Crime and Punishment: Protagonist and Antagonist Essay Crime and Punishment is considered by many to be the first of Fyodor Dostoevsky's great books. Crime and Punishment is a psychological account of a crime. The crime is double murder. A book about such a broad subject can be made powerful and appealing to our intellectual interests if there is a link between the reader, the action, and the characters. Doestoevsky makes all these links at the right places. The action takes place between the protagonists and the antagonists. The protagonists include Dounia, the Marmeladovs, Sonia, Razumhin