Raskolnikov's Ordinary Theory

The way Raskolnikov portrays crime and his theory changes as he comes to realize his theory is not accurate. In the story he initially believes that there are certain people who are considered “extraordinary”, while others are “ordinary”. The ordinary people are destined to solely live to “reproduce their own kind” (part III, ch.5, p. 250) and abide by the law, while the extraordinary people are made to make change and to not be bound to law. He believed that they have the right to break the law and go unpunished if there is justified cause and means to do so. In part III, chapter 5, and part V, chapter 5 there is a visible difference in the way that Raskolnikov views an extraordinary man- and therefore views his own crime. The Theory of The Extraordinary Man becomes relevant when Raskolnikov decides to put this theory to the test by murdering the pawnbroker, Aliona. In part III, chapter 5, we find that Porfiry Petrovich has found an article that could

Raskolnikov demonstrated this as he proved that he was either not truly extraordinary or that extraordinary people simply could not break the law and go unpunished. how an extraordinary man could not transgress the law, though, and that he would not be able to escape the punishment of the crime. He realized that he would eventually be caught. Raskolnikov's view on the extraordinary man changed drastically from part III to part V, because he went from believing and testing the extraordinary man theory by committing a murder, to realizing that the theory is inaccurate and no one can simply transgress the law and go unpunished and the line between extraordinary and ordinary people is far vaguer than he ever could have imagined, causing him to falsely believe that he was an extraordinary