Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov
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Rodion Romanovitch Raskolnikov is the protagonist of Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky. He is also known by the diminutives Rodya, Rodenka, and Rodka. The name Raskolnikov comes from the Russian raskolnik meaning "schismatic".
He is an young student living in extreme poverty in St Petersburg. Many characters state that he is very intelligent, and Raskolnikov himself occasionally thinks of himself as a genius. He lives in a tiny garret which he rents (he claims the room aggravates his depression). He sleeps on a couch using old clothes as a pillow and doesn't eat much, although the landlady sometimes sends her servant in with food. Although frequently referred to as a student, no mention of any educational institution which he currently attends is ever made. In some translations, such as David McDuff's, he is described as an ex-student. Emotionally disturbed and totally amoral, he is socially inept and neurotic about small things, such as crowded spaces. Raskolnikov fluctuates between extremes of altruism and apathy. He is described by the narrator as "extremely handsome".
He murders a pawnbroker with an axe, with the intention of using her money for good causes, based on a theory he had developed. Raskolnikov believed that people were divided into the "ordinary" and the "extraordinary": the ordinary are the commmon rabble, the extraordinary (notably Napoleon) must not adhere to the moral code afflicting the ordinary since they are destined for greatness. He has been contemplating this theory for months, only telling it to his fianceé (although he wrote an article along those lines in a journal). He believes himself to be one of these extraordinary men and is thus allowed to commit murder. However, his plan goes wrong, and he kills the pawnbroker's sister to avoid detection. He finds only a little money, which he then hides. His grand failure is that he lacks the conviction he believed to accompany greatness amd continues his decline into madness. After confessing to the destitute, pious prostitute Sofya Semyonovna Marmeladova, she guides him towards admitting to the crime. Raskolnikov is sentenced to exile in Siberia, accompanied by Sofya, where he begins his mental and spiritual rehabilitation.pt:Rodion Românovitch Raskólnikov