Guilt as well as intellectual reasoning prove to be the main motivating factors behind the crime of Raskolnikov. Throughout the novel his actions are usually a result of his striking intelligence or his tormenting conscience, or in the situation of the murder, both. Raskolnikov's idea to kill the old pawnbroker stems from a theory he was developing. It was probable that during his studies at the university he was aquatinted with the popular philosophies of two German thinkers of the time.

Raslkolnikov uses Napoleon as an example of his extraordinary man throughout the book. He feels that he symbolizes the superman because he stood above common law, and had the nerve to commit nefarious acts in order to reach his goals. However, Raskolnikov does not consider another possibility who fits the mold of the extraordinary superman.

However, it is not in Raskolnikov's nature to rely entirely on his intellectual reasoning to exonerate his crime. Guilt plays a major role in motivating him to kill Alyona. His intense love for his family, and the desperate circumstances that were emerging was probably the deciding factor that drove Raskolnikov to actually commit the crime. His stubborn love for Dunya made him take action against her impending marriage to Luzhin. He was not the type of man to allow his family to suffer while he stood aside helpless. I feel that this was the straw that broke the camel's back and impelled him to take action.

When Raskolnikov was developing his own superman theory he borrowed elements from both Nietzsche and Hegel, then applied them to his situation in order his own vague hypothesis. To Raskolnikov, all men fall into two categories, the ordinary and the extraordinary. Ordinary men are inferior to the extraordinary, and they live in submission. They have no authority to break any laws and they live only to reproduce more of their own kind.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Nietzsche Hegel, Wilhelm Nietzsche, Raslkolnikov Napoleon, Crime Punishment, Friedrich Hegel, Raskolnikov Throughout, Raskolnikov Consequently, According Hegel, , intellectual reasoning, superman theory, nietzschean superman,
Approximate Word count = 1117
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)