Humanity In Crime And Punishment

Humanity is the compilation of various ideals and concepts that allow each person to identify with others and create an identity of species. These ideals and concepts exist in all races, societies and cultures. Among these concepts lie charity, sacrifice and guilt. In Crime and Punishment the character experience the same human universals that all people do, and the experiences of these characters help readers to identify and interpret the human universals in their own lives and to understand the nature of humanity as a whole. In Crime and Punishment the characters experience guilt, charity and sacrifice when dealing with interpersonal relationships, cultural conflicts and sense of self. Guilt is a strong force that leads people to discover

In Crime and Punishment the characters experience charity from many sources. Rodia sees Marmeladov's family in shambles with crying children who ache for food so he leaves them money on the table on his way out, despite knowing that he himself is impoverished and can not afford to give away money. He expresses his inability to override the perceived need to leave this money when he thinks “I need that money myself” followed by “he would not in any case have taken it back” (25) which describes how he can not afford to give away money, but does despite this fact simply because it is his human condition. This exchange between the family and Rodia describes the human universal of charity and the inability for people to escape their humanity. He confronts this element of his humanity when he encounters the debilitated woman on the road and gives money to ensure her safety. Once again he gives away money he needs in order to help someone in need. He is forced to face this element of his personality when he explores his humanity through interpersonal relationships. Rodia finds himself on the other end of this universal when he is given a coin from a woman who takes him to be a beggar. He observes that this woman must not be much better off than him and yet she gives him money despite this. The human universal of charity helps Rodia understand his sense of self more effectively as he goes from the charity

The reason human universals are so powerful when examining humanity is because we all understand them. These concepts hold true for each individual so it makes it easy to compare one person’s character to another via these ideals. The reader compares characters based on the present human universals and in turn allows them to examine their own humanity. The identity of species through humanity allows the human race to construct ethical and moral codes as explored in crime and punishment and in the world as a