Morally Ambiguous Characters in Fyodor Dostoevskys Crime...

Often times in literature, we are presented with quintessential characters that are all placed into the conventional categories of either good or bad. In these pieces, we are usually able to differentiate the characters and discover their true intentions from reading only a few chapters. However, in some remarkable pieces of work, authors create characters that are so realistic and so complex that we are unable to distinguish them as purely good or evil. In the novel Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoevsky develops the morally ambiguous characters of Raskolnikov and Svidrigailov to provide us with an interesting read and to give us a chance to evaluate each character. Svidrigailov is one of the most unfathomable characters in Crime†¦show more content†¦Being the protagonist in Crime and Punishment, Raskolnikov is subject to most ridicule and analysis for his moral ambiguity and outlandish views. After reading about his dreadful murder of Alyona and Lizaveta Ivanovna, m any come to the conclusion that Raskolnikov is purely evil. His lack of guilt and belief of justification for his crime surely points readers in this direction. Raskolnikov remains convinced that he is superior and that it was his duty to kill such a worthless person. Although some may view this as evilness, others may perceive it as downright ignorant. His atypical way of thinking doesn’t necessarily make him evil, but that is how some comprehend it. At certain points in the story, we see Raskolnikov not as a deranged man, but instead as a compassionate human being. After the murder, we see him carrying out various charitable acts, perhaps as an attempt to atone for his unforgivable crime. For example, we see some good in him when he gives Sonya’s family twenty rubbles after Marmeladov passes on. We also see this when he attempts to rescue a drunk girl from a man by giving her money for a taxi. As much as Raskolnikov expresses that he was justified in his ac tions, through his mental and physical illnesses it is apparent that he feels some guilt about it. This guilt makes him seem at least a little bit more human. For these reasons, when all is said and done, it is difficult to determineShow MoreRelatedFyodor Dostoevskys Crime And Punishment : Character Analysis791 Words   |  4 PagesWhen a character is written as overtly good, he or she cannot be relatable. But if a character is not wholly good or evil, then they are more human-like than fictional character. A character who embodies both extremes is one who the reader can analyse the scope of humanity through. Raskolnikov from Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment is a morally ambiguous character who plays a pivotal role, in order to highlight that there is a duality in human nature that cannot be shown in characters who areRead MoreEssay about A Nihilistic Analysis of Crime and Punishment4893 Words   |  20 PagesA Nihilistic Analysis of Crime and Punishment This paper provides an exhaustive analysis, from a Nihilistic perspective, of the novel, Crime and Punishment. The paper is divided into many sections, each with a self-explanatory title in capital letters, such as the section that immediately follows this sentence. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF MARMELADOVS RECOLLECTION SCENE Katerina Ivanovna must deal with a man who drinks his life away while his family starves. Marmeladov recounts their sufferingRead MoreExistentialism vs Essentialism23287 Words   |  94 PagesOthers Other existential philosophers include  Simone de Beauvoir,  Martin Heidegger,  Karl Jaspers,  Gabriel Marcel  and  Franz Kafka. Existentialist philosophy was also influenced by many other works, including those of  Friedrich Nietzsche, G. W. F. Hegel, Fyodor Dostoevsky and  Edmund Husserl. 1. Sà ¸ren Kierkegaard  (1813–1855) was a Danish philosopher who contributed greatly to  existentialism. Kierkegaard seemed to believe in the idea of subjective truth—that is, the relationship one has with what he