Crime and Punishment

A highly used theme in the book crime and punishment is alienation. Raskolnikov alienates himself from society because he feels as if he is “superior” to others. He feels as if he doesn’t need to relate with others because of his superiority. After murdering Lizaveta and Alyona Ivanova, Raskolnikov isolates himself because he feels guilty. Raskolnikov sees himself as a being a superman, and is above all rules that govern society. Raskonikov probably thought he was extraordinary when he wrote the Ubermensch theory. Murdering Alyona, the pawnbroker led him to believe it was right and he gained his superiority through that. But he was unable to cover up his emotions of guilt. Many situations throughout the book proved this, such as when he was at the police station and the fresh paint smell led him to faint because it reminded him of the murders. According to Raskolnikov’s theory, he thought the reason he committed the crime was because he thought he as superior. After

committing the crime, he became ill, either the crime commited makes you become ill, or illness makes you commit the crime. Raskolnikov thought he was helping the society by his right to eliminate unneeded people. But he felt guilt from murdering Lizavet

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Through his suffering, he realizes that he love Sonya. He did not over come his feelings of guilt, which proves he is not superior.

Another part of the book that is a theme, or symbolism is the cross Sonya gives to Royda. Raskolnikov refers to Napoleon as being superior because he overcame many great obstacles to become

superior. She suffers through out the novel because she lives a hard life. She suffers also because she doesn’t have a very good social status. He could be superior, if repressed his feelings of guilt. He obsessed with his Ubermensch theory, which causes him to suffer. This proves that Raskolnikov is not a superior man, because he could not overcome his guilt. He tries a first time to confess at the police station but cannot do it. Many of the families in the novel suffer from their poverty and bad happenings. Almost every character in the book suffers in a certain way, may it be physically, socially or mentally. She suffers to see her daughter Sonya has to live such a hard life, to care for the family. The other character that helps Royda redeem himself is Porfiry.

Approximate Word count = 935
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

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