Analysis Of Fyodor Dostoyevsky's Crime And Punishment

Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s classic novel, Crime and Punishment, displays an immense depth of literary devices and elements that function to contribute greatly to the development of the plot of the story. Crime and Punishment is a tale of a prideful, yet disgruntled “scholar” who through his own perceived superiority commits the capital crime of murder in order for a believed greater good. Through the examination of one of the essential passages of the story, we are witness to Dostoyevsky’s incorporation of literary elements like hyperbole, foreshadowing, and the central theme of crime and punishment, and these devices subsequent roles in advancing and emphasizing the themes and plot of the story. The scene depicted by Dostoyevsky involves

“I was joking of course, but look here; on one side we have a stupid, senseless, worthless, spiteful, ailing, horrid old woman, not simply useless but doing actual mischief, who has not an idea what she is living for herself, and who will die in a day or two in any case. You understand? You understand?” (Dostoyevsky, 2001, p. 53)
This grotesque depiction of the woman on behalf of the two students uses immense hyperbole in portraying the old woman as despicable and capable of contributing nothing positive to the world. These words additionally peak the interest of a nearby Raskolnikov, who assuredly has had the same thoughts present in his mind. The passage then continues on to say:
“Yes, yes, I understand,” answered the officer, watching his excited companion attentively. “Well, listen then. On the other side, fresh young lives thrown away for want of help and by thousands, on every side! A hundred thousand good deeds could be done and helped, on that old woman’s money which will be buried in a monastery! Hundreds, thousands perhaps, might be set on the right path; dozens of families saved from destitution, from ruin, from vice, from the Lock hospitals-and all with her money.” (Dostoyevsky, 2001, p.