Murder Rationale in Dostoevskys Crime and Punishment Essay -- Crime P

Murder Rationale in Dostoevskys iniquity and Punishment Feodor Dostoevskys law-breaking and Punishment is a slaying mystery unlike most murder mysteries. In this novel the reader knows who done it the mystery lies in why the murder is committed. Throughout the story, Raskolnikov gives three main backgrounds why he kills Alena Ivanovna. Although these reasons bet unrelated on a superficial level, there is truth in all of them. Whats more, each one builds on its predecessor. Raskolnikovs first two reasons ar scrutinized by Sonya one at a time as his solitary confinement motive for murder. These reasons ar then disproved on their own, leaving one last-ditch motive that essentially encompasses the other two. As readers, we sometimes tend to ask a direct explanation for events that bring occurred. Dostoevsky gives us explanations, but they be not direct and can be confusing if we are looking for for an obvious cause and effect relationship. Crime and Punishment imitates life in that the happenings do not always fit in nice uncontaminating categories. Perhaps this is one of the elements that make it such an intriguing and acclaimed novel.Raskolnikovs first reason for murdering the pawn broker is to help himself. He claims he wanted the property. He states in his confession to Sonya, It was to rob her (348). It is obvious that he fateed money for school. Also, if he had the money to put himself through school, his mother would not have to scrimp and borrow from others to help her son. Since the death of his father, Raskolnikovs mother and sister are greatly dependent upon him to make something of himself. His mother says in a garner to him, You are all we have, Dunya and I, you are everything to us, our only hope and trust (25). In this same letter, his mo... ... commoners. His last reason was accepted as his ultimate motive Sonya understood that this gloomy creed had become his faith and his law (353).Raskolnikov himself does not really know why he is committing murder when the murder is fetching place. It is a discovery of self and of a theory that was not only developed. He uses excuses for his reasoning in the beginning, saying that he needs the money, and, later, that he is performing a service for the greater good. These excuses are necessary and cardinal steps of Raskolnikovs journey into self-discovery. It is human nature to rationalize, which is what he is doing. Ironically, this very need for rationalization and excuse is what fails him in his quest for proof of his superiority. Work CitedDostoevsky, Feodor. Crime and Punishment. Trans. Jessie Coulson. Ed. Goerge Gibian. New York Norton, 1989.