Crime And Punishment Argumentative Analysis

There are always at least two sides to every debate. Creation vs evolution, pro-life vs pro-choice, democrat vs republican, and pro-death penalty vs anti-death penalty are just a few of the topics that most people try to avoid in polite conversation. Fyodor Dostoevsky 's, Crime and Punishment, also raises a debate, but not in the same sense that other topics do. At the end of the novel, Dostoevsky includes an Epilogue. This Epilogue, though less than twenty pages long, sparks a debate about whether or not it is necessary. Like other arguments, there are two sides to this debate. There are those that view the Epilogue as anti-climactic and believe that the novel would have been better off without it. On the other hand, there are those that feel

" 'The old woman was a mistake perhaps, but she is not what matters! The old woman was only an illness…. I was in a hurry to overstep…I didn 't kill a human being, but a principle! I killed the principle, but I didn 't overstep, I stopped on this side…. I was only capable of that…. Principle? '" (Dostoevsky 274-275). Despite his failing belief in his ability to be extraordinary, Raskolnikov clings to the idea that he did not do wrong. He refuses to see the old pawnbroker as a human and keeps his same mindset. Even though he no longer believes in his theory, Raskolnikov still fails to see what he did as a crime. Raskolnikov retains this belief up through his first year and a half in Siberia. It is only then that he is able to see what he did as a

Raskolnikov recounts clearly what he did, as if he was reading from a textbook. "The criminal [Raskolnikov] adhered exactly, firmly, and clearly to his statement. He did not confuse or misrepresent facts, nor soften them in his own interest, nor omit the smallest detail" (Dostoevsky 527). Raskolnikov shows no signs of having remorse for killing the pawnbroker, despite his response to what lead him to confess. Raskolnikov dictates in a coarse tone that "it was his heartfelt repentance" that lead him to confess (528). At this point, Raskolnikov does not feel "heartfelt repentance" for what he did (528). A man who feels repentant does not answer in those ways. Raskolnikov was simply going through the motions. He said what he needed to so that he could get on with his