Finding the Key to St. Peter’s Gates

We are ready to represent the best custom paper writing assistance that can cope with any task like Finding the Key to St. Peter’s Gates even at the eleventh hour. The matter is that we posses the greatest base of expert writers. Our staff of freelance writers includes approximately 300 experienced writers are at your disposal all year round. They are striving to provide the best ever services to the most desperate students that have already lost the hope for academic success. We offer the range of the most widely required, however, not recommended for college use papers. It is advisable to use our examples like Finding the Key to St. Peter’s Gates in learning at public-education level. Get prepared and be smart with our best essay samples cheap and fast! Get in touch and we will write excellent custom coursework or essay especially for you.

Religion is found throughout the world, varying by culture, history, and ethnicity. Within different religions there are contrasting beliefs that people hold for different aspects of one’s given faith. Crime and Punishment, written by Fyodor Dostoevsky in the 1800s, is a novel describing the internal battle that the main character, Raskolnikov, experiences after committing two murders. His religious values are influenced by the various characters he encounters, often paralleled as Biblical figures, and their beliefs about the road to take in order to reach salvation. He meets a man who believes suffering will bring atonement for his sins, a woman who chooses to take the moral high road, and notices for the first time a relative’s belief in self-sacrifice and love. Through his interactions with orthodox Christians differ on certain religious views, and those who choose to reject religion altogether, Raskolnikov learns of the true gateway to heaven and that the basic purpose of religion is to give hope. Throughout Crime and Punishment, Raskolnikov struggles with his conscious and feelings of guilt as he travels on the road to eventual redemption through the love of another and acceptance of his guilt. Several religious beliefs regarding redemption in Christianity are displayed throughout Crime and Punishment to show that the true way to redemption is through love for others.


Some believe that redemption is achieved through suffering and can lead to hope for a better future. At the beginning of Crime and Punishment, Raskolnikov encounters a drunk named Marmeladov who used his money to buy drinks instead of taking care of his family. His argument is that God will erase the many sins he has committed, such as not taking care of his family and not doing anything to keep his young daughter out of prostitution. He stated that God would forgive his sins due to his personal conviction that “[he] hast loved much. (p. 18) Marmeladov was convinced that because he suffered, his sins would be eradicated. He believed in this theory because he felt that he had no other way to achieve redemption. If self-sacrifice, outward compassion, or taking responsibility for one’s actions was truly the key to St. Peter’s gates, then he knew that he was doomed to hell because he had accomplished none of those things. Another character who held the same belief as Marmeladov, was a minor character named Nikolay. He confessed to the murders that were actually committed by Raskolnikov in an attempt to cleanse himself of his sins. The investigator voiced his realization as he told Raskolnikov that “Nikolay wants to take his suffering or something of the sort.” (p. 7) The cleansing of sins through suffering is a popular belief because it gives people hope for their future when they have little or no control in the present.


Raskolnikov encountered the religious beliefs of self-sacrifice and repentance through the two main female characters in Crime and Punishment. His sister, Dounia, was willing to sacrifice herself through marriage in a desperate attempt to save her family’s financial situation. Raskolnikov’s girlfriend, Sonia, sacrificed her body for her family as she entered into the world of prostitution. Although Sonia’s act of self-sacrifice seemed sinful to many, the character of Sonia is a direct allegory to Mary Mag’dalene in the Bible. Both were prostitutes and considered great sinners. Christ however saw into Mary’s heart and cleansed her sins. In fact, Mary Mag’dalene was the first person that Christ came to after his resurrection, showing that outward sins have no bearing on the purity of one’s soul. (Gospel of Philip and Peter) Although both girls were willing to take the path of self-sacrifice due to fiscal needs, the driving force was to help their families. Dounia and Sonia pushed Raskolnikov to confess his crime and take responsibility for his actions. Both women believed that acceptance would lead to repentance, which is a vital step in the redemption process. Raskolnikov, however, did not take responsibility for his actions in order to save himself. He confessed to appease Sonia. In fact, he almost left the station before he admitted to the murders but he saw Sonia standing near the entrance, “pale and horror-stricken…There was a look of poignant agony, of despair, in her face…He stood still a minute, grinned, and went back to the police office.” (p. 4) The beliefs of self-sacrifice and repentance are popular in Christian churches and are evident through the sacrament of penance. Many participate in these practices in order to gain control in their afterlife and abate guilt and worries caused by sins.


Although there are people who argue about the correct way to accomplish a task, or the correct answer in something as complex as religion, others completely pull them selves out of the debate. In Crime and Punishment one such person is Svidrigailov, the man who chases Dounia and supposedly has killed his rich wife. Among rumors of multiple murders, attempted rape, and supposed child molesting, Svidrigailov is depicted as a sneaky and deceitful man, although generous with money. Through his portrayal, he is seen as an unreligious man who does not follow a moral code, such as would be necessary after one’s spouse dies suspiciously. If he did murder his wife, as the reader is lead to believe, by not showing repentance and soon advancing on another woman, he would be a representation of evil. After realizing that Dounia will never be with him, he commits suicide, which symbolizes his final rejection of religion. Throughout Crime and Punishment he is conveyed as an evil character because of his violent and conniving behavior. Due to his powerful religious conversion, Dostoevsky would have used Svidrigailov’s lack of religion to further symbolize his lost soul and corrupt character. If he had religion in his life to give him hope and guidance for the future, Svidrigailov’s fate might have been drastically different. Dostoevsky uses Svidrigailov to show that without religion one is left alone and without chance of salvation.


Do my coursework


By the end of Crime and Punishment, Raskolnikov finally found that the true way to become redeemed was through repentance and love. After being convicted of his crimes, Raskolnikov was sentenced to eight years in Siberia and was accompanied by Sonia. Through her constant love for him, Raskolnikov was eventually able to accept and return his love for her. This was only made possible because “he knew with that infinite love he would now repay all her sufferings.” (p. 448) The epilogue of Crime and Punishment and Raskolnikov’s journey to redemption is a parallel to the recurrent story of Lazarus seen throughout the novel. It was important for him to concentrate on this Biblical story, where a man rises from the dead, in order to give him hope for his future with Sonia and his family. In addition, Raskolnikov symbolically relived the resurrection of Jesus Christ. As Raskolnikov became ill at Lent, Christ died, and as Raskolnikov became well and realized his love for Sonia at Easter, Christ was risen. The seven years left of Raskolnikov’s prison sentence symbolizes the seven days that God took to create the world, showing that it would be possible for Raskolnikov to change his life as he began his “gradual regeneration…[and his] initiation into a new unknown life.” (p. 44) Although Raskolnikov encountered various religious beliefs, he eventually realized that love was the determining factor in redemption.





Mind that the sample papers like Finding the Key to St. Peter’s Gates presented are to be used for review only. In order to warn you and eliminate any plagiarism writing intentions, it is highly recommended not to use the essays in class. In cases you experience difficulties with essay writing in class and for in class use, order original papers with our expert writers. Cheap custom papers can be written from scratch for each customer that entrusts his or her academic success to our writing team. Order your unique assignment from the best custom writing services cheap and fast!