It's not an easy lecture, not because its narrative style, but because the confused, incoherent and wandering thoughts of the protagonist,
Raskolnikov. It's not easy to understand, neither. I know people that the only thing they have taken from this novel is that the protagonist is stupid, which is sad, and even outrageous.
As the title itself suggests, a crime is committed, and it is interesting to see what the punishment is. For me, the more interesting, and even instructive about human nature, element is why the
Raskolnikov commits the crime, and how he tortured himself for it. His conscience makes him suffer, not for the lives he has taken, but because of his fear that the truth comes out.
"We're always thinking of eternity as an idea that cannot be understood, something immense. But why must it be? What if, instead of all this, you suddenly find just a little room there, something like a village bath-house, grimy, and spiders in every corner, and that's all eternity is. Sometimes, you know, I can't help feeling that that's what it is."
The poverty-stricken Raskolnikov, a talented student, devises a theory about extraordinary men being above the law, since in their brilliance they think “new thoughts” and so contribute to society. He then sets out to prove his theory by murdering a vile, cynical old pawnbroker and her sister. The act brings Raskolnikov into contact with his own buried conscience and with two characters — the deeply religious Sonia, who has endured great suffering, and Porfiry, the intelligent and discerning official who is charged with investigating the murder — both of whom compel Raskolnikov to feel the split in his nature. Dostoevsky provides readers with a suspenseful, penetrating psychological analysis that goes beyond the crime — which in the course of the novel demands drastic punishment — to reveal something about the human condition: The more we intellectualize, the more imprisoned we become.
