Raskolnikov is a man proud, unselfish, ghastly and disbelieving, lonely - and mysterious and interesting personality. This is perhaps because he is convinced of his own exclusivity. In contrast, Mishkin is convinced of the exclusivity of others, modest about the significance of his personality. "I have not been in Russia for more than four years, and how I left: I was almost out of my mind, and then I did not know anything but now, even less" . Raskolnikov fails to realize his theory but realizes himself as a killer, and that's precisely his tragedy, his personal drama. The consciousness, the icy fear that he pursues at every step, the consciousness of the unreasonably done evil, the consciousness of his own affliction, the indifference to become "the ruler," the understanding of the bankruptcy of his theory - all weigh on the criminal's soul.
The character passes through Hell from psychological torment and moral annoyances revealed by extraordinary drama. The young man is constantly in a strange hypotonic state, caused by his sense of sin. From the very beginning of the novel, Raskolnikov is broken apart by a split, is in a dialogue with himself / herself - to commit the crime, is it justified, and is a lion or strong person, a lord, to surrender, why he has not touched your life, where is the truth? Mishkin in this respect is radically different. He does not know the divisiveness, the mental contradictions are completely alien to him - his soul is united in his aspirations, in his desire to do good, in his infinite love for people. And even if the others are scared by Raskolnikov because they can not understand what is happening in his soul, such as his own mother, then in the eyes of the people the prince seems funny and childish naive and nobody would have thought to be afraid of him. Children immediately love it, perhaps because they are best at feeling good-natured in people and because the hero is actually like them. Here the two characters seem to be polarizing - Raskolnikov fails to preserve his childish innocence, but he gives himself a strange understanding and awareness of the world.
On the other hand, Raskolnikov is like Mishkin - a man deeply perceiving the other pain, pitiable to the people, ready to always help them. As the prince looks at Nastase Filippovna's soul, the ex-student gets into Sonia's soul, finally succeeding in loving her. Mishkin is willing to give money to people if it can make them happy, and Raskolnikov for example gives his last money to Katerina Ivanovna for her husband's funeral. "There are two people living and struggling in it" (Merezhkovsky, E. The Eternal Companions ). In general, the criminal, like "idiot," sincerely sympathizes with the weak and the miserable, helping them as he can. Here is the paradox of his contradictory personality - on the one hand he is a killer, and on the other hand, a benefactor and a savior. It is precisely with this positive side of its duality that Raskolnikov approaches the wonderful soul of Prince Mishkin. His soul has preserved the human, and it is the reason for the collapse of his insubstantial idea. In this sense, Raskolnikov's offense can be considered by another. By killing, the hero thinks he lives a lot. Raskolnikov and Mishkin, therefore, strive for good, but the former seeks for it through evil, and the second through good.