The Villains in Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s “Crime and Punishment”

The Personalities of Luzhin and Svidrigailov

The personalities of Luzhin and Svidrigailov are blended in Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s “Crime and Punishment” into a system of Raskolnikov’s alter-egos. They, like Raskolnikov, are the novel’s villains due to their character traits, attitudes, actions, and basic nature. All three of these characters are villains since they are the only ones in the narrative who can be described negatively. Only Luzhin goes through character growth and remains a terrible character, whilst the other two shift dramatically and show the readers their positive or negative sides. All three, Luzhin, Svidrigaylov, and Raskolnikov, are guilty, but they approach their guilt in various ways. The extent of their guilt also differs as the measure of their crimes is individual. They suffer in different ways even though they all can be blamed in being cynical, egoistic, and evil at the beginning of the novel. In the end of the novel Raskolnikov faces his guilt repenting in the murder he committed, Svidrigailov commits a suicide unable to accept the consequences of his morally wrong actions, and Luzhin stays the same because his guilt is much lesser.

Raskolnikov’s Guilt

Raskolnikov’s guilt is in his cynicism and the “theory” he invents which leads him to murdering an innocent old woman. Raskolnikov’s basic nature can be described best by calling him self-reflective, philosophical, and morally unstable. In the beginning of the novel Raskolnikov is shown as a nihilist believing only in himself and cynical because of his approach to other people. Raskolnikov violates basic ethical principle of Kant’s categorical imperative – to approach other people as aims and not as means. Raskolnikov uses the old woman he kills to prove his own theory for his own benefit (Bloom, 43). He, therefore, uses the old woman as a mean and does not consider her an equally rightful human being which is why he murders the old woman in the first place. In the beginning of the novel he is a villain. Among all three characters Raskolnikov is most obviously guilty because he is a killer. However, he also faces his guilt with dignity when he admits he committed a murder and is ready to be punished for it. Raskolnikov suffers morally and mentally because he is unable to deal with the fact that he did the worst possible thing – killed a human being. He suffers twice first on his own and because his consciousness tears him apart and then externally because he is sentenced to hard labor in exile. ”The man who has a conscience suffers whilst acknowledging his sin. That is his punishment.” (Dostoyevsky, 243)

The Guilt of All Three Villains

The guilt of all three villains comes from their egoism and individualism: ”To go wrong in one’s own way is better than to go right in someone else’s.” (Dostoyevsky, 78) They are also guilty because they are power-hungry: ”Power is given only to him who dares to stoop and take it ... one must have the courage to dare.” (Dostoyevsky, 180)

Svidrigailov’s Guilt

Svidrigailov is cynical and egoistic. His guilt is also based on his nihilism and cynicism. He violates ethics by trying to rape Raskolnikov’s sister when she refuses to fall in love with him. It is also implied in the novel that Svidrigailov possibly killed his wife poisoning her. Therefore, Svidrigailov guilt is identical to that of Raskolinikov (Bloom, 35). Like Raskolnikov Svidrigailov uses other people as means to achieve his personal egoistic goals refusing to admit holiness of each and every human life. He is a villain but he faces his guilt with less dignity that Raskolnikov taking his life which makes it even clearer that he is ethically and morally a faulty character and immoral human individual. In some ways he does not even face his guilt but runs away from it unable to live with it. He suffers from both unshared love and the fact that he is a killer and a rapist.

The Characters of Raskolnikov and Svidrigailov

The nature of both Raskolnikov’s and Svidrigailov’s characters is at first immoral but it changes through the course of the novel. The fact that Svidrigailov takes his life means he feels his guilt somehow but cannot tolerate it and takes his life away because of cowardice even though all his life he was proud of how strong, intelligent, and rational he was.

Luzhin’s Guilt

Luzhin appears only a little in the novel and he is the only villain that does not come through character development. He is cynical but not a killer even though morally and ethically his views are incorrect. He is a nihilist as like the other two characters he violates universal ethical principles. However, Luzhin is the most innocent of all the three villains. His guilt is present because he sets up Raskolnikov’s sister Avdotya trying to blame her in a robbery she does not commit (Campbell, 89). Moreover, Luzhin himself organizes this set-up in order to revenge Avdotya’s refusal to marry him. Therefore, Luzhin is a coward and a liar who makes other people feel bad to make himself feel better because that is what revenge, in its essence, is. Unlike the two other characters he simply disappears from the novel and, therefore, is not showed facing his guilt or suffering over it.

Conclusion

All in all, it was proved that the nature of guilt of all three villains is built on their nihilism and cynicism. They are all ethically wrong but Raskolnikov and Svidrigailov change their approach and face their guilt even though they do it in different ways. The basic nature of all three villains is founded on their incorrect approach to other people. Raskolnikov and Svidrigailov start as egoists but end up being human being because their guilt makes them feel something. Luzhin, however, stays the same, perhaps, due to the fact that his guilt was not as intense as that of the other two villains. However, Luzhin stays a villain while the other two end up admitting their guilt.

Works Cited

Bloom, H. Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Chicago: Infobase Publishing 2009

Campbell, M. Crime and Punishment. Boston: Dramatic Publishing, 2004.

Dostoyevsky, F. Crime and Punishment. New York: Penguin, 2012