The idea that all men fall into two categories, the ordinary and the extraordinary, plays an essential role in Crime and Punishment . This theory is the driving force of the plot and the beginning of Raskolnikov's murderous action. The idea that “a crime is always accompanied by an illness” (259) is demonstrated in the characters of Crime and Punishment. Even without crime, madness is accompanied by illness. Sometimes appearing completely crazy, superiors are exceptionally in control of themselves. Madness, in this novel, separates those who can transgress from those who cannot. Examples of such superiors are Raskolnikov and Svidrigailov, who, in the midst of the madness that torments them, can act as if they were rational. Both men can pass normally. In delirium, they act like Napoleon without hesitation or tribulations (486). If Raskolnikov and Svidrigailov are crazy and rational, Sonya and Pulcheria are not. They just can't handle their craziness and attach themselves to ideas. This results in their own destruction. Just like a firecracker, they go into a frenzy and then go out. Dostoyevsky, in his novel Crime and Punishment, deduces that men are either ordinary or extraordinary depending on their madness. Dependent on her son and obsessed with the idea that Rodion is her savior, she cannot exist without him. Pulcheria Alexandrovna proves how ordinary she is when this addiction consumes her in a form called madness. This is shown in her letter where she writes: “You are all we have to turn to. Dounia and I, you are all our only hope, our only stay” (30). This is important because it reveals his life and goals are all focused on Rodion. Here too it is clear because she is distressed by the absence of a letter from him for two months...... middle of paper...... able to appear except to the sick" (287 ). Even if he doesn't feel guilty, "he's a madman", who knows how to behave, therefore an extraordinary man. It is therefore when madness infects the characters of this novel that it will reveal to what extent they are ordinary or extraordinary. The ordinary and the extraordinary play a fundamental role in the destiny of Crime and Punishment. Madness is accompanied by illness. The superiors, although completely crazy, are masters of themselves, like the characters in the novel, Rodion Raskolnikov and Ivanovich Svidrigailov, unlike Pulcheria Alexandrovna and Katerina Ivanova whose downfall is their disorientation. The madness of the novel's characters constitutes a barrio between those who can and those who cannot transgress the moral code. The superior will be remembered as normal if not glorified, while the ordinary inferiors will melt away and burn out..