Final Commentary (Alexia Barrios)

I have to say I feel somewhat accomplished now that I have finished reading Crime and Punishment. I cannot deny that there were moments were I begrudgingly picked up the book to read for my assignments, but by the time I finished the novel I came to enjoy it.

Having now read and discussed Notes from the Underground there are undeniable similarities between them that only lead me to learn more about Dostoyevsky himself.  The alienation of his main characters from society seems to be a reoccurring theme in his pieces, as they appear in both Notes from the Underground and Crime and Punishment. In Crime and Punishment, this is one of the primary themes of the novel. His alienation from society stems from his air of superiority and his overwhelming amount of pride. These traits leave him to be someone who cannot relate to others because his pride and superiority complex does not allow him due to the fact he finds those around him to be inferior in comparison to himself. This isolation only grows as the novel continues. As his punishment, the psychological and somewhat psychical torment, commences after the murders, his isolation grows with his guilt. What I found interesting and unexpected from Rodia, was that in the Epilogue he is somewhat due to the power of love is able to put break through this superiority complex as “something lifted him and flung him down at her feet.” and Sonya “…for her there was no longer any doubt that he loved her, loved her infinitely, and that at last the moment had come…” (520) This event is significant because it is Rodia breaking away from his alienated lifestyle and becoming a member of society again which may very well be the beginning of his journey to atonement (which is probably why the entire scene was a very emotional one for him).

Dostoyevsky is a brilliant man and I found many of the themes and ideas he presented to be very thought provoking making the book interesting. Though many times I found myself frustrated with his use of suspense when it came to Rodia confessing to the murders, I believe that it was vital for him to do it exactly the way he did it as it makes the end just that much more satisfying. He committed the crime early on in the novel and the real punishment that is presented in the Epilogue does come for hundreds of pages due to Dostoyevsky’s use of suspense. Dostoyevsky’s main focus was not on the crime itself or the punishment, but everything that happened in between. The psychological torment endured by Rodia is Dostoyevsky performing and describing an analysis of a criminal by allowing us to see what is going on inside their head. We witness all his emotional and physical torment and that is the main focus of the story; how the character deals with guilt. From my understanding of the novel, the whole point that Dostoyevsky is attempting to make here is that the punishment is not as bad as we think it is, the psychological repercussions of attempting to avoid that punishment are instead far worse.