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Nihilism In Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime And Punishment

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Fyodor Dostoevsky 's Crime and Punishment main character Raskolnikov, (Raskol meaning split in Russian), makes it irrefutable for there to be different facets within him. Through the story Raskolnikov acts as completely different people, an intellectual utilitarian, a nihilist, or a religious, caring and compassionate man with a big heart.These contrasting facets combine or clash creating main themes in the novel like suffering, redemption, religion, love, criminality, and nihilism. Diverging circumstances like illness and poverty in Raskolnikov’s life have a substantial effect on his life and his actions.
Raskolnikov can be described as an intellectual utilitarian. He is a person “who engages in critical study, thought, and reflection about the reality of society, and proposes solutions for the normative problems of that society”(Jennings, Jeremy and Kemp-Welch). It is predictable for Raskolnikov to be an intellectual due to him being an ex-student, since one of the many things students are taught to, is to analyze every information they are given thoroughly. “One death, and a hundred lives in exchange-it’s simple arithmetic!”(pg.54), this was a discussion that took place in a tavern, between a student and an officer, who are considering the idea of the pawnbroker 's murder. This is a strange coincidence because it happened exactly at the same time when Raskolnikov was thinking about his wicked scheme. This was highly important because even though they were talking about

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