Examples Of Compassion In Crime And Compassion Essay

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Recommended: Raskolnikov's psychological development from the murder to the end of the novel

Crime and Compassion

Professor French said “The soul without compassion,without love, becomes an object, a thing unto itself, without the divine fire that connects it in a living way to all that is outside itself.” and this is true; someone without love, or someone that will not accept love turns on others and themselves. In Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky, Raskolnikov struggles to acknowledge love and sacrifices from those around him because he deems himself not worthy, and because of this, he cannot become self-satisfied or stable until he learns to truly accept the love of his friends and family. If you can not love, or can not accept love, ultimately, you will become an entirely different person, conflicted in your beliefs …show more content…

With love and compassion, one can even fix their soul no matter the struggles they have been through or the deeds they have done. Some people find this love through the Lord, others find it through themselves, others find love through their friends and family, but most find love through a combination of the above. In Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky, Raskolnikov struggles throughout to feel love and feel loved and he is a conflicted, broken madman because of it! However, as the book progresses, Raskolnikov too makes slight progress in his acceptance of love because of his loyal friends and family that refuse to give up on him and keep loving him even though he is a complete mess, is going slightly insane and murdered two women with an axe. By the epilogue, after spending almost two years in Siberia as punishment for his crimes, Raskolnikov completely changed. While before, he seemed repulsed by even the simple act of holding Sonia’s hand, when Sonia visits him in Siberia and hesitantly holds out her hand, he held on and did not let go then “all at once something seemed to seize him and fling him at her feet. He wept and threw his arms around her knees....[she] looked at him trembling. But at the same moment understood...he loved her above everything else” (520). Raskolnikov went from being “cold and inhumanly callous” (206) to throwing himself at Sonia’s feet weeping with emotion. The insurmountable effort required to produce such a change in someone’s life truly speaks to the power love and compassion have on a person’s

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