There is nothing good or bad but thinking makes it so.

Life is what you make of it. This one simple phrase can be applied throughout life, and throughout literature, which aims to mimic the first of the two. The human mind can theorize something time after time, until even the most horrible thing makes sense to take action on. This holds true for Raskolnikov and his mother and sister. Throughout the lives of these three, even within the first part of the novel, it can be seen how they convince themselves of things that do not seem the most appealing.
The first person that we fall upon in this book is Raskolnikov. Although for some time we don't quite understand why he is plotting his moves out, we soon learn that it is because he is planning to kill Alyona Ivanova, the pawnbroker. After the horse dream, we think that maybe he has changed his mind, but his mind is swayed by the theorizing mind that wants to just...