Critical analysis and Justification of the title of the novel Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

2. Critical analysis and Justification of the title
of the novel Crime and Punishment by
Fyodor Dostoevsky

3. Introduction:
 Crime and Punishment is one of the most prominent novels of
Russian novelist as well as philosopher Fyodor Dostoevsky. It is
considered the first great novel of his "mature" period of writing. This
novel focuses on the mental anguish and moral dilemmas of Rodion
Raskolnikov, an impoverished ex-student in St. Petersburg who
formulates and executes a plan to kill an unscrupulous pawnbroker for
her cash. Raskolnikov, in attempts to defend his actions, argues that
with the pawnbroker's money he can perform good deeds to
counterbalance the crime, while ridding the world of a vermin. He also
commits the murder to test a theory of his that dictates some people
are naturally capable of such actions, and even have the right to
perform them. Several times throughout the novel, Raskolnikov
compares himself with Napoleon Bonaparte and shares his belief that
murder is permissible in pursuit of a higher purpose.

4. Biography of Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Born : Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky 11
November 1821, Moscow, Russian Empire
Nationality: Russian
Education: Military Engineering-Technical
University, St. Petersburg
Period : 1846–1881
Genre : Novel, short story, journalism
Subject : Psychology, philosophy, religion
Literary movement: Realism
Influenced by: Alexander Pushkin, Nikolai Gogol, More
Title : Novelist, Essayist, Philosopher
Died : 9 February 1881 (aged 59)
Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire

5. Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821-1881)

6. His Major Works

7. Other works :
Novels and novellas
 (1846) Poor Folk (novella)
 (1846) The Double (novella)
 (1847) The Landlady(novella)
 (1849) Netochka
Nezvanova(unfinished)
 (1859) Uncle's Dream (novella)
 (1859) The Village of Stepanchikovo
 (1861) Humiliated and Insulted
 (1862) The House of the Dead
 (1864) Notes from Underground
(novella)
 (1866) Crime and Punishment
 (1867) The Gambler (novella)
 (1869) The Idiot
 (1870) The Eternal Husband(novella)
 (1872) Demons
 (1875) The Adolescent
 (1880) The Brothers Karamazov
Short stories
 (1846) "Mr. Prokharchin"
 (1847) "Novel in Nine Letters"
 (1848) "A Jealous Husband"
 (1848) "Another Man's Wife"
 (1848) "Another Man's Wife and a Husband
under the Bed" (merger between "Another Man's
Wife" and "A Jealous Husband")
 (1848) "A Weak Heart"
 (1848) "Polzunkov"
 (1848) "An Honest Thief"
 (1848) "A Christmas Tree and a Wedding"
 (1848) "White Nights"
 (1849) "A Little Hero"
 (1862) "A Nasty Story"
 (1865) "The Crocodile"
 (1873) "Bobok"
 (1876) "The Heavenly Christmas Tree"
 (1876) "A Gentle Creature”
 (1876) "The Peasant Marey"
 (1877) "The Dream of a Ridiculous Man"

8. About the text Crime and Punishment
 Author : Fyodor Dostoyevsky
 Original title : Преступление и наказание
 Language : Russian
 Translated by : Constance Garnett
 Genre : Philosophical novel/Psychological novel
 Publisher : The Russian Messenger(series)
 Setting : Saint Petersburg
 Publication date: 1866
 Film adaptations: There have been over 25 film
adaptations of Crime and Punishment.

9. Major Characters of the Novel
 Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov
(“Rodya,” “Rodka”) - The protagonist of
the novel. A former student, Raskolnikov is
now destitute, living in a cramped garret at
the top of an apartment building. The main
drama of the novel centers on his interior
conflict, first over whether to kill the
pawnbroker and later over whether to
confess and rejoin humanity. Raskolnikov is
ill throughout the novel, overwhelmed by
his feelings of alienation and self-loathing.
 Sofya Semyonovna Marmeladov
(“Sonya,” “Sonechka”) -Raskolnikov’s love
and Marmeladov’s daughter. Sonya is forced
to prostitute herself to support herself and
the rest of her family. She is meek and easily
embarrassed, but she maintains a strong
religious faith. She is the only person with
whom Raskolnikov shares a meaningful
relationship.

10. Major Characters of the Novel
 Arkady Ivanovich Svidrigailov - Dunya’s depraved
former employer. Svidrigailov appears to believe,
almost until the end of the novel, that he can make
Dunya love him. The death of his wife, Marfa
Petrovna, has made him generous, but he is generally
a threatening presence to both Dunya and
Raskolnikov.
 Alyona Ivanovna - An old, withered pawnbroker
whom Raskolnikov kills. Raskolnikov calls Alyona
Ivanovna a “louse” and despises her for cheating the
poor out of their money and enslaving her own sister,
Lizaveta.
 Katerina Ivanovna Marmeladov - The
consumptive wife of Marmeladov. Katerina
Ivanovna’s serious illness gives her flushed cheeks
and a persistent, bloody cough. She is very proud
and repeatedly declares her aristocratic heritage.

11. Plot Summary of Crime and Punishment
 Raskolnikov, an impoverished student, conceives of himself as being an extraordinary
young man and then formulates a theory whereby the extraordinary men of the world
have a right to commit any crime if they have something of worth to offer humanity.
 To prove his theory, he murders an old, despicable pawnbroker and her half-sister who
happened to come upon him suddenly. Immediately after the crime, he becomes ill and
lies in his room semi-conscious for several days. When he recovers, he finds that a friend,
Razumihkin, had looked for him. While he is recovering, he receives a visit from Luzhin,
who is engaged to Raskolnikov's sister, Dunya. Raskolnikov insults Luzhin and sends him
away because he resents Luzhin's domineering attitude toward Dunya.
 As soon as he can be about again, Raskolnikov goes out and reads about the crime in all
the newspapers of the last few days. He meets an official from the police station and
almost confesses the crime. He does go far enough in his ranting that the official becomes
suspicious. Later, he witnesses the death of Marmeladov, a minor government official,
who is struck by a carriage as he staggers across the street in a drunken stupor.

12.  Raskolnikov assists the man and leaves all his money to the destitute widow.
When he returns to his room, he finds his mother and sister who have just
arrived to prepare for the wedding with Luzhin. He denounces Luzhin and
refuses to allow his sister to marry such a mean and nasty man.
 About the same time, Svidrigailov, Dunya's former employer, arrives in town
and looks up Raskolnikov and asks for a meeting with Dunya. Previously
Svidrigailov had attempted to seduce Dunya and when Raskolnikov had heard
of it, he naturally formed a violent dislike for the man.
 Raskolnikov hears that the police inspector, Porfiry, is interviewing all people
who had ever had any business with the old pawnbroker. Therefore, he goes for
an interview and leaves thinking that the police suspect him. Since he had met
Sonya Marmeladov, the daughter of the dead man that he had helped, he goes
to her and asks her to read to him from the Bible the story of Lazarus.
Plot Summary is Continued

13.  He feels great sympathy with Sonya who had been forced into
prostitution in order to support her family while her father drank
constantly. In her suffering, she becomes a universal symbol for
Raskolnikov. He promises to tell her who murdered the old pawnbroker
and her sister who was a friend of Sonya's.
 After another interview with Porfiry, Raskolnikov determines to confess
to Sonya. He returns to her and during the confession, Svidrigailov is
listening through the adjoining door. He uses this information to try to
force Dunya to sleep with him. She refuses and he kills himself later in
the night.
 Porfiry informs Raskolnikov that he knows who murdered the
pawnbroker. After talking with Sonya, Raskolnikov fully confesses to
the murder and is sentenced to eight years in a Siberian prison. Sonya
follows him, and with her help, Raskolnikov begins his regeneration.
Plot summary is Continued

14. Justification of the title Crime and Punishment
 The title of Crime and Punishment fits the narrative and the themes
because both the narrative and the themes are about crimes committed
and punished or not punished. Let me clarify a little for you. Several
characters commit crimes of varying sorts who are or are not punished
for them.
 An example of this is when Dounia shoots Svidrigailov for his
attempted crimes against her. In so doing, she commits a crime. Yet she
will not be punished for it because Svidrigailov will say nothing. Guilt
from this incident and his other crimes weigh him down until he ends
his life in shame and despair.
 The title most significantly applies to Raskolnikov, of course since he is
the one who commits the heinous crime against Alyona Ivanovna, "the
old lady." And it is Raskolnikov whom the police pursue and catch. It is
Raskolnikov who is punished in a Siberian prison camp for his crime.

15.  Other characters commit moral crimes that are not legal crimes.
Two of these are Marmeladov and Luzhin. Each brings shame
and suffering on the woman they desire, Marmeladov
against Katerina Ivanovna a great more severely than Luzhin
against Dounia, though.
 These characters may be "punished" by circumstances such as
when Marmeladov dies so helplessly, yet this punishment leaves
his victims in worse and more direful straits than before.
 The title is perfectly suited to the narrative because in it
Dostoevsky explores many forms and degrees of crimes
committed against other persons and punishment meted or
escaped for the crimes.

16. Conclusion:
 Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment is both a philosophical novel
and a psychological one where we find a true picture of Russian
Soceity. The protagonist, Raskolnikov, represents one of the St.
Petersburg's desperate, poor, and hungry individuals who goes to
great lengths to survive – and is tormented by his own conclusions
about morality. The main title of the novel also gives us a clear
impression of the subject matter as well as the whole theme of the
novel. Moreover, Dostoevsky's literary output explores human
psychology in the troubled political, social and spiritual context of
19th-century Russian society. His works has been translated into so
many languages in the world. This novel has become a matter of
great reading books in world Literature.