The theory of Raskolnikov and its collapse

The theory of Raskolnikov, his plan to restore humiliated human dignity through a "fair" distribution of benefits, was born in an atmosphere typical of that period. On the one hand - honest, decent people, turned extreme poverty into "creatures trembling," on the other - a useless, but very rich "louse," sucking the blood of those most honest people. Yes, and new, completely unformed, often devoid of the foundations of morality and spirituality, ideas pour oil on the fire.

To emphasize the correctness (seeming) of Raskolnikov, Dostoevsky deliberately dispels the whole novel of the picture of grief, poverty, thereby increasing the painful sense of despair. The last drop that filled the cup of patience and led to the fact that the theory of Raskolnikov from the stage of abstract reflection passed into the stage of practical implementation, was Marmeladov's confession and a letter from his mother. The moment came to materialize the idea, long cherished by the hero in his wretched little room: it's blood on conscience, which the elected persons (and him, among others) are allowed to spill.

Raskolnikov's theory was simultaneously in dependence and in contradiction with the then popular positivistic theories of G. Spencer, DS Mill, NG Chernyshevsky. All of them relied on economic benefits and material comforts, prosperity.

Dostoevsky believed that the consciousness, constantly filled with such categories, loses the need for the virtues of the Christian, in high spirituality. His hero is trying to connect both sides. He dreamed that a person and egocentrism would show in reasonable limits, and that he would not become a slave of modern economic relations, not too immersed in his physiological needs.

The theory of Raskolnikov, realized in practice, opened to the hero himself a paradoxical neighborhood in his soul of love for people and contempt for them. He considers himself elected, who has the right (and even must) to kill, not only to himself, but to all mankind. And here he suddenly realizes that he is attracted by power for the sake of power itself, the desire to dominate others.

To somehow justify their hard-won ideas, Raskolnikov cites as an example some legislators, who did not even stop the blood. However, their actions are not meaningful and saving, on the contrary, they strike useless destruction for the sake of the best. Such a course of thoughts Rodion does not ennoble his ideas, as he wanted, but only expose them and leads to the same assessment that Porfiry Petrovich gave to all that is happening. He defined the criminal as an individual who deifies himself, while detracting from the personality of other people, and encroaches on their lives.

Raskolnikov's ridiculous theory and its collapse seem to Dostoevsky a natural event. He showed how the nebula of the salutary and beneficent of the new idea, its uncertainty can serve as a kind of psychological veil that can lull even the conscience of man to destroy, blur the boundaries between the concepts of good and evil.

The theory of Raskolnikov and its collapse also has a historical side. It shows how controversial some historical innovations can be, how prudence and goodwill can be inversely proportional to the "I" law.

The author does not describe the spiritual revival of the main character in the same detail as his mental trials, however, he outlines the contours. Raskolnikov gradually realizes the essence of his idea, its disastrousness, its real meaning. He experiences the strongest pangs of conscience and is ready for repentance, and is now ready to be guided in his life only by the commandments of the Gospel. In Dostoevsky's view, it is only the sacrificial, giving love, which is not abstract, to all mankind, that is capable of restoring the human form in the hero, but concrete, to the concrete neighbor. For Raskolnikov, this salvation is compassionate love between him and Sonya Marmeladova.