Doystoyevsky's Crime and Punishment has been described as a psychological thriller that challenges the mind from beginning to end. It causes one to put self in the position of the main character and identify with the intense guilt that he felt. The story follows a young Russian intellectual who, as he deals with his guilt from an evil crime, tries to convince himself that he is extraordinary and did the right thing. Crime and Punishment is the tale of an individual's desire to have power, yet unable to cope with his own subconscious feelings of guilt.
Raskolnikov is a young intellectual living during one of the most toilsome times in Russian history. He develops a theory that there are two kinds of men in the world: ordinary and extraordinary- the extraordinary men being those who are somehow "above the law." Dostoyevsky portrays him to be intelligent, yet simple minded because although the theory proves to be interesting, there is no logic behind it. Raskolnikov believes himself to be one of those men, but feels the need to prove it to society. To prove his point, he murders an old pawnbroker, who according to him, was "a louse- useless, vile, pernicious." He then proceeded to kill her sister who caught him in the act. Following the murders, Raskolnikov becomes extremely ill- the first signs of guilt. .
From this point on, Dostoyevsky portrays Raskolnikov in two separate ways: a being with complete self-will and power and one of extreme meekness and submissiveness. With the idea that Raskolnikov has two personalities, Doystoyevsky uses two other characters to bring the two together. Sonia is the daughter of an alcoholic government official. Since her father drank away the family money, she was forced into a life of prostitution to provide for the others. Sonia represents Raskolnikov's humane side. She is the warm, compassionate, and charitable aspect of Raskolnikov's character that slips out from time to time.