Crime and Punishment Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment is a powerful psychological novel that explores guilt, redemption, and morality through the life of its troubled protagonist, Rodion Raskolnikov, a former law student living in extreme poverty in 19th-century St. Petersburg, Russia. Raskolnikov is an intelligent but deeply conflicted young man who becomes convinced that certain extraordinary people have the right to commit crimes if it means benefiting humanity. Driven by this theory and desperation, he murders a greedy old pawnbroker and, unexpectedly, her innocent sister. What follows is not just a criminal investigation, but a deep journey into Raskolnikov’s tormented mind. After the crime, he becomes physically and emotionally unstable, haunted by guilt, paranoia, and confusion. He isolates himself, behaves erratically, and struggles to justify his actions. His internal conflict is intensified by characters like Porfiry Petrovich, the shrewd detective investi...