilt.
"And everywhere there is recognition of the fact that behind the law there is guilt."
There are ways to fool the law but you can never get away from what you already know. It
is impossible to remove from your conscience the wrongful deeds that you have done. There
is no way to run away from your own thoughts. It was said in a essay of criticism that
Dostoevsky was contemplating how to end the novel. The two decisions were suicide or
confession. Confession was needed to fulfill the lesson of how guilt tears at a person
and brings them to confession. "The feeling of disconnection and of isolation from
mankind, which he had realized immediately on committing the crime, torments him to
death"(Dostoevsky 69). Raskolnikov can't even get the guilt of the murders out of his
mind. The truth is tormenting and tearing at him. His only escape is confession. "The
thought of criminal punishment hangs like Damocle's sword over Raskolnikov's head"
(Pisarev 158). The only thing that keeps him from confessing is the punishment that he
would receive. The thought of many years of suffering seemed unbearable to him. If you
think about it, prison might actually be a better place for Raskolnikov. He will not have
to worry about his financial problems and will be safe from committing another such
crime. The prison cell is probably not much different than his own room that he rents.
The effects of guilt will tear at you both psychologically and physically. "He returned
to his room, where he remained for four days in a high fever"(Kasdan 1197). This shows
you how very bad the crime affected Raskolnikov. The guilt was to much for Raskolnikov to
bear. His body was so overloaded from the mental anguish that he went into this deep
fever. "I ask you the same question again: if you consider me guilty, why don't you take
me to prison"(Dostoevsky 286)? Raskolnikov almost seems as though he wants to get caught.
If he was actually trying to get away with this crime, he wouldn't talk like this to
Porfiry who was trying to catch the murderer. He is playing with the law because he knows
that it will only be a matter of time before he gets caught or can't take it anymore and
confesses. "If I had committed the crime"(Dostoevsky 147). Raskolnikov is acting very
weird about the crime and I think that it should be very obvious that he was the
murderer. I feel that this statement should have given the man that he was talking to the
suspicion that Raskolnikov was somehow linked to the murder.
I have found that justice is always served. You might not get caught by the law but you
will have to deal with your own guilt. I don't feel that society today has such a
realization of guilt. "It clearly indicates the consequences of sin" ( Howell 71). This
novel shows the consequences of sin very well. The consequences are very bad. While
reading this novel I thought to myself, could O. J. Simpson be going through the same
thing at this time? Is he at the point of confession? Will he confess? This story that
was written over one hundred years ago still applies to society today. A guilty
conscience is a very difficult thing to live with.