Raskolnikov's inferiority complex

[cvn]

A lot of readers would describe Raskolnikov as having a superiority complex, but I think he would be more accurately described as having an inferiority complex. Wikipedia defines "superiority complex" as follows: "The term 'superiority complex', in everyday usage, refers to an overly high opinion of oneself; in psychology, it refers to the unrealistic and exaggerated belief that one is better than others. This is juxtaposed to 'inferiority complex' sufferers in whom this develops as a way to compensate for unconscious feelings of low self-esteem or inadequacy." Although he does have a superiority complex in the colloquial sense because of his overly high opinion of himself, he does not in the more narrow sense used in psychology because his feelings are a form of overcompensation. The article continues: "Those with a superiority complex may speak as if they are all-knowing and better than others. But ultimately they do not care if others think so or not, and will not care if others tell them so. They simply won't listen to, and don't care about, those who disagree. This is juxtaposed to an inferiority complex where if their knowledge, accuracy, superiority or etc is challenged, will not stop in their attempts to prove such things until the other party accepts their opinion (or whatever it may be). Again this is another reason that those with inferiority complexes are often mistaken for having superiority complexes when they must express and maintain their superiority in the eyes of others." In other words, those who have an inferiority complex are the ones who need to assert their superiority over others.

By religious or secular humanist standards, Raskolnikov, all things considered, is a great man. He is compassionate, self-sacrificing, and has a deep and genuine concern for the poor and meek, as evidenced by the following quote: "Lizaveta! Sonya! Poor, meek ones, with meek eyes... Dear ones!... Why don't they weep? Why don't they moan?... They give everything... their eyes are so gentle and meek... Sonya, Sonya! Gentle Sonya!..." But by the standards of the Russian Nihilists and himself, he is ordinary. Great men are unimpeded by morality. He is impeded by morality; therefore, he is ordinary. Logically, he cannot disagree. But he wants, needs, to be great. So he rebels. When he saves a young girl from a predatory dandy with the help of a police officer, and suddenly after realizing his own hypocrisy, he yells to the police officer to "let him have his fun", he is rebelling against his nature. When he kills the pawnbroker, he is once again rebelling against his nature. When he is given the strength through Sonya's love and acceptance to confess to his crime and "accept suffering", he has finally come to terms with his nature. Because of her influence, he has re-evaluated his value system and no longer needs to feel ashamed of those qualities that he once considered weaknesses. As he says at the end of the epilogue, "Can her convictions not be my convictions now?" His inferiority complex is cured.

[carnage_complex]

I'm inclined to believe that Raskolnikov did have what modern psychology might term an 'inferiority complex,' evidenced mostly by the motive of his crime.  He sought to act as an agent of some higher moral code, but his moral struggle up to and immediately following the crime demonstrates that he is susceptible to the very moral compunctions that he outlined as atypical of the average member of the human herd in his article.  He was trying to test his own mettle, and the very fact that he did this doomed his experiment to failure before he began. 

[Donato]

Alfred Adler would say that an inferiority complex is the flip side of a superiority complex, so Roskolnikov suffering from both. In a sense, he suffered first from an inferiority complex, but tried to compensate for that by developing a sense of superiority over others.  Of course, human psychology was not as developed during the time of Dostoevsky as it is now. From Alfred Adler website:
"The negative responses to these feelings of inferiority become the inferiority complex or the superiority complex.  Both reflect feelings of inferiority for they are two sides of the same coin.  There are those who act and feel inferior and those who feel inferior but in denial try to lord it over others.  The interesting thing is that they are both symptoms of a poor self-image.   Individuals with a superiority complex are more concerned with attaining selfish goals than with social interest.  They may express this selfishness in a need to dominate, refusal to cooperate, or they may want to take and not to give.  Feelings of inferiority activate some to strive upward so that a normal feeling of inferiority impels human beings to solve their problems successfully.  On the other hand, the inferiority complex and/or the superiority complex impede or prevent them from doing so. These feelings of inferiority lead to a STRIVING FOR SUPERIORITY."