Dostoevsky: Crime and Nothingness Prevailing nothingness and the rejection of moral and religious beliefs, a tide of nihilism swept through Russia in the midst of the nineteenth century. This disintegration of morality became synonymous with revolution, associated with the regicide of Tsar Alexander II and the political terror of those who opposed absolutism. Nikolay Chernyshevsky, viewing the idea of divorcing traditional values as a transformation of national thought, he illuminated the positive aspects of nihilism in his work What is to be Done. Conversely, Fyodor Dostoevsky who had converted to Christian Orthodoxy during his time in Siberia was not sympathetic to the nihilist movement and released Crime and Punishment as a platform for …show more content…
Raskolnikov’s name itself stems from raskol which means schism or split. This split occurs within Raskolnikov: his hyper-rational views greatly conflict the inherent human emotional tendencies. Moreover, this literary split can be removed from the pages and applied to the societal clash in Russia during which nihilism became a revolutionary frame of thought, contrasting with traditional relevance of morality. There also is a split prevalent between Raskolnikov and society which may also serve as a warning that nihilism would fail to be grasped by the general populace, thus separating nihilists from the majority. Since humans have an innate need for connection and interaction, nihilism would deprive its believers of needed interdependence. In addition, Dostoevsky constructed Raskolnikov’s “extraordinary man theory” as an exaggerated form of nihilism. Raskolnikov views right and wrong as pure, distorted social constructs that are shadows of religion. He believes that those who are “extraordinary” have the right to violate the law, otherwise society would fall into stagnation; consequently, he murders the pawnbroker on the premise that this act will be beneficial to progress. However, after committing the crime, Raskolnikov