Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov is the protagonist of Fyodor Dostoyesvsky’s fictional novel Crime and Punishment. First published in 1866, the book is the writer’s best known work and stands as one of the most accessible and widely read Russian classical novels, frequently sparking controversy and thought.
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The Novel: Crime and Punishment
Crime and Punishment is set in 19th century St. Petersburg. This is a time of great transition in Russian society, which is adopting contemporary Western values. This upheaval is accompanied by great financial disparities, as the poor experience newer, more extreme levels of poverty. The city of St. Petersburg has become a frontline for this change, where the gap between the limits of wealth and poverty is increasing exponentially even as the rich and the poor inhabit the same spaces. They live side by side even as they regularly clash.
Raskolnikov is a resident of this city, though not native to it. Hailing from poor country stock, the young man has made his way here as a student and lives with the constant fear and struggle of having to make his means stretch to meet their ends. As a part of this regular strife, he meets Alyona Ivanovna, an old woman who is a pawnbroker and moneylender, whom he decides to murder. On the designated day, he finds himself highly strung and unwell but determined to push on with his plan. It is once he kills the old woman that his plans seem to begin to fall apart; her sister enters the apartment and has to be murdered, and Raskolnikov finds himself unable to commit the robbery itself properly.
Through the rest of the novel, Raskolnikov remains in a fevered state as he attempts to deal with the consequences of his actions. His guilt does not afford him any rest or peace until he confesses his crime in the end and is shipped off to Siberia to have his punishment meted out to him.
Who is Raskolnikov?
Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov is a student living in St. Petersburg. By the time the reader meets this character, he has dropped out of university due to a severe lack of funds. He has spent weeks, even months, isolated in his room, for which he is unable to pay rent. This latter point has soured relations with his landlady.
Raskolnikov is a former student in St. Petersburg, caught up in a dire financial situation.
Though in financial straits now, Raskolnikov is a highly intelligent young man. While still a student, he studied law and was a noted persona in the classroom and among intellectual circles beyond. He had published articles and papers and used to previously earn some money by tutoring other/younger students. Part of what has brought to his current situation is a decline in physical health and an inability to continue tutoring.
Raskolnikov is not a native of St. Petersburg. He hails from a poor family in the countryside, which is comprised of his mother, Pulcheria Alexandrovna, and his sister, Avdotya Romanovna Raskolnikov (mostly referred to as Dunya); his father is dead. Raskolnikov used to have a close relationship with his mother and Dunya, but that too has petered off recently. The other close relationship he has is with his friend Razumikhin, who is a student like him, is also facing financial strain, and makes his living as a translator.
Raskolnikov’s Personality
Raskolnikov’s name comes from the Russian word raskolnik, which means “schismatic” or “divided.” This is a clue to the nature of the character’s personality; like the city and society around him, Raskolnikov too is a deeply divided character and frequently switches between his two sides.
On the one hand, he is cool, logical, intellectual, and isolated from emotions and attachments to anyone else. This is the side that devises the theory that there is a certain section of people who ought to be excused from punishment when they commit crimes, as they do the deed with the greater good in mind. It was published as an article titled On Crime. He believes in such a class of people and sees Napoleon as the ideal and as a representative. They have strong self-will, which they should be allowed to exercise, and they are beyond society’s moral codes. In fact, Raskolnikov also thinks that he himself is probably such a person, and several commentators and scholars claim this to be the motive for the murder he committed.
Raskolnikov‘s withdrawal from society is the result of a theory he formulates that places some people beyond the bounds of law and societal morality.
The other side of Raskolnikov is completely contradictory to the first. He is also kind, compassionate, and humane. This is the side where his conscience resides. In spite of his self-imposed isolation, his interactions with his family reveal his love for them. At other times, he gives away money that is dear to him in an attempt to help another struggling family or saves a child from a fire.
Another manner of division that Raskolnikov experiences is bound up in the first aspect of his personality. Not only is he facing an internal divide, but he has, for a considerable length of time, cut himself off from other people. This appears to be an expression of his cynical intellectual side. In this, Raskolnikov is an example of the educated Russian youth of the period. He is deeply skeptical of society and the manner in which it is organizing itself; therefore, he removes himself from it and the moral boundaries it sets down. This allows Raskolnikov to break through what comes naturally to him—his humanity—and not only plot but also execute a murder.
However, once the moneylender and her sister are dead, the guilt and internal struggle that overtake Raskolnikov render his theory empty. The taking of another life clearly does not sit well with him, no matter how much he tries to convince himself otherwise. His assumed cynicism crumbles under the weight of the conscience that is part of his humanity and is aligned along societal standards.
It is Raskolnikov‘s internal struggle that is the punishment more than his imprisonment in Siberia.
The book opens with the crime, a symbol of Raskolnikov’s attempt to cut himself out of society. However, the punishment that follows is not wrought by an external agent but by Raskolnikov’s own conscience. The novel traces his journey back to his inherent nature. The legal punishment he faces—transportation to Siberia—is nothing compared to the turmoil he has already undergone. His confession and the subsequent result is closer to salvation than punishment for him. This is especially apparent when he recognizes the fact that he has fallen in love with Sonya.
