Crime and Punishment is an excellent book by Fyodor Dostoevsky in which he raises many questions about human morality, conscience and the right to kill.
A friend once told me that to understand the Russian mind, you have to read Dostoevsky and I have to admit he was right.
The central theme of Crime and Punishment is human conscience, through which people can analyze their actions and draw the right conclusions that help them repent and improve.
The events take place in the 60s of the 19th century, in Saint Petersburg. Our hero, Rodion is a young man, a former student, with a philosophical mind. He is sensitive to the suffering of his entourage and he is ready at any time to come to the aid of another in a completely disinterested way.
Raskolnikov is obsessed with the crazy idea that he has every right to rid the world of a mean and useless old pawnbroker. He doesn’t just want to avenge all the humiliated poor, he wants to rise above those who suffer injustice all their lives.
Raskolnikov plots a cruel murder, but his conscience is silent. And then something happens that will finally snap Raskolnikov out of his insane state of spiritual deafness. Elizabeth appears. It is she who becomes a symbol of the consciousness of the protagonist. Having killed the old woman’s harmless sister, Raskolnikov can no longer justify himself.
At the same time the novel speaks of the sacrifice that women make in the name of the well-being of their families. For example, his sister Dounia is going to marry a man who appreciates her position as a beggar rather than having feelings for her. Sonia, who is the daughter of a drunkard met in a bar, prostitutes herself to feed her family although very religious.
Remorse of conscience is always terrible, it cannot be drowned, it drives you mad or helps you to get up, to become better.
What will happen to Rodion, his sister and Sonia is for you to discover?
In addition, you can combine business with pleasure because “Crime and Punishment” is now part of our collection of bilingual English/French books, which will make it easier for you to learn French if that’s what you want.
Otherwise you can simply read it in English
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