Justice in Crime and Punishment

In the epilogue of Crime and Punishment, Raskolnivok is not at all remorseful for the murder of the hag pawnbroker and her sister. He says an arithmetic had permitted it, and even when he was toiling in Siberia, his conscience did not let up. But somehow this situation still frustrated him. His great theory was all but put to shame: that he was among those great men who have the right to break the law to make something of themselves. I would argue he doubts that his theory made any sense at all. With that doubt in his mind, there is clearly frustration as to why he took to murder in the first place.

“Will and reason, will and reason, will and reason,” he would remind himself, while doing the deed. Whose will and reason? He claims The Devil killed the hag pawnbroker and her sister. Even Porfiry told him that the deed was done in blackness and, thus, the true criminals are all but unknown. What is being very clearly stated is that the murder was committed quite unconsciously, on behalf of forces that are unknown to Raskolnikov. His little arithmetic was a nice front what was going on in the depths. The question isn’t about being a great man. It isn’t about lifting oneself from poverty to a little bit of comfort, at the expense of a hag. Rather, the Devil in him is asking a fundamental question: Can reality be twisted in one’s favor? What goes on in the depths is ultimately mirrored in the day world, and Raskolnikov’s arithmetic is that mirror image.

Justice comes from another world that most of us have forgotten — the underworld…