Finding Salvation Through Human Suffering
“All men must suffer, and salvation can not be obtained unless this suffering is present” (Boland p4). The main point of Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky is human suffering. All of the characters in the novel experience some sort of internal or external suffering. The main character Raskolnikov must grow and realize this to overcome his conflicts and reach the salvation of peace within. Dostoevsky’s concentration and focus is on why suffering must exist and how this suffering can be overcome. I found this to be true because of the fact that in the six sections of the novel, only one section is focused on the crime which is the start of Raskolnikov’s suffering, and the remaining five sections are concentrated on Raskolnikov’s journey to overcoming his suffering this being the Punishment.
By concentrating mainly on the punishment, the internal and external conflicts that happen within the novel show Raskolnikov’s own philosophy of his journey toward salvation. Raskolnikov’s justifies his actions with his Extraordinary Man Theory. His extraordinary man theory is “a suggestion that there are certain persons who can…that is, not precisely are able to, but have a perfect right to commit breaches of morality and crimes, and that the law is not for them”(p 254). Raskolinikov wanted prove that he was extraordinary, that he could commit a crime as horrible as murder, but because he did it for the betterment of society, and he would feel no sympathy or regret for his crime.
Friedrich Nietzsche a nineteenth century philosopher says “To become a superman, an
individual must surpass the common man. He must have no qualms or regrets in his actions, and above all, he must not fear his actions or consequences. “Fear is the mother of morality,” it is an emotion only
known to ordinary men. A superman has no fear” (Nietzsche p 286).
Raskolnikov killed Alyona Ivanovna because she represented the...