Preoccupation with the thought of killing a woman, Raskolnikov's central theme, is also encountered in other writings of Dostoevski. Psychological analysis of these not only provides us with an understanding of the relationship of parricide to epilepsy but, according to Kanzer, also shows Dostoevski's homicidal strivings towards the woman-mother. Evidence of Dostoevski's passive adjustment to oral frustration is presented, and the murder of the mother is perceived as an orgy of oral-sadistic revenge on her.