For this third assignment I decided to use a paper that I wrote for ERH 203W Ways of Reading. In this paper I analyzed the novel Crime and Punishment.

Jack Stann
ERH 203W
Help Received: Crime and Punishment
Words: 1120

Crime and Punishment is a novel about love and the psychology of the human mind. One of the most controversial parts of the book, however, is the epilogue. Many of Dostoevsky’s critics argue that the epilogue does not help the novel and oversimplifies it making it a less satisfying read. I disagree and think that the epilogue is a satisfying way to end Crime and Punishment because it wraps up many questions that were left unanswered in the ending chapters of the book.
The epilogue begins with Raskolnikov’s trial and describes what has happened to him, and his family in the months following his confession. He was sentenced to 8 years in a Siberian prison. (pg 537) Throughout his time, he still believes that what he did was not a sin and was irreligious, even to the point of his fellow convicts hating him, despite Raskolnikov not understanding why. (pg 546) Finally, Raskolnikov has a dream about a sickness that infects the world where people did not know “whom or how to judge, could not agree on what to regard as evil, what as good. They did not know how to accuse, whom to vindicate. People killed each other in meaningless spite.” (pg 547) This dream, combined with the knowledge that Sonya was sick, scared Raskolnikov and so he discovered what love truly was and that he loved Sonya. Raskolnikov is redeemed like Lazarus. “But here begins a new account, the account of a man’s gradual renewal, the account of his gradual regeneration, his gradual transition from one world to another, his acquaintance with a new, hitherto completely unknown reality.” (Pg 551). The conversion of Raskolnikov while it may only happen across a couple of pages in the novel, took place over a period of months in the novel.
I personally do believe that the epilogue is the most satisfying way the novel could have ended and while Dostoevsky might have struggle to end the novel the epilogue does conclude Raskolnikov’s story in a satisfying way. At the end of the novel Raskolnikov confesses that he committed the double murders, however, we do not know what happens after he confesses. The readers are left confused. Did Raskolnikov confess to save his pride? Did he confess because he loved Sonya? Or did Raskolnikov truly feel ashamed and guilty for what he had done. In the epilogue we learn that Raskolnikov actually doesn’t believe what he did was truly wrong, it is only after the dream of the sickness that he truly converts of his crimes. It is also in the epilogue where we discover that Raskolnikov does love Sonya. This is important because Raskolnikov, confessed his crimes, not because he felt ashamed for his crimes, but instead, because he loved Sonya. He had not truly converted yet, It was his love for Sonya that caused him to change and to become actually sorry for what he had done and convert. While this is hinted at in the ending chapter it is not confirmed as it is in the epilogue. If Dostoevsky had not written the epilogue as he had this key part of Raskolnikov’s conversion would not have been known and the reader would have been left confused as to how he should feel about Raskolnikov. While the epilogue may seem too close ended and end Crime and Punishment in too quick a time, the epilogue actually takes place over a period of a year and a half. A man can change drastically in a year and thus the conversion of Raskolnikov is entirely plausible. The epilogue of Crime and Punishment is a satisfying way to end the novel so that all character arcs are resolved and so readers are left satisfied.
While Crime and Punishment was written with various psychological studies in mind, especially the idea of a superman who is above the law, at its heart, Crime and Punishment is a novel with a love story and all novels need a satisfying ending where we as readers understand what happened to the characters. If Dostoevsky had left Crime and Punishment without the epilogue, it would have left the novel unfinished. As readers, we don’t fully understand why Raskolnikov confessed, or what his motivations were. Did he truly believe that the murder’s that he committed were wrong or was it just a facade? When I am reading a novel, I don’t like open ended or confusing conclusions to the story. I want to know what happened to the characters that I invested so much time into. The way that Dostoevsky ended the final chapter left too many questions with little answers and these questions needed to be solved in a satisfying way to make the novel complete. In a redemption arc it is incredibly important to know how the story ends. If you don’t know if the character redeemed himself then all the time that you invested into the book was wasted. This can make for a very unsatisfying read. The last chapter in Crime and Punishment was very confused, because Raskolnikov himself was mentally confused. While this makes sense, it can still make the reader feel unsatisfied. The epilogue fixes this issue and brings Raskolnikov’s story to a satisfying ending.
Love is very powerful and can cause someone to change drastically. This is shown in the epilogue when Raskolnikov, after being sick once again while in prison, finds that he truly loves Sonya. Love is one of the main themes of Crime and Punishment and it is Raskolnikov’s love for Sonya that causes him to finally convert and see why what he did was wrong. In the novel itself, we do not know if Raskolnikov converted or not however this becomes more clear in the epilogue which tells us why Raskolnikov convert. Love is an important aspect in the
Crime and Punishment is a classic novel of a crime committed, love and redemption from the viewpoint of Raskolnikov, a man confused and at times insane. The novel itself follows this confusion very well leaving the readers to determine why Raskolnikov is doing what he is doing and to question his motives and even his very thoughts. However, in the epilogue the story becomes clearer and we are given a concise ending as Raskolnikov leaves his state of delirium. As Raskolnikov converts we are given a clearer image and finally understand what happens and why Raskolnikov converted. This ending is a satisfying way to conclude a classic novel that has continued to impress readers with the way it was written and the story that it tells.

Works Cited
Pevear, Richard, and Larissa Volokhonsky. Crime and Punishment. Knopf, 1992.