Pinnacle of Russian Realism: Crime and Punishment

Crime and Punishment is one of the most well-known novels of all time and the most recognizable features of it are, its realism and the way how Dostoyevsky describes the state of mind of the main character, Raskolnikov. The journey of Raskolnikov from the absolute state of illusion he finds himself into how at the end of the novel he finds redemption is a testament to why the book is still read and talked about to this day.

One of the main themes of realism and Russian realism, in particular, is the conflict between socioeconomic classes which constitutes a centre point in the novel from the very beginning. We get a glimpse of the poverty-ridden streets and elegant main streets of Saint Petersburg, we see different classes of people and their interactions. The most striking clash of classes happens when the protagonist Raskolnikov, driven by poverty and desperation murders the character Ms. Alyona who clearly represents the higher classes in the Russian socioeconomic system at the time as she is a relatively wealthy moneylender and has property.

Raskolnikov also distinguishes other characters by age but most importantly by their socioeconomic classes which is reflected by their stance on certain things and also their actions. This pushes the reader to do the same and have a somewhat Marxist view on the characters. Raskolnikov by extension the reader sees how for example, Razumikhin’s idea of crime tracing its roots to the social system is reflected in the novel, and how Raskolnikov fears his sister Dunya will inevitably fall into prostitution due to economic factors, and how Katerina and Marmeladov blames society for his alcoholism and economic struggle. While Svidrigailov, Luzhin and Lebezyatnikov live prosperous lives. The locations play an important role in this too, different districts house different classes the district of Sennaya is filled with craft masters, German flat owners, tradesmen and etc while the back streets are filled with poverty-stricken sickly people.

The city of Saint Petersburg is also a central theme as almost all of the events in the novel take place in it. The city is represented as a whole, the apartment he lives, in and the steps and routes he takes can even be superimposed onto a period-correct map of the then-Russian capital. Dostoyevsky gives precise descriptions of the city from the time accurate signs to the canal streets and even parks characters pass by which creates the city as it was in the reader's imagination. Beside Saint Petersburg, towards the end of the novel, we see a different setting this time a penal colony out in the Siberian tundra. There Raskolnikov observing the conditions of the people there and having plenty of time to think comes to the realisation of what he really did.

Before the murder he commits Raskolnikov, justifies his misdeed by his twisted idea of justice that he brought killing Ms. Alyona and brings himself to believe that great people, including him, are allowed to commit crimes and misbehave for the greater good and that the opposite is true for commoners. This idea together with his friend Razumikhin's suggesting that committing a crime is protesting against the craziness of the social system breaks the ideological borders and becomes a reflection of the dire situation the Russian people were in near the end of the 19th century. We see this in the beginning as well, as the novel shows how dirty the streets are and how drunk the people are. And this gives a sense of senselessness and meaningless which the setting and the characters reinforce.

When he inevitably commits the murder he seemingly thinks he knows all the details, covering up evidence and removing leads that might suggest he was the murderer and that he will not be punished and go on as usual. We can deduce from this that Raskolnikov in the start is a radical nihilist who does not care of others and kills without hesitation.

However, as the story moves forward Raskolnikov is also contrasted by other narratives, Svidridailov’s dissipation, Luzhin’s pragmatism and Sonya’s self-sacrifice to name a few. One of the common ideas throughout Dostoyevsky’s work is that only if one suffers a great deal then one can become sinless and pure. In the book, Sonya’s self-sacrifice in a way represents the suffering of humanity and together with Sonya, Dunya feels with further suffering only can Raskolnikov’s suffering subside and become pure in his emotions. So, this suffering can be seen with how physically ill he is even at one point in a come-like state for some time.

Nearing the end of the book Raskolnikov comes to admit his guilt and turns willingly himself to the police, changing his mind from the forgoing mindset of being just with his crime. He then opens the Gospel specifically the one about the resurrection of Lazarus that Sonya had read to him earlier. We are to believe finds redemption in Christianity which ends his philosophical and moral journey through the story. Still, the impression the reader gets is that he’s not fully immersed in it, though he seems to be in the right direction.

Dostoyevsky throughout the novel depicts the range of characters masterfully, the way he depicts the protagonist Raskolnikov along with Sonya, Razumikhin, Svidrigailov, Luzhin and other major and minor characters mirrors the Russian cruel reality of the time with the societal contrast and the division of the poor and the rich, the author is more concerned with presenting the suffering of characters with the moral and emotional problems they face. This detail also introduces the society and the socioeconomic clashes between the characters.

A more important aspect of the novel is that characters have depth and are not representations of one particular idea, many of the characters are antinomic in nature, meaning they represent two seemingly different things Marmeladov calls Sonja a saint, then she replies: "I am a great sinner." More examples like this include, Porfirij being compassionate and a pursuer, Marmeladov being both perceptive and a drunkard, Lulin being a more or less respectable villain, and finally Raskolnikov acting as a reluctant murderer, a reluctant confessor, and a reluctant repenter.

What makes Crime and Punishment stand out from the other Russian and non-Russian realists is that nearly all events that take place in the book are told by the protagonist or his inner thoughts which makes the novel in its entirety an inner monologue of Raskolnikov. The reader following the events from the eyes of Raskolnikov sees his side of the story meanwhile they can get a glimpse of what’s really happening from observing the events that follow.

Other times influenced by Freud’s theory of dreams, Raskolnikov, Marmaladov and Svidrigailov all experience worldly dreams that influence their actions. Additionally, as the book is an auto-monologue of Raskolnikov, he appears to enter other character’s minds, thus showing different aspects of his personality. The doubles in the text reflect the alter ego of Raskolnikov, even when the characters themselves are not in the scene they show varied aspects of his personality while having their own self.

Thus, the way Dostoyevsky depicts Raskolnikov’s story is referred to as fantastic or psychological realism which some critics argue is not akin to realist works penned by other Russian authors such as Tolstoy and Turgenev. Other realist writers narrate their novels from an objective and factual perspective. However, Dostoyevsky rejected this and thought what they called idealism was 'more real than their realism’.

Although Dostoyevsky’s, and by extension, Russian realism’s most known novel might have flaws as debated by critics it can be nevertheless said the social and psychological themes on top of the way the writer depicts these with his characterisation and narrative techniques create a unique and unforgettable work in world literature.