Crime and Punishment

Rodion Raskolnikov is a handsome and brilliant former student who is also sickly and desperate for money. He convinces himself to murder and rob an old pawnbroker, since he can then perform great deeds like ‘extraordinary’ men. After he commits the crime, however, all of Rodion’s justifications lose their power and he becomes wracked with guilt, paranoia and horror. Crime and Punishment is a profound examination of the psychological impact of committing a crime, and that waiting for the punishment is a more damning fate than the punishment itself. Rodion’s story also deconstructs the idea of nihilism and how empty and alienating that way of life is.

Publication

Author - Fyodor Dostoevsky

Original title - Преступление и наказание

Country - Russia

Language - Russian

Genre - Philosophical Novel, Psychological Fiction, Crime Fiction

Publication date - 1866