Rasconikov Duality

In the novel Crime and Punishment, Rasconikov is the main character who is a relatively poor ex-student in Saint Petersburg facing mental issues and struggling with the battle between his pride and conscious. Rasconikov often acts one way one minute, and another the next which makes it very difficult to distinguish Rsconikov’s true and actual personality. It is said that Rasconikov is a dual character, one being a very isolated, detached, sneaky, and disconnected, the other being very kind, giving, considerate, and sincere. Rasconikov’s isolated, detached, sneaky and disconnected side is when most of his intellectual scheming goes on. There is never any spontaneous moves when in this state, but more so every action being premeditated. This side of his personality is where he strategizes his theories about crime and how to commit it. Raskolnikov believes that the “extraordinary” are able to be independent, and not influenced by others on the outside, but only being influenced by oneself, being self-sufficient without company or the hand of another, which explains why his intellectual side is very isolated. The other
side Raskkolnikov possesses is very compassionate, sincere, and giving. When in this state, Rascolnikov does things spontaneously without hesitation, he wants to help and mend others to the best of hs ability, but this only lasts for so long before he intellectually rethinks his actions and begins to regret them. One instance that portrays this happening in Rasconikovs personality is when he witnesses Marmeladove stumbling and crushed under a carriage and offers to give the last of his money to the Marmeladov family, paying for hospital bills, food for the children, and other expenses they may need to cover. Eventually Rascolnikov has the time to think over his actions on and intellectual level shortly after and regrets giving the money. If only having his immediate reactions, he would always be a giving person to all others, trying to be helpful to the best of his ability. “Something new seemed to be accomplishing itself within him, and one of the things that went with it was a kind of craving for people” (14). Rasconikov had a giving heart and the ability to reach out to people voluntarily on this side of his personality. There are instances in the book that directly demonstrate the duality in Rasconkovs personalities of a compassionate side and at the same time the intellectual side, One situation in the novel is when he doesn’t want his little sister Dunya to marry Luzhin, because the engagement is “sordid” and dirty because he wants to marry her because she is very poor and marrying her will cause him to have power and control over her, and he will be able to say he “saved” her from poverty.
While Dunya agrees to marry him in hope to help rasconikov with work. Rasconikov shortly after tells her to marry whoever she wants to marry. This is an example of the compassionate side of Rascolnikolv not wanting his sister to burden herself just to help him out, and the intellectual side showing that he shouldn’t have any concern with others and their insignificant
issues.