Crime and Punishment Essay - 1382 Words

Melody Fadaee AP American Literature Suffer or Suicide: Only Great Men Take the Right Path In the novel Crime and Punishment, Feodor Dostoevsky illustrates how sinners have a choice to either suffer and face the consequences of their actions, or escape the pain by ending their suffering and ultimately ending their lives. While both Raskolnikov and Svidrigylov are sinners, Raskolnikov’s mental and physical sufferings lead him to ultimately choose to suffer and hope for redemption, whereas Svidrigylov decides to take his life, stopping his incoming suffering. Through his depiction of Raskolnikov and Svidrigylov’s sins and sufferings, along with their decisions to either bear it or end it, Dostoevsky shows that a person’s suffering can†¦show more content†¦Petersburg, when a â€Å"feeling of infinite loathing†¦ [Begins] to burden and torment him†¦ [Which] now reached such a pitch that he did not know what to do with himself in his anguish† (6). Through the suffering, a schism is formed between Raskolnikov’s thoughts and actions. As soon as he gives money to Marmeladov’s family upon meeting them, he immediately regrets it and questions why he even bothered to do it in the first place, â€Å"†¦He [repents] his action and almost turned back. ‘What a stupid thing to do’, he thought† (22). His schism and regret also come into play after he tries to help a young girl escape from a drunken man that was coming on to her, but he begins to question himself after trying to help the girl, â€Å"Why did I take it on myself to interfere? [Is] it for me to try to help? Have I any right to help? Let them eat one another alive- what is it to me? And how [dare] I give away those twenty copecks? [Are] they mine to give?† (43). His constant self-doubt leads him to question whether everything is worth it, if the murder is worth committing and if it’s worth living, knowing he is a killer. Per petual thoughts of suicide are always lingering in Raskolnikov’s mind, yet he never finds the will or passion to actually do it. Even when he witnesses an attempted suicide, he looks on â€Å"with a strange feeling of indifference and detachment. Now he felt repelled.† (145). The suffering takes majorShow MoreRelatedCrime and Punishment Essay1717 Words   |  7 PagesCrime at its simplest is an act prohibited by law upon pain of punishment (Hall-Williams 1964). Theorists such as McCabe (1983:49) stated that no word in legal and criminological terms could define the word crime for the varying content in which an act is categorised. Due to the broad spectrum surrounding crime, differing understandings about human subjects and premises lead to the development of several theories, assumptions and forms of criminal law. 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