Crime And Punishment By Fyodor Dostoevsky

Structure is a key element to any form of literature, whether it is a novel, poem, play, etc. Understanding the structure of a literature piece is vital towards understanding the purpose and meaning behind it because the structure is the foundation upon which the author is attempting to convey his or her message. In Crime and Punishment Fyodor Dostoevsky embeds his message in the structure of the novel through the ways in which he divides his novel. He creates three distinct divisions in the novel, each representing a different state of Raskolnikov. These three divisions consist of Raskolnikov of old, the turning point of Raskolnikov, and the birth of a new Raskolnikov. The different division or states are symbolic of Dostoevsky’s message towards criminality as well as his critic of Friedrich Nietzsche’s idea known as the Übermensch. By analyzing each of these divisions, we can see how Dostoevsky has embedded his message within the structure of the novel.

The first of the three divisions that occurs is Raskolnikov of old. This division occurs in Part One of the novel and describes the state of Raskolnikov leading up to the crime, and it is important to note the structure within Part One itself. From the beginning, Raskolnikov is described to be in a troubled state as he is described to be “in an overstrained, irritable condition, verging on hypochondria,” and that he has been in this state for some time (Dostoyevsky 1). He has adopted isolation as he “dreaded meeting, not only his landlady but any one at all,” and that he “had given up attending to matters of practical importance; he had lost all desire to do so” (Dostoyevsky 1). His state is continually described throughout the Part One, and Dostoevsky places this emphasizes Ras...

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...pts to convey. The structure highlights the different states of Raskolnikov throughout his criminal journey and the divisions which it creates show the reader the evolution that Raskolnikov goes through. Dostoyevsky uses structure to highlight this evolution because it is an essential component of his message. The evolution demonstrates the effects that crime and punishment have on a criminal, and it also is critical of the Übermensch philosophy. The evolution shows how Raskolnikov finally comes to be at peace and happiness after he accepts that he had committed crime due to “the strength of his desires” and for the betterment of others (Dostoyevsky 466). This revealed the flaw in the ideology of the Übermensch in that anyone can think that they are doing good, and so the idea of the Übermensch would cause many to falsely think of themselves as greater than others.