Fyodor Dostoyevsky's *Crime and Punishment* delves into the psychological and sociological dimensions of crime through the character of Raskolnikov. Set in pre-revolutionary St. Petersburg, the novel explores themes of morality, existentialism, and the impact of societal pressures on individual behavior. The analysis highlights the interplay between Dostoyevsky's philosophical influences, including Nietzsche and Marx, and the psychological realism that shapes the narrative. This exploration is essential for students and scholars interested in literary psychology and the complexities of human motivation. It provides insights into the motivations behind criminal actions and the broader implications for society.

Key Points

  • Analyzes Raskolnikov's psychological turmoil and moral dilemmas in *Crime and Punishment*
  • Explores the influence of existentialist philosophy on Dostoyevsky's narrative
  • Examines the socio-economic conditions of 19th-century Russia depicted in the novel
  • Discusses the interplay between crime, punishment, and societal expectations
  • Highlights the role of secondary characters in shaping Raskolnikov's journey
newtopiccyclegrowin
7 pages
History
newtopiccyclegrowin
7 pages
History
217
/ 7
Educational Research and Review Vol. 4 (4), pp. 141-147, April 2009
Available online at http://www.academicjournals.org/ERR
ISSN 1990-3839 © 2009 Academic Journals
Review
A socio-psychological exploration of Fyodor
Dostoyevsky’s crime and punishment
Chijioke Uwasomba
Department of English, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. E-mail: cjsomba@yahoo.co.uk.
Tel: +234-803 7058 775.
Accepted 30 January, 2009
Using a socio-psychological approach, the essay explores Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punish-
ment. The exploration highlights Dostoyevsky’s heavy reliance on the use of psychological realism,
showing in the process the intricate interplay between psychology, sociology and literature. In the
novel, the reader comes across the merging of the philosophies of Hegel, Nietzsche, Sartre,
Kierkegaard, Heidegger and Marx. The essay concludes that Crime and Punishment is a mixture of four
novels: the psychological novel, the novel of detection, the novel of character, and the philosophical
Four voices, namely: voices of the existentialists, Marxian, Freudian, and Christianity are intertwined in
the novel. Fyodor appears to be saying that the world is meaningless but it is through the Christian
faith meaning could come to life.
Key words: Crime, punishment, existentialism, psychoanalysis, dostoyvesky.
INTRODUCTION
Dostoyevsky’s Crime and punishment (1866) is based on
the writer’s terrifying experience with summary justice
and the cruel penal system of Tzarist Russia. It is a tale
set in the dingy tenements, backstreets and dram-shops
of pre-revolutionary St. Petersburg, and concerns the
actions or inactions of a murderer, Raskolnikov, who in
setting himself in the role of a superman of Napoleonic
and Nietzchean Hue, decides to commit murder as a
matter of principle to pursue a higher purpose. The novel
can be viewed as a detective novel but not one detecting
the criminal, rather the motives behind the perpetration of
the crime. It is also a novel that centers on psychological
observations and analyses.
In this essay, an attempt is made to explain the
uniqueness of Dostoevsky’s form of writing by focusing
on his characteristic devices and techniques as well as
his relation to and use of existentialism. In addition, this
explorative essay proposes to highlight the author’s
heavy reliance on the use of psychological realism. In the
process the intricate interplay between psychology, soc-
iology, and literature is showed. In addition, how
Dostoyevsky has manipulated all the three areas to be-
come the master craftsman in world literature is high-
lighted.
Dostoyevsky and the human condition
Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky’s writing (1821 - 1881)
was influenced by Alexander Pushkin, the highly celebra-
ted Russian poet who died in 1837. According to Frank
(1976), Pushkin dominated Dostoyevsky’s literary entire
life. Dostoyevsky was of the strong view that
Raskolnikov, the hero (anti hero?) of Crime and Punish-
ment recreates the murderous folly of Pushkin’s Herman
in The Queen of Spades, who is equally obsessed by an
idée fixe and equally ready to murder to obtain wealth
and power (Frank, 1976). Pushkin was seen as a model
for Russian writers. Like Dostoyevsky, Pushkin was both
“a great virtuoso and something of a sphinx. Pushkin
developed the art of exploring the world in terms of the
experience and mental outlook of his creations” (Lord,
1976).
Dostoyevsky’s novels concern themselves with the
behavioral patterns of several people from different walks
of life. A fitting typology of the above description can be
sighted in Dostoyevsky’s The Possessed, which uses a
large number of characters representing all classes of the
Russian society. In the novel, he shows how an idle int-
erest in nihilism causes robbery, arson, and murder in a
Russian community. The “plot is exceedingly complex but
this very complexity tends to emphasize a similar quality
in the nineteenth century Russian life” (Welleck, 1962).
Dostoyevsky is also known for his existentialist views.
This is in spite of his involvement in radical socialist poli-
tics. Among his works, which espouse existentialist prin-
ciples are The House of the Dead (1860), which was infl-
uenced by his experiences in Omsk labor camp and the
compulsory military service he underwent for eight years,
142 Educ. Res. Rev.
Notes from the Underground (1864). The Gambler
(1866); The Idiot (1868); The Devils (1872) and The
Brothers Karamazov (1880). In his works, Dostoyevsky
addresses the concept of free will or freedom as can be
clearly seen in Notes from the Underground. The
underground man is the totally a freeman. He carries a
revolt against himself, in the present, future and into
eternity. He refuses to allow the law of nature and sci-
ence to operate. This is because if the laws of nature
(defined by reason) really exist, then free will is an illusion
that will be dispelled by reason. Dostoyevsky did not bel-
ieve that the laws of nature existed. For him, reason did
not exist as an objective entity.
According to Dostoyevsky, “there is no reason, but only
reasoners; behind every rational formula there is a
formulator; behind every generalization there is
generalizer” (Dostoyevsky, quoted in The Encyclopedia
Philosophy, 1972). He argued that the universe does not
make sense and that there are no rational patterns
discernible in it. Order is a deceptive mask that the
universe wears and which may break down at any time.
According to him reason only leads man astray. One
would rely on it only to be disappointed by it. This view is
a complete opposite of the Neo-Classicals.
Suffice it to say that in Dostoyevsky’s novels the reader
comes across the merging of the philosophies of Hegel,
Nietzche, Sartre, Kierkegaard, Heidegger and Marx. Of
these important philosophers all were existentialists
except for Marx. It is instructive to note that Jean Paul
Sartre before his death embraced Marxism, thereby be-
coming an existentialist Marxist.
Dostoyevsky’s novels focus on the theme of man as a
subject of his environment. His novels can be seen as “a
means of penetrating into the hidden depths of human
psychology and tearing of all the different kinds of veils
and masks which conceal the nature and content of
man’s inner world” (Frank, 1976). This is exactly what he
does with the character of Raskolnikov, while in the pro-
cess indicating that Crime and Punishment is not one of a
crime, but one of a discovery of the motive behind the
crime.
Crime and society
As indicated earlier on, crime and punishment is a novel
based apparently on the interior of Raskolnikov’s mind. It
is also an apt representation of a social situation with its
social inequalities and how this inequality affects the per-
sonalities of individuals and their reactions towards cer-
tain situations.
In describing the process by which criminal values are
taken over by the individual. Sutherland (1937) says:
“Criminal behavior is learned and it is learned in inter-
action with others who have already incorporated criminal
values and illegitimate opportunities including conditions
favorable to the learning of such a role (Sunderland,
1937).”
Crime is as old as man. In the book of Genesis 4:8 the
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, it is stated that
Cain killed his brother Abel. Cain committed a criminal
act, pates referred to as homicide in Criminal Law. The
early common law regarded such a killing as so serious
that it was scarcely inexcusable (Okonkwo, 1980). Folk-
lores of several societies in the past such as ancient
Greek, Rome and Medieval Europe have reflected on
man’s concern with crime.
However, the understanding of crime and the criminal,
did not engage the attention of scholars until after the
enlightenment in Europe. Scholars of diverse areas of
study were prompted to consider the crime problem dur-
ing this period as a result of the operation of the legal
system in Europe. People who committed crime were
treated as demons as they were treated as witches and
wizard who tied to the sticks and burnt. Punishment was
arbitrary and barbarous. This led to the development of
different schools for the understanding of crime and the
criminal (Oloruntimehin, 1995). These schools are the
classical school, the biological and the sociological.
Within the sociological school we have the Chicago
school and Critical school of criminology with its labeling
theory. The sociological school captures the tenor of this
essay.
Most serious crimes are violations of mores, the norms
of behavior that are considered vital to preserving
society. They fall into three broad categories: crimes
against persons, crimes against property, and crimes
against morality. Crimes against persons consist of dom-
estic violence, child abuse, and wife-battering. Of all cri-
mes against property, theft is the most common. Modern
computer technology has greatly increased the oppor-
tunity of embezzlement and other forms of economic cri-
mes. Crimes against morality; the most controversial sec-
tion of the criminal law consists of the statutes enforcing
conventional standards of moral behavior. Examples are,
gambling, obscenity, prostitution, public drunkenness,
and the possession of certain drugs. These offences are
often called victimless crimes, since they are voluntary
activities that typically harm no one but those who commit
them. In examining a criminal, one could use Sigmund
Freud’s personality analysis which says that traumatic
experiences, which have occurred during infancy and
childhood, could affect an adult personality (Freud, 1933).
There are different kinds of criminals as Lombroso has
correctly identified. There are petty thieves, shoplifters, tax
evaders, white collar criminals, hardened criminals. In fact,
hardened criminals do not commit crimes on impulse or as
an occasional sideline, but as a regular way of making a
living. They are habitual offenders/recidivists. They never
have honest jobs, but devote all their working time to their
illegal pre-occupation. Criminal organizations are a group of
criminals organized for illegal purposes, operating a number
of rackets, gangs and syndicates (Sutherland, 1937).
Several questions have been asked about the nature of
the criminal mind and several answers have also been
given. Basing on the nature-nurture debate, some psych-
logists believe a criminal behavior is inherited, while
others believe it is acquired from the environment. Hu-
man beings are genetically primed. It is believed that
human beings, as they go through life present a fixed
process. One is what one is because nature has made it
so. On the other hand, human beings are seen as the
products of their environment. One’s circumstances, such
as birth, and status, eventually determine what and how
one thinks and what one is. From the sociological
perspective, the causes of crime and violence lie deep
within the social structure defined by poverty, unequal
opportunities for the minorities and the under class,
cultural emphasis of being on top and lording it over
others, exploitation and deceit on the part of the ruling
class and so on (Marx, 1984).
Sometimes criminals are arguably not aware of the
reasons why they commit crimes. Examples of this type
of criminals are Kleptomaniacs, hate-criminals, passion
offenders and insane offenders. In order to explain why
an incident happened or why a deed was done one has
to understand that people’s actions are caused by
different factors. Economic hardships, family problems,
situational conditions, the person’s psyche or psycho-
logical make-up, unfulfilled desire, and other forms of
frustration can lead to a commission of crime (Marx,
1984).
When crimes are classified according to kinds of
offences that are committed and the reasons, it is clear
that different explanations are needed to account for
apparently identical crimes. Different causes of crime call
for different social responses. For example, a man who
kills his wife, in a blind rage, is not treated in the same
way as a mafia hit man who kills on the job, and neither is
regarded in the same light as the corporate executives
responsible for killing their customers with unsafe pro-
ducts. A good example of a man who kills his wife in a
blind rage is Othello in Shakespeare’s play, Othello.
As has been earlier mentioned, crimes are committed
for various reasons. While some kill as part of business
transactions, such as the “crime trust”, which murders
impersonally and solely for business (Menton, 1957),
some kill for personal reasons as a reaction to societal
pressures. For instance, in the case of Raskolnikov, he
revolts against the crushing socio-economic conditions in
which he lives. Members of his class were not only alie-
nated from the products of their labor but also suffered in
the hands of a callous minority bent on exploiting the
majority.
Society, according to sociologists, not only controls our
development, but also shapes our identity, our thoughts,
and our emotions as the works of scholars like Herbert
Mead, Charles H. Cooley; Emile Durkheim have shown.
The structure of society becomes the structure of our
consciousness. As has been articulated by Sartre (2003)
“the meaning anything will have in the world will de-
pend… upon the choices people make.” Society does not
stop at the surface of our skins. Society penetrates us as
Uwamsoba 143
much as it envelops us. An examination of Raskolnikov’s
role models will reveal that his orientation is a product of
some influences:
“…further on my article, I remember insisting on the idea
that all legislators and rulers of men commencing with
the earliest, down to Lycurgus, Solon, Mahomet,
Napoleon, etc. have one and all been criminals for whilst
giving laws, they have naturally broken through older
ones which had been faithfully observed by society and
transmitted by its progenitors. These men most certainly
never hesitated to shed blood as soon as they saw the
advantages of doing so” (Crime and Punishment, 193 -
194).”
If these great men of old mentioned in the above excerpt
had at one time or the other shed blood to transform the
society, Raskolnikov did not see anything wrong in doing
so for his society. These men obviously made an impact
on Raskolnikov’s thinking. This statement was when
Raskolnikov tried to figure out why he committed the
crime. He mentioned the desire to become a Napoleon
as follows:
“I was ambitious to become a Napoleon; that was why I
committed the murder. The fact is that one day I asked
myself the following question supposing Napoleon to
have been in my place. Supposing that to advance his
career had neither Toulon nor Egypt nor the crossing of
Mont Blanc, but in lieu of all he these brilliant exploits was
on the point of committing a murder with a view to secure
his future would he have recoiled at act of killing an old
woman and robbing her of three thousand Roubles?
Would he have agreed that such a deed was too much
wanting in prestige and much too a criminal one? I finally
came to the conclusion that he not only would have but
that he would not have understood the possibility of such
a thing. Every other expedient being out of his reach he
would not have flinched, he would have done so without
the smallest scruple (Crime and Punishment, 329 - 330).”
Socio-psychology as an elucidation
Social Psychology is the study of how the behavior of an
individual is influenced by the actual, imagined or implied
presence of other people (Roland et al., 1986). Social
Psychology is a branch of Sociology. Sociologists and
Social Psychologists do share some common interests–
they study how people behave in groups. Moreover, So-
cial Psychology is a sub-field of both its parent disciplines
(Psychology and Sociology). However, it is not a grand
synthesis of the two fields. The subject matter and me-
thods of Social Psychology differ from those of sociology.
Most sociologists study the structure and functioning of
groups from small groups to large groups (societies).
Social Psychologist on the other hand, are usually inte-
rested in how groups behave and how the individual
/ 7
End of Document
217

You May Also Like

FAQs

What psychological themes are explored in Crime and Punishment?
Dostoyevsky's *Crime and Punishment* intricately explores themes of guilt, redemption, and the psychological impact of crime. Raskolnikov's internal struggle reflects the conflict between his intellectual justifications for murder and his moral conscience. The novel delves into the effects of isolation and paranoia on Raskolnikov's psyche, illustrating how his actions lead to profound psychological distress. Dostoyevsky employs psychological realism to depict the complexities of human motivation and the consequences of transgressing moral boundaries.
How does Dostoyevsky portray the concept of punishment?
In *Crime and Punishment*, punishment is portrayed not only as a legal consequence but also as a psychological burden. Raskolnikov's journey reveals that true punishment stems from within, as he grapples with guilt and alienation after committing murder. The narrative suggests that societal and self-imposed punishments are intertwined, emphasizing the idea that one cannot escape the moral implications of their actions. Dostoyevsky's exploration of punishment raises questions about justice, morality, and the potential for redemption.
What role do secondary characters play in Raskolnikov's development?
Secondary characters in *Crime and Punishment* significantly influence Raskolnikov's character development and moral awakening. Figures like Sonia, who embodies compassion and sacrifice, challenge Raskolnikov's nihilistic views and offer a path toward redemption. Characters such as Porfiry, the investigator, represent the moral and ethical dilemmas surrounding justice and punishment. Through interactions with these characters, Raskolnikov confronts his beliefs and ultimately seeks a form of atonement, highlighting the interconnectedness of human experiences.
How does the setting of St. Petersburg contribute to the novel's themes?
The setting of St. Petersburg in *Crime and Punishment* serves as a critical backdrop that enhances the novel's themes of alienation and moral decay. The oppressive atmosphere of the city reflects Raskolnikov's internal struggles and the socio-economic disparities of 19th-century Russia. Dostoyevsky uses the urban landscape to symbolize the entrapment of individuals within societal constraints, illustrating how environment shapes human behavior. The city's dark alleys and impoverished neighborhoods amplify the sense of despair and existential crisis faced by the characters.
What philosophical influences are evident in Crime and Punishment?
Dostoyevsky's *Crime and Punishment* is heavily influenced by existentialist and nihilistic philosophies, particularly those of Nietzsche and Kierkegaard. Raskolnikov's belief in the 'extraordinary man' theory reflects Nietzschean ideas about morality and the justification of crime for a perceived greater good. The conflict between faith and reason, as well as the search for meaning in a chaotic world, echoes Kierkegaard's existential inquiries. These philosophical underpinnings enrich the narrative, prompting readers to question the nature of morality and the human condition.
What is the significance of guilt in Raskolnikov's journey?
Guilt plays a pivotal role in Raskolnikov's journey throughout *Crime and Punishment*, acting as a catalyst for his psychological unraveling. After committing murder, Raskolnikov is plagued by guilt that manifests in paranoia and hallucinations, illustrating the profound impact of his actions on his psyche. This internal conflict drives the narrative, as Raskolnikov grapples with his justification for the crime versus his moral conscience. Ultimately, his journey toward redemption underscores the idea that confronting and accepting guilt is essential for personal transformation.
How does Dostoyevsky address social inequality in the novel?
Dostoyevsky addresses social inequality in *Crime and Punishment* by portraying the stark contrasts between the wealthy and the impoverished in St. Petersburg. The struggles of characters like Raskolnikov and Sonia highlight the dehumanizing effects of poverty and the desperation it breeds. Through their experiences, the novel critiques the societal structures that perpetuate inequality and alienation. Dostoyevsky's exploration of these themes invites readers to reflect on the moral responsibilities of individuals within a flawed social system.

Related