Raskolnikov's theory and its collapse

F. M. Dostoevsky’s novel “Crime and Punishment” is one of the most important works in world literature. The socio-psychological and philosophical novel depicts the contradiction of ideological beliefs, the conflict of thoughts and feelings of people, and also shows the tense and difficult mood of society in the second half of the 19th century.

Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov, the main character of the novel, is a student at the Faculty of Law of St. Petersburg University, forced to leave his studies due to lack of money. Living in a room that looks more like a coffin or a closet, one is on the verge of poverty. “Do you know, Sonya, that low ceilings and cramped rooms cramp the soul and mind!” says Raskolnikov about his closet. Rodion is quite educated and intelligent, capable of noticing and sensibly assessing what is happening. So, he sees all the poverty and depravity of St. Petersburg life, in which an ordinary worker is not able to support his family. Sonechka Marmeladova goes to the panel to sell her body, while her father becomes an alcoholic, realizing all his insignificance.

Under the influence of the difficulties of life, as well as the political mood of society, an immoral and inhumane theory is born in Raskolnikov’s head. Its meaning is that all people from birth are divided into two categories: ordinary - “... that is, so to speak, into material that serves solely for the generation of their own kind...”, and extraordinary - “... actually into people, that is, having the gift or talent to say a new word in one’s midst.” “The first preserve the world and increase it numerically; the latter move the world and lead it to the goal.” According to Raskolnikov’s plan, the second, “extraordinary” ones, have the unofficial right to allow their conscience to step over an obstacle, through blood, if there are reasons for this and it will lead to the common good.

Rodion Raskolnikov, coming up with this theory, thinks about what category he belongs to, and then painful questions appear in his head: “...am I a louse, like everyone else, or a man?”, “Am I a trembling creature or do I have the right?” ..." Due to his pride and unshakable belief in his own exclusivity, Rodion is not able to classify himself as a “trembling creature,” which is why he decides to kill the old pawnbroker, whom he does not even consider to be a person. “I just killed a louse, Sonya, a useless, nasty, harmful one.” But he decides to kill not because he put himself on an equal footing with Napoleon and Mohammed, not because he wants to become a universal benefactor (“Kill her and take her money, so that with their help you can then devote yourself to serving all humanity and the common cause: how Do you think that one tiny crime will not be atone for with thousands of good deeds?... One death and a hundred lives in return"), and not even because he and his family needed money. “If only I had killed because I was hungry... - then I would now... be happy!” He kills for himself in order to decide on one of the categories of his theory. But this is the most terrible thing for society, when a criminal is guided by a theory, driven by conscious protest, and not by base instincts: “It’s also good that you just killed the old woman, but if you came up with another theory, it would probably be a hundred million times more They would have done a uglier job!” Dostoevsky Raskolnikov novel

Raskolnikov, driven by an idea, kills Alena Ivanovna, but the soul and essence of human nature rises in him. “Whoever has it, suffer, since he recognizes the mistake. This is his punishment—except hard labor.” Rodion has a conscience, it is precisely this that rises in his soul and accompanies him with torment until the end of the novel. Raskolnikov's further life turns into hell. He is moving away from friends, from family, his condition is similar to madness. “It’s as if I cut myself off from everyone and everything with scissors...” But his suffering also came from the realization that he did not belong to the highest rank of his theory and did not have the right to kill. “...The devil dragged me then, and only after that he explained to me that I had no right to go there, because I was just as much a louse as everyone else!..<…>Did I kill the old lady? I killed myself, not the old woman!” Then he, unable to bear his loneliness, goes to the “eternal” Sonechka Marmeladova, because he sees in her a person capable of understanding him. But Sonya is not like Raskolnikov, she is highly moral and honors the commandments of God and commits crimes not for herself, but for her family, thereby atonement for her sin. Sonechka is Rodion's only salvation.

The idea still lives in Raskolnikov’s head, it eats him up from the inside, occupies all his thoughts, that’s why he doesn’t listen to Sonya’s advice, doesn’t go to surrender: “Maybe I’ve slandered myself, maybe I’m still a man, not louse, and hastened to condemn myself... I will still fight.” But Raskolnikov cannot stand the fight and denounces himself, showing, as he believes, weakness and cowardice (after all, there is no real evidence against him and no one can “convict” him), for which he blames and despises himself. “...The fact that I killed a nasty, harmful louse, an old woman pawnbroker, useless to anyone, whom killing forty sins will be forgiven, who sucked the juice out of the poor, and this is a crime? I don’t think about it and I don’t think about washing it off. But I, I couldn’t even stand the first step, because I’m a scoundrel!.. And yet I won’t look with your eyes: if I had succeeded, I would have been crowned, but now I’m in a trap!.. I never, never was I am stronger and more convinced than now!..” Even after turning himself in, Rodion does not repent of the crime. He only blames himself for “couldn’t stand it” because he turned out to be lower than the requirements that he sets for himself as a “person.” This means that the theory still has the right to exist.

While in hard labor, Raskolnikov had a dream in which he saw how humanity was being afflicted by some terrible pestilence, the consequences of which was madness and permissiveness: “...Everyone thought that the truth lay in him alone... They didn’t know who and to judge, they could not agree on what to consider as evil and what as good. People killed each other in some senseless rage. Fires started, famine began. Everything and everyone was dying. Only a few people in the whole world could be saved; they were pure and chosen, destined to start a new race of people and a new life, to renew and cleanse the earth, but no one saw these people anywhere, no one heard their words and voices.” In this dream, F. M. Dostoevsky shows Raskolnikov’s theory using the example of a disease that affects every person, where everyone imagines himself to be an “extraordinary” person, and therefore has the right to “murder according to his conscience.” The world in his dream turns into chaos, where the main force is violence. But even this “senseless nonsense” does not refute his idea in Raskolnikov’s mind.

“They were resurrected by love, the heart of one contained endless sources of life for the heart of the other. And what are all these, all the torments of the past! Everything, even his crime, even his sentence and exile seemed to him now, in his first impulse, as some kind of external, strange fact, as if it had not even happened to him.” It is love for Sonechka that resurrects Rodion, awakens in him highly moral, humane qualities and gives him a chance for a new life. He is never convinced of the fallacy of his theory, only throwing it out of his thoughts and begins to live not by an idea, but by feelings and soul. “...He only felt. Instead of dialectics, life came, and something completely different had to be developed in the consciousness.”

Am I a trembling creature?

or do I have the right?

F. M. Dostoevsky

In his novel Crime and Punishment, published in 1866, Dostoevsky explores the problem of “personality - society,” that is, reconciling the uniqueness of one person with the equal value of all other people.

The main character of the novel, poor student Rodion Raskolnikov, is convinced that the entire human race is divided into two unequal parts. In his article, written half a year before the crime, he says that “people, according to the law of nature, are divided into two classes: the lower (ordinary), so to speak, the material that serves solely for the generation of their own kind, and on people themselves, that is, those who have the gift or talent to say a new word in their midst.” The meaning of the division into two categories is the affirmation of the “right of the strong” to break the law and commit crimes. Raskolnikov speaks of loners who rise above the crowd: this is “a superman who lives according to the law given to himself. If, for his idea, he needs to step over even a corpse, over blood, then within himself, in conscience, he can, in my opinion, give himself permission to step over blood - depending, however, on the idea and the size of it ..."

At first glance, his reasoning is logical. He thinks about what Napoleon would have done if, for a successful career, he had not to conquer Egypt, but to kill a pitiful old woman. Raskolnikov decides that for Napoleon such a question simply did not exist: “... power is given only to those who dare to bend down and take it.” A person of the “highest rank” has the right to take power without stopping at anything.

Raskolnikov undertakes to prove in practice that he is an extraordinary person. He carefully considers and carries out a terrible plan: he kills and robs the old, stingy and insignificant pawnbroker Alena Ivanovna. True, at the same time, her quiet, meek sister Lizaveta, who did not harm anyone, also accepts death. Raskolnikov failed to reap the benefits of his crime; his conscience tormented him. But he himself believes in his theory even when he goes to confess to the murder, believing that it was he himself who did not live up to expectations.

He tried to decide for himself the question of whether he was Napoleon, but was defeated. “Who in Rus' now doesn’t consider himself Napoleon?” - investigator Porfiry exclaims sarcastically. In Russia in the turning sixties, many were inclined to consider themselves people superior to others. In particular, the desire to get rich with one blow was a natural manifestation of the spirit of profit that had seized the big and petty bourgeoisie (in the novel this element is called Luzhin). Raskolnikov does not seek wealth and comfort, he wants to make humanity happy. He did not believe in socialist ideas and revolutionary struggle. He wanted to become such a ruler who would use strength and power to lead humanity out of humiliation into a bright paradise. For him, power is not an end in itself, but only a means of realizing the ideal. Material from the site

At the same time, Raskolnikov himself does not notice how he violates his own rules. For a strong personality, there are no others, and he is always trying to do something for people (either he gives his meager money to the Marmeladovs, or he tries to save a drunken girl on the boulevard). He has too much compassion. And although he brings the plan to the end, Raskolnikov’s conscience, protesting against the shedding of blood, and reason, justifying the murder, battle in Raskolnikov’s soul. This duality led to the collapse of Raskolnikov’s idea. He wanted to become Napoleon and the Messiah, the Savior, rolled into one. But tyrant and virtue do not go together. Raskolnikov’s idea did not justify itself precisely because Rodion, crushed by hunger, illness, and poverty, turned out to be a living and conscientious person, ready to take responsibility for his actions.

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On this page there is material on the following topics:

• Essay on the reasons for the collapse of Raskolnikov’s theory
• characterization of Raskolnikov
• Crime and punishment essay The meaning of Raskolnikov’s theory and the reasons for its collapse
• the essence of Raskolnikov’s theory and the reasons for its collapse
• reasons for the collapse of Raskolnikov's theory

The novel “Crime and Punishment” was written and published by F. M. Dostoevsky in 1866, that is, soon after the abolition of serfdom and the beginning of a change in the socio-economic system. Such a breakdown of social and economic foundations entails an inevitable economic stratification, that is, the enrichment of some at the expense of the impoverishment of others, the liberation of human individuality from cultural traditions, legends and authorities. And as a result, crime.

Dostoevsky in his book denounces bourgeois society, which gives rise to everything

The types of evil are not only those that immediately catch the eye, but also those vices that lurk in the depths of the human subconscious.

The main character of the novel is Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov, in the recent past a student at St. Petersburg University found himself on the brink of poverty and social decline. He has nothing to pay for his accommodation, his wardrobe is so worn out that even a decent person would be ashamed to go out in it. You often have to go hungry. Then he decides to commit murder and justify himself with a theory about “ordinary” and “extraordinary” people that he himself invented.

Drawing the pitiful and wretched world of the St. Petersburg slums, the writer traces step by step how a terrible theory arises in the hero’s mind, how it takes possession of all his thoughts, pushing him to murder.

1. The essence of Raskolnikov’s theory

Raskolnikov's theory is far from an accidental phenomenon. Throughout the 19th century, debates continued in Russian literature about the role of a strong personality in history and its moral character. This problem became most discussed in society after the defeat of Napoleon. The problem of a strong personality is inseparable from the Napoleonic idea. “It would never have occurred to Napoleon,” Raskolnikov claims, “to be tormented by the question of whether it was possible to kill the old woman; he would have killed him without any hesitation.”

Possessing a sophisticated analytical mind and painful pride. Raskolnikov quite naturally thinks about which half he himself belongs to. Of course, he wants to think that he is a strong person who, according to his theory, has the moral right to commit a crime in order to achieve a humane goal.

What is this goal? The physical destruction of the exploiters, to whom Rodion counts the evil old money-lender who profited from human suffering. Therefore, there is nothing wrong with killing an old woman and using her wealth to help poor, needy people.

These thoughts of Raskolnikov coincide with the ideas of revolutionary democracy popular in the 60s, but in the hero’s theory they are intricately intertwined with the philosophy of individualism, which allows for “blood according to conscience”, a violation of moral norms accepted by the majority of people. According to the hero, historical progress is impossible without sacrifice, suffering, blood and is carried out by the powers that be, great historical figures. This means that Raskolnikov simultaneously dreams of both the role of a ruler and the mission of a savior. But Christian, selfless love for people is incompatible with violence and contempt for them.

The main character believes that all people from birth, according to the law of nature, are divided into two categories: “ordinary” and “extraordinary”. Ordinary people must live in obedience and have no right to break the law. And extraordinary people have the right to commit crimes and break the law. This theory is very cynical in terms of all the moral principles that have evolved over many centuries with the development of society, but Raskolnikov finds examples for his theory.

For example, this is the French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, whom Raskolnikov considers “extraordinary” because Napoleon killed many people during his life, but his conscience did not torment him, as Raskolnikov believes. Raskolnikov himself, retelling his article to Porfiry Petrovich, noted that “an extraordinary person has the right... to allow his conscience to step over... other obstacles, and only if the fulfillment of his idea (sometimes saving, perhaps for all mankind) requires it.” .

According to Raskolnikov’s theory, the first category includes conservative, decorous people, they live in obedience and love to be obedient. Raskolnikov claims “that they must be obedient, because this is their purpose, and there is absolutely nothing humiliating for them here.” The second category is breaking the law. The crimes of these people are relative and varied; they can “step over even a corpse, through blood” to achieve their goals.

Conclusion: having created his theory, Raskolnikov hoped that his conscience would reconcile with his intention to kill a person, that after committing a terrible crime it would not torment him, pester him, exhaust his soul, but as it turned out, Raskolnikov himself doomed himself to torment, having failed to cope with his in kind.

2. The collapse of the theory of “ordinary” and “extraordinary”

Raskolnikov's theory is based on the inequality of people, on the chosenness of some and the humiliation of others. And the murder of the old woman is intended as a vital test of this theory using a particular example. This way of depicting the murder very clearly reveals the author’s position: the crime that Raskolnikov committed is a low, vile deed, even from the point of view of Raskolnikov himself. But he did it consciously, stepping over his human nature, through himself.

With his crime, Raskolnikov excluded himself from the category of people, became an outcast, an outcast. “I didn’t kill the old woman, I killed myself,” he admitted to Sonya Marmeladova. This detachment from people prevents Raskolnikov from living. His human nature does not accept this. It turns out that a person cannot live without communicating with people, even such a proud person as Raskolnikov. Therefore, the hero’s mental struggle becomes more intense and desperate, it goes in many directions, and each one leads him to a dead end.

Raskolnikov still believes in the infallibility of his idea and despises himself for his weakness and mediocrity, and at the same time calls himself a scoundrel. He suffers from the inability to communicate with his mother and sister, thinking about them as painfully as he thinks about the murder of Lizaveta. And he drives away his thoughts, because they haunt him and require him to resolve the question of what category to include close people according to his theory. According to the logic of his theory, they should be classified as a “lower” category, and, therefore, the ax of another Raskolnikov could fall on their heads, and on the heads of Sonya, Polechka, Katerina Ivanovna. Raskolnikov must, according to his theory, give up those for whom he suffers. Must despise, hate, kill those he loves. He can't survive this.

Raskolnikov's human nature clashed most sharply with his inhuman theory here, but the theory won. And therefore Dostoevsky, as it were, comes to the aid of the human nature of his hero. Immediately after this monologue, he introduces Raskolnikov's third dream: he again kills the old woman, and she laughs at him. A dream in which the author brings Raskolnikov's crime to the people's court. This scene reveals the full horror of Raskolnikov's act.

When Raskolnikov's torment reaches its climax, he opens up to Sonya Marmeladova, confessing his crime to her. Why exactly to her, an unfamiliar, nondescript girl with no brilliant intelligence, who also belongs to the most pitiful and despised category of people? Probably because Rodion saw her as an ally in crime. After all, she also kills herself as a person, but she does it for the sake of her unhappy, starving family, denying herself even suicide. This means that Sonya is stronger than Raskolnikov, stronger with her Christian love for people and her readiness for self-sacrifice. In addition, she controls her own life, not someone else's. It is Sonya who finally refutes Raskolnikov’s theorized view of the world around him. After all, Sonechka is by no means a humble victim of circumstances and not a “trembling creature.” In terrible, seemingly hopeless circumstances, she managed to remain a pure and highly moral person, striving to do good to people.

Conclusion: Dostoevsky does not show the final moral resurrection of his hero, because that is not what his novel is about. The writer wanted to show what power an idea can have over a person and how terrible and criminal this idea can be. The hero's idea of ​​the right of the strong to commit crime turned out to be absurd. Life has defeated theory.

Thus, Raskolnikov’s theory turned out to be unable to provide society with a path to its transformation. By dividing people into two categories, Raskolnikov, on the contrary, pushed back his restructuring. After all, “ordinary” people also want to improve the life of society, just like “extraordinary” ones, but in the same way. Raskolnikov considered himself a strong personality, capable of committing crimes for the good of society and not subject to torment of his conscience. “He lied incomparably, but he couldn’t calculate the truth” - this phrase from Porfiry Petrovich completely convinces the reader that Raskolnikov’s theory was fundamentally wrong, he destroyed it even while testing his theory, killing her sister along with the old woman Lizaveta, whom he himself wanted to make happy. Indeed, Raskolnikov considered that he could cope with his own and would not suffer for the rest of his life for the murder he committed.

Dostoevsky argues that the only way to transform society is through Christian love and self-sacrifice.

The famous classic work by F. M. Dostoevsky “Crime and Punishment” is the story of a student who decided to commit a terrible crime. In the novel, the author touches on many social, psychological and philosophical issues that are relevant to modern society. Raskolnikov's theory has been manifesting itself for decades.

What is Raskolnikov's theory?

The main character, as a result of lengthy deliberation, came to the conclusion that people are divided into two groups. The first includes individuals who can do whatever they want without paying attention to the law. To the second group he included people without rights, whose lives can be neglected. This is the main essence of Raskolnikov’s theory, which is also relevant for modern society. Many people consider themselves superior to others, breaking laws and doing whatever they want. An example is the majors.

Initially, the main character of the work perceived his own theory as a joke, but the more he thought about it, the more real the assumptions seemed. As a result, he divided all the people around him into categories and evaluated them only according to his own criteria. Psychologists have already proven that a person can convince himself of various things by thinking about them regularly. Raskolnikov's theory is a manifestation of extreme individualism.

Reasons for creating Raskolnikov's theory

Not only literature lovers, but also specialists in various fields carefully studied Dostoevsky’s work in order to highlight the social and philosophical origins of Raskolnikov’s theory.

1. The moral reasons that prompted the hero to commit a crime include the desire to understand what category of people he belongs to and pain for the humiliated poor.
2. There are other reasons for the emergence of Raskolnikov’s theory: extreme poverty, the concept of injustice in life and the loss of one’s own guidelines.

How did Raskolnikov come to his theory?

The main character himself throughout the novel tries to understand what caused the terrible act. Raskolnikov's theory confirms that in order for the majority to live happily, the minority must be destroyed. As a result of lengthy reflection and consideration of various situations, Rodion came to the conclusion that he belongs to the highest category of people. Literature lovers put forward several motives that prompted him to commit the crime:

• influence of the environment and people;
• desire to become great;
• desire to get money;
• dislike for the harmful and useless old woman;
• desire to test one's own theory.

What does Raskolnikov's theory bring to the disadvantaged?

The author of Crime and Punishment wanted in his book to convey suffering and pain for all humanity. Almost every page of this novel shows poverty and the harshness of people. In fact, the novel, published in 1866, has much in common with modern society, which is increasingly showing its indifference to its fellow man. Rodion Raskolnikov’s theory confirms the existence of disadvantaged people who do not have a chance for a decent life, and the so-called “leaders of life” with big wallets.

What is the contradiction in Raskolnikov's theory?

The image of the main character consists of only inconsistencies that can be traced throughout the entire work. Raskolnikov is a sensitive person who is not alien to the grief of those around him, and he wants to help those in need, but Rodion understands that he is not able to change the way of life. At the same time, he proposes a theory that completely contradicts.

When figuring out what is wrong with Raskolnikov’s theory for the hero himself, it is worth noting the fact that he expected that it would help him get out of the impasse and start living in a new way. At the same time, the hero achieved the exact opposite result, and he finds himself in an even more hopeless situation. Rodion loved people, but after the murder of the old woman, he simply cannot be near them, this even applies to his mother. All these contradictions show the imperfection of the put forward theory.

What is the danger of Raskolnikov's theory?

If we assume that the idea put forward by Dostoevsky through the thoughts of the protagonist has become large-scale, then the result for society and the world as a whole is very deplorable. The meaning of Raskolnikov’s theory is that people who are superior to others by some criteria, for example, financial capabilities, can “clear” the road for their own good by doing whatever they want, including committing murder. If many people lived according to this principle, the world would simply cease to exist; sooner or later, the so-called “competitors” would destroy each other.

Throughout the novel, Rodion experiences moral torment, which often takes on different forms. Raskolnikov's theory is dangerous because the hero is trying in every possible way to convince himself that his action was correct, since he wanted to help his family, but he did not want anything for himself. A huge number of people commit crimes thinking this way, which in no way justifies their decision.

Pros and cons of Raskolnikov's theory

At first it may seem that the idea of ​​dividing society does not have any positive aspects, but if you sweep aside all the bad consequences, then there is still a plus - a person’s desire to be happy. Raskolnikov's theory of the right of a strong personality shows that many strive for a better life and are the engine of progress. As for the disadvantages, there are more of them, and they matter to people who share the ideas of the main character of the novel.

1. The desire to divide everyone into two classes, which can have dire consequences, for example, such ideas are identical to Nazism. All people are different, but they are equal before God, so striving to become superior to others is wrong.
2. Another danger that Raskolnikov’s theory brings to the world is the use of any means in life. Unfortunately, many people in the modern world live by the principle “the ends justify the means,” which leads to dire consequences.

What prevented Raskolnikov from living according to his theory?

The whole problem is that while creating the “ideal picture” in his head, Rodion did not take into account the peculiarities of real life. You can't make the world a better place by killing another person, no matter who he was. The essence of Raskolnikov’s theory is clear, but what was not taken into account was that the old pawnbroker was only the initial link in the chain of injustice and, by removing it, it is impossible to cope with all the world’s problems. People who try to profit from the misfortunes of others are not correctly called the root of the problem, since they are only a consequence.

Facts confirming Raskolnikov's theory

In the world you can find a huge number of examples where the idea proposed by the main character of the novel was applied. You can remember Stalin and Hitler, who sought to cleanse the people of unworthy people, and what the actions of these people led to. Confirmation of Raskolnikov’s theory can be seen in the behavior of rich youth, the so-called “majors,” who, without paying attention to the laws, ruined the lives of many people. The main character himself commits murder to confirm his idea, but in the end he understands the horror of the act.

Raskolnikov's theory and its collapse

A strange theory not only appears in the work, but is also completely refuted. To change his decision, Rodion has to endure a lot of mental and physical torment. Raskolnikov's theory and its collapse occurs after he has a dream where people destroy each other and the world disappears. Then he begins to gradually restore faith in goodness. As a result, he understands that everyone, regardless of their situation, deserves to be happy.

When figuring out how Raskolnikov’s theory is refuted, it is worth citing as an example one simple truth - happiness cannot be built on crime. Violence, even if it can be justified by some high ideals, is evil. The hero himself admits that he did not kill the old woman, but destroyed himself. The collapse of Raskolnikov’s theory was visible at the very beginning of its proposal, since the manifestation of inhumanity could not be justified.

Is Raskolnikov's theory still alive today?

No matter how sad it may sound, the idea of ​​dividing people into classes exists. Modern life is tough and the principle of “survival of the fittest” forces many to do things that are not consistent with their lives. If you conduct a survey of who lives today according to Raskolnikov’s theory, then each person will most likely be able to cite as an example some personalities from his environment. One of the main reasons for this state of affairs is the importance of money, which rules the world.

All the unnaturalness, all the horror for a person in such an act as murder, is illuminated by Dostoevsky in “Crime and Punishment” not as a lesson, but in the vivid depiction of the very moment of murder. Having stepped on the wrong path, trusting his abstract theory, Raskolnikov must immediately fall into chaos, in which he loses the opportunity to direct events and control his own free will. It becomes clear to the reader that Raskolnikov, according to Sonya, commits violence not only against others, but also against himself, over his soul and conscience.

Raskolnikov's theory

If Raskolnikov, in the days when he was just thinking about the relativity of the concepts of good and evil, had been presented with a vivid picture of this murder, if he could see himself with an ax in his hand, hear the crack of the old woman’s skull under his ax, see a puddle of blood, imagine himself approaching Elizabeth with the same bloody ax, somehow childishly pushing him away in blind horror with her hands - if he could experience and experience all this, and not think about only theoretical solutions, there is no doubt that he would have seen that at this price no goods can be bought. He would understand that the means do not justify the ends.

The double murder committed by Raskolnikov somehow destroys his entire life. He is overcome by complete confusion, confusion, powerlessness and melancholy. He cannot overcome, overcome the terrible impressions of murder: they haunt him like a nightmare. In his theory, Raskolnikov believed that it was after the murder and robbery that he would begin to implement plans for a new life; Meanwhile, it was the very nightmare of the murder that filled his entire subsequent life with melancholy and confusion.

On the night after the murder, he rushes around the room with feverish haste, tries to concentrate, think about his situation and cannot, catches and loses the threads of thoughts, puts the stolen things behind the wallpaper and does not see that they are sticking out from there. He is overcome by hallucinations, he is delirious and cannot distinguish reality from crazy ideas.

In the future, he continues to feel the unforeseen consequences of what happened, which he could not take into account. So, he feels his complete separation from the whole world and from the people closest to him. He wears a mask when communicating with his beloved mother and sister, withdrawing into his gloomy loneliness. And although he theoretically justifies his crime and blames himself only for weakness of will and cowardice, at the same time he unconsciously feels that the blood he shed makes it impossible for him to continue simple and sincere communication with his loved ones. “It’s as if I’m looking at you from a thousand miles away,” he says to his mother and sister.

Thus, Dostoevsky discovers here that violation of the eternal laws inherent in the human soul entails punishment not from the outside, but from the inside. Raskolnikov himself punishes himself with his melancholy separation from people, his solitude and the vague consciousness that his life is somehow crippled, broken. He decides that the whole point is in his weakness, in the fact that he is endowed with a flabby and powerless nature. He comes to the realization that he has given in to his principle, that he has found himself inferior to it. “I killed myself, not the old woman,” he says, and expresses the same thought in another place: “The old woman is nonsense; I didn’t kill a person, I killed a principle..."

Subsequently, the author depicts his hero in a state of internal disorder and mental struggle. His life content completely disappeared, because the foundation of life disappeared; he does not find any of the former interests of life, he can no longer devote himself to either work or entertainment. He struggles between two decisions: his own previous ones, telling him about the right of the strong, and Sonya Marmeladova, calling him to repentance and atonement. But the personal traits that the author shows in his hero explain the slow process of Raskolnikov’s mental rebirth, which took place in him under the influence of Sonya.