Gomez 1 Nancy V. Gomez Ms.

Leaney AP English Literature and Composition 13 May 2011 Crime and Punishment: Raskolnikovs Desire to Get Caught Some criminals run from the punishment they deserve and others are run to their punishment in order to receive it and also to get recognition for their crime. In Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, the protagonist is a murderer named Raskolnikov who at the end of the story turns himself in to the authorities. I believe that Raskolnikov turned himself not because he was afraid that he would not get recognition for his crime, like many of the criminals in our society. Throughout the novel there are many clues that lead the reader to believe that Raskolnikov did want to be caught. I will start with an analysis of the murder scene, then I will examine Raskolnikov and his thoughts and actions throughout the novel and I will compare these actions to criminals in real life. The murder scene is where some of the beginning signs that Raskolnoikov wanted to be caught show up. His crime is the murder of an old woman named Aliona and her sister Lizaveta. Raskolnikov was only targeting Aliona but after he murders her and ransacks her house he distinctly heard a soft cry, as though someone softly and abruptly moaned and then fell silent. (76) That someone turned out to be Lizaveta and he kills her too in a moment of fear. The first sign that Raskolnikov wanted to be caught is that he left the door to Alionas apartment unlocked while he was committing the murder. The reader learns about this when Raskolnikov makes his move to finally leave

Gomez 2 the apartment The door, the outside door from the anteroom to the stairs, the very door where he had stood ringing the bell not long ago, the door through which he had entered, stood unfastened and a hands length open. All that time it had been neither locked nor fastened.(78) This represents an unconscious move by Raskolnikov to get caught. Any o criminal who didnt want to get caught would have locked the door to prevent anyone from entering and catching him in the middle of his crime, or they would have checked the doors and windows to make sure that they were closed. Another clue that Raskolnikov wants to get caught is that he lingers in Alionas apartment for more time than is necessary. He acknowledges that he would see that a key was not the right one, that it would not fit, yet he insisted on trying it.(76) Later he says He forgot himself for minutes on end, or rather, he forgot what was important and fastened on little things.(77) And he decided to wash his hands and the ax.(78) He does all of that while hes at the crime scene. Instead of getting all the bounty he takes his time on trivial things , like the keys, that he knows are just a waste of time. His behavior makes the reader believe that hes just waiting for the police or someone who can stop him to arrive. As he is leaving and he notices that the door to the apartment isnt locked instead of rushing out and forgetting about it He dashed to the door and fastened the latch.(78) He locks himself in instead of running away almost as though he was preparing to barricade himself in the apartment. It was almost as if he was preparing himself to get caught waiting for his punishers. Raskolnikovs thoughts and actions in the rest of the novel also demonstrate that he wants to get caught by the authorities. The first major action that indicates that he indeed wants to confess is in when he taunts Zamiotov, a policemen, at a tavern where they are having drinks. He leads Zamiotov straight to the truth with disturbing comments

Gomez 3 such as, its the same old woman, the same one, remember. You were starting to talk about her in the police station the time that I fainted. Do you understand now?. He gives all of the pieces of the puzzle to Zamiotov and even puts them together for him but at the end he has a laughing fit. In a way this provides him temporary relief because he confessed to somebody his crime but it isnt enough for him because he is able to fool Zamiotov into believing that he is innocent. Later he remembers when he was behind the door at Alionas apartment and he wanted to shout at them, stick out his tongue, taunt ,mock, and laugh and laugh and laugh!. He knows that he can fool a lot of people because hes smart but he just wants to laugh at them for being stupid. He wants to gloat that he was able to get away from the crime scene without getting caught. One crucial thought of Raskolnikovs that proves that he wants to get caught is that it is unbearable for him to have people believe that he is innocent. When Porfiry last visits him and makes Raskolnikov believe that he, Porfiry, believes that Raskolnikov is innocent, Raskolnikov thinksRaskolnikov felt immersed in a new kind of fear. The idea Porfiry might consider him innocent suddenly began to frighten him..(429). Porfiry Petrovich is the only man that Raskolnikov believes is capable of figuring out that he is guilty of committing the crime, but if Porfiry cant discover that he is Alionas murderer then probably nobody will and he wont get caught. After a while though Porfiry says What do you mean who killed? Why Rodion Romanych you killed.(434) This lets us see that Porfiry was never fooled and Raskolnikov comprehends that he couldnt trick Porfiry. So when he decides to go confess he goes to Zamiotov first, but since he was not there he goes to Illia Petrovich. The reason for this might be that Illia Petrovich apologized to Raskolnikov for believing that he was guilty of the murder of Aliona and Lizaveta. And if I leaped to conclusions about your fainting fit- it was all brilliantly

Gomez 4 explained to me later! I can understand your indignation. Illia Petrovich had just apologized for believing that he was guilty because of a fainting spell he had at the beginning at the novel after overhearing them discuss Alionas murder. This ties back to Raskolnikovs fear of having the people that are supposed to stop him believe that he is innocent. Raskolnikov is just a fictional character in a novel, but there are criminals in real life that have done many of the things that Raskolnikov did before confessing that they were the ones that committed a crime. For example there is Wayne Adam Ford ,a serial killer in Humboldt County in California during the 1990s, he turned himself in to the police but prior to doing that he confessed to his brother that he had hurt some people. His brother tried to convince him to go to the police and confess. This is an echo of Raskolnikov and his confession to Zamiotov and another confession to Sonia, a prostitute in the novel. The similarities between his confession to Zamiotov and Wayne Fords confession to his brother are that both killers didnt admit completely to their crime. They never actually say that they were the ones responsible for the murder of women. They give indirect comments or they downplay what they have done. The similarity between Fords confession and Raskolnikovs confession to Sonia is that they encouraged the murderers to turn themselves in. Fords Brother tried to convince him go to the police and confess. Sonia tells Raskolnikov to bow down to the whole world, to the four points of the compass and say aloud, for all men to hear: I have killed.. This basically means that Raskolnikov should turn himself in, go to Siberia, and receive punishment for his crime. Other criminal confessions that have a resemblance to Raskolnikovs confession to Zamiotov is H.H. Holmes who confessed to 100 murders in the late 1800s but he later

Gomez 5 backed out and admitted only two. Then there is Glen Rogers in 1995 who took credit for 70 murders but he later said he was just joking. These three criminals have confessed to someone of authority their crime and later tried to make them believe that they were just kidding. This might be a result of their desire to be caught but fear of punishment.

Raskolnikov is a criminal that is part of a small group that have confessed to their crimes and turned themselves in. He shows us his desire to get caught through his actions not only during the murder but also through his thoughts and actions in the novels plot. He shares some characteristics with criminals in our world in that he confessed to someone without actually telling them that he was a murderer and also like the other criminals he backed out after he confessed. Raskolnikov wanted to confess to his murder but what is unknown is the cause of why he committed it. If you analyze him through Freuds psychoanalytic model it might be because he failed to identify with his father and overcome his oedipal complex or maybe if you believe Aristotle, his poverty was the cause of his crime. Whatever the reason, he behaves as frightened little children do when they are caught at the scene of crime.(474). Which was his exact desire.

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Works Cited

Dostoyevsky, Fyodor. Crime and Punishment. Trans. Sidney Monas. New York: Signet Classic, 2006. Print. Ramsland, Katherine. "Some Serial Killers Turn Themselves in and Confess Surprises Crime Library on TruTV.com." TruTV.com: Not Reality. Actuality. Web. 12 May2011.<http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/notorious/killers_wh _surrender/12.html>. "Criminology : the Study of Crime and Behavior." Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) :: Architecture, Business, Engineering, IT, Humanities, Science. Web. 12 May 2011. <http://www.rpi.edu/~verwyc/lawchap5.htm>. "Psychological Theories of Crime." Mac OS X Server. Web. 12 May 2011. <http://psy2.ucsd.edu/~hflowe/psych.htm>.