Suffering in Crime and Punishment
Suffering in Crime and PunishmentSuffering in Crime and Punishment
In the novel Crime and Punishment, by Fyodor Dostoevsky,
suffering is an integral part of every character’s role. However, the
message that Dostoevsky wants to present with the main character,
Raskolnikov, is not one of the Christian idea of salvation through
suffering. Rather, it appears to me, as if the author never lets his
main character suffer mentally throughout the novel, in relation to the
crime, that is. His only pain seems to be physical sicknes.
Raskolnikov commits a premeditated murder in a state of
delirium. He ends up committing a second murder, which he never ever
wanted to be responsible for. He kills Lizaveta, an exceedingly innocent
person. But does the author ever remind us of the murder at any time in
the novel again? Not in the physical sense of the crime itself. The
reader doesn’t hear about how heavily the murders are weighing on his
heart, or how he is tormented by visions of the crime. He doesn’t feel
the least bit guilty about having committed the crime, only his pride’s
hurt. He doesn’t mention the idea of the pain that might arise from
recurrent visions of the crime. Raskolnikov never again recalls the
massive amounts of blood everywhere, the look on Lizaveta’s face when he
brings down the axe on her head. These things clearly show that the
crime isn’t what might cause him suffering, or pain, it is something
else.
After Raskolnikov is sent off to Siberia, he doesn’t
feel remorseful. His feelings haven’t changed about his crime, he feels
bad at not being able to living up to his own ideas of greatness. He
grows depressed only when he learns of his mother’s death. Raskolnikov
still hasn’t found any reason to feel remorse for his crimes. He takes
Siberia as his punishment, because of how annoying it is to go through
all these formalities, and ridicularities that it entails. Yet, he
actually feels more comfortable in Siberia than in his home in St.
Petersburg. It’s more comfortable, and has better living conditions than
his own home. But he...
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