Summary: A Psychological Profile Of Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov

Megan Butler
Mr. Hays
Psychology
5 March 2015

A Psychological Profile of Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov in Crime and Punishment

Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov is a former law student residing in the city Saint Petersburg. He is 23 years old and is living alone from his younger sister, Avdotya Romanovna Raskolnikova, and his mother, Pulkheria Alexandrovna Raskolnikova. He is in extreme poverty, wearing ragged, dirty clothing and an old student coat that he uses for a blanket when he sleeps at night. He has no pillow and uses only rags when he sleeps or nothing at all. He often stumbles around the city, mumbling to himself and finding himself wandering to random locations without any intention or foreknowledge of where he is going. He does
He then continued to Alyona's flat where he climbed to the proper floor and rang the bell thrice. He practically barged his way into the apartment and presented her with a tied up cloth containing some metal and wood, claiming it to be the pledge he had recently promised her. She turned her back to Raskolnikov, and while she was distracted with attempting to untie the knots, he pulled out the ax from his jacket pocket and swung the blunt end onto the back of her skull. The first blow did not kill her so he had to strike her more than once. Once dead, he snatched the keys from her pocket and went back to her room, searching for money and valuables in her chests. He panicked once thinking she was not actually dead and returned to the body only to reassure himself that she was dead. He then remembered a small purse she kept around her neck and but it away, stuffing it into his jacket pocket. Then, he returned to the room and found a chest underneath the bed. He searched through it and at first noticed only jackets and various cloths, but he quickly discovered various valuable items, likely pledges other customers had given, and proceeded to stuff them into his jacket
He is in extreme poverty, he hardly eats, he alternates between sleeping a great deal and not sleeping at all, he is unemployed, he cannot pay the rent he owes to his landlady, and he is shrouded by the thoughts of murder. All of these factors could possibly even contribute to his fever which he and many others blame for his delirium after the murders are committed. After the murders, he is under even more stress. He stresses over the murder and the crime scene left behind. He stresses over whether or not his clothes reveal his presence there, being stained with blood or having any other hint to his involvement. He stresses over the objects he stole, worrying whether or not they will be discovered and traced back to him. He stresses over the presence of his friends and what he may have said to them while he was in his delirium for a few days. He stresses over the idea of getting caught and what will happen to him if he does. He stresses over his sister's unhappy engagement and the fact she is marrying for his and their mother's benefit. Mostly, he seems to stress over himself and what he might accidentally say or do without realizing it and what he intends to do to reconcile his mind and sanity with the