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How Is Raskolnikov Feasible Within The Limits Of Reality

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Exactly 152 years ago, Fyodor Dostoyevsky publishes a groundbreaking novel focusing on the dark themes of crime, murder, and how the perpetrator might just get away with it. A ripple rips through Russian society, challenging the antiquated plots and two dimensional protagonists written under the Tsar. After years of overdone romantic and depressing novels, Fyodor presents a morally questionable character with confused motives and convoluted goals. Who does Raskolnikov represent within Russian society? Is this plot feasible within the limits of reality? Raskolnikov is every poor man, questioning his beliefs that seemingly led him to his imminent degradation. If God has a plan for every being, why did he end up in such a state? Is it time to surpass his beliefs to truly accomplish his own plans? This moral dilemma follows …show more content…

However, as the title suggests, if he goes through with his plot, will there be proper retribution? Raskolnikov ultimately goes through with this murderous act as a result of his moral righteousness spawning from nihilistic ideals, which subsequently led to an assertion of his will-to-power.
Nihilism underlines “the view that nothing we do, nothing we create, nothing we love, has any meaning or value whatsoever”. It can be a depressive sort of worldview, wherein nothing matters and no beliefs can change the course of one’s life. When compared with religion, nihilism opposes the belief in God and the belief of His plan. Within Crime and Punishment, Raskolnikov's actions prove a certain nihilism by plotting to murder a woman under the pretense that killing her would benefit society. The nihilism incorporated in the novel shapes the entire plot of the book. During a scene at the seedy bar, two nondescript men consider murdering Alyona Ivanovna: “Kill her and take her money, so that afterwards with its help you can devote yourself to the

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