Importance of St. Petersburg in Fyodor Dostoyevskys Crime and Punishme

Importance of St. Petersburg in Fyodor Dostoyevskys Crime and PunishmentFyodor Dostoyevskys Crime and Punishment explores the terrible effects of St. Petersburg, a malignant city, on the psyche of the impoverished educatee Raskolnikov. In this novel, Petersburg is more than just a backdrop. The city plays a primal role in the development of the char solveers and the actions that they take. Raskolnikov survives in one of the fasten, dark spaces that atomic number 18 characteristic of Petersburg. These spaces ar like coffins they suffocate Raskolnikovs mind. St. Petersburg creates a grotesque environment in which Raskolnikov can not only create the Overman theory, but he can also carry it out by murdering a pawnbroker in cold blood, then justify his actions with the belief that society will be better off without her. Raskolnikov finds no relief outside of his cramped direction the Petersburg climate is just as oppressive to the psyche as the cramped space of Raskolnikovs room. Not only is the outside air spartan it forces him to find relief in the devils tavern. While rambling the infernal streets of St. Petersburg, Raskolnikov enters the devils realm in the form of Petersburg taverns. These are evil places, where treacherous ideas of robbery and murder circulate. Raskolnikov overhears the twisted idea to charge the pawnbroker inside one of these infested taverns. The malignant nature of the spaces in Petersburg allows Raskolnikov to embrace the Overman Theory and the Arithmetic of religion. Raskolnikov justifies killing the pawnbroker because he concludes that it is rational, just, and pure arithmetic. One person essential die so that the lives of numerous others may be saved. The Arithmetic of Morality appears logical to Raskolniko... ...turmoil. For Marmeladov, this leads to his self-destruction as an alcoholic, throwing his livelihood and the life of his family away in taverns for Raskolnikov it causes him to murder two defenseless women, hopi ng to steal money that can be used to help others. Both these men mean no upon by their actions, but their cramped, isolated environment molds them into grotesque characters who seem to act not of their own will, but as though pulled through life by the forces of St. Petersburg. Works Cited Bely, Andrei. Petersburg. Trans. Robert A. Maguire and John E. Malmstad. Bloomington, IN Indiana University Press, 1978.Dostoyevsky, Fyodor. Crime and Punishment. sunrise(prenominal) York Penguin Signet Classic, 1968.Gogol, Nikolai. The Overcoat. The Collected Tales of Nikolai Gogol. Trans. Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky. New York Pantheon Books, 1998. 394-435.