The central theme of Fyodor Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment deals with the role of conformity in society. Dostoyevsky uses conformity to make Raskolnikov mentally ill and ultimately surrender to face punishment for his crimes. Religion influences all the characters in the book, but none is more ardent than Raskolnikov. Understanding the role of religion as a force for conformity in Crime and Punishment provides powerful insight into character motivations and, furthermore, philosophical influences. The first thing to address when discussing the author's purpose is to examine the motivation of the main character, Raskolnikov. In Crime and Punishment, Raskolnikov becomes an ubermensch, and part of this is because he does not take into account the moral values ​​of society and in turn attempts to use utilitarianism to justify his actions. He thinks the pawnbroker he plans to kill is harming society, so he thinks he is actually morally obligated to kill her and improve the lives of other members of society. He is able to justify his actions, even to the point that he believes that “what he was planning to do was ‘not a crime’” (69). Although the pawnbroker may not have been in the wrong, Raskolnikov believed at the time that he was doing society a favor. Despite this, he feels guilty and considers surrendering “entirely out of horror and disgust for what he has done” (77). Raskolnikov's conscience no longer allows him to feel good about killing someone after actually killing her. After this, Raskolnikov struggles because, as Dostoyevsky says, “a crime is always accompanied by an illness” (249). Raskolnikov's guilt consumes him to the extreme and “he did not sleep, but remained there in a state of oblivion” (84). This disease is certified...... middle of paper ......es by a form of punishment. Because his conscience, based on religion, did not agree with the murders, Raskolnikov knew that what he had done was wrong. This message is the goal that Dostoyevsky presents to Raskolnikov. However, the crime is often understood literally as a crime against the law, but the crime that actually provokes the conflict is the one that occurs in Raskolnikov's consciousness. Religion appears in its most obvious form at the end of its punishment. Crime and Punishment shows conformity to the laws of society as a paradigm for redemption, taken from a religious context in which Jesus suffered for redemption. Raskolnikov embraces conformity when he surrenders, accepting religion's, and therefore society's, expectations of him. Works Cited Dostoyevsky, Fyodor. Crime and punishment. New York: New American Library, 1968. Print.