Sonechka Marmeladova: characteristics of the heroine of the novel “Crime and Punishment.” The image of the “eternal Sonechka” in F. M. Dostoevsky’s novel “Crime and Punishment”

F. M. Dostoevsky’s novel “Crime and Punishment” presents the reader with a gallery of characters who not only push Rodion Raskolnikov to commit a crime, but also directly or indirectly contribute to the protagonist’s recognition of his crime, Raskolnikov’s awareness of the inconsistency of his theory, which was the main cause of the crime.
One of the central places in the novel by F. M. Dostoevsky is occupied by the image of Sonya Marmeladova, a heroine whose fate evokes our sympathy and respect. The more we learn about it, the more we are convinced of its purity and nobility, the more we begin to think about true human values. Sonya’s image and judgments force us to look deep into ourselves and help us appreciate what is happening around us.

This girl with difficult fate. Sonya's mother passed away early, her father married another woman who has her own children. Need forced Sonya to earn money in a low way: she was forced to go to work. It would seem that after such an act, Sonya should have become angry with her stepmother, because she almost forced Sonya to earn money in this way. But Sonya forgave her, moreover, every month she brings money to the house in which she no longer lives. Sonya has changed outwardly, but her soul remains the same: crystal clear. Sonya is ready to sacrifice herself for the sake of others, and not everyone can do this. She could live “in spirit and mind,” but she must feed her family. She committed a sin, dared to sell herself. But at the same time, she does not require or expect any gratitude. She does not blame Katerina Ivanovna for anything, she simply resigns herself to her fate. “... And she just took our large green draded shawl (we have a common shawl, a draded damask one), covered her head and face with it completely and lay down on the bed, facing the wall, only her shoulders and body were all shaking...” Sonya closes face, because she is ashamed, ashamed of herself and God. Therefore, she rarely comes home, only to give money, she is embarrassed when meeting Raskolnikov’s sister and mother, she feels awkward even at the wake own father, where she was so shamelessly insulted. Sonya is lost under Luzhin's pressure; her meekness and quiet disposition make it difficult to stand up for herself.
All the heroine’s actions surprise with their sincerity and openness. She does nothing for herself, everything is for the sake of someone: her stepmother, stepbrothers and sister, Raskolnikov. The image of Sonya is the image of a true Christian and righteous woman. He is revealed most fully in the scene of Raskolnikov’s confession. Here we see Sonechkin’s theory - the “theory of God”. The girl cannot understand and accept Raskolnikov’s ideas; she denies his elevation above everyone, his disdain for people. The very concept of " extraordinary person“, just as the possibility of breaking the “law of God” is unacceptable. For her, everyone is equal, everyone will appear before the court of the Almighty. In her opinion, there is no person on Earth who would have the right to condemn his own kind and decide their fate. "Kill? Do you have the right to kill? - exclaims the indignant Sonya. Despite her reverence for Raskolnikov, she will never accept his theory.
The girl never makes an attempt to justify her position. She considers herself a sinner. Due to the circumstances, Sonya, like Raskolnikov, transgressed the moral law: “We are cursed together, we will go together,” Raskolnikov tells her. However, the difference between them is that he transgressed through the life of another person , and she - through her own. Sonya calls Raskolnikov to repentance, she agrees to bear his cross with him, to help him come to the truth through suffering. We have no doubt about her words, the reader is sure that Sonya will follow Raskolnikov everywhere, everywhere and always will be with him. And why does she need to go to Siberia, live in poverty, suffer for the sake of a person who is dry, cold, and rejects you? Only she, the “eternal Sonechka,” could do this. kind hearted And selfless love to people. Dostoevsky managed to create a unique image: a prostitute, respectful, the love of everyone around - the idea of ​​humanism and Christianity permeates this image. Everyone loves and honors her: Katerina Ivanovna, her children, neighbors, and convicts, whom Sonya helps for free. Reading the Gospel to Raskolnikov, the legend of the resurrection of Lazarus, Sonya awakens faith, love and repentance in his soul. “They were resurrected by love, the heart of one contained endless sources of life for the heart of the other.” Rodion came to what Sonya called him to, he overestimated life and its essence, as evidenced by his words: “Can her beliefs now not be my beliefs? Her feelings, her aspirations at least..."

In my opinion, the fate of Sonechka finally convinced Raskolnikov of the fallacy of his theory. He saw before him not a “trembling creature”, not a humble victim of circumstances, but a man whose self-sacrifice is far from humility and is aimed at saving the perishing, at effectively caring for his neighbors. Sonya, selfless in her devotion to family and love, is ready to share Raskolnikov’s fate. She sincerely believes that Raskolnikov will be able to resurrect for a new life.

The basis of Sonya Marmeladova’s personality is her faith in man, in the indestructibility of good in his soul, in the fact that sympathy, self-sacrifice, forgiveness and universal love will save the world. Having created the image of Sonya Marmeladova, Dostoevsky outlined the antipode of Raskolnikov and his theories (goodness, mercy opposing evil). Life position The girl reflects the views of the writer himself, his belief in goodness, justice, forgiveness and humility, but, above all, love for a person, no matter what he may be.

I want swans to live
And from the white flocks
The world has become kinder...

A. Dementyev

Songs and epics, fairy tales and stories, stories and novels of Russian writers teach us kindness, mercy and compassion. And how many proverbs and sayings have been created! “Remember good and forget evil,” “A good deed lives for two centuries,” “While you live, you do good, only the path of good is the salvation of the soul,” says folk wisdom. So what are mercy and compassion? And why today does a person sometimes bring more evil to another person than good? Probably because kindness is a state of mind when a person is able to come to the aid of others, give good advice, and sometimes just feel sorry. Not everyone is able to feel someone else's grief as their own, to sacrifice something for people, and without this there is no mercy or compassion. kind man attracts to himself like a magnet, he gives a piece of his heart, his warmth to the people around him. That is why each of us needs a lot of love, justice, sensitivity, so that we have something to give to others. We understand all this thanks to the great Russian writers and their wonderful works.

The heroes of the novel by F.M. are truly merciful and compassionate people. Dostoevsky "Crime and Punishment". The appearance of the novel “Crime and Punishment” was the result of the writer’s generalization of the most important contradictions of the 60s. Dostoevsky pondered his work for 15 years. Even at engineering school, the future writer was interested in the topic of a strong personality and his rights. In 1865, when Dostoevsky was abroad, the plan for the future novel took shape. Based on the original plot - dramatic story Marmeladov family, then the story of the crime came to the fore, and central theme became the topic of moral responsibility.

“Crime and Punishment” is an ideological novel, social and philosophical in theme, tragic in the nature of the problems posed, adventurous in its plot. The writer’s focus is on the terrible reality of Russia at the end of the 19th century, with its poverty, lack of rights, corruption and disunity of the individual, suffocating from the consciousness of his own powerlessness.

The main character of the novel, dropout student Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov, goes to terrible crime– taking the life of another person – under the influence of theories popular among young people of the 60s of the 19th century. Rodion is a dreamer, a romantic, a proud and strong, noble personality, completely absorbed in the idea. The thought of murder causes him not only moral, but also aesthetic disgust: “The main thing: dirty, dirty, disgusting, disgusting!..”. the hero asks the questions: is it permissible to commit small evil for the sake of great good, does a noble goal justify a criminal means? Raskolnikov has a kind and compassionate heart, wounded by the spectacle of human suffering. The reader is convinced of this by reading the episode in which Raskolnikov wanders around St. Petersburg. The hero sees terrible pictures big city and the suffering of the people in it. He is convinced that people cannot find a way out of the social impasse. The unbearably hard life of poor workers, doomed to poverty, humiliation, drunkenness, prostitution and death, shocks him. Raskolnikov perceives other people's pain more acutely than his own. Risking his life, he saves children from the fire; shares the latter with the father of a deceased comrade; a beggar himself, he gives money for the funeral of Mameladov, whom he barely knew. But the hero understands that he cannot help everyone, being a simple student. Raskolnikov comes to the realization of his own powerlessness in the face of evil. And in despair, the hero decides to “transgress” the moral law - to kill out of love for humanity, to commit evil for the sake of good. Raskolnikov seeks power not out of vanity, but in order to really help people dying in poverty and lawlessness. Mercy and compassion are the moral laws that prompted Raskolnikov to commit a crime. The hero feels sorry for everyone: his mother, his sister, the Marmeladov family. For their sake, he committed a crime. The hero wanted to make his mother happy. She helped her children all her life, sending her last money to her son, trying to make her daughter’s life easier. Raskolnikov wanted to save his sister, who lived as a companion to the landowners, from the voluptuous claims of the head of the landowner family. Rodion meets Mareladov in a tavern, where Semyon Zakharovich talks about himself. A drunken official appears before Raskolnikov, the destroyer of his own family, who deserves sympathy, but not condescension. His unfortunate wife evokes burning compassion in Raskolnikov, but she is also guilty of the fact that, even though “the children were sick and crying, they did not eat,” she sent her stepdaughter to the panel... and the whole family lives in her shame, in her suffering. Raskolnikov's conclusion about the meanness of people seems inevitable. Only one thing stuck as a thorn in the hero’s mind: what is Sonya’s fault for sacrificing herself to save her sisters and brother? What are they themselves to blame for - this boy and two girls? For the sake of these children and all others, Raskolnikov decides to commit a crime. He says that children "cannot remain children." The hero explains to the frightened Sonya: “What should I do? Break what is needed once and for all, and that’s all: and take the suffering upon yourself! What? Don't you understand? Afterwards you will understand... Freedom and power, and most importantly - power! Over the entire trembling creature, over the entire anthill!..” What kind of suffering is Raskolnikov talking about? Probably about murder. He is ready to step over himself by killing a person so that subsequent generations can live in harmony with their conscience.

Raskolnikov’s tragedy is that, according to his theory, he wants to act according to the principle “everything is permitted,” but at the same time, the fire of sacrificial love for people lives in him.

In the novel, almost every character is capable of empathy, compassion and be merciful.

Sonechka transgresses through herself for others. To save the family, he goes to the panel. Sonecha finds love and compassion, a willingness to share his fate, Raskolnikov. It is to Sonechka that the hero confesses his crime. She does not judge Raskolnikov for his sin, but painfully sympathizes with him and calls on him to “suffer” and atone for his guilt before God and people. Thanks to his love for the heroine and her love for him, Rodion is resurrected to a new life. “Sonechka, Sonechka Marmelladova, eternal Sonechka, as long as the world stands!” - a symbol of self-sacrifice in the name of one’s neighbor and endless “insatiable” compassion.

Raskolnikov’s sister, Avdotya Romanovna, who, according to Rodion, “would rather become a Negro to a planter or a Latvian to a Baltic German than to fuel her spirit and her moral sense by a connection with a person she does not respect,” is going to marry Luzhin. Avdotya Romanovna does not love this man, but with this marriage she hopes to improve the situation not so much for herself, but for her brother and mother.

In this work, Dostoevsky showed that it is impossible to do good relying on evil. That compassion and mercy cannot coexist in a person along with hatred of individual people. Here either hatred displaces compassion, or vice versa. A struggle of these feelings takes place in Raskolnikov’s soul, and, in the end, mercy and compassion win.

The hero understands that he cannot live with this black spot, the murder of the old woman, on his conscience. He understands that he is a “trembling creature” and had no right to kill. Every person has the right to life. Who are we to deprive him of this right?

Mercy and compassion play a significant role in the novel. The relationships of almost all the characters are built on them: Raskolnikov and Sonechka, Raskolnikov and Dunya, Raskolnikov and the Marmeladov family, Pulkhiriya Alexandrovna and Raskolnikov, Sonya and the Marmeladovs, Sonya and Dunya. Moreover, mercy and compassion in these relationships were manifested on both sides in contact.

Yes, life is harsh. Many human qualities heroes were tested. During these trials, some became lost among vices and evil. But the main thing is that, among the vulgarity, dirt and depravity, the heroes were able to preserve, perhaps, the most important human qualities - mercy and compassion.

Many Russian writers, when creating their works, examined in them the pressing problems of our time, exposing the vices of their time. Each era was marked by a new galaxy of questions to the thinking of which more than one generation of poets and writers devoted their work. With the development of society, literature also developed, topical topics changed, creative people new tasks arose, but one theme remained unchanged, perhaps in all centuries and times - exposing social injustice, protecting dignity " little man" This question was raised in the works of Gogol, Pushkin, Nekrasov. This theme also occupies one of the leading places in the works of Dostoevsky. A striking example This is the novel “Crime and Punishment”, where the protest against the social and moral humiliation of the individual is associated with the search for a force that could lead a person out of the spiritual and social crisis, from the calculating world of profit into the opposing world of kindness and truth.

Human suffering and injustice reigning in the world prompted the writer to search for various ways to save humanity, but Dostoevsky clearly rejects violent and revolutionary methods of influence, he does not accept the right of one person to interfere in the destinies of other people, to decide them at his own discretion, for a good purpose justify illicit means. Universal happiness, which is based on the sacrifices of individual people, according to the great writer, is the same evil, ennobled by lofty words. The idea of ​​​​the inadmissibility of this “good” is fully revealed by the great writer in the novel about the “poor” student Raskolnikov. After all, the main character of the novel justifies his crime - murder, with compassion for all the “humiliated and offended”, allowing him to “bleed according to his conscience.” But is this true? What is compassion? Co-suffer means “to suffer together.” And Raskolnikov’s suffering is directed exclusively deep into himself. What he experiences can be called rather sympathy. The thought of murder matured in his head gradually. Half a year before the events described in the novel, Raskolnikov writes an article “On Crime,” where he “examined psychological state criminal during the entire course of the crime,” and at the same time raised the question of such a crime, which is resolved according to conscience, and therefore is not a crime as such. Subsequently, he creates a theory about two categories of people: “trembling creatures” and “those who have the right.” And, naturally, he wonders about his own membership in one category or another. This is the motive for the murder. But no one recognizes himself as a criminal. Everyone is a fighter and sufferer for the truth. Raskolnikov follows the same path. At first, he hides the wrongness of his goals from himself, convincing himself that he kills only in order to “later dedicate himself to the service of all humanity and the common cause.” But from the very beginning he anticipates his self-deception. “We are inventing our own casuistry, we will learn from the Jesuits... we will convince ourselves that this is necessary, really necessary for a good purpose,” this is what he says about his sister’s decision to marry Luzhin, but these words can also be applied to his own internal state. The words heard in the tavern that “dozens of families saved from poverty, from decay, from death” are worth killing and robbing “an insignificant, evil old woman” are perceived by him as salvation, as a justification for his terrible plan. “I didn’t even want to lie to myself about this...”, but still he “lies.” He is trying to replace one goal - “self-affirmation” with another - “universal happiness”. “I myself wanted good for people,” Raskolnikov says to Dunya. “I killed for myself, one thing for myself,” he admits to Sonya. And this self-deception only intensifies the hero’s subsequent suffering. “To suffer together,” but Raskolnikov “as if with scissors, cut himself off from everything and everyone,” opposing everyone else. And his suffering is greater because he could not get over himself, that “he is a trembling creature.” Although he convinces himself that the suffering of a criminal is an indispensable sign of his rightness and greatness.

The complete opposite of Raskolnikov is Sonya Marmeladova. It is she, according to the author’s plan, who is the embodiment of true mercy and compassion. Trying to save her family from starvation, she goes out onto the street to sell her own body. Raised according to Christian commandments, she realizes that by committing such a sin, she dooms her soul to eternal torment. But compassion for hungry children, a sick stepmother, and an unhappy father turns out to be stronger than the desire to save one’s soul. At the same time, Sonechka remains true to her convictions, maintaining endless love for humanity, faith in herself and in people. “You also overstepped... You laid hands on yourself, you ruined your life... yours (it’s all the same!)...,” Raskolnikov tells her. But he himself feels that it’s not “all the same.” She is for the sake of others, and he is for the sake of himself. Her “crime” did not touch her soul. In essence, Sonino’s “crime” is a feat, while Raskolnikov wants to pass off his crime as a “feat”. Sonya is having a hard time experiencing her fall, and she is also visited by thoughts of suicide, which could save her from shame. But the images of hungry, helpless children make you forget about your suffering.

Sonechka also selflessly rushes to save Raskolnikov’s soul. There is no condemnation of his evil deed; boundless mercy is manifested in her in relation to his moral suffering. And here it is just appropriate to remember that compassion means “suffering together.” Sonya sincerely suffers along with Raskolnikov, trying to find a way to save his soul. And only thanks to her efforts Raskolnikov comes to the conclusion that his theory is untenable. It is Sonya who awakens him to life and leads him to the salvation of his soul. In the epilogue, Raskolnikov kneels before the girl: “... he was resurrected, and he knew it, felt it with his entire renewed being, and she - after all, she lived only his life!” Not a single theory in the world can defeat true mercy and human compassion. This is what life is all about.

Impoverished and degraded student Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov - central character Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky's epoch-making novel Crime and Punishment. The author needs the image of Sonya Marmeladova to create a moral counterbalance to Raskolnikov’s theory. Young heroes are in critical life situation when it is necessary to make a decision on how to live further.

From the very beginning of the story, Raskolnikov behaves strangely: he is suspicious and anxious. The reader gradually penetrates into the sinister plan of Rodion Romanovich. It turns out that Raskolnikov is a “monomaniac,” that is, a person obsessed with a single idea. His thoughts boil down to one thing: at all costs, he must test his theory of dividing people into two “categories” - into “higher” and “trembling creatures”. Raskolnikov describes this theory in the newspaper article “On Crime.” According to the article, the “higher ones” are given the right to transgress moral laws and, in the name of a great goal, sacrifice any number of “trembling creatures.” Raskolnikov considers the latter merely material for reproducing his own kind. It is these “simple” people who, according to Rodion Romanovich, need biblical commandments and morality. “Higher” are the “new legislators” for the gray masses. For Raskolnikov, the main example of such a “legislator” is Napoleon Bonaparte. Rodion Romanovich himself is forced to begin his “higher” path with actions of a completely different scale.

We first learn about Sonya and her life circumstances from the story of Marmeladov’s former titular adviser, her father, addressed to Raskolnikov. Alcoholic Semyon Zakharovich Marmeladov vegetates with his wife Katerina Ivanovna and three small children - his wife and children are starving, Marmeladov drinks. Sonya, his daughter from his first marriage, lives in a rented apartment “by yellow ticket" Marmeladov explains to Raskolnikov that she decided to make such a living, unable to withstand the constant reproaches of her consumptive stepmother, who called Sonya a parasite who “eats and drinks and uses warmth.” In fact, she is a meek and unrequited girl. She tries with all her might to help the seriously ill Katerina Ivanovna, her starving stepsisters and brother, and even her unlucky father. Marmeladov tells how he gained and lost his job, drank away the new uniform he bought with his daughter’s money, and then went to ask her “for a hangover.” Sonya did not reproach him for anything: “I took out thirty kopecks, with my own hands, the last, everything that was, I saw myself... She didn’t say anything, she just looked at me silently.”

Raskolnikov and Sonya are at the same disastrous level of life. “The future Napoleon” lives in the attic in a wretched closet, which the author describes in these words: “It was a tiny cell, about six steps long, which had the most pitiful appearance with its yellow, dusty wallpaper, which was peeling off from the walls everywhere, and so low that a little tall man it felt creepy in there, and it seemed like you were about to hit your head on the ceiling.” Rodion Romanovich has reached the extreme line of poverty, but in this situation he feels a strange greatness: “It was difficult to sink and become shabby; but for Raskolnikov it was even pleasant in his current state of mind.”

Rodion Romanovich considers murder to be a simple way out of a difficult financial situation. However, in this decision to turn into a bloody criminal main role It’s not the money that plays, but Raskolnikov’s crazy idea. First of all, he seeks to test his theory and make sure that he is not a “trembling creature.” To do this, you need to “step over” the corpse and reject universal moral laws.

The evil old money-lender Alena Ivanovna was chosen as the victim of this moral experiment. Raskolnikov considers her a “louse” that, according to his theory, he can crush without any pity. But, having hacked to death Alena Ivanovna and her half-sister Lizaveta, Rodion Romanovich suddenly discovers that he can no longer communicate normally with people. It begins to seem to him that everyone around him knows about his actions and is mocking him in a sophisticated way. The novel, with subtle psychologism, shows how, under the influence of this erroneous belief, Raskolnikov begins to play along with his “accusers.” For example, he deliberately starts a conversation about the murder of an old pawnbroker with Zametov, the clerk of the police office.

At the same time, Raskolnikov is still able to be distracted from his rich life from time to time. inner life and pay attention to what is happening around him. So, he witnesses an accident with Semyon Marmeladov - a drunken official gets run over by a horse. In the confession scene of Marmeladov, crushed and living his last minutes, the author gives the first description of Sofia Semyonovna: “Sonya was small, about eighteen years old, thin, but quite pretty blonde, with wonderful blue eyes.” Having learned about the incident, she runs to her father in her “work clothes”: “her outfit was a penny, but decorated in a street style, according to the tastes and rules that have developed in her special world, with a brightly and shamefully outstanding purpose.” Marmeladov dies in her arms. But even after this, Sonya sends her younger sister Polenka to catch up with Raskolnikov, who donated his last money for the funeral, in order to find out his name and address. Later, she visits the “benefactor” and invites him to her father’s wake.

This peaceful event is not without a scandal: Sonya is unfairly accused of theft. Despite successful outcome business, Katerina Ivanovna and her children are deprived of shelter - they are kicked out of their rented apartment. Now all four are doomed to imminent death. Realizing this, Raskolnikov invites Sonya to tell her what she would do if she had the power to take the life of Luzhin, who slandered her, in advance. But Sofya Semyonovna does not want to answer this question - she chooses submission to fate: “But I cannot know God’s providence... And why are you asking, what cannot be asked? Why such empty questions? How can it happen that this depends on my decision? And who made me the judge here: who should live and who should not live?”

Despite the beliefs that are alien to him, Raskolnikov feels a kindred spirit in Sonya, because they are both outcasts. He seeks her sympathy because he realizes that his theory was untenable. Now Rodion Romanovich indulges in the perverted pleasure of self-abasement. However, unlike the ideological killer, Sonya is “a daughter who was evil and consumptive to her stepmother, who betrayed herself to strangers and minors.” She has a clear moral guideline - the biblical wisdom of cleansing suffering. When Raskolnikov tells Marmeladova about his crime, she takes pity on him and, focusing on the biblical parable of the resurrection of Lazarus, convinces him to repent of his crime. Sonya intends to share with Raskolnikov the vicissitudes of hard labor: she considers herself guilty of violating biblical commandments and agrees to “suffer” in order to cleanse herself.

An important feature for characterizing both characters: the convicts who served their sentences with Raskolnikov feel a burning hatred for him and at the same time very much love Sonya, who visits him. Rodion Romanovich is told that “walking with an ax” is not a noble thing; they call him an atheist and even want to kill him. Sonya, following her once and for all established concepts, does not look down on anyone, she treats all people with respect - and the convicts reciprocate her feelings.

A logical conclusion from the relationship between this pair of central characters in the novel: without Sonya’s life ideals, Raskolnikov’s path could only end in suicide. Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky offers the reader not only the crime and punishment embodied in the main character. Sonya's life leads to repentance and purification. Thanks to this “continuation of the path,” the writer managed to create a holistic, logically complete system of images. Looking at what is happening from two significantly different points of view gives the action additional volume and credibility. The great Russian writer managed not only to breathe life into his heroes, but also to lead them to a successful resolution of the most difficult conflicts. This artistic completeness puts the novel “Crime and Punishment” on a par with greatest novels world literature.

The impoverished and degraded student Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov is the central character of Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky’s epoch-making novel “Crime and Punishment.” The author needs the image of Sonya Marmeladova to create a moral counterbalance to Raskolnikov’s theory. Young heroes are in a critical life situation when they need to make a decision on how to live further.

From the very beginning of the story, Raskolnikov behaves strangely: he is suspicious and anxious. The reader gradually penetrates into the sinister plan of Rodion Romanovich. It turns out that Raskolnikov is a “monomaniac,” that is, a person obsessed with a single idea. His thoughts boil down to one thing: at all costs, he must test in practice his theory of dividing people into two “categories” - into “higher” and “trembling creatures.” Raskolnikov describes this theory in the newspaper article “On Crime.” According to the article, the “higher ones” are given the right to transgress moral laws and, in the name of a great goal, sacrifice any number of “trembling creatures.” Raskolnikov considers the latter merely material for reproducing his own kind. It is these “simple” people who, according to Rodion Romanovich, need biblical commandments and morality. “Higher” are the “new legislators” for the gray masses. For Raskolnikov, the main example of such a “legislator” is Napoleon Bonaparte. Rodion Romanovich himself is forced to begin his “higher” path with actions of a completely different scale.

We first learn about Sonya and her life circumstances from the story of Marmeladov’s former titular adviser, her father, addressed to Raskolnikov. Alcoholic Semyon Zakharovich Marmeladov vegetates with his wife Katerina Ivanovna and three small children - his wife and children are starving, Marmeladov drinks. Sonya, his daughter from his first marriage, lives in a rented apartment “on a yellow ticket.” Marmeladov explains to Raskolnikov that she decided to make such a living, unable to withstand the constant reproaches of her consumptive stepmother, who called Sonya a parasite who “eats and drinks and uses warmth.” In fact, she is a meek and unrequited girl. She tries with all her might to help the seriously ill Katerina Ivanovna, her starving stepsisters and brother, and even her unlucky father. Marmeladov tells how he gained and lost his job, drank away the new uniform he bought with his daughter’s money, and then went to ask her “for a hangover.” Sonya did not reproach him for anything: “I took out thirty kopecks, with my own hands, the last, everything that was, I saw myself... She didn’t say anything, she just looked at me silently.”

Raskolnikov and Sonya are at the same disastrous level of life. “The future Napoleon” lives in the attic in a wretched closet, which the author describes in these words: “It was a tiny cell, about six steps long, which had the most pitiful appearance with its yellow, dusty wallpaper, which was peeling off from the walls everywhere, and so low that a slightly tall person felt creepy in it, and it seemed like you were about to hit your head on the ceiling.” Rodion Romanovich has reached the extreme line of poverty, but in this situation he feels a strange greatness: “It was difficult to sink and become shabby; but for Raskolnikov it was even pleasant in his current state of mind.”

Rodion Romanovich considers murder to be a simple way out of a difficult financial situation. However, in this decision to turn into a bloody criminal, it is not money that plays the main role, but Raskolnikov’s crazy idea. First of all, he seeks to test his theory and make sure that he is not a “trembling creature.” To do this, you need to “step over” the corpse and reject universal moral laws.

The evil old money-lender Alena Ivanovna was chosen as the victim of this moral experiment. Raskolnikov considers her a “louse” that, according to his theory, he can crush without any pity. But, having hacked to death Alena Ivanovna and her half-sister Lizaveta, Rodion Romanovich suddenly discovers that he can no longer communicate normally with people. It begins to seem to him that everyone around him knows about his actions and is mocking him in a sophisticated way. The novel, with subtle psychologism, shows how, under the influence of this erroneous belief, Raskolnikov begins to play along with his “accusers.” For example, he deliberately starts a conversation about the murder of an old pawnbroker with Zametov, the clerk of the police office.

At the same time, Raskolnikov is still able to distract himself from time to time from his rich inner life and pay attention to what is happening around him. So, he witnesses an accident with Semyon Marmeladov - a drunken official gets run over by a horse. In the confession scene of Marmeladov, crushed and living his last minutes, the author gives the first description of Sofia Semyonovna: “Sonya was small, about eighteen years old, thin, but quite pretty blonde, with wonderful blue eyes.” Having learned about the incident, she runs to her father in her “work clothes”: “her outfit was a penny, but decorated in a street style, according to the tastes and rules that have developed in her special world, with a brightly and shamefully outstanding purpose.” Marmeladov dies in her arms. But even after this, Sonya sends her younger sister Polenka to catch up with Raskolnikov, who donated his last money for the funeral, in order to find out his name and address. Later, she visits the “benefactor” and invites him to her father’s wake.

This peaceful event is not without a scandal: Sonya is unfairly accused of theft. Despite the successful outcome of the case, Katerina Ivanovna and her children are deprived of shelter - they are kicked out of their rented apartment. Now all four are doomed to quick death. Realizing this, Raskolnikov invites Sonya to tell her what she would do if she had the power to take the life of Luzhin, who slandered her, in advance. But Sofya Semyonovna does not want to answer this question - she chooses submission to fate: “But I can’t know God’s providence... And why are you asking what you can’t ask? Why such empty questions? How can it happen that this depends on my decision? And who made me the judge here: who should live and who should not live?” Material from the site

Despite the beliefs that are alien to him, Raskolnikov feels a kindred spirit in Sonya, because they are both outcasts. He seeks her sympathy because he realizes that his theory was untenable. Now Rodion Romanovich indulges in the perverted pleasure of self-abasement. However, unlike the ideological killer, Sonya is “a daughter who was evil and consumptive to her stepmother, who betrayed herself to strangers and minors.” She has a clear moral guideline - the biblical wisdom of purifying suffering. When Raskolnikov tells Marmeladova about his crime, she takes pity on him and, focusing on the biblical parable of the resurrection of Lazarus, convinces him to repent of his crime. Sonya intends to share with Raskolnikov the vicissitudes of hard labor: she considers herself guilty of violating biblical commandments and agrees to “suffer” in order to cleanse herself.

An important feature for characterizing both characters: the convicts who served their sentences with Raskolnikov feel a burning hatred for him and at the same time very much love Sonya, who visits him. Rodion Romanovich is told that “walking with an ax” is not a noble thing; they call him an atheist and even want to kill him. Sonya, following her once and for all established concepts, does not look down on anyone, she treats all people with respect - and the convicts reciprocate her feelings.

A logical conclusion from the relationship between this pair of central characters in the novel: without Sonya’s life ideals, Raskolnikov’s path could only end in suicide. Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky offers the reader not only the crime and punishment embodied in the main character. Sonya's life leads to repentance and purification. Thanks to this “continuation of the path,” the writer managed to create a holistic, logically complete system of images. Looking at what is happening from two significantly different points of view gives the action additional volume and credibility. The great Russian writer managed not only to breathe life into his heroes, but also to lead them to a successful resolution of the most difficult conflicts. This artistic completeness puts the novel “Crime and Punishment” on a par with the greatest novels of world literature.

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On this page there is material on the following topics:

• Under what circumstances did Raskolnikov meet Sonya Marmeladova? What role did she play in his life?
• how Raskolnikov tells Sophia his theory
• Sonya Marmeladova and Rodion Raskolnikov
• How are the images of Raskolnikov and Sonya Marmeladova similar and different?
• relationship between schismatics and Sonya Marmeladova