The main theme and basis of the novel Dostoevsky presents centers around the main protagonist, Raskolnikov, and his descent from a common everyday man eking out a living in the city of Saint Petersburg to a disheveled, guilt ridden murderer spiraling to madness due to the terrible secret he must keep from all of his loved ones and anyone who suspects his involvement to the crime. Raskolnikov was portrayed as the common man of Russia, not very healthy, feed, or wealthy but self determined and strong willed. By the end of the book however, the toll of his murders and secret keeping severely cripples Raskolnikov to the point that he feels peace and clarity once he confesses his crimes to the authorities and to his loved ones. By keeping the story solely centered on Raskolnikov’s life and struggles, Dostoevsky makes the keeping or revealing the secret of the murders the driving point of the plot and contributes to the meaning of the story that is salvation comes from suffering.
In the beginning of the book we see how Raskolnikov’s life was already a non-prosperous and stagnant existence that dealt with him slowly losing money and having to pawn his possessions to the unpopular local pawn broker. Although his life was downtrodden, he never had any life changing problems. This changed when he began to contemplate the murder and robberies of the pawn broker to not only get any of his stuff back, but to also never have to worry about money again. At first he simply dismissed it as mere fantasy but as time goes on, it is shown how he formulates plans on how and when to kill the pawn broker even though he is still citing it as fantasy. Even at this stage, he begins to feel the pains of his conscience in him in the scene where he feels shocked by his nightmares about killing the pawn broker. The story truly shows his descent into despair after he kills the pawn broker and her sister as he begins to feel that everything he does is scrutinized by others. In one part of the story, he begins to feel physically ill due to the heavy burden on his conscience that he is seen by a doctor. By keeping the secret of the murders, he begins to be more and more punishing to himself and more suspicious to those looking for the killer. This serves to support Dostoevsky’s main theme that suffering leads to salvation as Raskolnikov deteriorates throughout the entire book until he confesses to his family and loved ones. Once he does this, his conscience begins to clear to the point that he is relieved that he is sent to prison at the end of the story and the epilogue implies that his time in prison was relatively easy for him compared to the guilt and punishment he inflicted to himself when free.
Dostoevsky’s novel creates a great sense of realism in both the setting and the character Raskolnikov that makes the slow destruction of the main character through his keeping the secret and his salvation through revealing it the main point of the plot. Once this is accomplished, Dostoevsky shows how everything would eventually work itself out to be better for everyone in the story once the secret is revealed.
