Resumo de Crime And Punishment - Dostoevsky, Feodor

Published in 1866, Crime and Punishment deals with the social and spiritual crisis in Russia at the time, seen from a Christian point of view. Set in St. Petersburg, and so vividly depicted that the places are identifiable today, the miserable life of the lower classes is portrayed with brutal honesty, while the intellectuals are criticised for their rationalisation and their new ideas of a secular society where logic defeats all.
The main protagonist, Raskolnikov, is a failed academic, whose dispair at life leads him to create a theory of crime, which he then must test himself. He plans and commits murder to test the theory that certain people have an inherent right to take the life of another if this is done for the betterment of mankind. The crime is carefully planned and rehearsed, and initially Raskolnikov gets away with it, but he cannot cope with the knowledge that he has escaped scot-free and that therefore the system of justice is faulty. On the one hand he is afraid of being found out, while on the other his desire for a just world demands that he should be punished, and so he involuntarily draws suspicion upon himself.
There are two main storylines. Firstly, will he be found out? A sort of detective story told in reverse, we already know who-dunnit, and are more interested in finding out the consequences. Secondly there is the theme of repentence and suffering as a necessity, presented through the character of Sonya, whose selfless personal sacrifices for her family, and finally also for Raskolnikov, show how Orthodox Christian ideals defeat rationalised theories. Dostoevsky criticises through his hero the radical Western conceptions of society that infiltrated Russia in the 1860?s, mainly that of nihilism, which the author saw as dangerous and unsuitable for the Russian nation.
Taken at face value, this novel could be seen as a dark, gloomy tale of how one crime inevitably leads to a spiral of evil deeds. However, especially in the final chapters, we see the salvation that is offered when one places ones faith in Christ and attempts to lead a moral life. The novel ends on a wonderfully hopeful note, not only for the protagonists, but also for the reader. A deep and fascinating novel with much of relevance for any generation.

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