The Evolution of a Criminal's Mind

One of the most interesting aspects of Crime and Punishment is the evolution of the characters, particularly Raskolnikov (the protagonist) and Razumikhin (best friend to Raskolnikov. Could also be considered foil to Raskolnikov. Razumikhin's outgoing personality, as well as his caring and good nature is heavily contrasted by Raskolnikov's general misanthropy and loathing of most who come into his company, sometimes including Razumikhin. These two characters are somewhat analogous of Alceste and Philinte in Moliere's The Misanthrope). As with many Russian works, there are lengthy segments where the character ponders and contemplates thier feelings and surroundings. The use of these segments is similar to the use of soliloquies in plays, revealing the true thoughts and shifts in the character's personality, and why they happen. As I move into defending the classicity of the novel, I will mention the beleivability with which Dostoevsky has crafted the characters (especially Raskolnikov and Razumikhin), and while they evolve into different people, their reasons for becoming so are slowly and credibly revealed through their mental soliloquys of sorts. For example, when Raskolnikov overhears two men in a tavern discussing the loathsome and wretched character the old pawnbroker is, the way she treats her meek and complacent sister, her fraudulent methods of pawning, and how they would happily "kill and murder that cursed old woman...without any remorse" (Dostoevsky, 64), Raskolnikov is taken aback. He has been pondering the thought as well, and wonders "why precisely now did he have to hear precisely such talk and thinking when....exactly the same thoughts had just been conceived in his own head?...This negligible tavern conversation had an extreme influence on him in the further development of the affair; as though there were indeed some predestination, some indication of it..." (Dostoevsky, 64). Raskolnikov now has it firmly planted in his mind that he will be the one end this old crone's wretched life. Once he finally commits the murder, however, his character as we know it is plunged into disarray, as many contemporary murder story killers' are. For the first few days after he commits the crime, he is filled with insurmountable paranoia, which is exposed when he is called to the police station (on an unrelated matter). As he leaves, he mutters to himself "The villans! they suspect me!' His former fear again came over him entirely, from head to foot" (Dostoevsky, 106). This changes to an almost arrogance, demonstrated when he meets with a man by the name of Zamyotov (with whom he is acquainted) in a tavern. During the conversation, Raskolnikov mentions the murder, and how easily he could have done it and, in incredible detail, how he would have done it. One would think he would avoid the topic altogether to avoid suspicion, but he presses on. "What if it was I who killed the old woman and Lizaveta?" (Dostoevsky, 165), he says, causing Zamyotov to go "white as a sheet" (Dostoevsky, 165), until he evades suspicion by turning into a spiteful joke, saying to Zamyotov "Admit it that you believed it! Right? Am I right?" (Dostoevsky, 165), to which Zamyotov responds "Not at all! Now more than ever I don't!" (Dostoevsky, 165). This gradually takes the form of some kind of guilt, demonstrated when Raskolnikov visits the apartment where he committed the murder in the dead of night, saying to the workmen renovating the apartment "There was a whole pool of blood...Is there any blood?" (Dostoevsky, 172). They frequently ask him what his business there is, and what kind of man he is, to which he frequently responds "Let's go to the police, I'll tell you there" (Dostoevsky, 172). This guilt is fully formed when he sees his friend Marmeladov (a drunk whom he met in a tavern early in the novel), lying in a mangled heap in the street after being run over by a carriage. While the crowd seems complacent, dismissing him as a foolish drunk, Raskolnikov frantically carries him home, offering to pay for a doctor himself (despite being more or less broke). When he gets his friend to his home,and lays Marmeladov before his wife and children, he realizes it is far too late to help him, and he will surely die. When Marmeladov dies of his injuries in the crowded and filthy apartment, Raskolnikov does a noble and unexpected thing. He turns to Katerina, Marmeladov's wife, and says "...We became friends. Permit me now to assist - to pay what is due to my deceased friend. Here are twenty roubles, I think-and if this can serve to help you then I, in short, I'll come again- I'll be sure to come, maybe even tomorow. Goodbye!" (Dostoevsky, 186). The 20 roubles he gave to Katerina were his last. He likely feels that through his nobility and generosity, he is redeeming himself for his crime.

Razumikhin is a different story. While his good nature and caring, particularly towards his friend Raskolnikov, is demonstrated through his loyalty and care to him throughout Raskolnikov's illness (he felt sick after commiting the murder for several days), and despite Raskolnikov's short fuse and ingratitude, Razumikhin never gave up on his friend. Initially, the character of Razumikhin seems relatively simple and concrete, not as deep and metamorphic as Raskolnikov's at least. But when Razumikhin throws a party with his uncle and becomes drunk, he reveals much to the reader. That night, Raskolnikov's sister and mother come to visit him, on account of his sister (who is young and beautiful) being married to a rich official in his forties. Raskolnikov heavily disapproves of this, believing that she is doing it for the financial need of the family rather than her own wishes. As Razumikhin and Zossimov (a doctor, another friend of Raskolnikov) leave the apartment, they have a frank (drunken) conversation that reveals much. They both are in love with the girl, Avdotya, and they each exchange speeches of how little a chance they have with her and how better suited the other is to woo her. This whimsical evening of drunkenness and pretty girls is contrasted by Razumikhin's feeling of self loathing and self pity when he wakes up the following morning, "Preoccupied and serious" (Dostoevsky, 210). He quotes the famous latin saying, en vino la veritas(in wine the truth), meaning that one's true character comes forth when one is enibriated. The truth, he says "that is all the filth of this envious, boorish heart! And was such a dream in any degree permissible for me, Razumikhin? Who was I compared with such a girl-I, a drunken brawler and yesterday's braggart!"(Dostoevsky, 211). This sudden shift in character is completely unexpected and reveals that Razumikhin is not all that he seems. Of course, this is all revealed through the "mental soliloquies" I mentioned earlier.

All this serves to reinforce the idea of how people's innermost feelings affect their behaviour, and the secrets people keep slowly eat away at their character until it is a whole new character altogether. People are seldom exactly what they seem.