â Raskolnikov , the anti-hero of Dostoevskyâ s novel Crime and Punishment , puts this philosophy into action when he kills an elderly pawnbroker and her sister , later rationalizing this act to himself with the words , â ... it wasnâ t a human being I killed , it was a principle ! Raskolnikov , the anti-hero of Dostoevskyâ s novel Crime and Punishment , puts this philosophy into action when he kills an elderly pawnbroker and her sister , later rationalizing this act to himself with the words , '' ... it wasnâ t a human being I killed , it was a principle ! ''