Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoevsky's masterpiece published in 1866, follows Rodion Raskolnikov, an impoverished former student in St. Petersburg who murders an old pawnbroker, convinced that extraordinary individuals have the right to transgress moral law. Haunted by guilt and paranoia, he descends into psychological torment as the shrewd detective Porfiry gradually closes in. Through Sonya, a compassionate young woman driven into prostitution, Raskolnikov ultimately finds a path toward confession and spiritual redemption. Set against the grim backdrop of urban poverty, the novel probes profound questions of morality, free will, faith, and punishment—both legal and internal—remaining one of literature's most penetrating studies of the human conscience.
