Writings on literature: The meaning of Raskolnikov's theory Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky is the greatest master of the psychological novel not only in Russian, but also in world literature. In his socio-philosophical, psychological novel "Crime and Punishment" various philosophical theories are given, ideals and life values are compared. Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov is the main character of the novel. He is a "former student" forced to leave school due to lack of money, living in the poorest quarter of St. Petersburg in a closet that looks more like a closet. But he is an intelligent person, a person capable of assessing the reality around him.
It is in such an environment where the hero is forced to live that his inhuman theory could have arisen. Raskolnikov published an article in the magazine in which he reflected that all people are divided into "those who have the right" who can cross a certain moral and ethical line, and "trembling creatures" who must obey the strongest. Ordinary people are only creatures designed to reproduce their own kind. "Unusual" are those people who rule the world, reach heights in science, technology, religion. They not only can, but are obliged to destroy everything and everyone on their way to achieve the goal necessary for all of humanity. These, according to Raskolnikov, include Mohammed, Newton, and Napoleon.
The main character himself, being at the mercy of the Napoleonic complex, is trying to find out who he is: "the trembling creature" or "having the right". To test his theory, Raskolnikov decides to commit a crime - to kill an old woman pawnbroker in order to make life easier for many other people: his mother, sister, Marmeladov, Lizaveta, sister of the pawnbroker. He is going to send the money taken from the old woman to help the disadvantaged. “One death and one hundred lives in return,” he reasons, comparing his plans with arithmetic. When the theory is put into practice, everything turns out to be much more complicated. Having killed the old woman, he also kills Lizaveta.
He doesn't need extra witnesses. But human nature failed him. Raskolnikov in a hurry takes away only trinkets. And he forgets about money. Even what he took, Raskolnikov hides, fearing a search.
He does not use anything from the taken on himself in order to alleviate his financial situation. It seems that everything is going well, another person is accused of a crime. But Raskolnikov's conscience torments him, he becomes suspicious, irritable, shies away from every cry. The death of the old woman not only does not bring him happiness, nor his loved ones, but cuts him off from the world of people. According to his idea, he was supposed to hate everyone he loved. Raskolnikov's theory separates him from people. For a criminal, the pangs of conscience become heavier than any legal punishment. The inhuman idea-passion, assuming terrible forms, slowly kills the hero himself. The collapse of Raskolnikov's theory, his spiritual rebirth occurs for many reasons, but the main one is his meeting with Sonya Marmeladova.
After the murder of the old woman, his whole essence, all his good feelings, such as compassion, kindness, concern for his neighbor, generosity, protest against the calculations of his mind. Proud, arrogant, cut off from the world of people, Raskolnikov goes to the one to whom he can entrust his secret, In the end he opens up to Sonya, a harlot who also committed a crime, only a crime against herself. Sonya is spiritually much higher than Raskolnikov. She is the bearer of the author's Christian ideas of forgiveness and humility. It is she who convinces Raskolnikov to confess.
The hero theory fails. He can no longer follow her. The final collapse of the idea occurs in the dreams of the hero, which refute the very idea of dividing people into two categories. In the last dream, he sees trichines, which, like the people from his theory, destroy themselves. The offender himself goes to the police station and confesses to the crime. He is sent to hard labor. "Eternal" Sonechka follows him.
A moral revival of the hero takes place in hard labor. He abandons his theory, comes to Christian values, an understanding of the world, reads the Gospel. He understands that happiness cannot be built on crime. In his novel, Dostoevsky wanted to show not the banal story of the murder, but the origins and causes of it. He created a picture of the experiences and torments of the criminal. The author, in contrast to Tolstoy, who shows his heroes in development, in a constant search for the meaning of life, seeks to find the source of the birth of an inhuman, inhuman theory, to show all its harmful effects on humans.
In his social, psychological and philosophical novel Crime and Punishment, written in 1866, Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky reproduced the life of Russia in the 1860s, when the country was undergoing powerful social shifts and changes. Dostoevsky sharply criticizes bourgeois civilization, which engenders not only visible evil, but also that worst, inhuman, which is hidden in the depths of human consciousness. The main character of the novel is Rodion Raskolnikov, a former student who lives in deep poverty without any hope of any improvement in his situation. But, despite the fact that Raskolnikov is just a "little man", he is a bright individual. He is smart, endowed with outstanding abilities, prone to introspection, loves others. But poverty, from which a person is no longer able to rise, a room that looks like a coffin, constant cries and groans of people - all this led to the birth of Raskolnikov's theory. He understood: in order to change his life, the fate of his mother and sister, it is necessary to change the entire existing order of things.
A feeling of protest is born in him, and he rebelles against the whole world alone, according to his own program, worked out by him. Analyzing the reasons for the unjust order of things existing in the world, Raskolnikov comes to the conclusion that there are two categories of people in the world: "material" suitable only for the reproduction of their own kind, and geniuses, such as Mohammed and Napoleon, who have the right to sacrifice their lives for their own interests. other people, not stopping when necessary and before crimes. In order to rid the world of injustice and prove to himself that he is not a "trembling creature", Raskolnikov goes to the murder of the old woman-usurer. He is obsessed with the idea of the common good. Wanting to make the world a better place, he becomes a murderer and is punished for his crime. Life teaches him a lesson in the moral torment that he experiences after committing a murder. Dostoevsky explores the consciousness and subconsciousness of the hero.
The subconscious mind tells the hero that he did not kill the old woman, but himself, his soul. For this, the writer introduces dreams and visions of the hero into the text of the novel. The evil done did not benefit anyone. After committing a crime, the hero is constantly susceptible to physical illness: he often falls into unconsciousness, he is in a fever. He is weakened, sometimes he cannot even get out of bed. He himself already realizes that in vain he assured himself of the highest expediency and justification of his "experiment".
At this moment, he decides to reveal his secret to Sonechka Marmeladova, who is also a criminal who violated the moral law, who ruined her soul. It was Sonya, her sacrifice, mercy, humility, obedience to fate that played a leading role in debunking Raskolnikov's theory. He realizes that his experiment has led nowhere: he has not realized himself as a superman. The test he made proved that Napoleon and the Messiah in one person are incompatible, that the tyrant and benefactor of the human race are incompatible in one person. His attempt to bring the world to justice and prove to himself his high purpose in the world of people fails.
At the same time, Raskolnikov's theory also fails. Realizing the incorrectness of his judgments, he confesses to the murder and will receive a just punishment, which will be liberation for him from moral torment. Rodion Raskolnikov, realizing the perniciousness of his theory, its antihuman, inhuman essence, is reborn to a new life - "however," says Dostoevsky, "this is a completely different story." Thus, the writer in his novel carries out the idea that a crime, no matter what noble goal it pursues, is unacceptable in human society, that a theory aimed at the destruction of even one person has no right to exist.
The meaning of Raskolnikov's theory
The origins of Raskolnikov's theory
Dostoevsky wrote that Raskolnikov's theory is based on ideas "floating in the air."
First, it is the idea of rejection of evil and violence. Raskolnikov passionately wants to change the world and is looking for ways to save the "humiliated and insulted."
Secondly, in Russia in the 60s of the XIX century, the ideas of "Bonapartism" spread, that is, the idea of the special purpose of a strong personality and the lack of jurisdiction of its general laws.
Raskolnikov's theory is born under the influence of many reasons. This is also social - the society in which the hero lives is really based on evil and violence. This is also personal - own need, unwillingness to accept the sacrifice of mother and sister.
Dreaming of remaking the world, Raskolnikov seeks to bring good to people, but this is good, in his opinion. Only an "extraordinary person" can do it, and only an "extraordinary person" can remake the world. Therefore, another of the reasons that pushes him to a crime is the desire to check who he is, a strong personality or "trembling creature."
The main provisions of Raskolnikov's theory
1. Raskolnikov divides all people into two categories: "ordinary" who live in obedience, and "extraordinary" who are able to "say a new word in the environment."
2. These "extraordinary" people, if their idea requires it, allow themselves "to step over even the corpse and the blood."
Kepler and Newton, for example, were there an obstacle in their way, they would have the right and even had to eliminate 10 or 100 people in order to bring their discoveries to the world.
The collapse of Raskolnikov's theory
Arguments exposing Raskolnikov's theory
Dostoevsky cannot accept Raskolnikov's "social arithmetic", which is based on the destruction of at least one life. Therefore, from the very beginning, he proves the inconsistency of the theory, believing that there are no criteria by which it would be possible to divide people into "ordinary" and "extraordinary".
Wanting to save people and bring good to the “humiliated and insulted,” Raskolnikov instead, while committing a crime, kills Lizaveta, one of those whom he wanted to save.
Wanting to bring good to people, Raskolnikov becomes the culprit of many tragedies (the death of his mother, the imprisonment of Mikolka, etc.).
The hero himself feels the vulnerability of his theory. “This is a louse man,” Sonia tells him. “Why, I know that you’re not a louse,” Raskolnikov replies.
According to Raskolnikov's theory, Sonya, Katerina Ivanovna, Dunya, his mother are people of the lower class, and they should be despised. However, he loves his mother and sister, adores Sonya, that is, he conflicts with his theory.
Wanting to be among the "extraordinary", he becomes like Luzhin, Svidrigailov, but it is these people that he deeply hates, that is, he hates those people who live according to his theory.
For Raskolnikov, Luzhin, Svidrigailov, the old woman-pawnbroker are inferior people, however, on the other hand, for the same Luzhin Raskolnikov himself is an inferior person, over whom one can step over.
Having committed a crime, Raskolnikov suffers, suffers, and yet an "extraordinary" person would have done it "without any thoughtfulness." And these pangs of conscience are evidence that a person did not die in Raskolnikov.
The dream that Raskolnikov had in hard labor is proof that his theory leads to chaos, to the death of humanity.
In hard labor, Raskolnikov's spiritual healing takes place, when he admits the inconsistency of his theory and accepts the truth of Sonya, the truth of Christian humility and forgiveness.
For a long time I dwelled on the question of the relativity in life of the concepts of good and evil. Among humanity, Raskolnikov separated a small group of people who stood, as it were, over questions of good and evil, over ethical assessments of actions and deeds, people who, due to their genius, their high usefulness for humanity, nothing can serve as an obstacle to which everything is allowed. The rest, who do not leave the circle of mediocrity, the mass, the crowd, must obey the existing general norms and laws and serve as a means of high goals of the chosen people. For the latter, moral rules do not exist, they can transgress them, because their ends justify their means.
Raskolnikov's theory
“In my opinion,” says Raskolnikov, “if Kepler's and Newtonian discoveries, as a result of any combinations, could in no way become known to people otherwise than with the donation of the life of one, ten, one hundred, and so on, people who would interfere with this discovery, or would stand in the way as an obstacle, then Newton would have the right and. I would even be obliged to eliminate these ten or even a hundred people in order to make his discoveries known to all mankind. All the legislators and institutes of mankind, starting with the most ancient ones, continuing with the Lycurgues, Solons, Mohammed, Napoleons and so on, all of them were criminals, already the one that, giving a new law, thereby violated the ancient, sacredly revered by society and passed from the fathers , and, of course, did not stop at blood, if only blood (sometimes completely innocent and valiantly shed for the ancient law) could help them. It is even remarkable that most of these benefactors and institutes of mankind were especially terrible bloodsheds. "
This is how Raskolnikov justifies the right of an exclusive personality to crimes in the name of not animals and selfish, but general and lofty goals. Raskolnikov understands that a special mental structure of a person's personality, ready to "transgress" morality, must correspond to such a course of action. For this, he must be the owner of a strong will, iron restraint, and in him over the feelings of fear, despair, timidity, only consciousness of the set intellectual goals must dominate. Having fallen into despair and melancholy, Raskolnikov needs to prove to himself that he is not a "trembling creature", that he dares, maybe that he is destined to go through all his plans. “Power is given only to those who dare to bend over and take it. There is only one thing: you just have to dare. "
Thus, the intended murder entails Raskolnikov not with the possibility of enrichment, but as a victory over himself, as a confirmation of his strength, as proof that he is not a “material” for construction, but a builder himself. It is characteristic for Raskolnikov that, when he contemplates a murder, he completely goes into a theoretician, into philosophical reflections, and he is much more interested in logical conclusions than in the results of an act. He remains a theorist, a thinker even when he does everything he has planned. And, despite the fact that, as it seemed, he foresaw and foresaw everything in thought in advance, he could not foresee the most important thing precisely because he was a man of thought, not action.
Refutation of Raskolnikov's theory
Raskolnikov did not foresee precisely the fact that there is often an abyss between theoretical solution and practical implementation, that what seems so easy in theory and even filling with self-righteousness and pride in reality reveals an unexpected, formidable and ominous meaning. He foresaw a lot in the planned plan and imagined almost all of its external consequences, but he could not foresee the internal well-being both at the moment of blood shedding, hitting the old woman's skull with an ax, and in the following days and nights. Raskolnikov, as a theoretician and as an individualist, reckoned only with himself, with his intellectual goals, while he was preparing to go and commit violence, to take the life of another.
Basically, the fallacy of Raskolnikov's theory boils down to the fact that he ascribed a purely external meaning to moral laws in general, and in particular to the commandment “Thou shalt not kill”, which should be necessary for some, and from the recognition of which some can be exempted. That is why he, preparing for the murder, constantly thinks over in his mind only his logical propositions, but does not deliberately dwell on the essence of the very moment of the murder. And only vaguely something in him protests against the decision, and he feels melancholy and disgust at the thought of the need to commit murder.
And after committing a crime, when he is vainly trying to sort out his feelings, he believes that the whole point is simply that he did not have the strength to “break” the norm, dare. “I just killed a louse, Sonya,” he says to Sonya Marmeladova, “useless, disgusting, pernicious” ... “Is that a louse?” - exclaims Sonya, and this emphasizes her special, deeply religious attitude to human life. For Sonya Marmeladova, moral laws, the commandments of life are deeply embedded in the basis of the human soul, and no one, no matter how high a person reaches, can transgress these commandments and laws without disfiguring his life, not committing terrible violence against his own soul. That is why she exclaims, sobbing: “What are you, what are you? above oneself made! There is no one more miserable than anyone in the whole world now. "
As for Raskolnikov himself, he remains until the end of the novel, until the final lines of the epilogue, who does not understand this religious attitude of Sonya to life. But the author shows how in the immediate life of Raskolnikov, his violation of the basic laws of human life is revealed. Raskolnikov's theory, which allows murder for a few, the author opposes the spontaneous logic of life, not rational, as in Raskolnikov, but irrational, completely subjugating the young theoretician and smashing into smithereens all his provisions that seemed to him so firmly established and inviolable.
The state of complete mental disorder into which Raskolnikov fell after the murder, the complete loss of all his life statements, a painful and terrible state showed how powerless is personal human logic when it goes against the general foundations of life.
The theoretical basis of Raskolnikov's idea
It is no coincidence that Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky pays so much attention to the description of Raskolnikov's theory in the novel Crime and Punishment. She is not a fantasy of a great writer. Among Dostoevsky's contemporaries there were many young educated people who were fond of Nietzsche's ideas. It was his teaching that gave rise to similar beliefs, popular among young people trying to find a way out of a humiliating poverty situation. The work of a talented writer raised the urgent problems of modern society. Crime, drunkenness, prostitution - vices generated by social inequality swept over Russia. Trying to get away from the terrible reality, people were carried away by the ideas of individualism, they forgot about the eternal moral values and commandments of the Christian religion.
The origin of the idea
The protagonist of FM Dostoevsky's novel, possessing extraordinary abilities, dreaming of a great future, is forced to endure hardship and humiliation. This had a detrimental effect on the psychological state of the hero. He leaves his studies at the university, locks himself in his stuffy closet and contemplates a plan for a terrible crime. An overheard conversation seems to Raskolnikov as a strange omen. Individual thoughts and phrases repeated the theses of the article "On the Crime", written by him for the newspaper. Fascinated by the idea, the young man decides to bring the theory to life.
Strong personality's right to crime
What was Raskolnikov's famous theory? People, according to the student, from birth are divided into two categories. Some belong to the upper class of the elect "who have the gift or talent to say a new word in their midst." They are destined for an unusual fate. They make great discoveries, make history, move progress. A man like Napoleon can commit crimes for the sake of a higher goal, expose others to mortal danger, step over blood. They are not afraid of the laws. There are no moral principles for them. Such individuals of the human race may not think about the consequences of their behavior and strive to achieve their goal no matter what. They are "eligible". The rest of the people are material "serving solely for the birth of their own kind."
Testing the theory with life
Possessing exorbitant pride, Raskolnikov ranked himself among the elite. The murder of a greedy old woman by a young man is a test of the theory for himself. The “Chosen One” easily crosses over the blood, so that later to do good to all of humanity. Feelings of regret, remorse are unknown to such a person. This is what the protagonist of the novel thinks. Life puts everything in its place. Rodion Raskolnikov, having committed a terrible crime, finds himself in painful isolation. He, having crossed the moral line, is unhappy, excommunicated from communication with relatives, doomed to loneliness. “I didn’t kill the old woman, I killed myself,” exclaims Raskolnikov. The murder puts a kind and noble young man on a par with such vicious personalities as Svidrigailov and Luzhin. After all, they also ignored moral laws, lived, thinking only about their own well-being. “We are of the same berry field,” says Svidrigailov to the hero. The experiences of the protagonist are the most terrible punishment and proof of his delusions. Only after repenting for what he had done and turning to God, Raskolnikov gathers his "split" soul, finds peace and happiness. The devotion and love of Sonya Marmeladova make you forget about your delusions and be reborn for a new life.
Lessons from a genius novel
Dire consequences
Raskolnikov's inhuman theory, based on the idea of selfishness and individualism, is inhuman. It is not given to anyone to dispose of the lives of other people. By committing such acts, a person violates the laws of morality, the commandments of Christianity. “Thou shalt not kill,” says the Bible. It is no coincidence that the clever Porfiry Petrovich, trying to understand the conclusions of Rodion Raskolnikov, is interested in how an unusual person can be distinguished. After all, if everyone thinks they are special and starts breaking the law, chaos will begin! The author of the theory has no intelligible answer to this question.
Who's guilty
Who is to blame for the fact that smart, kind, noble people were carried away by such ideas, crippled their lives, ruined their souls? Dostoevsky tries to answer this question with his novel. Social inequality, the poverty-stricken position of most of the working people, "humiliated and insulted" pushed people to this criminal and immoral path.
Good is the basis of life
In the novel Crime and Punishment, Raskolnikov's theory fails. This helps to understand that a person is not a "trembling creature", but a person who has the right to life. “You cannot build happiness on someone else’s misfortune,” says popular wisdom. Relations between people should be based on kindness, mercy and faith in God, the novel of the great writer convinces us.
The description of the theory of the protagonist of the novel and the proof of its inconsistency will be useful to 10 grades when writing the essay "The theory of Raskolnikov in the novel" Crime and Punishment ".
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