Superior Man In Crime And Punishment

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The Superior Man
It is a time old philosophy that one man is destined to be superior over another. Since the biblical times men have lorded over each other in the assumption that they have the natural ability to be a “superhuman” over the rest of the populace, declaring others as inferior beings. In Dostoevsky Crime and Punishment, Raskolnikov acts upon this philosophy of the extraordinary man, creating a potential situation of anarchy to civilization.
The philosophy of the superior has plagued society since the dawn of time, drawing men to go to the extreme to exert their dominance. This mindset allows “superior men” to kill and abuse the weaker, “inferior” men of society and feel justified in their actions. Darwin’s Theory of natural selection …show more content…

Raskolnikov was once a student and a tutor before poverty knocked him over and crippled him economically. He perceives himself a great scholar and an incredibly intelligent and clever person, causing him to become a “superhuman.” Alyona Ivanovna, an old, greedy pawnbroker who makes it her business to scam the poor out of the few rubles they possess, becomes the perfect victim of the theory of the extraordinary man. Since she is old and hordes money, she is an inferior, perceived by Raskolnikov that has plagued society giving Raskolnikov the justification to rid society of the threat to progression, the old pawnbroker. During the altercation, Alyona’s sister Lizaveta is caught in the middle of the chaos and becomes collateral damage, but even this action is justified by Raskolnikov since Lizaveta is simple and therefore is also an inferior that must be snuffed out. “…men conservative in temperament and law abiding; they live under control and love to be controlled” (261). Lizaveta falls under this principal since she lives underneath her sister’s rule and acts as a subservient being to Alyona. Raskolnikov accomplished his goal of ridding civilization of such inferiors, creating a better and happier place now that they are …show more content…

After he has committed the act, he feels guilty about how he was forced to murder another person he had not intended to kill. This is the first step that unravels the superior man theory, since he feels guilty for killing an “inferior” that he had not meant to harm. He starts to also be consumed by guilty as he reflects on the horror he had committed in the name of the principal of establishing his superiority. He is unable to shake off the guilt that is slowly consuming and destroying him, no matter how hard he works to convince himself that he was justified in ridding the world of two inferior beings. Due to the fact that he becomes ill and irrational, unable to think clearly that he was unable to take upon him the mantle of being a “superhuman”, proves that this theory is not a natural part of humankind and is despised by civilization. Humans are inherently good as seen in the scene where Raskolnikov gives money to a poor, drunk girl that had clearly been taken advantage of and was about to be taken advantage of again. This compassion can naturally; instinctually that Raskolnikov struggled with how he could do something charitable, when he was trying so hard to rise above such menial, moral laws. It is clear that the theory of the superior man is only a tool used to justify criminal action in failed attempts

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