Raskolnikov was a young university student who fell on hard times and had to drop out. He found himself in such a state of poverty that he had to pawn some items that were precious to him. He brings the items to the local pawn lady Alyona Ivanova. She is known for ripping people off, which includes Raskolnikov.

He is tired of being in the "low class" and plans to murder the pawn lady and rob her to hopefully gain some money. He does, in fact, kill her, but her sister comes home unexpectedly, and well, he has to kill her too, of course. 

After committing the crime, Raskolnikov finds himself physically ill from the reoccurring thoughts of the murders. He can't stop thinking about it. His friends and mother come to care for him, finding his behavior utterly strange. During all this, it seems he does not really regret the actual crime. He, in university, even wrote a paper on mankind and how he believes there to be two classes, one the elite whom can do whatever they like and the second class, which is everyone else. Raskolnikov finds himself in the first and seemingly believes he should be allowed to murder as a result of that. 

By the end of the book, nearly everyone close to him knows he is the killer. When told to confess, he simply indicates he isn't ready to go to prison. Not that he didn't do it. The crime was pointless as he gained nothing from it, but it took everything from him.

"You are a great sinner, it's true," he added in near ecstasy, "and above all, you are a sinner for having destroyed and betrayed yourself for nothing."