In the beginning of In the Penal Colony, the Officer is accompanied by a visitor, the Traveler. The Officer begins to provide an overview of the background of the colony, a description of the apparatus used to execute prisoners, and the judicial process. Upon learning that the prisoners were condemned with no opportunity to defend themselves, the Traveler became visibly distort. Recognizing the Traveler's uneasiness, the Officer explained his basic principle: "Guilt is always beyond a doubt,"" (Kafka, 2003, p. 4). The Officer's basic principle, seems to be his justification for executing these prisoners without remorse. The Officer ends his explanation of the sentencing process with "it's that simple,"" (p. 4) as if he sees nothing wrong in condemning a man to such a gruesome death without giving him a chance to defend or redeem himself. .
Raskolnikov finds nothing remotely simple about killing the pawnbroker, rather, he struggles to maintain control of his mind during and after the murder. The guilt of killing the pawnbroker immediately sends him into a state of panic, resulting in negligent mistakes, which lead to the death of her sister. After the murders, Raskolnikov exhibits extremely complicated behavior. On one hand, he behaves like a cold-blooded killer, trying to avoid being caught and playing games with the police. On the other, he seems take steps toward atoning for his crimes when he helps the Marmeladov's. After helping ,he feels a sensation of life and strength, he thought to himself: "a feeling akin to that of a dead man upon suddenly receiving his pardon," "(p.188). Perhaps in these thoughts believing that through his good deeds he could rid himself of the guilt he felt. .
Conversely, the Officer does not seem to experience these moral quarrels within himself over the executions, rather, he is honored to witness and be apart of them. The Officer reminisced with the Traveler of the days when people of the colony would gather around and watch the executions, even children.