CRIME AND PUNISHMENT BY FYODOR DOSTOEVSKY
“Man is a mystery: if you spend your entire life trying to puzzle it out, then do not say that you have wasted your time. I occupy myself with this mystery, because I want to be a man.” – Dostoevsky
In Crime and Punishment, unlike other crime fictions, the mystery of who commits crime has been unbridled in the very beginning of the novel. So, the entire focus is placed on why the crime has been committed? Or what is the Motive of Raskolnikov for committing a crime? This question occurs again and again in the novel that Raskolnikov himself is not able to answer certainly. Dostoevsky presents multifarious reasons for Raskolnikov’s criminal act. Raskolnikov is propelled by multiple motives. That can be seen in his conversation with Sonia and Dounia after his confession. Dostoevsky seeks moral regeneration of the society from highly individualistic philosophy yielding to higher justice.