Crime and Punishment
(Fyodor Dostoevsky)

Raskolnikov was on the verge of a spiritual breakthrough, but his environment and the latest philosophical trends did not support this, nor was he aware of it himself. The conventional thinking held that men’s destinies were the outcome of physical and economic forces, a view that Raskolnikov disdained, even when it seemed to prove true in his own life. In an attempt to rise above this view, he had developed a theory that saw crime as relative to context and divided people into two classes: the unoriginal masses, who were born to follow; and the truly powerful few, the revolutionaries and conquerors who transcended the barriers of convention. By virtue of their power and originality, these few great men, who appeared only once in a while, had the right to break the rules even if that meant killing—and they often did, slaughtering masses of people to establish a new reign. They did not vacillate or apologize for their actions: they simply executed their plans—skillfully and victoriously. Punishment was also not an issue. Instead, despite their bloody beginnings, these powerful beings were ultimately revered by the masses, who usually resisted them at first. Raskolnikov had even written an article on this subject. Now all that remained was to test himself. Could he, Raskolnikov, be such a person? Could he prove to himself that he had the mettle and skill to transcend ordinary existence? He had the originality—but did he have the power?

As the reader can deduce from the above, Crime and Punishment is mainly a psychological novel. Most of the outward action, with the exception of the epilogue and some flashbacks, takes place over a few days. The setting is St. Petersburg in the heat and stench of summer. It is the latter half of the 1800s, and Russia is undergoing social and economic changes, with the serfs having been recently released and Socialist thinking beginning to replace the older Christian view. These opposite views play themselves out in various characters, with Raskolnikov as the most vivid representative of the conflict.

Main Plot

The primary action can be summarized in a few short lines. Formerly a talented, highly intelligent student, Raskolnikov has since left the university and opted out of life in general. When the novel opens, he is impoverished, sickly, and misanthropic. His thoughts are mostly taken up with dark fantasies of murder that are slowly evolving into a definite plan that at once horrifies and excites him. The object of this plan is a greedy, mean-spirited pawnbroker whom Raskolnikov occasionally visits for loans. He has decided to murder her with an axe and then steal her money in order to help himself and his family. He feels that by doing this he will be rendering a service to humanity rather than committing a crime, since the old woman used and abused others. Having carefully observed the situation, he feels that his plan is perfect, but his execution proves to be clumsy. He forgets to take care of crucial details, starts out late, and runs into various problems, the worst being when the old woman’s innocent and kind younger half-sister suddenly appears. Desperate and confused, Raskolnikov kills her, too, and then notices that the door has been ajar the whole time. He bolts it but neglects to lock it, and though he is hardly in control of himself at this point, he resumes his business, when he is surprised by the arrival of two clients who ring the doorbell. They notice various details amiss—such as the door being bolted from within—but they finally leave, giving Raskolnikov a chance to escape. For a moment, he has to hide behind the door of the open, empty second-floor apartment, and in the process, he drops an item that is later found and pawned by one of the painters who had been working in the apartment. As soon as he gets a chance, Raskolnikov makes his move down the stairs and out through the courtyard, though he has to pass some people on the way. But three days later, he returns to the murder scene and, as in a number of other scenes, practically gives away his secret.

The rest of the novel deals with Raskolnikov’s delirium and illness as he tries to unravel his thoughts and feelings as well as what to do next. In the end, he is convinced—at least, on the surface—to turn himself in. His influencers are Porfiry, the brilliant examining magistrate, and Sonya, the innocent prostitute with a profound belief in Christ. To Raskolnikov, Sonya represents one who has transcended the barriers of convention, and in response to his request, she follows him to Siberia after his trial and sentence, which has been reduced because of his decision to confess his crime. In Siberia, Raskolnikov at first continues to experience his characteristic apathy and confusion; but throughout the novel, he has also shown glimpses of an intuitive understanding of a pure love, and it is love and purity—in the form of Sonya as well as a new vision—that finally break through and resurrect his soul to a new sense of life.

Important Subplots

Raskolnikov’s personal odyssey is intertwined with various subplots that serve as backdrops to the main problem of the conflict between material and spiritual ideals:

• Nikolay, the painter who retrieves and pawns the item dropped by Raskolnikov, is the first suspect in the murder, mostly because he tries to hang himself out of sheer fear. He later confesses to the murder, even though he had nothing to do with it; but Porfiry sizes him up as a religious fanatic and sees through the deception.

• Razumikhin, Raskolnikov’s helpful friend, tries to bring order and sense to his friend’s life and, after dedicating himself to Raskolnikov’s mother and sister, finally marries the latter. Like Raskolnikov, he has no tolerance for platitudes, but he also has a great deal of heart and passion, which prevent him from becoming apathetic or misanthropic. Through his interest in people, he plays an integrating role in the plot, often bringing various characters together.

• Raskolnikov’s mother’s and sister’s names are Pulkheria Alexandrovna and Dunya, respectively. After severe difficulties, they move from the country to St. Petersburg, initially because Dunya is engaged to a Civil Councilor named Luzhin. Pulkheria Alexandrovna never stops believing in her son, but in the end she becomes feverish and dies. Dunya’s story is intertwined with some of the other subplots.

• Luzhin represents the philosophy of self-interest, and he and Raskolnikov have it out at their first meeting, which sets the stage for breaking Luzhin’s engagement to Dunya.

• Marfa Petrovna and her amoral husband Svidrigaylov, Dunya’s former employers, were the source of Dunya’s and her mother’s troubles and also the reason for her engagement to Luzhin, set up through Marfa Petrovna. When Marfa Petrovna dies suddenly, Svidrigaylov moves to St. Petersburg, where he coincidentally ends up in an apartment next to Sonya’s and overhears several critical conversations between Raskolnikov and Sonya, including Raskolnikov’s confession of the murder.

• Svidrigaylov is fascinated by Raskolnikov’s theories, since he, too, lacks a strong moral structure and is seeking a new solution. He has impulses towards good but also towards depravity. His final downfall is that he is madly in love with Dunya, whom he feels has the power to convert him. But aside from the fact that Dunya does not return his feelings, Svidrigaylov approaches her in the worst way possible by using the information about her brother to blackmail her into marrying him. Anticipating Svidrigaylov’s tricks, Dunya secretly brings a revolver to their meeting and out of desperation tries to shoot him twice, but misses. She finally throws the gun down, and Svidrigaylov, who earlier locked all the doors, realizes that she does not love him, gives her the key, and tells her to leave. By now, he has already donated much of his money to various good causes, and after giving away the rest, he finishes a restless night by shooting himself in the head.

• Sonya is the daughter of Marmeladov, a drunken but good-hearted civil servant who cannot keep his job to support his consumptive, frantic wife, Katerina Ivanovna, and their three young children. Out of compassion and at her stepmother’s suggestion, Sonya turns to prostitution to help her family. Marmeladov dies when he is accidentally crushed by horses after falling down drunk in front of a carriage. At the funeral dinner, Katerina Ivanovna gets into a fight with the landlady, who evicts her. She forces her three children to be street musicians in order to get the attention of the well-off members of society, whom she feels would take pity on a family of their own class now fallen on hard times. But Katerina Ivanovna’s consumption is already in its final stage, and she dies before she can begin with her new plan. Katerina Ivanovna’s now orphaned children are generously provided for by Svidrigaylov, as is Sonya and, through her, Raskolnikov.

A number of other minor characters and stories parade through the novel, all representing different elements of the human condition and mostly important for their effect on Raskolnikov and the evolution of his thinking. Some mirror his illness and despair; others, his inner conflict or disdain of humanity. Still others represent human compassion or, in specific cases, the Christian ethic of caring for your neighbor. And a few innocent souls like—Polenka, Sonya, and Lizaveta—act as symbols of the Christly love and purity that ultimately give Raskolnikov’s life new meaning and hope.