Politics, Philosophy and Failure in Crime and Punishment

Nothing is so burdensome and heavy on the characters in Crime and Punishment than the ever-looming presence of failure, wasted potential and disappointment. This is a key underlying theme in the novel, something that keeps every action of the characters in context. It serves mostly to illustrate the fall from greatness and nobility to misery and wretchedness, which (in an ongoing metaphorical sense) reflects the way Raskolnikov is transforming as a character. We learn early on in the novel that Raskolnikov was once a student of law at a university (which university is not mentioned, it is simply referred to as 'the university'). However, due to his financial situation, he was forced to drop out. Although he remains intelligent, his reasoning seems somewhat flawed, and he operates based on idealism and philosophy rather than practical reasoning. When he confesses his crime to Sonya (the only character Raskolnikov has a meaningful relationship with), his reasons he gives her are more political and philosophical than logical. He claims he could have supported himself at the university if he had truly desired to, and that he "turned spiteful" (Dostoevsky, 417), and so refused to work and became reclusive. As a result, he had much time to think, which he refers to as his job early in the novel. He thinks politically, reasoning that all great men must have broken old laws to forge the future of mankind, and all great men, even those "who are a tiny bit capable of saying something new - by their very nature cannot fail to be criminals" (Dostoevsky, 260). He attempts to justify himself before Sonya, claiming he "only killed a louse, Sonya, a useless, nasty, pernicious louse!" (Dostoevsky, 416). He even refused to take any money for himself, hiding it under a rock in an alleyway. This act, not even robbing the old crone for himself, demonstrates his political and philosophical motives. In the epilouge, as he sits in a Siberian prison, he is infuriated with himself for confessing, insisting that these great men who "seized power for themselves, ought to have been executed at their very first steps. But those men endured their steps, and therefore they were right, while I did not endure...but had gone and confessed" (Dostoevsky, 544).

Another classic example of the concept of failure in the novel is Katerina Ivanova, widow to the late Marmeladov (who was trampled by a carriage earlier in the novel). She was born into a noble family, and married an official (Marmeladov). However, Marmeladov became a drunkard and spent most of the family's money, sending them into crushing poverty. While Katerina has been slowly dying of consumption throughout the novel, her madness and malady finally come to a head when she was evicted from her apartment by her foolish German landlady after an outburst of rage at her husband's funeral. She is reduced to forcing their children (who are very small) to dance and sing in the streets, cruelly beating and berating them for not doing it properly. Katerina also forces them to sing in french, "so people will see at once you're a nobleman's children, and it will be much more moving." (Dostoevsky, 430). She also convinced herself that her husband was a noble man, who "died in service" (Dostoevsky, 428), which epitomizes her pathetic downfall. The ultimate tragedy with Katerina, however, is her failure to achieve her dream, which was to start an institution for noble girls. When asked by Raskolnikov about it, she responds "An institute, ha, ha, ha! Castles in Spain!...No, Rodion Romanych, the dream is over! Everyone's abandoned us!" (Dostoevsky, 429). Eventually, Katerina falls on the street while reducing her children to tears, and dies in the arms of Sonya and Raskolnikov.

All the misery Raskolnikov observes around him only adds to the pressure he feels from his suspectors and circumstances. Earlier I mentioned Raskolnikov's dream, with the nag being beaten to death for being unable to run. Metaphorically speaking, Raskolnikov is the nag and all this suspectors and enemies are the drunkards in his back, while the horrid failures and deaths of those whom he cares for are the drunkards lashing him in the eyes.