Crimes & Misdemeanors *Contains C&P Spoilers*

The question I am choosing to respond to:
2. Speaking to Judah, Rabbi Ben states the two key moral positions of the movie: "It's a fundamental difference in the way we view the world. You see it as harsh and empty of values and pitiless. And I couldn't go on living if I didn't feel it with all my heart a moral structure, with real meaning and forgiveness, and a higher power, otherwise there's no basis to live." Is there an in between position?

There is definitely an in between position on world view. Those characters were the two absolute extremes. I don't think anyone thinks the world is either a soulless place with no redeeming qualities or a perfect fairyland with no flaws. I'm definitely in between. Sometimes I have great faith in other humans (like if someone picks up and gives me the five-dollar bill I dropped in the hallway), but other times I feel much less sure. Violent events make me think that the world is more bad than good, if only for a little while-- but the outreach that quickly comes to the aide of the affected greatly outweighs the damage. Sure, some things in the news are absolutely horrible and awful to think of. But the goodness outweighs the bad. To be a healthy individual, you must have an in between view of the world's morality.
Crimes and Misdemeanors is similar to Crime and Punishment in many ways, but different in a few key ways. In C&M, the killer (Judah, technically) kills because he feels he absolutely has to. He doesn't have another choice, because Dolores knows too much. This, of course, is not a justification but is much different from Raskilnikov's reasoning. He killed the pawnbroker because he had a sever compulsion to do so and she was the easiest subject. He only killed Lizaveta because she was there-- he had no plan, where Judah's murder was planned extensively with a hit man. Judah's brother made every effort to cover up his tracks, while Raskilnikov's insanity led him to make choices that would eventually reveal him. As far as we know, Judah is never arrested or even questioned for the murder. Raskilnikov is harassed consistently by Pyotr Petrovitch and at his trial eventually confesses. Both give the air of a happy ending (as happy as the situations could be, I suppose). Lastly, C&P ends with true, successful love while C&M ends with love strewn all around and ripped apart.