Book

Description

Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment presents a profound psychological inquiry into guilt, conscience, and redemption: an ordeal that unfolds from crime to confession. Raskolnikov, a former student, commits murder under the conviction that exceptional individuals may transcend moral law for the greater common good. However, the crime plunges him into relentless guilt and existential anguish. Through an omniscient narrative, Dostoevsky demonstrates the corrosive power of violent ideation upon the human mind. Though the novel is framed within a detective structure, its essence lies in Raskolnikov’s spiritual disintegration and the opposing worldviews embodied by characters such as Svidrigailov and Luzhin. As his rationalizations collapse, he recognizes that authentic redemption necessitates confession and the acceptance of moral accountability. In Siberian exile, guided by Sonia, an emblem of compassion and faith, he relinquishes the illusion of superiority and embraces a shared human condition. Ultimately, Dostoevsky affirms conscience, rather than ideology, as the definitive axis of moral renewal.