Works of Dostoevsky: Crime and Punishment

Author: (Russian) Dostoevsky
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-11-01
Features: Crime and Punishment is one of the representative works of the great Russian writer of the 19th century, Fyodor Dostoevsky. The novel depicts a poor university student, Raskolnikov, who aspires to be a Napoleon-like figure and believes himself to be a superman. Under the influence of anarchism and driven by poverty, he kills an usurer, an elderly landlady, and her innocent sister, committing a shocking murder thats the entire Russian Empire. After experiencing a painful inner struggle and repentance, he ultimately surrenders to the authorities under the persuasion of a Christian girl named Sonya, is sentenced to exile in Siberia. The work focuses on the protagonist's conscience after the crime, portraying his deep loneliness and fear. It alsos his psychological changes before and after the crime. On one hand, the novel depicts the miserable lives of the lower classes in Russia and exposes the sins of the aristocratic society; on the other hand, it promotes the idea of enduring hardship and seeking redemption through religion.