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Unregistered
04-17-2003, 01:00 AM
I don't think that the monetary/utilitarian justification of the murder is the main justification in Rodya's mind. When he confesses to Sonia, he makes a huge deal about the moral implication of the übermensch concept, but he barely mentions the monetary benefits he derived. I think that he views the murder as the action necessary for him to reject the mentality of the sheep and become a sheepherder, much the same way that the Nietzschian übermensch has to figuratively tear all the scales off the dragon of "thou shalt" and embrace the will to power in order to become a true übermensch.

DaScouser
07-27-2003, 01:00 AM
Although your point is a good one Daemon it would not account for Rodya's dualism of the event. If he feels justified in commiting murder, why does he feel guilt. This would suppose R is torn between two existences; is consciousness solely dependent on social forces, is the physical implicit to the psychological? We could equally state, from your theory the first murder was justified to R, yet the complication of the second infringes upon his conscious mascinations.

Yavanna
03-17-2005, 06:55 PM
Well the answer to that question is simple: the method does not justify the cause. One crime can easily eclipse one thousand good actions. Razkolnikov at the end is not the strong-good doer but a man with a brilliant mind man who lost to one of his own ideas. He knows he has lost his inner tranquility, but nevertheless constantly repeats to himself that he was right. It might sound ilogical but he made the mistake of being too analitical. He saw the murder as something that simply had to be done, he never analized the consequences in a "sentimental" manner and therfore never realised how hard psicologically he would be affected. He tried to go against human nature itself, and that is imposible no matter how strong the idea is.<br>

Daemion
05-24-2005, 06:07 PM
Rodion Romanoviè Razkolnikov believes that there are tho kinds of poeple in the world, the sheep and the sheepherders. He believes he is a representative of the latter kind and he feels that his murder is justified by all the good deeds he would do with Aljona Ivanovna's money. But he faces reality when his guilt kicks in. A sheepherder is allowed to ignore laws and social norms because he has no guilt and therefore he can do anything he wants. Rodja is also an ambivalent person and he changes moods very quickly. The main question behind the book is: Are we really allowed to do what we want and what are the consequences of these actions?