"A guilty conscience never feels secure" by Publius Syrus
is a maxim that is true of many characters in literature. One such example is Fyodor
Dostovesky's novel, Crime and Punishment in which a young student
named Raskolnikov murders an old woman money lender who lives above him to prove his
theory that extraordinary men are above the law since in their brillance they "think new
thoughts" and, thus, contribute to society. He determines to prove his theory by
murdering a cynical old pawnbroker and her sister. However, he does not consider his
conscience in his equation.
After Raskolnikov kills the old
woman, he reads the newspaper the next day--nothing is in it about a murder on his
street. Still, he is watchful, attentive to any prolonged glance at himself or any
policeman passing by. Days pass without incident, and this pattern continues until one
day, he can stand it no longer. Raskolniknov's comes into contact with his conscience,
and he is made wretched by his guilt. He begins to believe that the police officer in
charge of the murder watches him. Raskolnikov becomes paranoic, imagining that the
officer suspects him. And, the more Raskolnikov intellectualizes, the more imprisoned
he becomes. When the officer does notice that Raskolnikov is acting strangely, the
sergeant then follows him and eventually arrests
him.
Constant worry that he would be found out is actually
what has caught Raslkolnikov because he begins to act oddly from his imaginings that the
sergeant suspects him.
In Shakespeare's
Hamlet, for instance, the same is true. Claudius, who has murdered
Hamlet's father, the king, assumes the throne and marries Hamlet's mother. But, because
Hamlet begins to act strangely, Claudius worries that he will be found out as one of the
murderers. He devises various plans to rid himself of Hamlet, whom he suspects knows
much about him. His final plan fails, however, and he himself is killed along with his
victims.
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