The Anchor of Conscience Without moral boundaries, would humanity be an anarchic vortex of suffering or would it be on the cusp of fulfillment? In his novel Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoevsky explores many complex themes, but the concept of guilt and its weight on everyday actions and consequences is one of the most important concepts in the objectives of his work. Set in 19th-century St. Petersburg, Russia, the same haunt inhabited by Dostoevsky for much of his life, the novel's protagonist Raskolnikov navigates the line between man and God and takes the life of a venal and miserly pawnbroker . Raskolnikov does this after concluding that moral constraints are what prevent individuals from accomplishing great feats and gaining power in their lives. As the novel progresses, Dostoevsky paints an incredibly vivid depiction of Raskolnikov and the unscrupulous streets of St. Petersburg, and uses literary devices in the impoverished setting, bloody conflict, and harrowing characterization that permeate his work to establish a clear theme of confession through "The heat in the street was terrible: and the dry air, and the bustle, and the plaster, and the scaffolding, and the bricks, and the dust all around him, and that special stench of Petersburg, so familiar to all who they cannot leave the city in the summer: everything weighed painfully on the young man's already tense nerves. The unbearable stench of the taverns, particularly numerous in that part of the city, and the drunks he continually encountered, despite it being a working day, completed the revolt. misery of the picture” (Dostoevsky 2). Setting is extremely critical not only in establishing the basic structure of the story of Crime and Punishment, but also… in the middle of the paper… entered into Dostoevsky's characterization of Raskolnikov , delving further into the same theme that pervades his work. Crime and punishment is a finely sharpened sword; establishes the ideal character, setting, and conflict to demonstrate the exact point that Fyodor Dostoevsky was trying to make: that through great suffering and perseverance, even the most heinous acts can be forgiven if one truly seeks forgiveness and penance. The mind of the guilty will always drive him to confess, drive him to madness or have no effect if the individual is devoid of humanity. Dostoevsky rejects the idea of ​​a “superman” and puts forward his theory that all living creatures have value, regardless of birth or status, and that no one has the right to take it away. He believes in purifying oneself spiritually and physically, and he illustrates this exactly in Crime and Punishment.