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Suffering In Crime And Punishment

Suffering 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...

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