Crime and Punishment
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Fyodor Dostoyevsky, in his novel Crime and Punishment, shows how the development of the urban environment, specifically St. Petersburg where the action of the book takes place, creates an evil milieu in which such crimes as Raskolnikov's result. It is clear that this portrait of the oppressive and corrupting nature of the city is meant to be an indictment of the socioeconomic environment and its impact on human thought and behavior. However, Dostoyevsky hardly places all the blame for the corruption of Raskolnikov and others on the shoulders of the evil city. To the contrary, the book ends on a Christian note, with Raskolnikov turning to the New Testament as solace. In addition, it is clear that for Dostoyevsky it is the moral and spiritual elements which determine human crime or sin, rather than the social and economic elements. Finally, it is up to the individual to make the decision to open himself to the redemptive possibilities provided by God through one's own awakened conscience.From the first images of the book, the reader is deluged with the oppression suffered by Raskolnikov in St. Petersburg. He lives in a "closetlike room," "more a cupboard than a room," but it is the psychological oppression more than the physical which eats at the protagonist: "He had plunged so far within himself, into so complete an isolation, that he feared meeting not only his landlady but anyone at all" (13). We see in this set of details the effect of the city on the human beings---espec
. . .
uite depressed. He sat down on the deserted bench. . . . To think about anything at all that moment made him feel depressed. He would have liked to forget everything, forget completely, and wake up and begin anew (57-58).
The poverty of the city environment in which Raskolnikov lives is contrasted with the wealth of those who can afford houses outside of that city: "Here there was not that closeness, nor the bad smell, nor the saloons. Soon, however, even these new, pleasant sensations turned painful and irritating" (61). His envy and anger grow, exhausting him and leading to a sleep in the bushes and a dream of horror and violence. Waking, he begins to contemplate the murder he has been considering. The thoughts of Raskolnikov at that moment are clearly evidence of a man who is going mad with despair, who recognizes that he is going mad, and yet is unable to help himself. He is not a religious or spiritual man, however, has no friends in whom he can safely confide, and so he must wrestle helplessly himself with the thoughts of violence coursing through his fevered brain:
"God! . . . Will I really? . . . Will I really take the ax, will I really hit her on the head, split open her skull . . . will I really slip in the sticky warm
. . .
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Approximate Word count = 2172
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)
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