![]() ![]() The latter victim was supposed to be one of the beneficiaries of his act. Raskolnikov kills a pawnbroker in the name of humanity but circumstances made him to kill her half-sister as well. Dostoyevsky describes him as an atheist who wants to arrange the world according to the principles of Reason, as he is strongly convinced that Logos rules the world. The novel’s protagonist, Raskolnikov (raskol – schism), imagines himself to be the master of his fate and the fate of others. (Stanislaw Mackiewicz Dostojewski)Ĭrime and Punishment should be seen as Dostoyevsky’s reflections on the commandment “thou shall not kill”. ![]() It is impossible to overstate the importance of the Gospels for Dostoyevsky. All the great themes he deals with in his novels come from the Gospels. Dostoyevsky is a direct disciple of the apostles. This was the only book which he read during the four years of penal labour, even when he had a chance to read something else. On the way to a penal settlement in Siberia, Dostoyevsky was given the New Testament by an aristocratic lady. Characters are meant to embody the ideas drawn from the Gospels. It’s not a psychological novel and even less a crime story but a Russian theodicy. Crime and Punishment is a theological treatise in a narrative form. ![]()
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