The Role of Power in Crime and Punishment

In Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment the main protagonist, Rodion Roskolnikov, is driven by a passionate admiration for “great men”; men who had power. This passionate admiration manifests itself into an illusion for Roskolnikov; an illusion that is created and perpetuated by constant reaffirmation of his intelligence by his loved ones and peers. In perusal of aligning himself to his hero, Napoleon Bonaparte, Roskolnikov spends his time patronizing the human race and glorifying his own existence. It is because of his struggle to be a hero and his embedded feelings of self-righteousness that he chooses to murder the pawn broker Alyona Ivanova. After the murder of Alyona (and by default her sister, Lizaveta) Roskolnikov is unable to cope with the guilt of the murders and is unable to cope with the burdens that he has created for his friends, family, and girlfriend. Roskolnikov is named very aptly, the root of his name, “raskol” means to be split. This split is defined in his incessant search for power, but mirrored in his accidental search for love. Roskolnikov first meets his girlfriend, Sonia, when he follows her father home. Sonia is forced to prostitute because of her families circumstances and although Roskolnikov lectures her at first, he then leaves her family money on their windowsill. Roskolnikov’s character is developed though many of these exchanges, wherein he gives more than he has to help other people who he believes are beneath him. These exchanges as well as demonstrating the kind side of Roskolnikov also provide him with internal differences that he cannot stand. Sonia later becomes Roskolnikov’s girlfriend and Roskolnikov’s reason to commit his crime to the police. Ironically, within trying to stay above the desperation that Sonia’s family is in, Roskolnikov kisses the feet of the prostitute Sonia and also looks to her for advice about humility and morality. Pulcheria Alexandrovna is Roskolnikov’s mother and the main source of hot air