Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment first published during 1866, remains the most widely known Russian novel as well as one of the greatest achievements in world literature.
The book is disguised as a murder mystery, in which the reader knows from the start who has committed the crime. This in-depth exploration of the psychology of a criminal is at the heart of the novel, delving deeply into psychological punishment.
The main themes include alienation, suffering, morality, faith (or the God-man, Jesus Christ) and the “extraordinary man” (or the man-God), as well as the philosophical themes of nihilism and utilitarianism.
The protagonist Raskolnikov, is an alienated materialistic rationalist, as well as an atheist and nihilist, taken by the idea that God is dead, believing himself to be an extraordinary man allowed to transgress accepted moral standards for the common good, with a clean conscience.