Crime and Punishment - My Name is RaskolnikovIt is obvious that Raskolnikov did not kill Alyona. Nikolai did it. He confessed, right? Of course, of course, I know what you're saying: Raskolnikov also confessed. But it is obvious that his confession was not a true confession. Raskolnikov had seen Nikolai's true confession and was so moved that he decided he would like to try to confess himself. And the symbolism of Christ in the novel should not be overlooked. Raskolnikov is the obvious Christ figure; he is poor, he is generous, he is schizophrenic. Everything comes back. Raskolnikov is the second incarnation of Christ but no one realizes that it is Him. A bit sad. Raskolnikov's theory of the superior man should not be overlooked. Nikolai, on the other hand, is the scum of the earth. He's a minor character, and minor characters commit murders in books all the time. What else do they have to do? We must not only look at the psychology of the characters in the novel, but also that of the author. Dostoevsky would not write a story about a vile murderer. No. Dostoevsky was a good Christian writer. C&P is a manual for becoming a Christian, not a murderous psychological thriller. Raskolnikov gives many reasons for the murder, and it is obvious from the large number of reasons he gives that Raskolnikov is innocent. He can't even come up with a realistic reason! Nobody is fooled. I certainly wasn't. Raskolnikov is definitely a messed up character. He's upset because he can't find any work, so he decides to plead guilty to a murder he knows nothing about just so he can get hard labor in Siberia. Oh, sure, he wanted to go back to the apartment and asked where the body was. Surely he could have told the entire murder in realistic detail. These are just coincidences, just like his meeting with Marmeladov. C&P has often been criticized for its excessive use of coincidence. Perhaps the most confusing scene as it leads many unwary readers astray is the actual description of the murder itself. This was obviously just a dream. Dostoevsky was very fond of dream symbolism and used it often in C&P. So now it is obvious, I'm sure, that Raskolnikov did not kill Alyona, and that Nikolai did. But why did Nikolai kill Alyona? Well, Nikolai was one of the first existentialists. He killed her just for the thrill of it. Better than going to the cinema.