2. Crime and Punishment
Probably the most well-known Dostoevsky novel, Crime and Punishment is a brilliant examination of a crime and its aftermath. Rodion Raskolnikov, an ex-student who lives in poverty, plans the murder of an old pawnbroker in order to steal from her. He justifies this by a theory he had formulated as a student where an exceptional individual has the right to commit crimes if the situation calls for it. In addition, he despises the pawnbroker and argues that her death would improve society. After narrowly evading discovery at the scene of the crime, Raskolnikov is overcome by a fever and a hidden desire to confess his crime. Along the way to his redemption, Raskolnikov has to deal with family problems with his mother and sister, police suspicion, and a relationship with the daughter of a man he met in a bar. The punishment in the title comes from the torment that Raskolnikov feels over his crime and the urge he feels to confess. There is a fascinating duality to the character Raskolnikov; on one hand he is a cold, antisocial man who justifies a murder because he believes himself to be superior to other men, at the same time, he impulsively gives money he can't spare to people in need and does actually care for his family and friends. The novel is fantastically structured and Dostoevsky shows off his skill as a writer by giving every character a distinctive style of speech. Symbolism abounds in Crime and Punishment as Dostoevsky uses dreams, the suffocating environment of St. Petersburg, and religious elements to create a wonderfully atmospheric setting. Crime and Punishment was a sensation when it was first published in 1866 and has remained one of the most relevant works of world literature all the way to the modern day. Despite being in part an attacks on some of the radical ideas of the time, Crime and Punishment contains universal themes and ideas that make it just as important to someone today as it was to someone in Russia 150 years ago.