Fyodor Dostoyevsky's work in Crime and Punishment can be cited as largely autobiographical. Although the author never committed anything like the atrocious murders depicted in the novel, the nihilistic traits of his protagonist, Raskolnikov, closely resemble his own ideals as a youth. In 1947, Dostoyevsky joined the revolutionary Petrashevist cause. The author and this group of radical socialists narrowly escaped death after being arrested by police. They received a pardon from the czar only moments before a firing squad was to take aim. They were sentenced instead to four years in a Siberian labor camp. In his penal servitude Dostoyevsky examined his revolutionary intents and was swayed by the Russian nationalists whom he encountered (McDuff 13). He became aware of the apparent sinfulness of his rebellious socialist efforts. The author embraced God and invested himself in promoting the Russian people's sobernost. Dostoyevsky uses his novel Crime and Punishment to call for this return to traditional Russian values. .
After the Petrashevists' 1848 revolt, during the rule of Nicholas I, educated Russians became divided in their values (Brown 52). One group advocated a western approach of politics and economics. Another group demanded a return to "old Russia."" Their objectives included the re-establishment a czarist regime, a return to simple country life, and the re-institution of a strong church. After years of revolutionary action the new, conservative Dostoyevsky, the Dostoyevsky who wrote Crime and Punishment, endorsed the latter faction. The author of this novel had become a highly reactionary activist who promoted a movement uniting the Russian people in spirit: sobornost. .
At the heart of Dostoyevsky's novel is his rejection of Western ideas. He reproached many egalitarian ideas that supported democracy and laid the grounds for communism. Dostoyevsky also rejected the scientific method that was popularizing the West and challenging dogmatic practices.
