The theory of Raskolnikov, his plan to restore the humiliated dignity of a person by means of a "fair" distribution of goods, originated in the atmosphere characteristic of that period. On the one hand - honest, decent people, turned by extreme poverty into "creatures of trembling", on the other - a useless, but very rich "louse", sucking blood from those very honest people. Moreover, new, completely unformed, often devoid of moral and spiritual principles, add fuel to the fire.
To emphasize the truth (apparent) of Raskolnikov, Dostoevsky deliberately scatters the picture of grief and poverty throughout the novel, thereby reinforcing the painful feeling of hopelessness. The last straw that overflowed the patience and led to the fact that Raskolnikov’s theory moved from the stage of abstract reflection to the stage of practical implementation was Marmeladov’s confession and a letter from his mother. The time has come to materialize the idea that the hero has long nurtured in his wretched closet: it is blood in good conscience that the chosen persons (including him) are allowed to shed.
The theory of Raskolnikov was simultaneously dependent and in contradiction with the then positivistic theories of G. Spencer, D. S. Mill, N. G. Chernyshevsky. All of them relied on economic benefits and material amenities, wealth.
Dostoevsky believed that consciousness, constantly filled with such categories, loses the need for Christian virtues, for high spirituality. His hero is trying to connect both sides. He dreamed that man and egocentrism would manifest within reasonable limits, and that he should not become a slave to modern economic relations, not too immersed in his physiological needs.
The theory of Raskolnikov, put into practice, revealed to the hero himself a paradoxical neighborhood in his soul of love for people and contempt for them. He considers himself to be the chosen one, who has the right (and even must) to kill in order to benefit not only himself, but all of humanity. And here he suddenly realizes that he is attracted to power for the sake of power itself, the desire to dominate others.
In order to somehow justify his suffering ideas, Raskolnikov cites some legislators as an example, which even the blood did not stop. However, their actions do not seem substantial and saving, on the contrary, they strike with senseless destruction for the better. Such a train of thought of Rodion does not ennoble his ideas as he wanted, but only exposes them and leads to the same assessment that Porfiry Petrovich gave everything that was happening. He defined the criminal as an individual who deified himself, while belittling the personalities of other people, and encroaching on their lives.
The absurd theory of Raskolnikov and its collapse is seen by Dostoevsky as a natural event. He showed how the nebula of salvation and beneficence of a new idea, its uncertainty can serve as a kind of psychological veil that can even lull a person’s conscience in order to destroy, blur the boundaries between the concepts of good and evil.
The theory of Raskolnikov and its collapse has a historical side. It shows how ambiguous these or other historical innovations can be, how much prudence and well-being can be inversely proportional to the law of “I”.
The author does not describe the spiritual revival of the protagonist in as much detail as his mental ordeals, however, he outlines the contours. Raskolnikov gradually realizes the essence of his idea, its perniciousness, its real meaning. He experiences the greatest torments of conscience and is ready for repentance, now ready to be guided in his life only by the commandments of the Gospel. According to Dostoevsky, only the sacrificial, giving love, and not abstract, to all of humanity, but concrete, to a specific neighbor is capable of restoring a human appearance in a hero. For Raskolnikov, such a salvation is the compassionate love between him and Sonya Marmeladova.