Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment is the story of a poor man in Russia who mentally destroys himself of his guilt through pain and suffering. It analyzes the mental and physical conflicts brought upon himself by his crime. His complications are put together by the conflicting personalities which he shows. The reader is encouraged to characterize him by his cold, ravenous side. Yet, without the warm peaceful side of his nature and the people evolving around him, Raskolnikov never realizes the problems in his beliefs and actions. Raskolnikov is repeatedly emphasized for the alternating style of his personality, which both are very important. Raskolnikov's cold side leads him to develop his theory that extra ordinary men have the right to commit crimes, and also to commit murder. This side of him bases all decisions on reasonability, rather than on feeling. A person can be absolutely nothing without emotions. The other side of his character is kind and generous. Without this side of Raskolnikov being told in the novel, the reader can only see him as an evil murderer, and not an mislead victim, as Dostoevsky tries to show. In the novel Crime and Punishment, Raskolnikov shows random acts of kindness whenever he finds a person in need. He gives money to the Marmeladov family, he attempts to aid Marmeladov when he dies, and he tries to get a drunken girl home and away from the stranger. All of these things were done spontaneously. He simply feels that at the time it is the right thing to do. However, after a short period of time his views can reverse dramatically. He starts to sensibly analyze what he has done, and then feels that his actions were dumb and stupid. This spontaneous change shows the return of his cold side, and it occurs after every kind thing that Raskolnikov does. These changes and alterations between two different personalities give Raskolnikov separate visions on his characteristics.
