One of the most influential novels of the nineteenth century. Fyodor Dostoevsky’s ‘Crime and Punishment’ tells the story of Rodion Raskolnikov, a young student in St. Petersburg who, driven by poverty, desperation, isolation, and a misplaced sense of morality, has become obsessed with an idea. One that could bring to ruin more lives than one.
There are crimes of passion and crimes of logic. The boundary between them is not clearly defined.
Albert Camus
While Crime and Punishment appears to be the story of a desperate man’s mistake and attempt to escape the punishment of his crimes, the story offers an exceptional perspective into the human psychology, the philosophy that guides individual morals, and the psychology that drives guilt. A story that has impacted philosophical, economical, and social thinkers for over 150 years.
The Plot
Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov, a former law student, is living an isolated life in a tiny, rented apartment in St. Petersburg. A belief in the moral superiority of a few extraordinary people who have the right to transgress legal boundaries, combined with his desperation, has insipred him to kill and rob a pawn broker. Unfortunately for him, his vitim’s sister arrives on the scene as he is going through her possessions. And in his panic, he decides to eliminate the sister as well.
Rodion’s life is further complicated by a dependent mother and sister battling poverty, that has forced his sister, Dunya, into an unfavourable engagement. The sudden appearance of Razumikhin, an old friend concerned with Rodion’s self-destructive behaviour. And Marmeladov, a new friend, an alcoholic whose own problems have forced his daughter into prostitution.
All bearing down on an anti-hero who has the weight of two lives on his conscience, riddling him with an ethical and moral dilemma that will define the rest of his life.
All men make mistakes, but a good man yields when he knows his course is wrong, and repairs the evil. The only crime is pride.
– Sophocles
The themes underlying Crime and Punishment. And the questions they ask.
Fyodor Dostoevsky does more than just telling a thrilling story in Crime and Punishment. With a premise driven by an ethical question at its core, Rodion Raskolnikov’s story explores the nature of human psychology, and more.
- Alienation and Isolation
Living by himself in his tiny apartment, Rodion considers his isolation to be a strength. A by-product of his superiority that prevents him from bonding with others around him at an emotional level. His crime only pushes him alienate himself from society further. Something that gives him great pride. Until the time this same isolation becomes an unbearable prison. Not just metaphorically, but also in reality.
Which almost begs the question similar to one I asked about ‘genius’ and ‘discovery’ a few weeks ago. What is the price of isolation? Inspiration? Madness? Something in between. Or something that combines them? - Morality
The core of the Fyodor Dostoevsky’s story. An indefensible crime. Committed because of Rodion’s questionable view on moral superiority that has convinced him that his victim adds no value to society. And is therefore expendable. But he must now come to terms with his actions. And with it, the realization that no amount of moral superiority or any illusion of it can spare him the remorse, guilt, the deepened sense of isolation and of course, a prison sentence.
Morals and ethics may be largely subjective. But do you draw the line for the actions your own morals ask of you? Especially in today’s day and age when results mean everything. do you blur the line that separates your philosophical beliefs from pragmatism? Or do you make the line more distinct? - Nihilism
A school of thought that essentially questions the existence of anything and everything we hold close to our hearts. Objectivity, morals, knowledge, family, emotional and social bonds. All deemed meaningless. Rodion’s character through the book is a reflection of his nihilistic views that has driven him into isolation, away from his family, convinced him of his self-superiority. And the meaninglessness of life. At least of the life he is ready to take.
The result was a dangerous persona with destructive tendencies. Towards others, and eventually, towards himself as well. Instead of dismissing the idea of morality entirely, Rodion would be better served by asking what morality really meant.
What does a view that dismisses emotional bonds and morals look like? Just look back at some of the atrocities committed over the last 100 years by individuals driven by a similarly misplaced moral compass. - The superior man
Rodion’s actions, his moral inclinations, the very essence of his being is inspired by a belief in an idea. That certain extraordinary individuals, including himself, have the right, and even duty to go beyond the laws laid down by society. Combined with a desperation to serves his own needs, he has no hesitation about the morality of his actions. Nor the consequences. Until the suppressed guilt has grown within him like a virus intent on paralyzing its host.
Rodion Raskolnikov is in many ways the embodiment of Friedrich Nietzsche’s Übermensch. Or a precursor may be a more apt description. Since it was a few years after the release of Crime and Punishment that Nietzsche first introduced his idea of the Übermensch. A superior man that the world is destined to witness. A man who will rise above the conventional morality and live by rules and values of his own choosing. But does the superiority – which itself has a vague metric of judgment – bring with it an unrestricted freedom? Or a responsibility?
Not the usual blend of philosophical undertones one would expect in a piece of fiction. Then again, like most philosophical thinkers, Dostoevsky’s work is more a reflection of the time and place he lived in. And what he sought to bring out.
Crime and Punishment. And the Ubermensch
In another time, it’s not hard to imagine Dostoevsky and Nietzsche share a complicated friendship. In reality however, they had never met. Dostoevsky in fact probably never even heard of Nietzsche. Nietzsche on the other hand was not only aware of Dostoevsky but had an open admiration for him. Acknowledging him as ‘the only psychologist from whom he had anything to learn.’
They both grappled with questions surrounding human existence, meaning, and purpose. A similarity influenced by the world and the times they lived in. And their inability to come to terms with what they saw around them.
Dostoevsky uses Rodion to show nihilistic dangers by presenting a character who sees himself as someone above rules. A character who has all the reasons to commit murder. Philosophical as well as practical. He focusses on the moral plight and the downward spiral of such an idea. Nietzsche’s ‘God is dead’ on the other hand was a tragic statement that questioned the general belief in religion. Proposing that human beings hold the power to rise above religion and live by their own values. A revaluation that if welcomed by the human race can usher in a new way of life: the Übermensch.
Dostoevsky and Nietzsche. Two sides of the same coin.
Flawed, brilliant, or just obscure, the verdict changes depending on who you speak to. But Dostoevsky’s rule transcending Rodion, and Nietzsche’s Übermensch share more than just a behavioural and moral pattern in common. They were both born out of an exposure to similar, harsh circumstances. But where these two thinkers differ is their vision. Both question the nature of human existence. Nietzsche rejects the existence certain principles and ideals, championing the ability and of men. Dostoevsky embraces these principles, and puts his faith in God, chasing the same unattainable ideals.
Is man merely a mistake of God’s? Or God merely a mistake of man?
Friedrich Nietzsche
Two brilliant thinkers clinging on to an ideology that has much in common, but with approaches so radically different. One idealistic. The other realistic. But even Nietzsche’s seemingly unrealistic demands of mankind screams so much of a courage to be desired. The courage not to do the extraordinary. But to simply, have faith in mankind and its potential.
The last word
There is good reason why Crime and Punishment remains one of the most influential novels ever written, even more than 150 years after Dostoevsky wrote it. Many works are as thrilling, and provoking, but very few can match the tortured intensity of its storyline, which also explains the social and philosophical impact Dostoevsky’s work is now acclaimed to have had. And as long as you have a brief background on the author and what inspired the painful story of Rodion Raskolnikov, this is a story that needs to be read. Not just for its brilliant literature, but for all its implications to the living of our lives.
