Crime and Punishment characterization

“But if such a one is forced for the sake of his idea to step over a corpse or wade through blood, he can, I maintain, find himself, in his conscience, a sanction for wading through blood…” With these words, Dostoevsky, author of Crime and Punishment, gives the reader a clear look at the type of ideas which fill the mind of his main character. Raskolnikov, the protagonist, sums up his overtaking beliefs in this …

…hate them, I can’t bear them near me.” Through the characterization of Raskolnikov, Dostoevsky clearly portrays the essence of crime and punishment. Raskolnikov commits murder and pays for it through psychological torture. His isolation from other human beings creates for him a sort of mental prison. He even suffers physically to sickness and deterioration. Through Raskolnikov, Dostoevsky gets a theme across to his audience: Sin will be punished; no sin will go unpaid for.