Crime and Punishment Justice and Judgment

Imagine how Raskolnikov must have felt when he overheard this conversation! He takes it as a call to action, a call to "justice." It seems bizarre to see "kill" and "justice" used together this way. On a larger scale, is that the whole idea behind war? Killing in the name of, among other things, justice?

This is just after the murder, when Raskolnikov is obsessing over possible evidence of his crime. The phrasing "coming upon me" suggests two interpretations of the passage: 1) that the beginning phase of Raskolnikov's punishment is being meted out by a force of justice, perhaps God and 2) that Raskolnikov is personifying punishment as a force of justice in and of itself.

When Luzhin says this in reference to Dounia and her mother, the gig is pretty much up. Our judgment of Luzhin is pretty negative. Luzhin is also one of the novel's most judgmental characters, as our quote demonstrates.

We believe you, Dounia! She wasn't quite so impartial when judging Svidrigaïlov and it got her in a heap of trouble, but she gives Luzhin every chance to pretend to be a decent guy before she kicks him to the curb.

Even though Sonia is judged innocent of Luzhin's accusations due to Andrey Semyonovitch's sharp eyes and fearless tongue, there isn't justice for Sonia, and Luzhin doesn't have to suffer for his crime. Nonetheless, it is probably the closest thing to a feel-good moment we get in the novel. It might not give us full-blown justice but perhaps, at least, a hope of justice.

The novel is obsessed with the lack of justice for children, particularly orphans, as is Raskolnikov. This is a sentiment to which we can all relate. So long as children are suffering in the world, it's hard to think of it as a place where fairness and justice have meaning.

The fresh air in question is the fresh air of hard labor in a Siberian prison camp, which does seem to do Raskolnikov some good. What we find interesting about this passage is that Porfiry is trying to convince Raskolnikov that this process of criminal justice will provide him with personal justice—a chance to start a new life.

There is some truth in this, but because it comes from Svidrigaïlov, we shudder. He makes Dounia's "judging impartially" look like kid stuff. Literally—Svidrigaïlov is asking Raskolnikov to "impartially" judge him and his crimes against women, children, and his servant. Somebody better call a defense lawyer quick. We are in deep water.

This, of course, is Ilya to Raskolnikov on Svidrigaïlov's suicide. It's also a comment on the constant array of suicidal tendencies in the novel. Suicide is presented as a judgment by an individual of both himself or herself and the society in which he or she lives.

Raskolnikov never explicitly says he regrets his pre-prison actions, though there is plenty of evidence to argue an implied regret. Either way, at this moment Raskolnikov is still dehumanizing Alyona and Lizaveta by stating his failure to bring positive meaning to the murders and that his act of confessing made the murders crimes and thus himself a criminal. He doesn't judge the two women as humans.