Magnum Opus Crime And Punishment Essay

The search for justice and vengeance is a never-ending hunt in the human psyche, whether this search is noble or malevolent in nature, it is like a rash that continues to reemerge and agitate its host until it’s burning sting is neutralized by the burning and chilling sensation of vengeance and justice. This search for justice (or rather it’s meaning) is evident in Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s Magnum Opus Crime and Punishment. The novel is centered around a young Russian man named Raskolnikov, who is a disgraced student that now lives in a run-down tenement in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Raskolnikov during the early stages of the book has a personal crisis as he wonders who is truly able to seek out and carry justice, he attempts to color in a very grey area, this grey area is the difference between the noble

nature of vigilantism and the criminal underbelly of the same vigilante actions. Raskolnikov decides to murder an elderly pawnbroker named Alyona Ivanovna to steal her wealth, following this murder Raskolnikov’s interpretation of justice is changed as he determines that he is entirely incapable of carrying out any form of justice and he decides that he must rely on God’s will to guide his developing morale compass. Throughout his time in University Raskolnikov begins to take on philosophies of Nietzsche. He begins to question whether man genuinely must follow the rules of society if he is a “great individual” with a noble cause. Through this train of thought Raskolnikov begins to become a bit of a nihilist as he begins to admire the French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte as being a great individual. To Raskolnikov this justifies Napoleon being able to break codes installed by the rulers he conquered and it also justifies Napoleon’s ruthless attitude toward human life and death. With Utilitarian brutality, Raskolnikov decides that people such as Napoleon do not need to have “justice” exacted upon them as their actions contribute the greatest possible good to society. This leads to Raskolnikov believing in a very Nietzsche concept of an Ubermensch (Super Men in German), these Ubermensch are super intellectual humans that can manipulate and outsmart their adversaries (this usually leads to them committing crimes as they think they are “too smart” to be caught), so of course in Nietzsche fashion Raskolnikov decides he will commit the perfect crime, this time he will murder a reviled pawnbroker so that he can steal the woman’s wealth and distribute it to charitable organizations as to avoid punishment in his mind for his first murders, as he would be a “great individual” who would be contributing the most good to society, in Raskolnikov’s mind this creates a justifiable reason to commit murder as it must be “God’s will” .

During the murder Raskolnikov kills the pawnbroker and her sister, this leaves Raskolnikov in a manic-depressive state as he felt he had justification to kill a “louse” such as the pawnbroker, however, he lacked the divine justification to kill her sister, this leads to Raskolnikov entering a deep depression which leaves him unable to use his blood money for charity, thus continuing the guilt from the first

murders. While in his deep depression Raskolnikov meets, a woman named Sonya who attempts to get Raskolnikov to confess to his crimes, the only problem is that Raskolnikov is torn as he does not genuinely believe he committed a crime, because in his head he was justified by God in his pursuit for “justice”. Raskolnikov is still torn towards the end of the novel as he believes he can get away with the perfect crime however, Sonya convinces him to confess to his crimes, and by acknowledging his crime Raskolnikov realizes that the only true form of “justice” comes once a man dies and he is judged by God. By the end of his journey for the meaning of justice, Raskolnikov acknowledges God as being a supreme being and ruler and that his will (that had prior guided Raskolnikov) is for people to love and embrace each other, as only God can truly bring justice and judgment upon man.