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Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment explores the themes of guilt and the consequences of committing immoral actions. Of all the deep, thought-provoking concepts put forth in Crime and punishment, the idea that guilt can be an adequate punishment more valid than any punishment executed by society as a whole is the most far reaching and supported by the novel. Crime and Punishment follows Rodian Raskolnikov’s life from just a few days before he commits two brutal murders to when he confesses his crimes and is convicted and sentenced to several years in prison. Initially, Rodian had successfully gotten away with the murder of two people. Raskolnikov’s guilt-driven madness has given him an immunity and even investigators he confesses to think he couldn’t be guilty. As a result, his guilt continues to feed on his conscience to the point where he is constantly miserable. Raskolnikov’s true punishment is the futility of his attempt to escape the guilt of his actions without confessing and feeling adequately punished.
The primary consequence Raskolnikov suffers as a result of his crimes is guilt. The quote: “Freedom will lose its attractions. He’ll begin to brood, he’ll weave a tangle round himself, he’ll worry himself to death!” serves as an accurate descriptions of how he suffered from his actions. (Dostoevsky 324) Yet, Rodian does not worry himself to death, his suffering affects him and eventually causes him to confess his crimes, something that he would not have even considered doing in the very beginning of the novel. The quote demonstrates the two opposing options Rodian is able to take. He has the choice to evade punishment and retain his freedom at the cost of living with his guilt, or he can offer up his confession and seek socie...

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...harges on her and receive a far less severe sentences. She spends her time in prison overcoming her illiteracy and does not even recognize her crimes. In a way, her time in prison was never even punishment. She only ever begins to feel guilt when she realizes that she has been a burden to Michael, that she has completely destroyed his life and prevented him from living fully. When she finally achieved her goal of literacy, she spent her time reading about the holocaust, knowledge which lead her to understand her crimes. As her guilt grew with her knowledge, her suffering grew just as Raskolnikov’s does in Crime and Punishment, eventually leading her to seek her own redemption in death, when she commits suicide. This again, suggest how related guilt is to punishment; they are mutually assured. In order for punishment to exist, and not be torture, there must be guilt.

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