Crime And Punishment 2 Essay Research Paper

Crime And Punishment 2 Essay, Research Paper

Protagonist and Antagonist Essay

Crime and Punishment is considered by many to be the first of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s great books. Crime and Punishment is a psychological account of a crime. The crime is double murder. A book about such a broad subject can be made powerful and appealing to our intellectual interests if there is a link between the reader, the action, and the characters. Doestoevsky makes all these links at the right places. The action takes place between the protagonists and the antagonists. The protagonists include Dounia, the Marmeladovs, Sonia, Razumhin, Porfiry Petrovich, and Nastaya. The antagonists of the story are Luzhin, Ilya Petrovich, and the landlady. Raskolnikov could be considered to be the primary protagonist, while Svidrigailov could be thought of as the primary antagonist.

In every story the protagonist is the character that the reader cares most about. In Crime and Punishment the reader cares about Rodion Raskolnikov. He is the primary and most significant character in the novel. We are introduced to this complex character in Part 1. We get to know the poverty stricken condition that he resides in, and we get to know his family situation as we read the long letter from Raskolnikov’s mother. Then we witness the murder as it is graphically described by Doestoevsky. After reading this graphic description of the murder, how can the reader be sympathetic towards Raskolnikov. How can the reader believe that a murderer is the protagonist. It is, in fact, not hard to accept this murderer as the protagonist. Raskolnikov believed that by murdering the pawnbroker, he rid society of a pest. We realize that if the victim would

have been someone other than an evil old pawnbroker the crime would never had taken place. He could never have found the courage to kill an innocent person. It would not prove anything to him. So, Raskolnikov was not a criminal. He does not repent because he does not feel that he had sinned. All he did was violate laws that were made by society. Raskolnikov definition of crime was evil will in action. Raskolnikov knows that he possesses no evil will, and so he does not consider himself a criminal. He is capable of justifying his crime. He murdered a pawnbroker that was of no use to society and wanted to use her money to improve his life and career. Not only was he helping himself by attempting to improve his career, but he was also helping society as society would benefit from his career. He would also free his mother and sister from the encumbrance of financially supporting him, and thus maybe even prevent the marriage of his sister to the evil Luzhin. We are introduced to Raskolnikov’s thoughts about mankind when we read about Raskolnikov’s published article. He divides man into two classes: the extraordinary man and the ordinary man. He considers himself extraordinary and the pawnbroker to be ordinary. Presumably, the murder of the pawnbroker was an experiment of his theory. One could argue that his experiment failed because he had to rely on his family and friends and because he confessed, unlike how his theory suggests. Maybe he was not the extraordinary person he thought he was. Maybe his theory was bogus. In either case, his theory proved that Raskolnikov had an intellectual side. From this we can believe that he did not murder for the money but he really believed that he was superior and he was doing society a favor. Perhaps he was not superior, but it can be

safe to say that he did society a favor. The same society that he did a favor for does not believe in Raskolnikov’s explanation. Society believes that murder is wrong. Society’s morals and rules dictate that crime is wrong no matter what the circumstances. It is evident that Raskolnikov did not believe in society’s definition of crime and he proved this by murdering the pawnbroker. We still find sympathy for him, as deep down inside we perchance realize that Raskolnikov may have a valid point and society may be at fault. At the end we are able to forgive Raskolnikov for he has finally confessed and will go through a moral rebuilding process. We realize that Raskolnikov is the protagonist of Crime and Punishment.

As it is necessary for a story to have a protagonist, it is also essential for an antagonist to be existent. Oddly enough, the primary antagonist in Crime and Punishment is the kind of character that the protagonist would like to be. Arkady Svidrigailov is Dounia’s (the sister of Raskolnikov) former employer. Svidrigailov enters in the life of Raskolnikov about half-way through the story. Ironically, he enters into the story right after Raskolnikov awakens from a nightmare in which he tries to kill the pawnbroker but she refuses to die! Prior to his entrance the reader is already under the notion that Svidrigailov is evil because there is mention of him being responsible for the death of his wife, and also a carnal crime involving a young girl. We are left with an impression that is sensual and callous, a perfect description of an antagonist. Raskolnikov appears to recognize the fact that he has more in common with Svidrigailov

than he would like. The reader feels that Svidrigailov may be showing what Raskolnikov is capable of doing. Svidrigailov appears to fit Raskolnikov’s definition of the extraordinary man. Svidrigailov stands alone without the comfort of family and f