Instant Access To 100,000+ Essays!

Dostoyevsky’s incisive portrayal of the psychological underworld of Raskolnikov and would seem quite dull if he explored the characters purely on their actions or just streams of consciousness. What seems so exceptional about Dostoyevsky’s characters is that one can catch a glimpse of the subconscious side, where many truths about Raskolnikov emerge. Through these dreams, one can observe the truth about Raskolnikov’s aversion towards violence, his inner struggle between good and evil, and the disproval of his own theory. Even before Raskolnikov kills Alyona Ivanovna, he contemplates a great deal about committing the crime. After he makes a trial run to Alyona Ivanovna’s house to get a feel for what he has to do to kill her, he leaves in a deeply distraught state. Raskolnikov clearly is not a man who can easily commit murder, because when he is outside on the street, he exclaims, “Could such horror really come into my head? But then, what filth my heart is capable of!...” He’s so disgusted with himself, that “…he did not know where to flee from his anguish.” Later, this underlying theme of self-doubt emerges to haunt Raskolnikov’s frail and sensitive subconscious in a terrible nightmare. Raskol