raskolnikov character analysis essay

Home — Essay Samples — Literature — Crime and Punishment — Analysis Of Raskolnikov’s Character In Crime And Punishment

Analysis of Raskolnikov’s Character in Crime and Punishment

• Categories: Crime and Punishment Novel

About this sample

Words: 2690 |

14 min read

Published: Feb 8, 2022

Words: 2690 | Pages: 6 | 14 min read

Table of contents

Raskolnikov character analysis: complex, tormented and deeply conflicted, his pride and complicated relationships with sonia.

Cite this Essay

Let us write you an essay from scratch

• 450+ experts on 30 subjects ready to help
• Custom essay delivered in as few as 3 hours

Get high-quality help

Dr. Karlyna PhD

Verified writer

• Expert in: Literature

+ 120 experts online

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy . We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

No need to pay just yet!

Related Essays

7 pages / 3216 words

3 pages / 1428 words

2 pages / 1022 words

3.5 pages / 1498 words

Remember! This is just a sample.

You can get your custom paper by one of our expert writers.

121 writers online

Still can’t find what you need?

Browse our vast selection of original essay samples, each expertly formatted and styled

Related Essays on Crime and Punishment

Crime is a complex phenomenon that has been studied extensively by scholars, criminologists, and law enforcement professionals. In order to understand the nature of crime, it is crucial to analyze its fundamental elements. In [...]

The Butcher Rogaum Door, published in 1839, is a short story written by William H. Ainsworth that delves into the themes of crime, punishment, and justice. The story is set in early 19th-century England and revolves around [...]

In superstitions, a mirror is thought to be a reflection of one’s soul; this is why shattering a mirror was and still is considered bad luck. In Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky, the concept of the reflected soul is [...]

The character of Raskolnikov is an interesting one in Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment. A failed visualization of the Ubermensch initially, there is leagues more depth to the character, not only in a psychological [...]

In the 1980’s, DNA analysis were found and had became a great advance crime-solving tool for investigators. DNA analysis were created to be used in crime cases and it can help clear suspects and identify criminals. Also, [...]

In his novel Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoevsky uses nightmares to develop the story of Arkady Ivanovich Svidrigailov, the depraved sensualist, to its dnouement, in which he fully accepts his dire situation and its [...]

Related Topics

By clicking “Send”, you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement . We will occasionally send you account related emails.

Where do you want us to send this sample?

By clicking “Continue”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy.

Be careful. This essay is not unique

This essay was donated by a student and is likely to have been used and submitted before

Download this Sample

Free samples may contain mistakes and not unique parts

Sorry, we could not paraphrase this essay. Our professional writers can rewrite it and get you a unique paper.

Please check your inbox.

We can write you a custom essay that will follow your exact instructions and meet the deadlines. Let's fix your grades together!

Get Your Personalized Essay in 3 Hours or Less!

We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .

• Instructions Followed To The Letter
• Deadlines Met At Every Stage
• Unique And Plagiarism Free

Rodion Romanovitch Raskolnikov

Character analysis.

Raskolnikov really loves people. Raskolnikov really hates people. Raskolnikov has a love/hate relationship with people. Dude's confused.

That's the obvious statement of the last two centuries, though: this guy's name has pretty much become synonymous with vacillating wildly between extremes.

And, it's kind of clear that that's Dostoevsky's intention. (Pro tip: never assume Dostoevsky is being anything less than masterful when it comes to intentional prose writing.) The very root of Raskolnikov's name is "raskol," which means "schism"—this is essentially like calling an English character Mr. Splitsman.

And not only does Big D (that's what we call Dostoevsky when we're feeling frisky) know that Raskolnikov is torn, other characters know it, too. In fact, Razumihin tells Dounia and Pulcheria:

"It's as though he were alternating between two characters." (3.2.32)

Oh, yeah: watch the number two throughout C & P. It's definitely associated with Raskolnikov. When we first meet Raskolnikov, he hasn't eaten in "two days." At the pawnbroker's house, there are "two gates" and "two courtyards." He last wrote his mom "two months" ago. He meets the abused drunk girl in the park at "two" in the afternoon.

The pawnbroker has on "two crosses" when Raskolnikov kills her, and Sonia later has "two crosses" when Raskolnikov is preparing to turn himself in to the police. But don't let all this double talk throw you. Raskolnikov is more than just two characters. He's more like a dozen, actually. That's part of why he's so fascinating.

Anyhow, we'll give you some of the facets of his character to get you started.

Student/Ex-Student

You can't miss the fact that Raskolnikov was "formerly a student" and that he wears an "old student's overcoat." Translation: he's not a snappy dresser.

He usually introduces himself simply as "a student," though sometimes he says "formerly a student," if he's in the mood. He dropped out of law school partly for economic reasons...but, as he admits, he could have found a way to scrape up the cash to finish his degree.

The perspective of the young student (dude's only 23) is important to this novel of "ideas." College students, in particular, are exposed to lots of ideas, many of them existential—that is, questioning and theorizing about the nature of existence. Sometimes after being exposed to stimulating ideas, students get stimulating ideas of their own or decide to see what happens when stimulating ideas they've heard, read, or thought about are put into practice.

But you know this. Who among us hasn't been stimulated by the idea of Pavlov and his dog and experimented with playing Whitesnake's "Here I Go Again" every time our roommate eats breakfast?

No one but us? Oh.

In any case: students. Usually, practical application can lead to invention, creation, and positive revolution. Students are thought of as the future, and many cultures put great hopes in education and the possibilities it affords the next generation.

But, in the case of Raskolnikov, there's a dark side to all this. And we mean pitch black—his ideas lead to two deaths.

He's a Student of Life...and Death

We're betting you know a student (or ex-student) who's a little off. (We all know this dude.)

If you go over to this guy's apartment, he's a) asleep, b) pretending to be asleep, or c) not home. He spends long periods of time "thinking" and calls it "working." He rarely showers or has clean clothes (fragrant!), and he lives in a crummy, depressing room. It's not clear how he spends his time, although he can be seen walking the streets at odd hours, mumbling loudly and possibly stumbling. Sometimes he's happy to see you; other times, he just wants to be left alone. His diet consists of ramen and gummi bears.

Sound familiar? Well, we just painted you a pretty exact picture of Raskolnikov—although our guy doesn't eat ramen because it hasn't been invented yet.

Raskolnikov wasn't always the kind of layabout whose most expensive piece of furniture is a set of blackout curtains. He once wrote an article, which Porfiry says is called "On Crime"...or something of the sort." An article? That's pretty impressive.

Too bad Raskolnikov seems to have pretty much forgotten about it. He's pretty set on being an ex- student rather than a student.

But this is important information—he used to be a productive person. For his article to have been published, he had to actually sit down, write it, and then send it in for submission. He had to have had his act together ...at least a little .

Raskolnikov has also let his teaching jobs fly by the wayside. He's not sure of the practical value of being a teacher—his mother is borrowing money to support him, his sister is about to marry Mr. Wrong to help the family financially. He doesn't have time to fool around in academia, hoping to find a job when he's done.

He thinks he needs to act now—this confused thought becomes one among many confused thoughts for murdering the pawnbroker.

But, although his thoughts are confused, they're still very much flying around in his hot little brainpan. He's perpetually thinking.  He's constantly questioning everything around him. He's eager for new information. He's willing to try new things.

In our book, that's the mark of a student rather than an ex- student.

The big question is: what has he "learned" from the course of study that we see him take in the novel? Well, the narrator tells us he's learned to be happy and that, after much suffering, he'll have a new and fabulous life when he gets out of jail. What do you think? Could he be happy after committing murder? Have his good deeds and suffering canceled out his crimes?

Good Citizen and Avenger of Justice

We know, we know. Dude's a murderer. How can he also be a good citizen and an avenger of justice?

Ha. Welcome to Dostoevskyland, Population: Morally Dubious Characters. We'd tell you that the weather's fine, but we'd be lying: it's Russia. It's always cloudy with a chance of freezing to death.

Let's look at Raskolnikov's "good deeds."

Sure, he might be a bit of a bungler, but he tries to help people. He's completely devoted to the Marmeladov family and tries to help them any way he can. He helps Razumihin stop drinking and get together with Dounia. He properly judges the characters of Svidrigaïlov and Luzhin and (sort of) assists in thwarting their dastardly plans. He (sort of) helps that abused drunk girl in the park.

And, as we learn in the epilogue, when he was a student, he gave away most of his money to another student who was in a bad way and "rescued two little children from a house on fire and was burnt in doing so" (Epilogue.1.4).

Even the pawnbroker's murder—which, on the record: not an act of goodness—was in many ways born of a desire to help people who are suffering. He's not even the first student to think of killing her...for the very same reason.  Raskolnikov remembers how, right after he got the idea of murdering the pawnbroker, he overheard another student arguing in favor of it.

This is where Raskolnikov's uber-creepy dream of the murder of the horse becomes important. Refresher: in the dream, young Raskolnikov is powerless to save a poor horse that's being brutally beaten. When he wakes up, he thinks of the pawnbroker as the helpless horse and decides he can't possibly kill her that night at 7 p.m. as planned.

Then he sees Lizaveta, the pawnbroker's sister, in the Hay Market and finds out she'll be away from home at (you got it) 7 p.m. Since the pawnbroker will be home alone, Raskolnikov decides to go through with his plan.

And this seemingly irrational decision (sister's not home—murder time!) actually speaks to a sense of inner goodness within Raskolnikov. It's suggested that seeing Lizaveta (who we know is regularly beaten by her sister and is used as one of the arguments for murder made by the other student) shifted the dream symbols in his mind—the horse becomes Lizaveta, and to save her from being beaten to death (like the horse), he must kill her abuser.

Of course, this kind of justice is seriously challenged in the novel because Raskolnikov offs Lizaveta, too—the person he meant to protect. In fact, instead of being the solution to all his problems, the murders make his situation worse and actively thwart his ability to do good.

That's part of why Raskolnikov is so mad at himself in prison. Though it's not stated in blunt terms, he really believes that, if he hadn't killed Lizaveta, hadn't left clues, and had properly robbed the pawnbroker, his crime would have been like [insert superhero of your choice] killing [insert corresponding villain of your choice].

Warped logic? Heck yes. But logic that is fumbling toward a sense of goodness? Also yes.

Hypochondriac

No, we don't mean that, if Raskolnikov lived today, he'd be all about #cleaneating and #healthyliving. (Although who knows? Raskolnikov might really enjoy eating kale salads out of mason jars.)

Raskolnikov's "hypochondria" is talked about in half a dozen or so places in the novel. Thanks to the world of pop psychology, we think of hypochondriacs as people who constantly think they are sick and dying...even when they're perfectly healthy. Raskolnikov seems to be actually sick when he's sick, so it's a wee bit confusing that everybody says he's a hypochondriac.

That's because the pop psychology use of the word wasn't around in Dostoevsky's time. See, the hypochondrium are regions of the abdomen. People used to believe that gloominess and melancholy in humans came from problems in those regions—so a real hypochondriac is just an extremely gloomy, even morbid, person.

And Raskolnikov is the gloomiest, most morbid person we can think of.

This was considered a physical, medical condition capable of causing someone who had it to commit acts they might normally not commit. So, this goes to the "temporary insanity" defense that keeps Raskolnikov from getting a heavier sentence. Not that he would ever use that excuse. It's just what everybody else says.

In any case, the epilogue suggests that Raskolnikov gets "cured" of his hypochondria after his long stay in the prison hospital. That's why he's finally able to feel love for Sonia—because his tummy has stopped making his brain all gray and miserable.

He's a Machine

And that's not a compliment.

Did you notice that Raskolnikov often does things "mechanically"? Dude's basically a robot. This is first mentioned in the scene after Raskolnikov's flashback to the other student arguing that society would benefit from the murder of the pawnbroker. See:

He ate a little, three or four spoonfuls, without appetite, as it were mechanically. (1.6.41)

The word also shows up in the actual murder scene:

He had not a minute more to lose. He pulled the axe quite out, swung it with both arms, scarcely conscious of himself, and almost without effort, almost mechanically, brought the blunt side down on her head. (1.7.21)

This idea of Raskolnikov as a machine expresses a common fear that often accompanies advances and potential advances in technology and industry. We think of machine anxiety in terms of the singularity and people falling in love with robots...because those are the machines that we as a culture are currently afraid of. But the idea of machines as cold and unfeeling has been around for a long time —you've probably read books and seen movies (think The Terminator and The Matrix ) where this anxiety is explored less subtly than in here.

But how does this connect to Raskolnikov? One way to look at it is that he becomes machine-like when he forgets that Alyona the pawnbroker is a person. He loses his will under the sway of his murderous idea and becomes controlled by it.

So does R-man become less machine, more man by the end of the book? Maybe, maybe not. The word "mechanically" also throws some questions our way concerning Raskolnikov's religious situation at the end. This is what we're told:

Under his pillow lay the New Testament. He took it up mechanically. (Epilogue.2.27)

Yikes. It doesn't sound like he's quite as moved by the book as Sonia is.

Then, the narrator tells us, "Till now he had not opened it." The next paragraph begins, "He did not open it now." That's some awkward, clumsy, and contradictory phrasing...which might be a good reflection of Raskolnikov's feelings about religion at the end of the novel.

(It also might be an indication that Raskolnikov has given his body over to the robot overlords. Fanfic, anyone?)

If you've Google searched Raskolnikov , you've probably seen the term "nihilism" used alongside his name...right under "raskolnikov character analysis." (Happy to help.)

Lit crit pro tip: any time you see "ism" associated with a major character, you're going to want to do some research to find out what's going on. Lucky for you, we're here to give you some solid basics on nihilism and then examine how it applies to Raskolnikov.

In this case, our best friend, the Oxford English Dictionary , is a big help to us. Here are some basic definitions: 

Total rejection of prevailing religious beliefs, moral principles, laws, etc., often from a sense of despair and the belief that life is devoid of meaning. Also more generally […]: negativity, destructiveness, hostility to accepted beliefs or established institutions. ( Source )

Raskolnikov certainly seems to reject "prevailing […] moral principles" and laws. By killing Alyona (and believing it's for the greater good), he has rejected society's traditional morality and has ignored society's laws against murder, as well.

But don't think we're going to stop feeding you sweet, sweet definitions now. In terms of Russian nihilism, the Oxford English Dictionary gives us this: 

Usu. in form Nihilist. A supporter of a revolutionary movement in 19th-cent. and early 20th-cent. Russia, which rejected all systems of government, sought the complete overthrow of the established order, and was willing to use terrorism to achieve this end. Also (in extended use): a terrorist, a revolutionary. ( Source )

Everything sounds okay (and Raskolnikov-y) until we get to the terrorism part. Let's look at this closely.

Remember, Russia was going through a period of extreme transition during the time Crime and Punishment was written. Every aspect of society and its organization was being called into question. Revolutionaries held the very idea of government responsible for the kinds of misery and poverty we see in Crime and Punishment and wanted to get rid of government and let the people rule. Many revolutionaries believed that violence was necessary in order to succeed in their cause. 

Raskolnikov isn't connected with nihilism by name until almost the end of the novel. When he goes to turn himself in, he and Ilya have the following conversation:

[Ilya:] "For you, one may say, all the attractions of life nihil est ["nothing is," in Latin]—you are an ascetic, a monk, a hermit!...A book, a pen behind your ear, a learned research […] There are a great many Nihilists about nowadays, you know, and indeed it is not to be wondered at. What sort of days are they? I ask you. But we thought...you are not a Nihilist of course? Answer me openly, openly!" [Raskolnikov:] "N-no..." (6.8.48-50)

What are we to make of this stuttered denial? Assuming that his "idea" (the one he writes about in his essay and acts on in murdering Alyona and Lizaveta) is his version of nihilism, he's failed miserably at it. He has realized that he's not a Napoleon or a "great" man.

His stuttered denial could mean that he isn't a nihilist because he failed at nihilism, or because he no longer believes in it—or a combination of the two. It could also mean that Raskolnikov doesn't know whether he is one or not, or simply that he doesn't want to talk about it with Ilya.

After all, no one ever accused Raskolnikov of being open about his feelings.

Tired of ads?

Cite this source, logging out…, logging out....

You've been inactive for a while, logging you out in a few seconds...

W hy's T his F unny?

Crime and Punishment

Fyodor dostoevsky, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov Quotes in Crime and Punishment

Details, details above all! . . . It’s these details that ruin everything always . . .

This marriage will not take place as long as I live, and to the devil with Mr. Luzhin!

God . . . but can it be, can it be that I will really take an axe and hit her on the head and smash her skull . . . ?

If he had ever once managed to analyze and finally decide everything down to the last detail . . . at that point he would most likely have renounced it all as absurd, monstrous, and impossible.

But a sort of absentmindedness, even something like reverie, began gradually to take possession of him: as if he forgot himself at moments . . . and clung to trifles.

If indeed this whole thing was done consciously and not foolheadedly . . . then how is it that so far you have not even looked into the purse and do not know what you’ve actually gained?

"And what if it was I who killed the old woman and Lizaveta?"

"But can it be?"

"Admit that you believed it! Right? Am I right?"

What I’m driving at . . . is that your complete recovery now depends chiefly on you yourself. . . . I should like to impress upon you that it is necessary to eliminate the original, so to speak, radical causes that influenced the onset of your ill condition.

. . . only peasants or the most inexperienced novices deny everything outright and all down the line. A man with even a bit of development . . . will certainly try to admit as far as possible all the external and unavoidable facts.

You’ve all been saying that I was mad . . . and just now I imagined that perhaps I really am mad and was only seeing a ghost!

No, it’s my fault most of all! I was tempted by his money, but I swear, brother—I never imagined he could be such an untrustworthy man!

One little word, Rodion Romanovich, sir; concerning everything else, it’s as God wills, but all the same we’ll have to ask you a thing or two formally, sir . . . so we’ll be seeing each other right enough, sir.

Nonsense! I simply killed—killed for myself, for myself alone . . . and it was not money above all that I wanted when I killed . . . .

Dunya! This Razumikhin, Dmitri Prokofych, is a very good man . . . He is a practical man, hard-working, honest, and capable of deep love . . . .

He’s a political conspirator, he is, for sure, for sure!

You’d run away, and come back on your own. It’s impossible for you to do without us.

I’m wicked, I see that . . . but why do they love me so, when I’m unworthy of it!

At the beginning of their happiness there were moments when they were both ready to look at those seven years as if they were seven days. He did not even know that a new life would not be given him for nothing, that it still had to be dearly bought, to be paid for with a great future deed . . . .

In order to continue enjoying our site, we ask that you confirm your identity as a human. Thank you very much for your cooperation.

• Search Menu

Sign in through your institution

• Advance articles
• Author Guidelines
• Submission Site
• Open Access Options
• Why Publish?
• About Literary Imagination
• About the Association of Literary Scholars,Critics,and Writer
• Editorial Board
• Advertising and Corporate Services
• Journals Career Network
• Self-Archiving Policy
• Dispatch Dates
• Terms and Conditions
• Journals on Oxford Academic
• Books on Oxford Academic

• < Previous

The Power of an Idea: Raskolnikov in Crime and Punishment

*Derek Allan, 5 Roseworthy Cres, Farrer Canberra Australian Capital Territory 2607, Australia. E-mail: [email protected]

• Article contents
• Figures & tables
• Supplementary Data

Derek Allan, The Power of an Idea: Raskolnikov in Crime and Punishment , Literary Imagination , Volume 18, Issue 2, July 2016, Pages 133–148, https://doi.org/10.1093/litimag/imw015

• Permissions Icon Permissions

Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov, the central figure in Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment is one of the best-known characters in the world of the novel, as well-known, perhaps, as Hamlet in the field of tragedy. Like Hamlet, however, Raskolnikov has proved to be a rather perplexing subject for critics. Why exactly does he murder the old pawnbroker and her sister? And why, in the days that follow, does he suffer a form of psychological breakdown and eventually give himself up to the police? “Raskolnikov plots and carries out a murder to assert his freedom,” asserts one critic. 1 Raskolnikov “commits murder out of spite against himself,” writes another. 2 Raskolnikov is driven to confess his crime because he has “burdened himself with enormous guilt,” contends Kenneth Lantz. 3 Raskolnikov’s psychological breakdown, argues well-known Dostoyevsky authority, Joseph Frank, is due to a “mental disorder” and to his eventual realization that he killed not for “altruistic-humanitarian motives” but “because of a purely selfish need to test his own strength.” 4 And a more recent writer, influenced perhaps by the notions of dialog and monolog that Mikhail Bakhtin has applied to Dostoyevsky’s novels, locates the cause of Raskolnikov’s downfall in a state of mind that is “exclusively monological, an example of the perverted heroism that is not a means for any end but becomes its own goal,” redemption becoming possible only when Raskolnikov discovers “what life in a dialogue means.” 5

Personal account

• Sign in with email/username & password
• Get email alerts
• Save searches
• Purchase content
• Activate your purchase/trial code
• Add your ORCID iD

Institutional access

Sign in with a library card.

• Sign in with username/password
• Recommend to your librarian
• Institutional account management
• Get help with access

Access to content on Oxford Academic is often provided through institutional subscriptions and purchases. If you are a member of an institution with an active account, you may be able to access content in one of the following ways:

IP based access

Typically, access is provided across an institutional network to a range of IP addresses. This authentication occurs automatically, and it is not possible to sign out of an IP authenticated account.

Choose this option to get remote access when outside your institution. Shibboleth/Open Athens technology is used to provide single sign-on between your institution’s website and Oxford Academic.

• Click Sign in through your institution.
• Select your institution from the list provided, which will take you to your institution's website to sign in.
• When on the institution site, please use the credentials provided by your institution. Do not use an Oxford Academic personal account.
• Following successful sign in, you will be returned to Oxford Academic.

If your institution is not listed or you cannot sign in to your institution’s website, please contact your librarian or administrator.

Enter your library card number to sign in. If you cannot sign in, please contact your librarian.

Society Members

Society member access to a journal is achieved in one of the following ways:

Sign in through society site

Many societies offer single sign-on between the society website and Oxford Academic. If you see ‘Sign in through society site’ in the sign in pane within a journal:

• Click Sign in through society site.
• When on the society site, please use the credentials provided by that society. Do not use an Oxford Academic personal account.

If you do not have a society account or have forgotten your username or password, please contact your society.

Sign in using a personal account

Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members. See below.

A personal account can be used to get email alerts, save searches, purchase content, and activate subscriptions.

Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members.

Viewing your signed in accounts

Click the account icon in the top right to:

• View your signed in personal account and access account management features.
• View the institutional accounts that are providing access.

Signed in but can't access content

Oxford Academic is home to a wide variety of products. The institutional subscription may not cover the content that you are trying to access. If you believe you should have access to that content, please contact your librarian.

For librarians and administrators, your personal account also provides access to institutional account management. Here you will find options to view and activate subscriptions, manage institutional settings and access options, access usage statistics, and more.

Short-term Access

To purchase short-term access, please sign in to your personal account above.

Don't already have a personal account? Register

Email alerts

Citing articles via.

• Recommend to your Library

Affiliations

• Online ISSN 1752-6566
• Print ISSN 1523-9012
• Copyright © 2024 Association of Literary Scholars, Critics, and Writers
• About Oxford Academic
• Publish journals with us
• University press partners
• What we publish
• New features  
• Open access
• Rights and permissions
• Accessibility
• Advertising
• Media enquiries
• Oxford University Press
• Oxford Languages
• University of Oxford

Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide

• Copyright © 2024 Oxford University Press
• Cookie settings
• Cookie policy
• Privacy policy
• Legal notice

This Feature Is Available To Subscribers Only

Sign In or Create an Account

This PDF is available to Subscribers Only

For full access to this pdf, sign in to an existing account, or purchase an annual subscription.

Crime and Punishment

68 pages • 2 hours read

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Character Analysis

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Discussion Questions

Rodion Romanovitch Raskolnikov

Raskolnikov is the protagonist of Crime and Punishment . He is an alienated, intelligent young man whose personality jumps aggressively between two very different alternatives. Sometimes, Raskolnikov is kind, attentive, and profound. Other times, he becomes irritable, anxious, and completely different to his former self. The tension between these split personalities fuels Raskolnikov’s anxieties and actions. As the two sides of Raskolnikov’s personality battle, his body and mind break down.

Related Titles

By Fyodor Dostoevsky

Notes from Underground

The Brothers Karamazov

The Devils (The Possessed)

The Dream of a Ridiculous Man

The Gambler

The Grand Inquisitor

Featured Collections

Challenging Authority

View Collection

Forgiveness

Mystery & Crime

Philosophy, Logic, & Ethics

Poverty & Homelessness

Pride & Shame

Psychological Fiction

Required Reading Lists

Sexual Harassment & Violence

YA Mystery & Crime

Experience the Joy of Learning

• Just Great DataBase
• Study Guides

Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov

Raskolnikov is the main character of the novel. He is an impoverished alumnus whose reason and conscience are often at odds with one another. His name is derived from the Russian word “raskol,” which means “split or divided.” Dualism is the key to Raskolnikov's character. He is torn between the desire to do evil and the desire to do good. He wants to harm, to commit murder, to test his theory that there is such a thing as a crime of principle. He believes that he has a moral right to commit crimes and kills an old woman who is moneylender. He continually struggles with self-doubt, questioning what he does and blaming himself for every decision he makes.

We Will Write A Custom Essay Sample On Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov SPECIFICALLY FOR YOU For Only $13.90/page

Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov in the Essays

Author: David Sutton

Pardon Our Interruption

As you were browsing something about your browser made us think you were a bot. There are a few reasons this might happen:

• You've disabled JavaScript in your web browser.
• You're a power user moving through this website with super-human speed.
• You've disabled cookies in your web browser.
• A third-party browser plugin, such as Ghostery or NoScript, is preventing JavaScript from running. Additional information is available in this support article .

To regain access, please make sure that cookies and JavaScript are enabled before reloading the page.

Raskolnikov Character Analysis Essay

Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov, the protagonist in Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s novel Crime and Punishment is a penniless Russian ex-student who undergoes a psychological downfall after murdering his landlord Alyona Ivanovna and her sister. Throughout the novel Dostoyevsky utilizes specific numbers correlating with Raskolnikov’s mental state. Numerous numbers in the text have religious significance due to Dostoyevsky’s firm religious beliefs. The reiteration of the number two in the novel symbolizes the growing estrangement of Raskolnikov from society.

In the Bible the two water’s, earthly waters and heavenly waters were separated by God on the second day. When the number two is used Raskolnikov is Another biblical number with significance is seven which means perfection. Dostoyevsky often uses this number to give insight on the detailed plans which form is Raskolnikov’s brain. Raskolnikov was “about seven years old”(67) when he left his house for his studies, which reflect on the age being perfect for his departure.

The age seven could also represent the normal and perfect mindset Raskolnikov had before leaving his house due to the different meaning of seven which can be a full cycle. Raskolnikov leaving the house at this age represents the start of his independent life which he started off with a perfect mindset. Before the murder of Alyona, Raskolnikov states that there are “exactly seven-hundred thirty”(? ) steps from __ to __. This number is found very early in the book which suggests that there are other reason to why Raskolnikov went crazy not only the regret he had killing the two women.

Seven hundred thirty is the precise number which Raskolnikov counted from ___ to which conveys that he had already planned the murder much time before it actually took place. Which could bring the argument up that Raskolnikov’s murder of Alyona was not a crime. Which means that the only crime he committed in part one of the book is the killing of Alyona’s sister. Raskolnikov’s immaculate eye for details can be seen throughout Crime and Punishment, he is able to distinguish a person’s age by just looking at them.

Universality is an idea which can briefly be distinguished in Crime and Punishment, this idea is related to the number four. As Raskolnikov read his mother’s letter the number one hundred and twenty is mentioned many times. His mother, Pulcheria Alexandrovna’s pension is written to be one hundred and twenty roubles. In the bible this number represents a period of waiting, it also relates to the idea of captivity. Which we can interpret as the captivity of Pulcheria and Dunya, Raskolnikov’s sister. The one hundred twenty rouble pension symbolizes the captivity the two women are facing back home.

Indirectly this affects Raskolnikov’s mental state. His mother’s low pension is the reason why Dunya is forced to make Luzhin, by which Raskolnikov is angered by. Before reading his mother’s letter Raskolnikov trapped himself in his room but after finishing it he decides to break free to his mental barrier which would not let him go outside and exits his room. The amount 25 roubles can also be seen throughout the novel. It can represent redemption and grace. As mentioned before Raskolnikov seems to be aware of details around him which suggest that he is a very cunning criminal.

He plans out everything is his head. Raskolnikov is always aware of the immaculate details around him. When going to kill Alyona he had a detailed plan laid out so that he could kill her and leave with her valuables. He did not consider Alyona’s sister walking in. At this unexpected guest he did the only thing he could think of which was to kill her too. Which is why I believe that in Raskolnikov’s mind he thought that killing Alyona was justifiable, which is why his crime was killing her sister. After committing the crime he got his punishment which lead him to kill many others.

After committing the crime Raskolnikov was not the same. Instead of using precise numbers as he used to before he starts estimating many of the things around him. Raskolnikov is losing his mind. He has started to ignore the important details after the murder and focus of useless ones. No sense of mercy was left in him while he killed many innocent people. As before we was hesitant to kill Alyona but after the two murders he stopped thinking of who to murder and just proceeded to kill. After the murder he stopped thinking of the consequences of his actions.

Before the murder of Alyona and her sister Raskolnikov has a very detail oriented person who kept in mind everything that the other person was doing. But after the murder he started to estimate and not pay attention to details. Which suggests that after the two murders Raskolnikov did experience a psychological downfall which caused him to think irrationally and to not think of what the outcomes would be of his actions. Another prominent difference between Raskolnikov before the murder and after it which also relates to detail is which details he looks at and which he doesn’t.

By the end of the book Raskolnikov starts to pay attention in detail to inanimate objects instead of actual people. Before he would always describe a person by his or her age but by the end of the book _ In part _chapter _ Raskolnikov briefly mentions his age as being “twenty-two” (? ). Dostoyevsky’s choice to make his protagonist this age is very representative. In the bible the number twenty two represents disorganization. Raskolnikov’s brain is disorganized at this age, he does not know what he is doing he has killed many innocent people and has even gotten arrested.

He himself does not know how to organize his life. Sonia’s age is of importance too. Though not directly stated Sonia is thought to be eighteen years old, and the number eighteen in the bible represents bondage. Sonia is bonded to Raskolnikov, she has put the duty onto herself to help Raskolnikov escape his own mind and convert him. In this novel Sonia is a very religious person, despite having a yellow card. Dostoyevsky’s choice to make her eighteen shows the important Christianity played in his life.

As an author he believes that the only way Raskolnikov could escape his punishment is though God. Sonia helps Raskolnikov became more religious by offering him crosses in Siberia. Raskolnikov is sentenced to eight year in Siberia. This number represents a new beginning or recreation. Dostoyevsky’s choice to make Raskolnikov’s sentence eight years is implying that after fulfilling his sentence Raskolnikov will become a new person. He will learn that even his murdering Alyona was wrong and that he should better himself to live a better life with Sonya.

More Essays

• The novel Crime and Punishment by Feodor Dostoevsky
• Essay about Crime And Punishment Analysis
• Essay about Medea By Euripides: Character Analysis
• Road To Perdition Character Analysis Essay
• Why Is Capital Punishment Wrong Essay
• Character Analysis: Chinese Cinderella Research Paper
• 12 Angry Men Character Analysis Essay
• Katniss Character Analysis Essay
• Raskolnikovs Redemption In Crime And Punishment Essay
• Elizabeth Lavenza Character Analysis Essay