Dostoyevsky and Nietzsche were instrumental in introducing new ideas into the spectrum of the human psyche and the way we view criminals and punishment. There aren't many novels that examine human behavior the way Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment does. The book goes into explicit detail about the main character, Raskolnikov's psychological nature as he plots and commits murder against an old pawnbroker, is consumed with guilt by his actions, and struggles with the idea of surrender. We know that this is someone who believes they consider themselves an “extraordinary” person who feels above the law and whose life is more important than that of others. Nietzsche's book On the Genealogy of Morals focuses on explaining the origins of human guilt and conscience as well as the relationship between a debtor and a creditor. We can try to apply several of Nietzsche's ideas to Dostoyevsky's novel and attempt to explain why Raskolnikov came to this conclusion and did what he did. First, we will begin with how Nietzsche views the idea of ​​guilt and its origins. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essayNietzsche begins essay 2 of his book by removing the fact that man is a paradoxical creature, that we have “the right to make promises” and that we are also creatures of “oblivion”. What Nietzsche means by this is that for promises to be kept or kept, we must remember the promises we make and have confidence in the future. For this to be the case for human beings, we must become predictable creatures and we must conform to a set of rules that govern our behavior – "the right to make promises obviously...makes men to a certain extent necessary, uniform, like among similar people, regular and calculable” (Nietzsche, 58-59). These rules create an environment in which we can make promises and create a sense of responsibility that Nietzsche calls “conscience.” This can apply to Raskolnikov because he has made promises to several people, including his landlord to whom he is indebted because he owes several months of rent arrears and is actively trying to avoid her, which shows his guilt. Nietzsche then goes on to say that guilt has its origin “in a very material concept, debts [schulden]” (Nietzsche, 62-63). The punishment came to “inspire confidence…”. provide a guarantee of the seriousness and sanctity of this promise, make repayment a duty" and the types of punishment have evolved with man as we have come to differentiate between "intentional, negligent, accidental and responsible" as the punishment did. differentiate between those who knowingly break the rules and those who do so unknowingly. He then explains the contractual relationship between a debtor and a creditor in that if a debtor fails to keep his promise, it would amount to inflicting pain on the creditor. The relationship contract provides that if the promise is not respected, “the equivalent… can actually be reimbursed, if only through the pain of the guilty party”. Nietzsche says that the feeling of guilt has its origins in "the oldest and most primitive personal relationship, the buyer and the seller, the debtor and the creditor...it was here that one person could measure himself against another » (Nietzsche, 70). Measuring oneself against another is a very familiar thing in the novel of,.