New 6x9 inch paperback edition. Raskolnikov, the protagonist of Crime and Punishment, believes he can rationalize murder without guilt and the story follows this journey from arrogance to repentance and the burden he must carry symbolized by the cross given to him by Sonya. The mental anguish and moral dilemmas expressed in the dialogue, and Raskolnikov's dreams, are cleverly utilized by Dostoyevsky to articulate the broader philosophical debate sweeping through nineteenth-century Europe about nihilism, utopian socialism, utilitarianism, and extreme rationalism.