Raskolnikov's Bad Side example essay topic

Crime and Punishment Essay Many people in today's society have an angel on one shoulder and a devil on another. For instance, people wonder whether to run a red light because no one else is around. They will sit there having this battle in their head on whether to go or not. Raskolnikov had this same problem. The only difference between Raskolnikov and society is that Raskolnikov didn't have the problem deciding whether to run a red light or not, but the problem of something much larger, murder. Even though he commits the murder, his good side wins out.

You can see Raskolnikov's bad side when he is sitting in the bar listening to the two men talk about murdering the old woman. This is an example of his "devil side" because he states how he was just thinking the same thing that the two men were. They were thinking about how the old woman being murdered would be the best for the people. The men, along with Raskolnikov, felt this way because the old woman was rich and no one would really miss her. They thought that all her money could be given to the poor. Raskolnikov's bad side was really eating at him at this point in the novel.

His good side however tried to intervene and say that he could never do anything of that sort and was just stupid for thinking of it. His good (angel) side stays with him, even as he plots the murder. The whole time he is thinking about how he won't actually go through with it and that it is just like a game. Unfortunately his bad side wins this war.

He ends up killing the old woman and then her sister. Raskolnikov's good side doesn't give up. It torments him for the rest of his life with guilt. Raskolnikov fights back-in-forth through the whole novel on what's right and what's wrong. His good side wins, but not by much. Every time he would do something good, his bad side would make him question why he did it.

An example of this would be when he gives money to a poor lady, and then wonders why he gave his money away. The only thing of which made the angel side of him win over the devil, would be the fact that he turned himself in. Raskolnikov had to give in to all the pressure and guilt. It could be said that his devil side was very obstinate and did get the majority of what it wanted. He did kill two people and also let others take the blame for him. His good side just seemed to be more obstinate in the fact that it wouldn't give him a free conscience until it drove him mad and he confessed.

Even then he didn't truly have a free conscience. Raskolnikov lived with this guilt for the rest of his life. It is like many people say, "The first way to getting over a problem is admitting to it.".