Crime and Punishment

The life of Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov takes one of two paths, depending on the way Crime and Punishment is read. On one hand, it could be taken that he is a sinful, hopeless man. On the other, he could still retain his purity as a superior person who is immune from judgement as a man. For the intent of Fyodor Dostoyevsky as he wrote the book, it is most accurate to assume the latter. With this as the functional assumption, Raskolnikov has not yet begun to die. This is because he has maintained his superiority through confidence in his ideal. Perhaps death begins when one's ideals are forsaken.