Beyond Crime and Punishment

In Friedrich Nietzsche’s Beyond Good and Evil, Nietzsche describes for us the two categories of men into which he believes the whole human race falls- the dependant and the independent. Categorizing these two types of men is what drives the discussion of the main character in Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment- Raskolnikov. In Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment, we meet Raskolnikov- a man that, at times, exemplifies both aspects of a dependant and independent man, but can confidently be described as one of Nietzsche’s independents. Dostoevsky’s Raskolnikov exemplifies these characteristics that are said by Nietzsche to be that of an independent and commanding man as he; differentiates himself from the “herd,” is a “free spirit” with an innate sense of freedom and individuality, and is at his best when he acts on his instincts.

Nietzsche’s independent man is one of fierce individuality when the herd instinct encompasses him. On page 54, Nietzsche talks of the “herds of men” and how the mass majority of humans gravitate toward the state of being considered as one of the herd, that is, being one that accepts all that is presented to him. In a society, the individuality and ideology of Nietzsche’s independent man will prove to be different from that of the masses of men. Furthermore, Nietzsche goes on to talk of how the independents see themselves;

Indeed we do not even say enough when we say only that much; and at any rate we are at this point, in what we way and keep silent about, at the other end from all modern ideology and heard desiderata- as their antipodes perhaps?

In this passage, Nietzsche tells of how the thoughts and ideologies embraced by the independents are at the complete end of the spectrum compared to the thoughts and ideologies embraced by that of the herdsmen, which gives them their independence. On the other hand, the dependant, or ordinary man, would possess none of these characteristics, and would not embrace the ideologies of his own, but those of the herdsmen around him. In short, the ordinary man, “accepts whatever is shouted into its ears by someone who issues commands- parents, teachers laws, class prejudices, public opinions,” Note 199, paragraph 1. An independent’s incredible individuality would then recognize him as an individual, whose ideas and creativity have been both disregarded and shamed by the herd. This individuality would then recognize him, as one of Nietzsche is few extraordinary men.