The fate of Sonechka Marmeladova is known and has become a symbol of sacrifice and Christian love for everyone who has ever read the novel by F.M. Dostoevsky "Crime and Punishment".
The image of Sonya Marmeladova, just like the image of Raskolnikov, was and is perceived ambiguously in literary criticism. Thus, D. Merezhkovsky in his work “L. Tolstoy and Dostoevsky,” comparing the images of Sonya Marmeladova and Rodion Raskolnikov, writes: “He killed the other for himself, only for himself, and not for God; she killed herself for others, only for others, and not for God - and "it does not matter"-- the “crime” is the same. Just as anti-Christian self-affirmation - love for oneself is not in God, in the same way Christian, or, better said, only seemingly Christian, self-denial, self-sacrifice - love for others is not in God - leads to the same non-"crime", and the mortification of the human soul - it doesn’t matter whether it’s yours or someone else’s. Raskolnikov violated the commandment of Christ by loving others less than himself; Sonya - because she loved herself less than others, but Christ commanded to love others no less and no more than yourself, but as yourself. Both of them are “cursed together,” they will perish together, because they failed to unite love for themselves with love for God. Raskolnikov, according to Sonya’s behest, “must atone for himself through suffering.” Well, and for herself, what other suffering can she atone for herself? Isn’t her whole “crime” precisely that she suffered? in moderation crossed, “was able to cross” that limit of self-denial, self-sacrifice, which a person is allowed to cross not for others and not for himself, but only for God?” [Merezhkovsky, 1995, p. 208]. The religious philosopher K. Leontiev, without denying Dostoevsky’s religiosity in general, nevertheless found that the Orthodox idea was not sufficiently reliably expressed in his works and images. Thus, regarding the image of Sonya Marmeladova, he wrote that Sonya Marmeladova, for all her sincere religiosity, is still far from true Orthodoxy. She “... reads only the Gospel (an equally obligatory source of both church Christianity and all kinds of heresies - Lutheranism, Molokanism, Skoptchestvo, etc.), does not serve prayers, does not seek clergy for spiritual advice, miraculous icons not attached" [Leontyev, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. To view it, you must have JavaScript enabled]. Much later, already in the middle of the 20th century, Vl. Nabokov speaks of Sonya as a heroine who traces “...her origins from those romantic heroines who, through no fault of their own, had to live outside the framework established by society and on whom society shouldered the burden of shame and suffering associated with their way of life" [Nabokov, 2001, p. 193].
Modern researcher M. Pugovkina believes, following the theory of Reinhard Lauth, that Dostoevsky’s philosophy represents two possible paths of humanity, designated in accordance with the peculiarities of the psyche - good and evil are inherent in a person to varying degrees. “A person, perceiving the world from a position of duality, polarity, is faced with a choice, and depending on his character, on the influence of the surrounding reality, he determines his path” [Pugovkina, www. ug. ru/civicn], writes the researcher and illustrates his statement by comparing two heroes of the novel “Crime and Punishment,” calling them “antipodean models” based on their views on life. Thus, Arkady Ivanovich Svidrigailov, the bearer of negative philosophy, according to M. Pugovkina, can be contrasted with Sonya Marmeladova, the bearer of positive philosophy. The researcher justifies his position by saying that Svidrigailov freed himself from “issues of man and citizen.” His idea: “Single villainy is permissible if the main goal is good.” And he finds this goal for himself - boundless voluptuousness, without any barriers, “something that always remains like a kindled coal in the blood” [Pugovkina, www. ug. ru/civicn] . For her sake - any crime. Sonya has a completely different position: “get over yourself, give yourself to people” [Pugovkina, www. ug. ru/civicn]. “Unauthorized, completely conscious and unforced self-sacrifice of oneself for the benefit of everyone is a sign of the highest development of personality. Living on a yellow ticket, Sonya commits a fall, but, being deeply religious, she understands her guilt, suffers, and bows before the great meaning of existence, which may not always be accessible to her mind, but is always felt by her. Sonya carries the idea of love for God, all-human unity" [Pugovkina, www. ug. ru/civicn], writes M. Pugovkina. Continuing his reasoning, the researcher comes to the conclusion that both Svidrigailov and Sonya represent statics, the former - the statics of the negative, the latter - the path of moral search [Pugovkina, www. ug. ru/civicn].
Sonya Marmeladova is perceived as a “sign of fate” for Raskolnikov, as a guarantee of the preservation and salvation of the world, by the author of the Orthodox newspaper “Right Word” I. Brazhnikov, who writes in the article “Inside and outside. The true world order in the novel “Crime and Punishment”: “Sonechka Marmeladova, eternal Sonechka While the world stands still, the image, barely having time to emerge, grows into an archetype. For Raskolnikov, there is no doubt: Sonechka is a pillar, a stronghold of the world, people like her “hold the world together.” What holds the world together? The answer is contained in Raskolnikov’s next word after the “eternal Sonechka”: “Have you fully measured the sacrifice, the sacrifice?” The world is held together by the victim” [Brazhnikov, 2004, January 30].
Thus, it is obvious that most of the above opinions (with the exception of V. Nabokov) contain, to one degree or another, a religious interpretation of the image of Sonya Marmeladova, seeing in her the embodiment of the idea of self-sacrifice and salvation through sacrifice. Sonya and Raskolnikov imagine him as a sacrifice, however, from his point of view, her sacrifice is in vain. The reader first learns about Sonya Marmeladova together with Raskolnikov from Sonya’s father Marmeladov. It is important for us that for the first time we hear about Sonya together with Raskolnikov, because in this way we perceive the information refracted in Raskolnikov’s consciousness, we imagine Sonya as “his ideas.” In addition, it does not seem accidental that Marmeladov tells Raskolnikov about Sonya (it was said above that the dialogue between Marmeladov and Raskolnikov begins with a silent dialogue of views, showing that between Raskolnikov and Marmeladov there is that internal connection that can only be comprehended through sensory level): this means that it is he (Raskolnikov) who needs to hear about the fate of Sonya Marmeladova, as if a sign has been sent to him that he can “read” as his “inner man” tells him. Having seen off the drunken Marmeladov, seeing the terrible situation of his family, the hero thinks: “Oh, Sonya! What a well, but they managed to dig it! And they use it! And we got used to it. We cried and got used to it. A scoundrel gets used to everything!” [T. 5, p. 53]. The first meeting with the heroine leaves no doubt for him
her future fate: “She has three paths,” he thought, throw herself into a ditch, end up in a madhouse, or... or, finally, throw herself into debauchery, stupefying the mind and petrifying the heart.” Moreover, the last exit, i.e. debauchery seemed to him the most likely. Touched by Sonya's suffering,
Raskolnikov sincerely bows at her feet for the fact that she “killed and betrayed herself in vain”: “... you are not helping anyone with this and you are not saving anyone from anything!” [T. 5, p. 212]. This is how Raskolnikov’s consciousness reacts to Sonya’s life and actions.
“Didn’t you do the same thing? You also stepped over... were able to step over. You're on myself laid hands on you, you ruined your life... Your own (it’s all the same!). You could live in spirit and mind, but you will end up on Sennaya... We are cursed together, together we will go - along the same road! " [T. 5, p. 213], says Raskolnikov to Sonya.D. Merezhkovsky, whose point of view is given above, presents the situation as if through the eyes of Raskolnikov - just like the hero of the novel, D. Merezhkovsky, speaking about the “murder of the human soul” that Sonya commits with her self-denial, does not see a personal decision, a choice in her victim made on the basis of inner religious feeling. Raskolnikov, in a conversation with Sonya, calls her a sinner, that is, in essence, he accuses her of violating divine laws: “And that you are a great sinner, that’s so. And most of all, you are a sinner because she killed and betrayed herself in vain. Why wouldn't it be terrible? It wouldn’t be terrible that you live in this filth, which you hate so much, and at the same time you know yourself (you just have to open your eyes) that you’re not helping anyone and you’re not saving anyone from anything!” [T. 5, p. 213]. These words of Raskolnikov show that it is clear to his mind that observance of Christian laws makes a person sinless; it is difficult for him to see the true meaning of Sonya’s actions, because he does not want to see it - it is important for the hero that the theory that he created is confirmed in everyone manifestations of life. Whereas Orthodoxy says: “Orthodoxy of the mind is faith in what the Church teaches. Orthodoxy of the heart is the ability to sense the spiritual world, to distinguish between dark and light forces, good and evil, lies and truth. The Orthodox heart will immediately sense in all heresies and schisms, no matter how disguised they are, an alien deadly spirit, similar to the stinking smell of decay emanating from a corpse (no matter how anointed it is with perfume). It is difficult for a person who has this spiritual intuition to be among heretics and schismatics, his heart aches dully, as if squeezed by a stone, he feels what is hidden behind the words...” [Archimandrite Raphael, 2001]. The words of A. Men contradict the opinion of D. Merezhkovsky and the hero of Dostoevsky’s novel: “Sometimes they say that Christ announced a new morality. He said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another as I have loved you.” And before there was a commandment about love, and the words “love your neighbor as yourself” belong to Moses. And Christ gave it a very special meaning - “how I loved you”, because for the sake of love for humanity He stayed with us on a dirty, bloody and sinful earth - just to be with us. That is, His love became self-giving love, and therefore He says: “Whoever wants to come after Me, let him deny himself” - that is, his selfhood; not of one’s personality, not at all: personality is sacred, but of one’s false self-affirmation, selfhood. “Let everyone,” He says, “give himself, take up his cross (that is, his service in suffering and in joy) and then follow Me” [Men, 1990]. Telling Raskolnikov about his life, Marmeladov says important things from the point of view Christian understanding man and faith words: “And if there is no one to go to, if there is nowhere else to go! After all, it is necessary for every person to go at least somewhere! When my only begotten daughter went for the first time with a yellow ticket, and then I went too...” [T. 5, p. 53].
Marmeladov’s words about the need for every person to have “at least one place where they would feel sorry for him...” [T. 5, p.53] - these are words about the need for compassion, Christian love between people, about which J.A.T. Robinson, in Being Honest to God, says the following: “One love can allow itself to be completely guided by the situation itself, because love has, as it were, an internal moral compass that allows it to intuitively enter into the need of another as into its own. She alone can completely open up to this situation, or rather, the person in this situation, open up completely and unselfishly, without losing her direction or her unconditionality. Only love is capable of implementing an ethic of radical responsibility, assessing each situation from the inside, and not on the basis of ready-made regulations and laws. According to Tillich, “love alone can be transformed according to the specific requirements of each individual or social situation, without losing its eternity, its dignity and its unconditional value.” Therefore, this is the only ethics that provides firm support in a rapidly changing world and yet remains absolutely free in relation to all changes in the situation and above all changes. She is ready in every moment, in every new situation, to see a new creation of the hand of God, requiring its own response - perhaps completely unprecedented" [Robinson, 1993, p. 82-83]. It is this compassion - love that Marmeladov does not find in the world around him, and Sonya does not find this either, but she, guided by an “inner compass”, which allows her to internally enter into the needs of another, assessing the situation from the inside, without relying on the regulations and laws that make it In the eyes of people, Raskolnikova is a criminal, capable of compassion and love. Therefore, “When...I went with a yellow ticket, and then I also went...” [T. 5, p.53] - says Marmeladov: not seeing in the world any other possibility of connecting with people in compassion and love, Marmeladov “goes” with Sonya, goes in the spiritual sense of the word, that is, does not leave her alone - he has compassion for her, understanding that no one else will give her this Christian love, just as no one except her will give it to him. Religious philosopher I. Ilyin explains the meaning of love for Orthodox man: “There is one force that has the calling to guide, root and communicate spiritual objectivity to all abilities - this is the heart, the power of love and, moreover, spiritual love for truly beautiful and precious objects. Case life choice and, moreover, the right and final choice is a matter of spiritual love. He who loves nothing and serves nothing on earth remains an empty, barren and spiritually dead being. He does not have a higher and more powerful leadership in his life and all his forces remain, as it were, at a crossroads. But since life requires movement and does not tolerate stagnation, his abilities begin to live an unauthorized and unbridled life.
His sensual sensations become self-sufficient and dissolute; thinking develops mechanically, coldly and turns out to be, in all its straightforward sequence, hostile to life and destructive (such is the deductive thinking of semi-educated people! Such is the all-destructive analysis of skeptics!). In the life of a person with an empty and dead heart, an instinct greedy for pleasure dominates. His will becomes harsh and cynical; imagination - frivolous and creatively sterile. For in the highest and final authority, all issues of human destiny are resolved by love. Only love can answer a person's critical issues his life: what is worth living? what is worth serving? what to fight with? what to defend? Why go to death? - And all other mental and physical powers of a person are ultimately nothing more than faithful and capable servants of spiritual love... This is how the highest spiritual organs of a person are formed. Love transforms imagination into objective vision, into heartfelt contemplation, from which religious faith grows. Love fills thought with living content and gives it the power of objective evidence. Love roots the will and turns it into a powerful organ of conscience. Love purifies and sanctifies instinct and opens its spiritual eye” [Ilyin, 2005].
Without turning to the judgments of religious philosophers, it would be difficult to understand the true meaning of the presence of the image of Sonya Marmeladova in the novel Crime and Punishment. The whole essence of the heroine is permeated with religious feeling, therefore, against her background, the essence of each hero who comes into contact with Sonya, who comes into any contact with her, on the one hand, becomes clearer, and the depth of spiritual world heroines - on the other. This is most clearly manifested in the relationship between Sonya and Rodion Raskolnikov. Even before meeting Sonya, Raskolnikov “learns” about the possibility of human self-sacrifice; in this regard, it is no coincidence that, leaving Marmeladov’s house for the first time of his visit, the hero secretly leaves money to the Marmeladov family. This money plays the symbolic role of “secret alms,” which Archimandrite Raphael (Karelin) writes about as true, comparing it with the ostentatious virtues squandered by the “new schismatics,” for whom “alms are fed by pride, accompanied by the beat of drums, and proclaimed” [ Archimandrite Rafail (Karelin), 2001].
This symbolic meaning alms left by Raskolnikov is updated in comparison with what Raskolnikov knows about Sonya - about her quiet self-sacrifice, perceived as a sinful fall. After meeting Sonya Marmeladova, a new stage began in spiritual development Raskolnikov. Without abandoning his “idea,” he began to immerse himself more and more in the atmosphere of divine compassion, self-denial, purity, of which Sonya was the personification and bearer. The hero sees her for the first time on the day of Marmeladov’s death. Dostoevsky, describing Sonya who came to her father’s house, shows her through the perception of Raskolnikov, who “was strange at her sudden appearance in this room, among poverty, rags, death and despair” [T. 5, 542]. The word “strange” in conveying the hero’s feelings is noteworthy, because Sonya herself “was also in rags...” [T. 5, p. 542]. What seemed strange to the hero, what surprised him? A closer look at Sonya’s behavior in comparison with the behavior of the crowd that came running to watch the official’s death will help answer these questions. Describing the behavior of the crowd, Dostoevsky resorts to the words “public” [T. 5, 542], “spectators” [T. 5, p. 542], “scene” [T. 5, p. 542], emphasizing that for the people who came running, the tragedy that played out in the family was nothing more than a performance; that people are attracted by entertainment, they have no sympathy: “... the residents, one after another, pushed back to the door with that strange inner feeling of contentment that is always noticed, even in the closest people, in the event of a sudden misfortune with their neighbor, and from which not a single person is spared, without exception, despite even the most sincere feeling of regret and sympathy” [T. 5, p. 542]. Sonya “... looked as if lost, not conscious, it seemed, of anything, having forgotten about her silk, indecent, colored dress, bought from fourth hands, with a long and funny tail, and an enormous crinoline that blocked the entire door,<…>a thin, pale and frightened face looked out with an open mouth and eyes motionless in horror...” [T. 5, p. 542]. The comparison reveals the contrast in the perception of the tragic event by the crowd and Sonya, this makes her appearance strange for Raskolnikov, but he himself only feels this difference without analyzing the situation. However, this sensory experience pushes Raskolnikov, unexpectedly for himself, to approach the widow and express compassion to her. The way the hero speaks confusingly to Katerina Ivanovna (he seems to be selecting words, his speech is filled with incomplete sentences: “...Let me now...contribute...to repaying my debt to my late friend. Here...twenty rubles, if this can help you, then...I...in a word, I’ll come in - I’ll definitely come in...I might come back tomorrow...Goodbye!” [T. 5, p.542], reveals his sincere excitement. By calling Marmeladov “friend,” Raskolnikov unites himself with him, which is also unexpected for him in a situation where he avoids people. These feelings, almost forgotten by Raskolnikov, were able to come to life after he saw Marmeladov’s death in the arms of “humiliated, murdered, dishonored and ashamed, humbly awaiting her turn to say goodbye to her dying father” [T. 5, p.542] Sony. All this seemed to open up for Raskolnikov the possibility of “spiritual contemplation” [Ilyin, 2005], which is possible, according to I. Ilyin, only as a result of finding love [ibid.].
Raskolnikov suddenly felt the fullness of life, felt liberation from the “all-decaying analysis” that had hitherto permeated his entire consciousness: “He went down quietly, slowly, all in a fever and, without realizing it, full of one, new, immense sensation of a sudden surge of full and powerful life. This feeling could be similar to that of someone sentenced to death penalty, to whom forgiveness is suddenly and unexpectedly declared” [T. 5, p.543]. Then he heard Polenka catching up with him with a request from Sonya: “She came running with an errand, which, apparently, she really liked.
Listen, what is your name?.. and also: where do you live? - she asked in a hurry, in a breathless voice. He put both hands on her shoulders and looked at her with some happiness. He was so pleased to look at her - he didn’t know why...
Do you love sister Sonya?
I love her the most!..
Will you love me?
Instead of answering, he saw the girl’s face approaching him and her plump lips naively reaching out to kiss him. Suddenly, her arms, thin as matchsticks, clasped him tightly, her head bowed to his shoulder, and the girl began to cry quietly, pressing her face to him tighter and tighter...
Do you know how to pray?
Oh, yes, we can! Has long been; I, being so big, pray to myself silently, and Kolya and Lidochka, together with their mother, pray out loud; first they will read the “Virgin Mary”, and then another prayer: “God, forgive and bless sister Sonya,” and then again: “God, forgive and bless our other dad, because our older dad has already died, and this one is different to us, and we pray about that too.
Polechka, my name is Rodion; Someday pray for me: “and the servant Rodion” - nothing more.
All of mine future life“I will pray for you,” the girl said warmly and suddenly laughed again, rushed to him and hugged him tightly again” [T. 5, p.543]. This scene can be perceived as the beginning of Raskolnikov's resurrection. Sonya, without knowing it, restored his faith in life, faith in the future. Raskolnikov first received a lesson in selfless Christian love, love for sinners. I woke up in it " new person", living the divine side of his nature. True, the hero’s spiritual enlightenment did not last long - the awakened Vital energy with her light she went into the darkness of his delusions. But it is important that the ability for love and compassion, which is in Raskolnikov, “reached out” to the light, feeling the presence of Sonya’s living soul.
During their first conversation, when the hero asks Sonya: “Should Luzhin live and do abominations or should Katerina Ivanovna die? How would you decide: which of them should die? - she replies with bewilderment: “But I can’t know God’s providence...” [T. 5, p. 212]. What is the meaning of this answer? Words about God's providence speak of a fundamentally different approach to man: for Raskolnikov, people are either “trembling creatures” or “lords”; for Sonya, every person is God’s creation, and his life is in the power of the Creator, to whom he himself is responsible for that whether he lived it with dignity. And everything that befalls a person - grief, loss, suffering - should contribute to the implementation of God's providence, the divine plan of the creator, aimed at one goal - the improvement of his creation. Therefore, the intervention of someone else’s will is unacceptable here, it is tantamount to a crime and, of course, will be punished. How? The worst thing is a violation of one’s harmony with the world, a feeling of loneliness, isolation from people, terrible pangs of conscience. The state experienced by the hero after the murder is the punishment, the torment that is completely understandable to Sonya, so she exclaims in horror after listening to Raskolnikov: “you... did it to yourself” [T. 5, p. 611]. The heroine perceives the confession very keenly, with all her soul, suffering immensely for him, the author notes this in stage directions: “she cried out with suffering,” “she said with suffering,” “she threw herself on his neck, hugged him and squeezed him tightly with her hands, lapped her sobs.” , “screamed, clasping her hands” [T. 5, p. 611]. She immediately understood the tragedy of the situation: “No, you are no more unhappy than anyone in the whole world now!” [T. 5, p.611]. Having listened to Raskolnikov’s ideas, Sonya is transformed - previously timid, silent, now she objects, convinces hotly, argues passionately: “her eyes... suddenly sparkled,” “... looking at him with a fiery gaze, stretching out her hands to him in desperate prayer” (T .6). An unprecedented strength suddenly appears in her. Everything that Sonya will now say sincerely, from the heart, will be remembered by Raskolnikov later, in moments of severe mental torment in hard labor, and will help him take the path of spiritual rebirth. She speaks about the innermost, rethought and re-felt many times. After listening to the excited confession, Sonya intuitively immediately understood that a terrible substitution of values had occurred: the true, Godly in Raskolnikov’s soul was replaced by the devil: a rational, cold, soulless theory, this gloomy catechism became his faith. That is why she surprisingly accurately immediately names the reason for the crime: “You walked away from God, and God struck you down and handed you over to the devil! .." [T. 5, p. 611]. And Raskolnikov himself internally also understands this: “... I know that the devil was dragging me” [T. 5, p. 611]. Sonya is absolutely clear and the only way of salvation is through repentance and atonement through suffering. But she, without hesitation, says: “We will suffer together; together we will bear the cross” [T. 5, p. 612]. The heroine understands that if he came to her, it means that her help is necessary - Raskolnikov alone, obsessed with pride, with a soul torn between faith and unbelief, cannot bear this suffering. And at the same time, she must atone for her sin.
After confessing to the murder, Raskolnikov “looked at Sonya and felt how much of her love he had...” [T. 5, p. 613]. What kind of love is this? Compassionate, merciful, Christian, seeing in him a stumbled person, love that will lead Sonya to hard labor to save him, silent, unobtrusive love, not requiring answers. And Raskolnikov involuntarily begins to feel the transformative power of this feeling: he more than once catches himself thinking about Sonya and talking and arguing with her. So, going to Svidrigailov, he thinks “and why would he go to Sonya now?.. Sonya represented an inexorable sentence, a decision without change. It’s either her way or his” [T. 5, p. 613]. Even after the murder, the hero still goes his own way, he still cannot give up the idea that itself pushed him to commit a crime. Having put on Sonya’s cross, she goes to the police station to confess what she has done and suddenly stops, amazed: “Do I love her? No, no? I had to catch myself on something, slow down, look at the person!..” [T. 5, p. 613]. The hero is still pushing away thoughts about her, but “suddenly” remembers her words about repentance, and we become witnesses to the beginning of the process of spiritual rebirth - we see the beginning of the process of destruction of the “old” man in Raskolnikov: “He suddenly remembered Sonya’s words: “Go to the crossroads.” , bow to the people, kiss the ground, because you have sinned against it, and tell the whole world out loud: “I am a murderer!..” He trembled all over, remembering this... he rushed into the possibility of this whole, new, full sensation. It suddenly came to him like a fit: it ignited in his soul with one spark and suddenly, like fire, it engulfed everything.
Everything was mixed up in him at once, and tears flowed. As he stood, he fell to the ground...” [T. 5, p.614]. However, the hatred that has been accumulated for so long and reverently, the cultivated pride cannot be overcome so quickly and simply - a long and painful period must pass - already in hard labor Raskolnikov continues to remain faithful to his theory, seeing his crime only in the fact that he was unable to “transcend”, however, we already see from the short moments of the “new man” coming to life in him that God chose Raskolnikov and even gave him a guide - Sonya, since “Christianity says: you can improve yourself, but it is impossible to get to God - until He Himself comes to you "[Men, 1990]. Christian Sonya knows this. She helps Raskolnikov with continuous thoughts about him, prayer, unnoticeable care (with her help his work was made easier, etc.), a timid handshake, and the fact that she patiently endured his “contemptuous and rude treatment” [T. 5, p. 587], by the fact that he could constantly feel her presence here, next to him, in hard labor. Raskolnikov had the opportunity to see how she lived all these long months next to him in hard labor. He sees that she is directed, as before, outward - towards people.
First of all, having become accustomed from her youth to living by her own labor, she works, although Svidrigailov’s money probably provided the opportunity for a normal existence: “... she does sewing, and since there is no milliner in the city, she has even become necessary in many houses...” [T . 5, p.579]. The meaning of her existence is given by her concern for Raskolnikov; her monthly letters to Duna and Razumikhin are filled with thoughts only about him; it is characteristic that there is not a word about herself in these letters: about her hopes, dreams, mood, feelings.
It is significant that the convicts, who disliked Raskolnikov, fell in love with Sonya; in the city “she managed to acquire... some acquaintances and patronage” [T. 5, p. 581], relatives, wives and mistresses of the prisoners “knew her and went to see her” [T. 5, p. 582]. The convicts themselves “everyone already knew her, they also knew that she followed him, they knew how she lived, where she lived” [T. 5, p.583], seeing her, “Everyone took off their hats, everyone bowed: Mother Sofia Semyonovna, you are our mother, tender, sick!..” [T. 5, p.585]. What attracted them to Sonya? Did they know her past? The author does not say this, but it is possible that it was, in such an environment it is usually difficult to hide anything. But this voluntary sacrifice and suffering, which made Sonya’s soul responsive to the grief of strangers, is her simplicity. Modesty, the desire to do good to her neighbors - to all the people whom God sends on her path, attracted these “rude branded convicts” to her [T. 5, p.585], here, in hard labor, she quite naturally turns from Sonechka Marmeladova into “Sofia Semyonovna,” “mother” [T. 5, p.585]. These observations lead Raskolnikov to reflections and significant discoveries: he can no longer look at convicts as “ignoramuses” and “slaves” (as the exiled Poles considered them) and despise them (like a former officer and two seminarians), he “clearly saw that these ignoramuses are in many ways much smarter than these same Poles” [T. 5, p.586]. For the first time, Raskolnikov saw a person in those whom he was accustomed to consider “trembling creatures.” It is still a long way to go to recognize the hero in oneself and in every person as God’s creation, but this is the first step on this path - Sonya’s path. Further illness, a terrible delusional dream about trichinae - these are signs of a crisis, which must inevitably be followed by spiritual recovery, and it is connected precisely with Sonya. We have already said that after this the convicts’ attitude towards Raskolnikov suddenly changed, that he began the “transition” from the “kingdom of the dead” to the world of the living, having gained the freedom that the hero felt precisely in hard labor, and this transition began with the help of Sonya, because that, apparently, Raskolnikov, according to God’s providence, needed a “guide.” Here it is necessary to return to the interpretation of the meaning of freedom for communion with God by the religious philosopher I. Ilyin, who wrote: “True religiosity is free, but free through God and in God; true religiosity has divine revelation as its content, but it accepts it with a free heart and lives in it without forced love” [Ilyin, 2004, p. 147]. Raskolnikov's heart had to be freed from the anger and hatred that pierced him, generated by an unfree mind enclosed in the framework of a cold idea. Liberation is possible only through repentance, which can come to Raskolnikov as a result of free choice, since, according to I. Ilyin, “Religious maturation human soul is defined as its liberation to objectivity and in the Subject and, therefore, as the search, acquisition and free assimilation of divine revelation. It can be expressed this way. Every person has the inalienable right to freely turn to God, to seek God’s perception, to realize it, to cleave to God with heart, thoughts, will and deeds, and to determine his life by this turn. This is natural law - for it expresses the nature and essence of the spirit; this is an unconditional right - for it does not fade away under any conditions; it is inalienable - for it is given by God and inviolable for man, and whoever tries to “take away” it tramples on the law of God and life human spirit; it is inalienable - for a person cannot renounce it, and if he renounces it, then his renunciation will not weigh in the face of God. This right in no way denies the church, its calling, its merits, or its competence; but it indicates to the church its main task: to educate its sons for a free, independent and objective perception of God” [Ilyin, 2004, p. 147]. This is the role of “educator” that Sonya Marmeladova plays in the life of Rodion Raskolnikov: he has the opportunity to see in her face objectively, and not hear abstractly, manifestations of love and compassion, the ability for quiet, “secret” self-sacrifice. Therefore, the hero has the freedom to find within himself the living roots of faith. Raskolnikov, analyzing everything he saw in life, prone to rational speculation, could not come to faith “because he was brought up that way from childhood” - faith had to be the result of his personal experience, his free choice, but for this Sonya was needed, personifying in real life such a choice, capable of maintaining faith “not only in public and for people, but in the loneliness of the darkness of the night, fierce danger, the overwhelming sea, snowy desert and taiga, in the final loneliness of imprisonment and undeserved execution” [Ilyin, 2004, p. 147], as I. Ilyin says about true believers.
The last pages of the novel are imbued with an excitedly growing melody of love, hope, and renewal. Unable to visit Raskolnikov during her illness, Sonya often came under the hospital windows “to stand in the courtyard for a minute and look at the ward windows at least from a distance” [T. 5, p. 647], and an extraordinary thing happened to the hero, who accidentally saw her: “Something seemed to happen at that moment in his heart...” [T. 5, p. 647]. And when he read her note, “his heart beat strongly and painfully” (T. 6). What do these details say? A revived heart—a refuge of love—is a sure sign of human rebirth. At the end of the novel “on a clear and warm day” [T. 5, p. 647] Raskolnikov was sent to work for the first time after illness, everything happens everyday, habitually, but we see that the hero bears little resemblance to his former self - he sits on logs on the river bank, listens to a song coming from the other bank, looks at the wide and deserted river : “... Raskolnikov sat, looked motionless, without looking up; his thought turned into contemplation; he didn’t think about anything, but some kind of melancholy worried him and tormented him” [T. 5, p. 648]. I. Ilyin writes: “Man is born first of all for contemplation: it elevates his spirit and makes him an inspired person; if he can use these wings correctly, he will be able to fulfill his calling on earth. And so we must wish for humanity that it understands its calling and that it restores in itself this wondrous, inspiring ability of contemplation. But this means that humanity must begin a great, restructuring renewal of the soul and spirit: it must reconsider the structure of its culture-creating acts, recognize their historical inconsistency, replenish them, improve them and open for themselves new paths to all the great God-given objects. This is the only opportunity to get out of the modern crisis and begin spiritual recovery; this is the only way to stop the modern slide into the abyss and begin a period of revival and recovery” [Ilyin, 2004, p. 167]. Note that it is not “thought”, but feeling (“longing”) that excites and torments him now, this means that cold rationality, skepticism, generated by rational unbelief, have lost their strength - the hero’s soul has awakened and makes its awakening known through feeling aching melancholy. Perhaps, judging by the fact that Raskolnikov now has the Gospel under his pillow, this feeling of melancholy is the beginning of spiritual recovery. It was Sonya, who came to the shore at such a timely moment, who helped this feeling, which had been accumulating for so long and hidden somewhere deep in the soul, break through. If we look at her through the eyes of Raskolnikov, and this is exactly how Dostoevsky shows her, we will see that the girl is wearing her old green scarf (“Green is the Christian emblem of faith, the supposed color of the Holy Grail in the Christian version of the legend. Green is found as the color of the Trinity, Revelation and early Christian art - the color of the cross and sometimes the clothes of the Virgin Mary" [Tresidder, 2001, p. 108]), thin and pale after illness, "smiles warmly and joyfully at him, but, as usual, timidly extends her hand" [T. 5, p. 646]. It seems that only now the hero realized how much Sonya did to save him. Usually Raskolnikov “met her as if with annoyance” [T. 5, p. 646], now “he cried and hugged her knees” [T. 5, p. 646]. The tears in Raskolnikov’s eyes at Sonya’s knees, apparently, are true repentance, to which he came thanks to the awakened feelings, the love that the girl was able to revive in him.
A year and a half ago, Raskolnikov bowed at Sonya’s feet for her great human suffering, for the fact that she “killed and betrayed herself in vain” [T. 5, p. 212]. Why is this roll call of scenes needed in the composition of the novel? Raskolnikov’s tears are tears of gratitude for faith in him, for patience and love, this is a sincere recognition of love and a belated understanding that a sacrifice made for people is never in vain... In Sonya’s eyes “endless happiness shone” [T. 5, p. 646]. She realized that Raskolnikov “loves her, loves her endlessly, and that this moment has finally come” [T. 5, p. 646]. What is the meaning of this “finally”? For many months Sonya loved, but concealed this feeling within herself, not believing that she, the “great sinner,” could be loved. Dostoevsky showed when this feeling first arose in Sonya’s soul - it appeared back then, at the very first meeting, when she came to call Raskolnikov to the wake of her father, saw him, her mother, sister for the first time, and, going home, she wanted to be left alone as soon as possible, to “think, remember, comprehend every word spoken, every circumstance. Never, never had she felt anything like this. Whole new world unknown and vaguely descended into her soul" [T. 5, p. 646]. What contributed to the development of this feeling? Raskolnikov’s confession, reading the Gospel, the feeling of the hero’s loneliness, his defenselessness and isolation from people and God and the fear that he will not endure the torment and commit suicide, and, probably, the belief that she will be the one who can help him. And this state of “endless happiness” [T. 5, p. 646], which the heroine experiences in the epilogue of the novel, is not a miracle, not an accident, it is a natural and hard-won reward for the fact that in the conditions of a poor, difficult, rough life she managed to survive, preserve a pure soul, love for people, faith in goodness. The phrase in the epilogue of the novel is noteworthy: “They decided to wait and endure.” Raskolnikov, who was previously impatient, he needed “all capital” at once, is ready to wait and endure - this is the influence of the wise, meek Sonya. The changes that took place in the hero’s soul were so noticeable that even “the convicts, his former enemies, already looked at him differently,” and he “even spoke to them himself, and they answered him kindly.” And finally, “something completely different” begins to develop in consciousness [T. 5, p. 646]. And to form a new view of the world, a new spiritual basis is needed, and therefore, quite naturally, “mechanically” the Gospel appears in the hands of the hero.
It is also important that during the entire period of hard labor Sonya never spoke to Raskolnikov about religion and did not “force” books on him, as he feared. He himself asked for the Gospel just before his illness, and she “silently brought him the book.” As was said above, you can only gain faith with a free heart; the path to faith is individual for each person, and he must go through it himself, through his own suffering. The hero does the most important thing for his spiritual path moral choice, takes the first steps along Sonya’s path, but they are sanctified by her “friendly and joyful smile” [T. 5, p. 647], tireless prayer, great patience and love. Throughout her difficult life, she naturally leads the hero to the thought: “Can her beliefs not now also be my beliefs?” Sonya plays an equally important role in the fates of other characters in the novel.
We talked about how Sonya’s father, the official Marmeladov, when talking about his daughter to Raskolnikov, especially emphasized her meekness and ability to self-sacrifice. He felt guilty before his daughter and could not find sympathy, compassion and love in anyone but her. In the Christian worldview, a person should not die without repentance; repentance is his path to God. Therefore, it is important to turn once again to the description of Marmeladov’s last minutes before his death. The scene of Marmeladov's death is written very expressively, his physical suffering evokes deep sympathy from the reader. But the author’s attention is focused on what is happening in the hero’s soul, what experiences are filled with the last minutes of his life, as Marmeladov characterizes it. “Barefoot” Lidochka, his favorite, and the worst thing is that he saw his daughter in a prostitute’s colorful outfit, “humiliated,” killed, disheveled and ashamed, “humbly waiting for her turn to say goodbye to her dying father” [T. 5, p.53]. Dostoevsky writes: “Endless suffering was depicted in his face” [T. 5, p.53]. The pangs of conscience, the feeling of irredeemable guilt before his daughter and immeasurable love for her lead the hero to repentance: “Sonya! Daughter! Sorry!" [T. 5, p.53]. This scene is consonant in spirit with the biblical one (the repentance of the thief crucified next to Christ). For an atheist, the death of a person is the end of his life, for a believer it is a transition to another, spiritual state, eternal life. Last words Marmeladov is addressed to his daughter after confession to the priest, that is, her forgiveness for him is true forgiveness, because in her face Marmeladov, like Raskolnikov later, saw an objective manifestation of love and compassion. Marmeladov saw the torment of Sonya, who was forced to go on a “yellow ticket”, saw her stepmother’s attitude towards her, but the decisive role here was played by the very 30 kopecks that her daughter gave him “for a hangover”: “She didn’t say anything, she just looked at me silently... . It’s not like this on earth, but there... they grieve for people, cry, but don’t reproach, don’t reproach! And it’s more painful, sir, more painful, sir, when they don’t reproach you!..” [T. 5, p. 34]. Marmeladov felt great patience and love in this look. In him, pitiful and lost, she saw a kind man who was tormented because Katerina Ivanovna did not love him (“Oh, if only she would take pity on me!”), a man who had “reached his breaking point.” And most importantly, I didn’t judge. Compassion and love, instead of condemnation, awaken in the hero a feeling of guilt, pangs of conscience, from which repentance is born before death, and in the context of the author's Orthodox worldview, a rebirth of the soul occurs. Has Sonya forgiven her father? The answer is contained in a surprisingly succinct phrase: “He died in her arms” [T. 5, p.53].
In Sonya’s room, her stepmother Katerina Ivanovna also dies, which, it would seem, should cause bitter resentment in the girl’s soul. From Raskolnikov’s point of view, this would be natural and logical, but he will never hear even an indirect reproach against his stepmother; on the contrary, the hero realizes with amazement that Sonya loves Katerina Ivanovna! It is Sonya who reveals to him the best qualities of Katerina Ivanovna: generosity, moral purity, the desire for justice, selflessness, sacrificial love for children, delicate taste and a sense of beauty. The tragedy forced Sonya to live separately from her family, but there was no break with her: “We are one, we live together.” She does not store rudeness, insults, even beatings of her stepmother driven to despair in her soul, but she judges herself very harshly, blaming herself for the fact that so many times she “brought her into tears” [T. 5, p.432]. The story of the lace collars and armbands knitted by Lizaveta surprisingly echoes those “thirty kopecks for a hangover.” As kind and sensitive as her father, she cannot forget how Katerina Ivanovna silently looked at her because Sonya “regretted giving them away”: “I acted cruelly! And how many, how many times have I done this...” [T. 5, p.432]. These remorse speaks about the height of moral demands on oneself and the great internal work that takes place in the soul of a girl striving to live like a Christian. Katerina Ivanovna herself appreciates what Sonya does for her children. We see a whole series of scenes in which the theme of guilt, suffering, and mental anguish of Katerina Ivanovna sounds. She dreams of opening in her hometown The boarding school for noble maidens, where Sonya will be her assistant, speaks at the wake, in front of everyone, about her meekness, patience, selflessness, nobility, while crying and warmly kissing her stepdaughter. She is ready to stand up in her defense: she “rushed with her claws” at the nihilist Lebezyatnikov, who seduced Sonya; rushed to “rip off the cap” from Amalia Ivanovna when she “screamed something about a “yellow ticket”; after Luzhin accused Sonya of theft, she shouts: “You are stupid, stupid... but you don’t know yet, you don’t know what kind of heart this is.” what a girl this is! She'll take it, she will! Yes, she’ll take off her last dress, sell it, go barefoot, and give it to you if you need it, that’s what she’s like! She even received a yellow ticket, because my children were disappearing from hunger, she sold herself for us!” Therefore, it is no coincidence that Katerina Ivanovna dies in Sonya’s room. This scene is written amazingly quietly and simply: “So this is how you live, Sonya! I’ve never been to you... it happened...,” “We sucked you, Sonya...” - these words are consonant with Marmeladov’s cry: “Forgive me! Daughter! I’m sorry!”, although they sound less shrill, they speak no less strongly about the depth of Katerina Ivanovna’s sense of guilt. Thanks to Sonya’s patient love and meekness, both father and stepmother, before dying, try to atone for their guilt before her. Even the nihilist Lebezyatnikov, a supporter of free love, who tried to captivate the girl with the ideas of the commune, feels her purity and chastity. He discovered with amazement that Sonya is “fearfully chaste and bashful,” that he likes her, and he is ready to “wait and hope” - and that’s all. Without knowing it, Sonya conquered Raskolnikov’s mother and sister from the first meeting, coming to invite him to her father’s wake. Pulcheria Alexandrovna and Dunechka already knew about Sonya from Luzhin’s letter as a girl of “notorious behavior” and, seeing her, her mother “could not deny herself the pleasure” [T. 5, p. 167]: “... looked at Sonya and squinted slightly,” and Dunya “stared intently straight into the poor girl’s face and examined her with bewilderment” [T. 5, p. 167. Sonya is scared and ashamed among strangers, but seeing the poverty in which Raskolnikov lived, she involuntarily exclaimed: “You gave us everything yesterday!” - and almost cried. It was with this ardent recognition of the nobility of their son and brother that she instantly won the hearts of both women. Pulcheria Alexandrovna, leaving, wanted to bow to her, and Dunya “bowed with an attentive, polite and complete bow” [T. 5, p.169]. And then both came to the conclusion that Luzhin was a “worthless gossip,” and she was “beautiful.” It also seems no coincidence that Sonya turned out to be closely acquainted with Lizaveta, Raskolnikov’s victim. Raskolnikov and the student, who tells the officer about her in the tavern, see this woman “quiet, meek, unrequited, agreeable, willing to do everything... and besides... constantly pregnant.” To Raskolnikov's question about her, Sonya answers sparingly, even reluctantly, as if not wanting to talk about something very personal. But it was Lizaveta who brought her “ New Testament", an old used leather-bound book that they "read and talked" together. Now Sonya wears Lizavetin’s copper cross, orders a memorial service for her in the church and remembers it in a way that those around her did not know: “She was fair... She will see God” (Vol. 5). Sonya has an amazing moral sense for kindness and truth, a rare ability to see in people, first of all, their best qualities, be it the Kapernaumov landlords (“The owners are very good, very affectionate... And they are very kind...” [Vol. 5, p. 178]) or convicts.
After the death of Katerina Ivanovna, when it would seem that the situation for Sonya is completely hopeless (as Raskolnikov predicted), Svidrigailov unexpectedly arranges the fate of the children and Sonya. What is this: an accident, a miracle? Or maybe natural reward and faith, patience, love for people, trust in God’s providence? What trials did Sonya face during the events described in the novel? The discord in the relationship between father and stepmother and, as a consequence, the father’s drunkenness, the family’s plight, Katerina Ivanovna’s illness, the forced fall and mental suffering after it, the murder of Lizaveta, the death of the father, Luzhin’s accusation of theft, the death of the stepmother, experiences associated with Raskolnikov ( confession, trial, hard labor). And all this burden fell on the shoulders of the girl, whose physical weakness the author emphasizes more than once. Apparently, the source of her strength is her faith in God: “Why would I be without God?” [T. 5, p.212] - she says to Raskolnikov.
Thus, it becomes obvious that Sonya’s role in the novel is that of a “conductor” into the world of living faith, a “conductor” who performs the function of the church: a mediator in religion. According to I. Ilyin, “... any mediation in religion has as its main goal the direct connection of man with God. And if there were a Christian theologian who rejected this fundamental truth, then it would be enough to point him to the highest and most sacred act of Christian religiosity, to the Sacrament of Communion, in which the believer has the opportunity to receive the Body and Blood of Christ in the most direct form available to earthly man: accept not by “perception”, not by sight, not by hearing, not by touch, but by tasting, directly introducing the Holy Mysteries into the bodily nature of a person - to the point of complete and indissoluble identification” [Ilyin, 2004, p. 171]. Timid, meek Sonya imperceptibly leads Raskolnikov, Marmeladov, Katerina Ivanovna, and other heroes of the novel with the aspiration of her pure soul and life to the realization of important eternal truths. Sonya teaches us to live “not in every way, but in the spirit”: to love people as they are and forgive them, to see God’s creation in every person and to trust God’s providence; to understand that, living this way, a person not only changes internally, but also, voluntarily or involuntarily, transforms everything around him with the light of his love.
Many researchers, in particular M. Bakhtin, noted that at the center of any of Dostoevsky’s novels, constituting its compositional basis, is the life of an idea and the character - the bearer of this idea. Thus, at the center of the novel “Crime and Punishment” is Raskolnikov and his “Napoleonic” theory about the division of people into two categories and the right of a strong personality to neglect laws, legal and ethical, in order to achieve his goal. The writer shows us the origin of this idea in the mind of the character, its implementation, gradual elimination and final collapse. Therefore, the entire system of images of the novel is constructed in such a way as to comprehensively outline Raskolnikov’s thought, to show it not only in an abstract form, but also, so to speak, in practical refraction, and at the same time convince the reader of its inconsistency. As a result, the central characters of the novel are interesting to us not only in themselves, but also in their unconditional correlation with Raskolyshkov - precisely as with the embodied existence of an idea. Raskolnikov is in this sense, as it were, common denominator for all characters. A natural compositional technique with such a plan is the creation of spiritual doubles and antipodes of the main character, designed to show the disastrousness of the theory - to show both the reader and the hero himself.
Raskolnikov's spiritual doubles are Luzhin and Svidrigailov. The role of the first is the intellectual decline of Raskolnikov's idea, such a decline that will turn out to be morally unbearable for the hero. The role of the second is to convince the reader that Raskolnikov’s idea leads to a spiritual dead end, to the spiritual death of the individual.
Luzhin is a mediocre entrepreneur, he has become rich." small man”, who really wants to become a “big” person, to turn from a slave into the master of life. These are the roots of his “Napoleonism,” but how similar they are to the social roots of Raskolnikov’s idea, its pathos of social protest of an oppressed individual in a world of the humiliated and insulted! After all, Raskolnikov is a poor student who also wants to rise above his social status. But it is much more important for him to see himself as a person superior to society in moral and intellectual terms, despite his social position. This is how the theory of two categories appears; both of them can only check their belonging to the highest category. Thus, Raskolnikov and Luzhin coincide precisely in their desire to rise above the position assigned to them by the laws of social life, and. thereby rising above people. Raskolnikov arrogates to himself the right to kill the moneylender, and Luzhin to destroy Sonya, since they both proceed from the incorrect premise that they are better than other people, in particular those who become their victims. Only Luzhin’s understanding of the problem itself and methods are much more vulgar than Raskolnikov’s. But that's the only difference between them. Luzhin vulgarizes and thereby discredits the theory of “reasonable egoism.” In his opinion, it is better to wish the good for oneself than for others, one must strive for this good by any means, and everyone should do the same - then, having each achieved their own good, people will form a happy society. And it turns out that Luzhin “helps” Dunechka with the best intentions, considering his behavior impeccable. But Luzhin’s behavior, and his entire figure, are so vulgar that he becomes not only a double, but also the antipode of Raskolnikov.
His sister also becomes the antipode and, to some extent, Raskolnikov’s double. She does not consider herself a being of a higher rank than her brother, and Raskolnikov, making a sacrifice, precisely in this sense feels superior to those for whom he sacrifices himself. Dunechka, on the contrary, not only does not consider herself superior to her brother, she recognizes him as a being of a higher kind. Raskolnikov understands this well, which is why he so decisively rejects his sister’s sacrifice. In their attitude towards people, Dunya and her brother are antipodes. Even Svidrigailova Dunya does not consider herself inferior; she overcomes this temptation, being unable to shoot at a person, because in Svidrigailov she sees a person. Raskolnikov is ready to see a person only in himself.
The attitude towards other people and towards oneself is the spiral along which Dostoevsky unfolds the action of his novel. Raskolnikov is capable of not seeing a person in his neighbor, Svidrigailov is not able to see a person in anyone. This is how Raskolnikov’s idea is taken to the limit, to the point of absurdity. Raskolnikov wants to feel like a person for whom there is no morality in the world. He is convinced that there is nothing wrong either in adultery, or in the corruption of a young girl, or in eavesdropping on other people's conversations in order to use them in his own interests, blackmailing the victims. In response to Raskolnikov’s indignation over the overheard confession, Svidrigailov reasonably remarks that if you can “beat old women on the head with anything,” then why can’t you eavesdrop? Raskolnikov has nothing to object to this. And Svidrigailov becomes for Raskolnikov some kind of embodiment of the dark principles of a world in which there are no moral prohibitions. But for some reason he is drawn to this dark beginning. Dostoevsky says that Svidrigailov somehow attracted Raskolnikov. And Raskolnikov goes to him, without even realizing why. But Svidrigailov’s words that all of eternity is some kind of dusty bathhouse with spiders shocked the hero, since he was very clearly able to imagine the logical end of the path, so expressively characterized by Svidrigailov, which he followed by killing the old woman. After such a moral disintegration of the soul, no rebirth of man is possible. After this, only suicide is possible. Dunya, throwing away the pistol, recognized Svidrigailov as a man - he does not see a man in himself.
Raskolnikov leaves Svidrigailov in horror. Having set foot on the path of evil, he is unable to follow this path to the end. After the last conversation with Svidrigailov, Raskolnikov will again go to Sonechka. In Raskolnikov’s eyes, she is brought closer to him by the fact that she “also crossed the line,” and he does not yet understand how different what each of them was able to cross, or rather, why each of them did it. embodies the bright beginning of the novel. She feels guilty and is aware of her own sinfulness, but she sinned to save the lives of her little brothers and sisters. “Sonechka, eternal Sonechka Marmeladova!” - Raskolnikov exclaimed when he learned about the proposed wedding of his sister and Luzhin. He perfectly feels and understands the similarity of motives that guide the actions of these women. From the very beginning, Sonya personifies the victim in the novel, which is why Raskolnikov tells her about his crime. And she, who justified and pitied Katerina Ivanovna, her drunken father, is ready to forgive and understand Raskolnikov - she saw a man in the killer. “What have you done to yourself!” - she says in response to his confession. For Sonya, Raskolnikov, having attempted the life of another person, raised his hand against the person within himself, against the person in general.
In Dostoevsky's novel, everything is closely connected, intertwined with each other. At the time of her death from an ax, the feeble-minded Lizaveta was wearing Sonechka’s cross. Raskolnikov wanted to kill only one moneylender, because he considered her life harmful to those around him, but he was forced to kill her sister too, and by raising his hand against Lizaveta, he thereby raised it against Sonechka and, ultimately, against himself. “I didn’t kill the old lady, I killed myself!” - Raskolnikov exclaims in anguish. And Sonya, who forgives Raskolnikov the man, does not forgive his destructive idea. Only in abandoning “this damned dream” does she see the possibility of resurrecting Raskolnikov’s soul. Sonya calls him to repentance; she reads him the famous Gospel episode about the resurrection of Lazarus, expecting a spiritual response. But Raskolnikov’s soul is not yet ready for this, he has not yet outlived his idea. Raskolnikov did not immediately realize that Sonya was right, only during hard labor did this realization come to him, only then was he able to truly repent, and his repentance becomes the last affirmation of Sonya’s rightness, while Raskolnikov’s idea turns out to be completely destroyed.
Thus, by bringing all the characters in the novel into relation with the main character, Dostoevsky achieves his main goal - to discredit the misanthropic theory born of the unjust world itself.
Need to download an essay? Click and save - » DOUBLES AND ANTIPODES OF RASKOLNIKOV. And the finished essay appeared in my bookmarks.Among Raskolnikov’s “doubles” one can distinguish “light” and “dark” ones, which differently shade the character and worldview of the protagonist.
Arkady Ivanovich Svidrigailov – master, landowner, personifying moral degradation of the nobility.
Svidrigailov embodies the idea of permissiveness. From the writer’s point of view, accepting this idea means forgetting God, trampling on His commandments and any moral laws. Permissiveness deprives a person of free will, gives him over to the power of the devil and ultimately leads to death. Svidrigailov transgresses all moral barriers. He does not hesitate to seduce young girls, destroys his wife, blackmails Dunya, trying to gain her favor. In the hero's past - dark story with the suicide of the yard man Philip, driven to this terrible step by Svidrigailov, other dark stories.
Svidrigailov, for all the disgustingness of his moral character, is ambiguous. He is also capable of good deeds. This is evidenced, for example, by his assistance to the Marmeladov orphans. And yet good deeds can no longer save him. Naturally, Svidrigailov’s suicide is a terrible crime of the hero against his own soul.
Svidrigailov - . Despite all the contrast in the natures of the two characters (for example, Raskolnikov is an unusually chaste person), between them “there is some point in common,” they are “birds of a feather,” as Svidrigailov himself notes. This “common point” is permissiveness.
Portrait the characterization of the hero, especially his “coldly intent” gaze, emphasizes such features of Svidrigailov as spiritual coldness, cynicism, indifference to human suffering.
One of the brightest means of revealing the image of Svidrigailov is to describe him nightmares, especially those that he experiences immediately before committing suicide.
Petr Petrovich Luzhin – successful official(court councilor), serving in two places and simultaneously engaged in legal practice: he is going to open his own public office in St. Petersburg.
According to Pulcheria Alexandrovna, he is “a trustworthy and wealthy person,” while he “in many ways shares the beliefs of our newest generations” and, as Dunya notes, “seems to be kind.”
Luzhin – a new type of Russian life, type of acquirer, businessman, who does not stop at any moral obstacles to achieve his own goal.
Like Raskolnikov, Luzhin has developed his own “theory” and acts in accordance with it. This theory of the “whole caftan”. The main idea in this theory lies in a maxim that is directly opposite in meaning to the Gospel commandment about selfless love for one’s neighbor: “ Love yourself first, because everything in the world is based on personal interest.” If “you love yourself alone, then you will manage your affairs properly, and your caftan will remain intact...”
In Luzhin’s soul the ability to love one’s neighbor has completely atrophied; it is being replaced by rational approach to a person, calculation.
The author describes with irony appearance the no longer young Luzhin, speaking as the groom: “In the clothes...Peter Petrovich was dominated the colors are light and youthful" I also remember such a portrait detail as sideburns “in the form of two cutlets”, which “pleasantly overshadowed” the hero “on both sides.”
The baseness of Luzhin's nature is most clearly revealed through his vile actions towards Raskolnikov, Dunya and Sonya.
Luzhin, like Svidrigailov, Raskolnikov's "dark twin". His theory is surprisingly reminiscent of "moral arithmetic", developed by the main character of the novel. By introducing the image of Luzhin into the novel, Dostoevsky declares his rejection rationalism. This, according to the writer, is a mentality characteristic of Westerners and alien to the Russian people.
Among the characters that shade Raskolnikov’s theory, we’ll name student, who was talking in a tavern with officer about the same old money-lender that Raskolnikov was thinking about at that moment. “Kill her and take her money, so that with their help you can then devote yourself to serving all of humanity and the common cause: do you think that one tiny crime will not be atoned for by thousands of good deeds? In one life - thousands of lives saved from rot and decay. One death and a hundred lives in return - but this is arithmetic!“- the student argues, presenting essentially the same idea that Raskolnikov nurtured in his mind.
Andrey Semenovich Lebezyatnikov– minor official, “one of the most advanced young progressives”, reminiscent of Sitnikov from Turgenev’s novel “Fathers and Sons”.
Lebezyatnikov is fond of ideas of Fourier and Darwin, most of all – the idea women's emancipation. He views Sonya’s terrible situation as the normal status of a woman in society (although it was Lebezyatnikov who was categorically against Sonya continuing to live in the same apartment with him).
Talking about Lebezyatnikov’s views, Dostoevsky parodies vulgar views of socialists on human nature. As you know, many socialists believed that a person’s character depends entirely on society. " Everything comes from the environment, but man himself is nothing“, says Lebezyatnikov.
Despite all his adherence to fashionable theories, Lebezyatnikov retained in his soul some ideas about honor and justice. He indignantly denounces Luzhin, who is trying to slander Sonya.
Lebezyatnikov's fashionable nihilistic ideas, aimed at destroying traditional moral norms, can be interpreted as a kind of a parody of Raskolnikov's theory– in its “reduced” version. In this sense, Lebezyatnikov can also be considered as a kind of “ double" of the main character – V some in a buffoonish guise.
Some characters shade bright sides of Raskolnikov's personality.
Sonya Marmeladova – the main character of the novel. This daughter of a poor official, due to the unbearably difficult situation of her family, she was forced to become a public woman.
Sonya, like Raskolnikov, "transgressed", is guilty before God of mortal sin. No wonder Dostoevsky calls his heroes “a murderer and a harlot.”
However, Sonya, unlike Raskolnikov, is not affected by such passion as pride. She lives in the deepest humility, realizing the sinfulness of their activities. Deep faith in God consciousness of one's own unworthiness And selfless love for one's neighbor help Sonya understand Raskolnikov and take a sincere part in his fate. In turn, Raskolnikov’s cordial disposition towards Sonya, his hope for her help, the feeling of tenderness and gratitude that the hero feels for her, help Sonya herself escape from scary world sin and start a new life.
Meetings between Raskolnikov and Sonya(reading the Gospel text about the resurrection of Lazarus, the hero’s silent confession of murder, and finally, the sincere appeal with which Sonya turns to Raskolnikov to accept suffering and thus atone for his own guilt before God and before people) become the most important milestones in the spiritual awakening of the protagonist of the novel.
Drawing psychological picture Sony, Dostoevsky emphasizes the childish simplicity And kindness heroines. “Her blue eyes were so clear, and when they came to life, the expression on her face became so kind and simple-minded that one involuntarily attracted one to her... Despite her eighteen years, she seemed almost still a girl, much younger than her years, almost completely a child,” writes Dostoevsky.
Sonya can be called "light double" of the main character. Her compassionate and selfless love for Raskolnikov kindles the extinguished light in the hero’s soul, awakens his conscience and helps him take the path of repentance. Therefore we can say that The idea of Raskolnikov’s spiritual rebirth is associated with the image of Sonya.
Avdotya Romanovna Raskolnikova is the sister of the main character. The image of Dunya also highlights, first of all, the bright sides of Rodion’s soul. According to Pulcheria Alexandrovna, Dunya is “a firm, prudent, patient and generous girl.” The heroine is distinguished by such qualities as sacrificial love for her neighbor, spiritual purity, chastity, sincere faith in God, and perseverance in trials.
At the same time, in the character of Dunya, as in the character of Rodion, sometimes appear self-confidence and even pride. These features, in particular, are evidenced by portrait characteristic heroines. This is how Dostoevsky draws her appearance: “Avdotya Romanovna was remarkably beautiful - tall, amazingly slender, strong, self-confident, which was expressed in her every gesture and which, however, did not in the least take away from her movements the softness and gracefulness.”
Dunya appears in the novel and how representative of the world of “humiliated and insulted”, And How "new person": together with Razumikhin she is ready to go to Siberia, work, live with high goals.
Pulcheria Alexandrovna, Rodion's mother, appears before us as a woman deeply religious And selflessly loving her son. Pulcheria Alexandrovna highlights such qualities in the main character as kindness And love for neighbor.
The images of Raskolnikov's mother and sister clarify those bright personality traits of the main character, which ultimately prevailed over his disastrous delusions.
Dmitry Prokofievich Razumikhin (real name– Vrazumikhin) – another one "light double" Main character. As the character himself notes, his real name is Vrazumikhin, but many call him Razumikhin.
Razumikhin, according to his own remark, "noble son". Despite his noble origins, he is extremely poor. Razumikhin supported himself, “earning money by doing some work.” Like Raskolnikov, for financial reasons he is forced to temporarily leave his studies at the university.
The author describes the hero with undisguised sympathy: “It was extraordinary a cheerful and sociable guy, kind to the point of simplicity. However, underneath this simplicity there was also depth, And dignity... He was very not stupid, although he really is sometimes simple-minded... Sometimes he was rowdy and had a reputation for being a strong man.”
Dostoevsky focuses the reader's attention on portrait characteristics hero: “His appearance was expressive - tall, thin, always poorly shaven, black-haired.”
Unlike the melancholic Raskolnikov, Razumikhin - optimist. Dostoevsky notes that “no failures ever embarrassed him and no bad circumstances seemed able to crush him.”
Razumikhin – a person close to the author ideological dispute with Raskolnikov(third part, fifth chapter, conversation between Porfiry Petrovich and Raskolnikov and Razumikhin). Being a representative younger generation and a participant in a “common cause” (by “common cause” the author probably means not the revolutionary struggle, but the participation of young people in creative activities for the benefit of Russia), Razumikhin sharply criticizes Raskolnikov's theory, especially "permission of blood according to conscience". Creating the image of Razumikhin, Dostoevsky sought to show that far not all progressive-minded youth approve of revolutionary actions, violence as a way to combat social evil; the writer discovers not only nihilism among young people, but also creative aspirations. Razumikhin – “new man” in the understanding of Dostoevsky.
Razumikhin's character is most fully revealed in effective assistance this hero Raskolnikov, his mother and sister. Sincere Razumikhin's love for Duna brings out the best spiritual qualities of the character.
The image of Razumikhin, a kind, strong and noble man, helps to see the bright beginning in the soul of his friend, Raskolnikov.
Porfiry Petrovich, not named in the novel, - lawyer, investigative bailiff, that is, the investigator. It was Porfiry who was entrusted with conducting the investigation into the murder of the old pawnbroker.
In the system of Raskolnikov's doubles, Porfiry Petrovich occupies a special place. This, one might say, double analyst. Possessing an extraordinary mind, Porfiry examines the behavior of the killer from the psychological side. He is the first to guess who committed the crime. Little of. Sympathizing with Raskolnikov, understanding his mental torment, Porfiry strives to help the main character to understand himself, to realize the falsity of the theory he developed, to repent and accept suffering is the only way to atone for his own guilt and return to life.
Porfiry, in addition, has mocking disposition and pronounced sense of humor, which undoubtedly helps him in communicating with the criminal.
Significant three meetings Raskolnikov with Porfiry Petrovich.
During first meeting, at which, in addition to Porfiry and Raskolnikov, Razumikhin and Zametov are also present, Raskolnikov’s article “On Crime,” published in “Periodic Speech” and containing a statement of the theory of the protagonist, is discussed. In a conversation with Raskolnikov, Porfiry strives to comprehend the psychological motives of the crime committed “according to theory”, to understand the theory itself. Already during the first meeting with Raskolnikov, it becomes clear to Porfiry that he is the murderer.
Second meeting takes place in the department of the investigative bailiff, where Raskolnikov brought a statement about the watch pawned by the pawnbroker. Porfiry, carefully analyzing the motives of the crime and the psychology of the criminal, makes every effort to expose Raskolnikov, but the unexpected act of the painter Mikolka, who decided to take the blame upon himself, temporarily upsets the plans of the investigator.
Finally, third meeting characters takes place in Raskolnikov's apartment. Porfiry no longer hides his conviction that Raskolnikov committed the crime, and advises him to commit a confession.
Porfiry gives the most clear and expressive characteristics of the Raskolnikov case: « This is a fantastic, gloomy matter, a modern matter, a case of our time, sir, when the human heart has become clouded... Here are bookish dreams, sir, here is a theoretically irritated heart...”
Porfiry’s meetings with Raskolnikov help the main character realize his own crime and subsequently find a way to overcome the harmful theory. In the image of Porfiry Petrovich they embodied the author's ideas about fair justice.
In addition to the actual “doubles” of the main character, there are many other characters in the novel, allowing the author to paint a broad picture of the era and create vivid psychological types.
Old woman-pawnbroker Alena Ivanovna – figure symbolic. She represents that the evil that reigns in the world and against whom Raskolnikov directed his rebellion.
In appearance, Alena Ivanovna is “an insignificant, evil, sick old woman,” in the words of a student who was talking with an officer in a tavern. This is evidenced by her description appearance: “She was a tiny, dry old woman, about sixty years old, with sharp and angry eyes, a small pointed nose and bare hair.” Interior the old woman’s apartment also leaves the impression of mediocrity: “A small room... with yellow wallpaper, geraniums and muslin curtains on the windows... The furniture, all very old and made of yellow wood, consisted of a sofa with a huge curved wooden back, round table an oval shape in front of the sofa, a toilet with a mirror in the wall, chairs along the walls and two or three penny pictures in yellow frames depicting German young ladies with birds in their hands - that’s all the furniture. In the corner in front of a small icon a lamp was burning. Everything was very clean...”
Raskolnikov was convinced that by killing an insignificant old woman, he seemed to be not committing a crime - as if he were killing a louse. Meanwhile, the writer seeks to emphasize that the old woman, despite all her insignificance, is still a person, and not a “louse,” as Raskolnikov put it about her, causing Sonya’s indignation.
Lizaveta, the half-sister of the old pawnbroker, is the complete opposite of Alena Ivanovna. This man is extraordinary gentle, humble, extremely pious, although not without sin. Meek Lizaveta - Sonya Marmeladova's double. Having become Raskolnikov's innocent victim, she becomes a silent reproach to the hero with his inhuman theory.
Praskovya Pavlovna Zarnitsyna, Raskolnikov's landlady, personifies good nature And warmth.
Natalia, Raskolnikov’s late fiancée, the daughter of his landlady, the widow Zarnitsyna, like Sonya, personifies humility, meekness, warmth, revealing the bright sides of the protagonist’s personality.
Nastasya- the maid and cook of Raskolnikov's landlady, the widow Zarnitsyna, is a simple Russian woman who sympathizes with the hero.
Marfa Petrovna- Svidrigailov’s wife and, apparently, his victim - combines such traits as sincere piety, generosity, sympathy for the suffering and at the same time eccentricity, irritability, despoticism. All these traits are manifested in her attitude towards Duna.
Amalia Fedorovna Lippevehzel- landlady of the Marmeladovs, Daria Frantsevna- brothel owner Gertrude Karlovna Resslich- a moneylender, an acquaintance of Svidrigailov - all these characters complement picture of evil reigning in the world.
Let us next consider the images of representatives Marmeladov family. This family personifies in the novel the world of the “humiliated and insulted.” The history of this family is tragic storyline in Dostoevsky's work.
Semyon Zakharovich Marmeladov – minor official, titular councilor. This "small man", having sunk to the very bottom of life. Passion for drunkenness deprived him of a place in the service, led to the fact that he completely sank and began to lose his human appearance. Meanwhile, Marmeladov is distinguished by his deep humility, awareness of one's own sinfulness and sincere hope for God's mercy.
An important detail is that before his death the hero asks for forgiveness from his daughter Sonya and honored with confession and communion.
Katerina Ivanovna, Marmeladov’s wife in his second marriage, is character opposite to Marmeladov. This is, as he puts it, a lady "fiery, proud and unyielding".
Katerina Ivanovna is very sick, this is manifested in her appearance and behavior. This is how Dostoevsky paints it portrait: “She was a terribly thin woman, thin, rather tall and slender, still with beautiful dark brown hair and... with cheeks flushed to the point of spots.”
Selfless service to children Katerina Ivanovna combines with such passions as excessive pride And morbid vanity. The heroine boasts of her noble origins, constantly denounces her husband, and communicates with her children in constant irritation. It is Katerina Ivanovna who pushes her stepdaughter Sonya to commit a terrible act, which brought the girl so much grief and suffering.
At the end of the work, the heroine goes crazy. Unlike her husband, even before death she shows insubordination And refuses confession and communion: “I have no sins!.. God must forgive anyway... He himself knows how much I suffered!.. But if he doesn’t forgive, then there’s no need!..”
With images children Katerina Ivanovna - Polenki, Leads(aka Lenya) And If– the motive of a scolded, insulted childhood is connected. The suffering of children, according to the writer, is the most striking manifestation of the cruelty of a world that has fallen into sin.
Raskolnikov's sincere and selfless help to the Marmeladov family turns out to be a powerful impetus for the hero's spiritual resurrection. The child’s prayer for “slave Rodion,” along with the prayers of the hero’s mother and sister, becomes the decisive force that saves his soul: it prevents Raskolnikov’s suicide and leads him to spiritual rebirth.
Image drunk girl on the boulevard complements the picture of the “humiliated and insulted” and develops the theme of abused childhood.
The writer's story about childhood suffering includes mention of seven sick children of tailor Kapernaumov, from whom Sonya rented a room.
Among the children's images in the novel, it should also be noted images of children - victims of Svidrigailov. This is unfortunate Mrs. Resslich's deaf-mute niece, which Svidrigailov drove to suicide with his abuses, this is his young "bride", whom her parents are ready to marry off for money, and his other victims mentioned in the novel. The images of children – Svidrigailov’s victims – appear especially vividly in the nightmares that he sees before committing suicide.
The picture of human suffering is also complemented by Afrosinyushka– a drunk woman trying to commit suicide by throwing herself into a canal.
Doctor Zosimov, treating Raskolnikov, combines professional honesty, integrity, willingness to help with some arrogance And vanity, as well as a tendency to debauchery. According to Razumikhin, in a few years Zosimov may lose his nobility and become a slave to material well-being. This character partly reminds us of Chekhov's Ionych in the initial period of his medical practice.
Dostoevsky draws for us and police world. He is quick-tempered and at the same time unusually kind Lieutenant Ilya Petrovich by nickname Powder, quarterly overseer Nikodim Fomich, clerk Zamyotov. All these characters complement the broad picture of St. Petersburg life painted by Dostoevsky in the novel Crime and Punishment.
Dostoevsky also touched upon the topic in his work common people
Two Mikolki (man killing a horse in Raskolnikov's first dream, and painter, mistakenly arrested on suspicion of murdering an old woman and ready to suffer innocently) personify, according to Dostoevsky, two poles in the character of the Russian people- his ability to commit exorbitant cruelty and at the same time readiness for selfless action, willingness to accept suffering.
The image is symbolic tradesman- a man who openly told Raskolnikov that he was a murderer (“murderer”). This character represents the hero's awakening conscience.
Artistic originality"Crimes and Punishments"
In any Dostoevsky novel there is a character who puts forward an idea. Rodion Raskolnikov, main character novel “Crime and Punishment”, puts forward a theory where people are divided into “ordinary” people who live by the rules and do not violate moral and legal laws, and “extraordinary” people who have the right to cross the line of the law and control the destinies of ordinary people. Fyodor Dostoevsky shows how an idea is born, implemented and becomes obsolete over time.
Raskolnikov is surrounded by characters who refute or support his theory, are its example, that is, they are divided into doubles, supporters of “Napoleonic mania,” or antipodes, supporters of “messiahism.” These characters show the fallacy of the theory to the reader and Raskolnikov himself.
Svidrigailov, Luzhin and Lebezyatnikov are doubles of Rodion Raskolnikov. Each of the heroes puts forward own theory, which is a reflection of Raskolnikov’s theory. For Svidrigailov this is the theory of self-will and unbelief, for Luzhin it is reasonable egoism, and for Lebezyatnikov it is nihilism.
Svidrigailov steps over his conscience, the lives of other people, laws, that is, he is an ideal representative of Raskolnikov’s theory. But the idea suffers a complete collapse when Svidrigailov commits suicide, unable to withstand the pressure of his conscience. The good deeds he has done do not save his soul, as planned in theory, so the hero's death reveals Raskolnikov's self-deception.
Luzhin, a rich man trying to achieve even greater wealth, is full of pathos, which is similar to Rodion Raskolnikov, extolling himself and extraordinary people. Based on the idea that they are better than others, Luzhin tries to dishonor Sonya, and Raskolnikov kills the old woman, appropriating her wealth for himself. But both cases fail: Luzhin’s lies expose Lebezyatnikov, and Raskolnikov himself repents before Porfiry.
Lebezyatnikov, an employee in the ministry, a supporter of progress, communes, tries to look like a protester and independent, because it is fashionable among young people. He is a vulgar and stupid person, does not recognize the usefulness of art, but is very educated in his own opinion. He propagates his ideas, trying to arouse protest in them. Lebezyatnikov also blindly believes in his idea, like Raskolnikov.
Razumikhin, Sonya and Porfiry are Raskolnikov’s antipodes, trying to push him to true path. The Antipodes also put forward their theories, but they contradict the theories of the doubles. Razumikhin's idea is contrasted with Luzhin - altruism, Sonya's idea, self-sacrifice and humility, contradicts Svidrigailov's theory, and Porfiry, putting forward a theory of apology for existing norms, is contrasted with the nihilist Lebezyatnikov.
Razumikhin, a student and friend of Raskolnikov, is as poor as Raskolnikov himself, but unlike Rodion, he does not despair, but works. He wants every person to serve for the good; Razumikhin himself is a very kind, intelligent and reliable person. When Rodion falls ill, Razumikhin takes care of him, and he also tries to justify Raskolnikov when he is accused of murder.
Sonya, a poor and patient girl, engages in prostitution to provide for herself and her family. Despite the hardships of life, she holds on through her faith in God. She reads to Raskolnikov a passage about the resurrection of Lazarus in one of the episodes of the novel, and this becomes a kind of confrontation between faith and theory of Raskolnikov. This episode shows the instability of Rodion's idea and the unshakable faith of Sonya Marmeladova.
Porfiry, the investigator investigating the murder of the old woman, is a very insightful person, he psychologically influences Raskolnikov, trying to solve the case. Working as an investigator, Porfiry preserves the existing world order, preventing people like Raskolnikov and Svidrigailov from breaking the law.
Thus, we have proven that in this work the heroes surrounding Raskolnikov show the fallacy of the theory by promoting their ideas.
Updated: 2018-05-13
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Many literary scholars note that Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky puts the idea and the character who bears this idea at the center of his works. Thus, the novel “Crime and Punishment” was no exception, in which the main role is played by a young man, the bearer of the “Napoleonic” theory. The essence of this teaching is that there are people who, in order to achieve their goals, can cross absolutely all the norms and laws adopted in society.
The writer shows all the stages of development of this concept: from its inception to its collapse. And the entire system of characters in the novel is selected in such a way as to more clearly show this very thought of Raskolnikov. That is why the remaining heroes of the novel are in one way or another correlated with Rodion, the bearer of the main idea of the novel. Accordingly, Dostoevsky uses the only logical method of composition in this case - the introduction of doubles and antipodes.
The heroes duplicating Raskolnikov are and. The first shows the reader that Rodion’s idea ultimately leads to spiritual death, to the extinction of the moral content of the human personality. And the second image serves to demonstrate the intellectual decline of his plans.
Luzhin is a small entrepreneur who, with the help of wealth, wants to achieve a position in society and become the master of life. How similar this is to Rodion, a poor student whose only desire is to rise above his social status.
Thus, these two twin heroes coincide in their desire to go beyond the position in society that was initially predetermined for them. In achieving this goal, Raskolnikov allows himself to kill the old pawnbroker, and Luzhin allows himself to destroy Sonya. Both have a fundamentally wrong message - they consider themselves better than other people, and in particular those whom they choose as their victims. It is only worth making a small excuse that the methods that Luzhin chooses are much more vulgar.
Rodion's antipode in the novel is his sister. She does not consider herself superior to her brother; on the contrary, she exalts him above herself. And Raskolnikov, of course, cannot help but notice this. But he categorically rejects his sister’s sacrifice.
Rodion and Dunya are opposites in terms of their attitude towards other people. The girl does not consider Svidrigailov, a morally degraded person, lower than herself; she sees in him the same person. The same cannot be said about Raskolnikov.
Another antipode is and, who realizes the sinfulness of her actions, but does it for the sake of her little brothers and sisters. She justifies and pities absolutely everyone; this girl has a bright beginning. Sonya, with her attitude to life, destroys Raskolnikov's theory. For her, by raising an ax to an old woman, he did not kill an elderly woman, he killed himself.