The Guilt Full Morality: A Study on the Consciousness of the Protagonists of Fyodor Dostoyevsky with Reference to Crime and Punishment

A convolution of complexity , the human mind is stretched beyond one's understanding. Various theories and philosophies have been developed to attempt the exploration of it. In literature , many writers have endeavoured on this path of exploration and the works of Fyodor Dostoyevsky has been regarded as the most lucrative of it all ( Ewald,2011). The novels of Dostoyevsky probes in to the consciousness of a human being and portrays the hidden complexities ( Uwasomba,2010 ). The current study has selected Dostoyevsky's crime and punishment to explore the consciousness of the human mind through its protagonists with reference to the theme of criminality. With crime and criminality being the central theme the study aims to explore the crime in the novels and the effect it has on the protagonists. To carry out a deeper exploration of the consciousness of the protagonists of Fyodor Dostoyevsky with reference to the theme of criminality. To assess the impact of crime, in order to analyse the psychological transformation of the protagonists.The psychological approach is rooted in the idea that literary works are the reflection of experiences and it assists in the understanding the problems that are caused by experiences.The struggle in mind the mental instability how poverty ,prostitution and alcoholismstronglymanifested in the society also appends to a complex psychological and mental state of the criminals mind. The theme of alienation depicted in crime and punishment by Dostoyevsky the theory he contrives that humans are separated into two categories: 'ordinary and extraordinary'. According to which individual belonging to extraordinary such as NapoleonBonaparte -( the personage he refers to as an example of extraordinary) working for a more progressive or higher cause do not come under the dictum that apply to ordinary people. The protagonist of the novel tries to verify that he belongs to the former class, the class of extraordinary . The explanation or theory which he has contrived makes him immune to any kind of regulationor law that society imposes.The novel has hues of existentialism , nihilism and Freudian philosophies to it suggesting strongly the meaninglessness of the world. Commitment of crime is voluntary but punishment for the crime is compulsory. Crime is always followed by the punishment. Shikha Dutt Sharma"The Guilt Full Morality: A Study on the Consciousness of the Protagonists of Fyodor Dostoyevsky with Reference to Crime and Punishment" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-6470, Volume-2 | Issue-1 , December 2017, URL: http://www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd7140.pdf http://www.ijtsrd.com/humanities-and-the-arts/journalism/7140/the-guilt-full-morality-a-study-on-the-consciousness-of-the-protagonists-of-fyodor-dostoyevsky-with--reference-to-crime-and-punishment/shikha-dutt-sharma