Crime and Punishment 359understanding of society is sobornost. Because every-
one is related, a crime against one person is a crime
against all. One of the major threats to Russia’s
cultural identity came from Peter the Great and his
wife Catherine, who were interested in importing
the cultural values of Europe into Russia. Although
Peter reigned many years prior to the setting of the
novel, his influence is still keenly felt, most nota-
bly in the areas of language and religion. Fyodor
Dostoyevsky was firmly against Russia losing its
cultural heritage and becoming exactly like the rest
of Europe. In setting the novel in St. Petersburg
(which was swampland before construction began),
Dostoyevsky takes care to note that it harbors pov-
erty, drunkenness, disease, hopelessness, and crime
rather than European prosperity. Just as Europe can-
not transcend Russian sobornost, Raskolnikov cannot
transcend the moral order. When he murders the
pawnbroker and her assistant, he commits a crime
against Mother Russia and sobornost. Consequently,
he now stands outside of the Russian people. Guilt
is the response of the conscience against murder, but
it is also the response of cultural forces.
Raskolnikov’s guilt manifests itself in various
ways. The immediate psychological effects (which
have been insightful in the development of modern
psychology) involve nightmares, fevers, and hallu-
cinations. While in a fugue state, he returns to the
scene of the crime and arouses the suspicions of the
police. He remains very sick until he confesses his
crime to Sonia, a prostitute who was a close friend
of the pawnbroker’s assistant, Lizaveta. Raskolnikov
begins to see the effects of what happens when
sobornost is violated—the many unintended conse-
quences of his crime contribute to his guilt. Sonia
tells Raskolnikov that he must go to the crossroads
of the public square, kneel, and confess his crime
aloud. For most readers, this scene is very puzzling,
but if we take into account the Russian idea of
sobornost, we can easily see that Sonia’s request will
reintegrate Raskolnikov back into Russian society,
first with Mother Russia on the dirt road, then with
his fellow citizens.
Unfortunately, Raskolnikov becomes self-con-
scious and stops short of fully confessing at the
crossroads, but his feelings of guilt diminish. How-
ever, he does confess to Porfiry Petrovich, the chief
investigator for the police. Raskolnikov is exiled to
Siberia, and although Sonia visits him regularly,
he does not feel connected to the other people
around him. Just as there are legal ramifications
for his crime, there are also spiritual ramifications,
which are symbolized by Dostoyevsky’s reliance on
sobornost to explain Raskolnikov’s plight. One day
during his exile, Raskolnikov sees Russian nomads
in the distance. He is immediately reminded of the
nomads in the Bible, and especially of Abraham. He
suddenly realizes that he, too, is a son of Abraham.
Raskolnikov finally understands that he has a role
to play within the entire recorded history of human-
ity—his ineffective attempts to transcend that role
have led to his current exile—and he falls to his
knees and weeps in front of Sonia. His guilt has
been discharged.
Dutton Kearneyspirituality in Crime and Punishment
Spirituality features prominently in all of Fyodor
Dostoyevsky’s major novels. He was a member of
the Russian Orthodox Church, a subdivision of the
Eastern Orthodox Church. When he was a young
writer, Dostoyevsky was arrested for participating in
a socialist political group. His sentence was execu-
tion by firing squad. As all of the men lined up to
be shot, a messenger suddenly arrived on horseback
with a reprieve from the czar: Rather than be shot,
the men were to be exiled to Siberia. Such a pun-
ishment was doubly cruel: The men were never
intended to be killed, only to believe that they were
going to be. Dostoyevsky was so traumatized by the
event that he developed epilepsy, a condition that
plagued him for the rest of his life.
On their way to Siberia, criminals traveled
by horse carriage through the countryside. They
were often greeted by citizens who presented
them with items such as clothes and books—the
citizens believed strongly that the suffering of the
criminals was beneficial to everyone. As St. Paul
wrote, “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your
sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in
Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is,
the church” (Col. 1:24). Because Russians think of
themselves collectively rather than individually, not
only is a crime against one person a crime against