BOOK REVIEW – CRIME AND PUNISHMENT WRITTEN BY FYODOR DOSTOEVSKY

Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821- 1881) a Russian novelist, story writer and journalist was born on the outskirts of Russia. He had a life full of suffering and hardships that many of his friends and literary contemporaries didn’t quite go through which makes everything he wrote feel so true. He is considered to be the greatest novelist of all time with his novels that go deep into the deepest levels of the human psyche filled with characters that are confused, irrational and always in some way suffering bitterly.

One of Dostoevsky’s critically acclaimed novel going deep into human suffering, crime and redemption is “Crime and Punishment”. The novel revolves around the protagonist “Raskolnikov” and his decent into madness after he commits two murders: one of an old pawnbroker lady and another of her sister, who unfortunately witnesses her sister’s murder and gets killed by him. He rationalizes his murders by determining it would be a benefit for society as a whole who selfishly thinks himself to be a man with extraordinary capabilities that isn’t affected by moral laws. Things turn sour for our protagonist as he soon realizes he was far more irrational than he thought he was and starts to torment himself for his immense guilt. Raskolnikov finally redeems himself after confessing to a meek young Christian girl “Sonya” who forgives him and fills his future with hope and love.

Dostoevsky tries to hint at two main ideas throughout the novel:

1.       Knowing yourself

2.       Compassion for the sinner

Through Raskolnikov, Dostoevsky shows the reader how a bright law student can turn into a vicious murderer depending on the loathsome environment he is forced upon. Losing faith and rejecting everything he once had faith in he starts to consider himself as someone who is extraordinary. Someone who has a right to do whatever he wants if it’s for the betterment of the society. Following the murder he had realized he wasn’t in any way extraordinary at all. In fact he was the exact opposite of what he thought himself to be. This message of truly knowing oneself is what Dostoevsky wants everyone to have. Giving an extreme example of Raskolnikov he teaches everyone to face your true self head on, , for only then can one truly start living their lives.

“If you want to overcome the whole world, overcome yourself”.

                                                                                                Fyodor Dostoevsky

The next idea Dostoevsky pushes forward is the idea of “Love the sinner but hate the sin”. He believed that even the most vicious of criminals can redeem themselves with enough love and compassion. Through his portrayal of the relationship between Sonya and Raskolnikov in which Sonya becomes a ray of hope for him to redeem himself and become a better man, Dostoevsky shows just how strong the power of love can be for a person through Raskolnikov’s improvement and redemption.

“To love someone means to see someone as God intended to see them.”

                                                                                                -Fyodor Dostoevsky.

 Thanks for reading. Cheers!!