Crime and Punishment

Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment follows Rodion Raskolnikov, an impoverished ex-student in St. Petersburg who murders an elderly pawnbroker and her sister, believing himself to be an extraordinary person above moral law. Driven by a theory that certain individuals can transgress societal rules for a greater purpose, Raskolnikov commits the murders but is immediately consumed by psychological torment, paranoia, and guilt. Throughout the novel, he struggles with his conscience, eventually finding redemption through his interactions with Sonya, a compassionate prostitute who urges him to confess. Raskolnikov ultimately turns himself in and is sentenced to eight years of penal servitude in Siberia, where he begins a process of moral regeneration, learning that true happiness comes through suffering and accepting moral responsibility.