My comment on Alexia's reaction

I completely agree with Alexia's reaction to this part of Crime and Punishment, in fact my initial reaction was quite similar. The internal struggle Raskolnikov is going through is a huge aspect of his punishment for what he has done. His fainting spell in the police station demonstrates the evident pressure that he feels to figure out and classify the conflicting desires he has. His inability to do so also shows how difficult the struggle really is for him, which makes me feel slightly bad for him. What he did was clearly wrong, immoral, unconstitutional, and illegal, and I'm not saying I can relate to him, because I can't, but I do sympathize for him. The tension and feelings of alienation from society that he is feeling are important to the development of his character. A person who commits such a crime should undoubtedly feel estranged from the rest of humanity, if he didn't, I would not consider him human. Maybe he'll decide to truly pay for his actions and make the correct decision in dealing with them. Hopefully, Raskolnikov can redeem himself in my eyes at least.