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 dangerous effects of St. Petersburg, a malignant city, on the psyche of the impoverished student Raskolnikov. In this novel, Petersburg is more than fairish a backdrop. The city plays a central role in the development of the characters and the actions that they take. Raskolnikov survives in unmatched of the cramped, dark spaces that argon characteristic of Petersburg. These spaces are like c finishins they suffocate Raskolnikovs mind. St. Petersburg creates a grotesque environment in which Raskolnikov derriere not only create the Overman Theory, exclusively he can likewise carry it out by murdering a pawnbroker in cold blood, whence justify his actions with the belief that society will be better off without her. Raskolnikov finds no alleviation outside of his cramped room the Petersburg climate is just as oppressive to the psyche as the cramped space o f Raskolnikovs room. Not only is the outside air dangerous it forces him to find relief in the incommodes tavern. While wandering the infernal streets of St. Petersburg, Raskolnikov enters the devils realm in the form of Petersburg taverns. These are evil places, where dangerous ideas of robbery and murder circulate. Raskolnikov overhears the twisted idea to kill 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 Morality. Raskolnikov justifies killing the pawnbroker because he concludes that it is rational, just, and pure arithmetic. One person must 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 suicide as an alcoholic, throwing his life and the life of his family away in taverns for Raskolnikov it causes him to murder twain defenseless women, hoping to steal money that can be used to garter others. Both these men mean no harm by their actions, but their cramped, isolated environment molds them into grotesque characters who seem to act not of their experience will, but as though pulled through life by the forces of St. Petersburg. whole kit and caboodle Cited Bely, Andrei. Petersburg. Trans. Robert A. Maguire and John E. Malmstad. Bloomington, IN Indiana University Press, 1978.Dostoyevsky, Fyodor. Crime and Punishment. refreshed 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.