i am also reading crime and punishment for my LA class and i seem have been the only person in the class who has been able to relate to him on many levels. That being said, I often understand why he makes the decisions he does and I can ASSURE you that he is just as sane as anyone else in the book and anyone reading the book. If you have trouble convincing people of this, simply ask them: "what would you have done in this situation?". If anybody who wouldn't give their life to save a complete stranger who just spit on them, responds with anything along the lines of; "I would turn myself in" or "I would find an honest living to pay rent" or even "I would have at least sold what I stole", look them straight in the eye and say "really?, you think you could handle committing a crime better than a man who is an expert on the very subject of crime and criminals? You, who cannot stand to live without your iPod and your Facebook page, would be able to live a life of poverty in Russia BETTER than Raskolnikov?" If you do this than you will either prove that Raskolnikov is sane, or you will prove that your opposition is not mentally stable. This will ensure your victory regardless of which outcome happens. A good quote to use as well would be the conversation between the student and the officer on pages 64-66 where both the student and the police officer agree that the woman should be killed.