He characterizes him as follows: “Sullen, gloomy, arrogant and proud; V lately, and perhaps much earlier, he was suspicious and a hypochondriac. Generous and kind. He doesn’t like to express his feelings and would rather commit cruelty than express his heart in words... Sometimes he’s terribly taciturn! He has no time, everyone interferes with him, but he lies there and does nothing. Never interested in what everyone else is interested in at the moment. He values ​​himself terribly highly and, it seems, not without some right to it.”

Crime and punishment. Feature film 1969 1 episode

In some scenes of “Crime and Punishment” (see its summary), the reader sees how, behind this crust of dryness and pride created from insults, humiliation and life’s bitterness, sometimes a tender and loving heart. Raskolnikov is drawn primarily to the “humiliated and insulted.” He gets close to the unfortunate Marmeladov, listens to the whole life story of his long-suffering family, goes to their home, gives them his last money. He picks up Marmeladov, who finds himself under the feet of a horse on the pavement, takes care of him, and Raskolnikov is pleased by the childish, enthusiastic gratitude of his little sister Sonya, who hugged him.

It is these impressions that fill him with a joyful feeling of life: “He was filled with a new, immense feeling of a sudden surge of full and powerful life. This sensation could be similar to that of a person sentenced to death who is suddenly and unexpectedly granted forgiveness. “That’s enough,” he said decisively and solemnly, “away with mirages, away with feigned fears, away with ghosts... There is life! Haven’t I just lived!”

A moment of love, pity, compassion, a feeling of spiritual closeness to people, universal brotherhood, gives him a feeling of a full and joyful life. Thus, the properties of Raskolnikov’s spiritual nature are in complete contradiction with his theory, with his provisions. Dostoevsky shows what a tender, impressionable and painfully sensitive soul to human suffering Raskolnikov possessed, despite all his views. He suffers from all the nightmares of city life, he evokes a tender and trusting attitude from children towards him, in his past he experienced a love story for a hunchbacked girl whose life he wanted to brighten up, so the further turning point in Raskolnikov’s life is sufficiently explained by these traits of his personality .

The main character of the novel F.M. Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment" Raskolnikov is a poor, thoughtful student who is forced to live in a small room that looks like a coffin. Extreme poverty pushes him to create a theory according to which he divides people into “trembling creatures” (there are many such people and they are ordinary people who are needed to continue the human race), and into “those with the right” (this is a special group of people). The latter, in order to achieve their goals, can cross the law, moral principles, they are allowed to kill people, because their actions develop society and move forward.

He considers himself to be in a special group. And in order to accurately determine who he himself is, Raskolnikov decides to kill the old pawnbroker. The hero justifies the act by saying that by killing the old woman, he will save many from poverty and suffering. Having carefully planned his actions, he commits a crime.

But this crime is followed by punishment, it begins with Raskolnikov’s mental torment. After robbing his victim, Raskolnikov strives to quickly hide the loot; the sight of everything he stole makes his mind cloudy. The main character runs from home, finds a large stone, and puts money and jewelry there. This act demonstrates to the reader that Raskolnikov is not a cold-blooded killer, despite the fact that he created such a terrible theory, there is nothing human left in him.

This is manifested in caring for the Marmeladov family. A chance meeting with Marmeladov in a bar firmly connects Raskolnikov with this family. He helps a drunken acquaintance get home, having seen the conditions in which he lives, taking pity on his children and wife. Raskolnikov, poor and beggarly, leaves money on the windowsill. He also tries to help a young drunk girl on the street who is forced into prostitution; he gives money to the cab driver so that no one can take advantage of her in this state. These merciful impulses prove that the hero’s soul is alive, that he has a chance to return to normal life.

Gradually Raskolnikov comes to the idea that he needs to repent. Svidrigailov’s suicide helps him understand this. Svidrigailov is one of Raskolnikov’s doubles, to some extent his reflection. He realized that the same fate awaited him if he did not repent.

Doubts about the theory begin main character understands that the theory is inhumane and vulnerable. Seeing his reflection in Svidrigailov, he rethinks his life and understands that he needs to improve.

He decides to confess to Sonechka, he chooses her because she herself is a criminal, she has stepped over herself. At Sonya's command, he went to the square and began to kiss the ground. But this did not mean that he repented; rather, Raskolnikov tried to try any methods so as not to suffer. Because when Raskolnikov was in hard labor, he did not immediately repent there either; this can be seen in the attitude of the convicts towards him, who do not accept him, although their crimes are much worse. They tell Raskolnikov, “You don’t believe in God.”

After a while, Raskolnikov abandons his theory when he has a second dream about the illness of all humanity and finds salvation in love, “the heart of one contained endless sources of life for the heart of another.”

Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov drops out of the university, he does not want to become a family teacher, conversations with his only friend Razumikhin weigh on him, he is imprisoned in his room with a low ceiling. When he goes out into the street, he tries to avoid meeting the housewife; he tries to go down the stairs unnoticed. The company of other people irritates him. Walking along the streets, he tries not to see the people he meets.

Raskolnikov is sick with cruel misanthropy. Raskolnikov's desire to communicate normally with people is completely overshadowed by this misanthropy. This person, who is so unhappy with reality, runs away from it and plunges into fantasy. He is struck to the heart by misanthropy. Compared to real reality, his illusory reality is more convincing, and it is this reality that controls his actions. After all, it was not that he was burning with a meaningful desire to commit murder, no, at first this murder appeared to him in his fantasies. And this fantasy filled his imagination so much that he could no longer stop himself.

When Raskolnikov in the novel “Crime and Punishment”, on the eve of a crime, goes “for a test” to the old pawnbroker, he, looking around the room, thinks: “And then, therefore, the sun will shine the same way!” In fact, at this time he still has doubts about whether he will commit murder, but he talks about it as if he had already committed it. When he actually commits murder, he is in a sleepwalking state and, in essence, does not remember himself. When he raises the ax, his actions are controlled by his fantasies. We can say that his reality is his fantasy. After the murder, fear takes possession of him, but he feels that this murder was not committed by him, but by someone else.

Murder is the main event of the novel, around which the plot is built. But for Raskolnikov himself it does not have a decisive meaning, because he himself is in a strong shell of his fantasies, which do not give him the opportunity to realize that he has lost the ability to communicate with the outside world. The awareness that he committed murder with his own hands does not become the source of his suffering and torment. Having gone into exile in Siberia, he initially thinks of the “murderer” as a complete stranger and does not feel remorse. His feelings - repentance, joy, sadness - have no relation to reality, they are autonomous - and this is precisely the main problem of the hero.

Both Golyadkin from “The Double” and Ordynov from “The Mistress” are also loners, captive of their fantasies, but, unlike them, Raskolnikov in the novel “Crime and Punishment” has an idea of ​​“justice” - even if this the truth of his fantasies. He believes that humanity is an overwhelming minority to which everything is allowed, and the majority is material for the minority, and therefore a person belonging to the “minority” has the right to trample on the norms of the “majority”, and this is “fair”. At this point, Raskolnikov, to a certain extent, agrees with Stavrogin, who preaches Russian messianism and the idea of ​​the God-man.

IN real life We often come across this type of loner, whose perception and character are different from others, who is incapable of empathy and perceives life in gloomy tones. As a defense against feelings of disharmony, such a person tries to eliminate his suffering through some “correct” theory that supposedly defends some kind of “justice.” This phenomenon is well known in psychiatry: a person becomes firmly attached to an idea and uses it for his own defense and justification.

In his monologue justification for his “justice,” Raskolnikov is very eloquent. By asserting the right of the strong to protest against established orders, he further affirms the properties of his nature, suffering from misanthropic irritation and woeful discord with the world. Paradoxically, Raskolnikov's idea of ​​justice, which further enhances his loneliness, attracts him to contacts with other people. He is forced to constantly present evidence of the truth of his “justice”. His ideas, serving as a shield for self-defense, support him, but at the same time they are also a weapon for attack and aggression directed against others.

What turns people away from killing? The commandment “Thou shalt not kill.” Therefore, it should be trampled upon. You should “not give a damn” about her. If you do this, you will be a hero, you will prove your “justice.” So maybe I can prove my strength. Raskolnikov explains his motives to Sonya in this way: I wanted to prove my heroism and therefore I killed.

And before this novel, Dostoevsky repeatedly brought singles to the stage. These characters wanted to find a friend and be saved by destroying the wall of their loneliness, but the matter began and ended with suffering in the “underground”, from which they could not get out. And if Golyadkin managed to get out of it, he immediately ended up in a psychiatric hospital. As for Raskolnikov in the novel “Crime and Punishment,” he, waving the ax of his “justice,” attacks complete strangers with it. Incapable of empathy, this lonely man uses a grisly murder to establish contact with the world as a criminal.

“Crime and Punishment” is Dostoevsky’s first truly “criminal” work.

An ordinary person who has managed to overcome his internal problems is unlikely to want to again explore the complex of aggressiveness that Raskolnikov uses for self-defense. The “justice” that the suffering young man talks about is very often an expression of extreme selfishness. And an adult is unlikely to want to look at it again.

But Dostoevsky does not turn his gaze away from the tragedy - that terrible and convulsive self-defense that Raskolnikov chose. He explores not only his psychology and inner world, not only the discord with the world that torments him, which leads to murder. Dostoevsky describes in detail Raskolnikov’s bodily reflexes and his physiology. We can say that the unprecedented picturesqueness of the description of a crisis-stricken young man is achieved precisely through the depiction of his bodily behavior.

“In early July, in an extremely hot time...” - this is how the novel begins - with a description of a sweltering summer evening. The unsteady gait of Raskolnikov, who does not want to return to his closet, his disgust from the stench surrounding him, his strange joy that he experiences from the prophetic words he overheard on the evening streets of St. Petersburg, the weight of the ax outweighing his will... All these sensations are written down with detail and accuracy.

The feverish horror of Raskolnikov, who committed the murder, is transmitted to the reader. Having become a murderer, Raskolnikov does not lose his ideas about “justice,” but he also cannot get rid of fear. Hands that don’t obey, chills that “almost made my teeth jump out,” trembling in the knees, tight breathing, heat throughout the body, tension and cold to the point of pain... Dostoevsky mercilessly presents the reader with the bodily and physiological details of his hero’s behavior.

The power of influence on the reader of “Crime and Punishment” lies in the consistent description of the smallest changes occurring in the mood, perception, nervous and physical state of this young man living in the world of his fantasies.

From the very beginning creative activity Dostoevsky described the life of loners who do not know how to build relationships with others. These are Golyadkin and Ordynov, these are the main characters on whose behalf the narrative is told in “White Nights” and “Notes from the Underground.” All of them are incapable of normal and balanced communication and are restless people. Because of this, no one accepts them as one of their own, and they while away their days alone. Describing their loneliness and suffering, Dostoevsky called them “stillborn.”

According to Dostoevsky, such “stillborn” are deprived of internal harmony, they are “wounded,” and irritation, discontent, and pain constantly ooze from this wound. And although this type passionately dreams of getting rid of disharmony, finding a sense of unity and peace in relationships with other people and with nature, and reviving a sense of belonging, but there is no concern for others and spiritual gentleness. Society weighs them down; they feel trapped, from which they want to escape. Such is this painful type. His soul is split: he wants sympathy and involvement, but he himself rebels against them.

Raskolnikov belongs to the same “split” type of extreme loner. His closet under the very roof of the house is the best place to not see anyone. And yet his fantasies about “justice” do not completely poison him. The dream of breaking out of his terrible imprisonment glimmers in his soul. On the street, he tries to rescue the girl from the clutches of the libertine. Having met Sonya’s half-sister Polechka on the stairs in Marmeladov’s house, he asks her to pray for herself. When Marmeladov, drunk and smoky, gets run over by a carriage, Raskolnikov immediately comes to his aid, recognizing Marmeladov as his acquaintance. That is, Raskolnikov still has deeply hidden sympathy and desire for life. He wants to extend a helping hand, he wants such a hand extended to him. When Porfiry asks him if he believes in a “new Jerusalem”, where all people will be like brothers, Raskolnikov answers in the affirmative without the slightest hesitation. This reveals his deeply hidden dream of mutual sympathy and help. Just like the hero of Notes from Underground, he splits into two: he wants to be different from everyone else, but he also wants to feel the warmth of human hands.

Raskolnikov's friend, Razumikhin, sees his duality well. Razumikhin characterizes Raskolnikov this way: he is a naturally good person, but there is also a coldness in him that does not allow him to care about others. “It’s as if two opposite characters alternately replace him.”

Dostoevsky himself does not discuss with us the question of how correct Raskolnikov’s ideas regarding “justice” are. Of course, Dostoevsky knows all about the “philosophy of the stillborn,” and Porfiry ridicules the philosopher Raskolnikov. It was important for Dostoevsky to describe how his hero, this lonely dreamer, is reborn for sympathy, how he frees himself from the captivity of fantasy and returns to life.

In order to show how Raskolnikov restores connections with the world, the author brings onto the stage the prostitute Sonya, a person full of human feelings. It is difficult for other characters (and Raskolnikov’s mother too) to say in what state he is now, but Sonya clearly sees his torment stemming from his discord with nature and people. Sonya is an uneducated person, and she has no intention of debunking Raskolnikov’s theories about justice. But she takes pity on him and takes his suffering to heart. When Raskolnikov from Crime and Punishment decides whether to confess, she silently forces him to do so. When he goes into exile in Siberia, she meekly follows him. There is no cure for the illness that Raskolnikov suffers from; all that remains is to be there and wait - Sonya and Dostoevsky know about this.

And in the epilogue of the novel we see how Raskolnikov gets rid of his hard-heartedness. For the reader, this epilogue may seem unexpected. Dostoevsky wanted to say that in Raskolnikov - this young man who was captive of his mental constructs - human feelings had finally awakened. And now he has been reborn into a living life, where there is room to rejoice and grieve with other people.

Who almost immediately became a household name in Russian literature. This character at the beginning of the novel is faced with a dilemma - he is a superman or an ordinary citizen.

In the novel “Crime and Punishment,” Fyodor Dostoevsky guides the reader through all stages of decision-making and repentance after the crime.

Crime and Punishment

Rodion Raskolnikov's theory of crime, with which he tries to solve more global issues, subsequently fails. Dostoevsky in his novel shows not only questions of evil and good and crime with responsibility. Against the backdrop of moral disagreements and struggles in the young man’s soul, he shows daily life Petersburg society of the nineteenth century.

Raskolnikov, whose image literally became a household name after the first release of the novel, suffers from the discrepancy between his thoughts and plans and reality. He wrote an article about the chosen ones, who are allowed everything, and is trying to check whether he belongs to the latter.

As we will see later, even hard labor did not change what Raskolnikov thought about himself. The old pawnbroker became for him just a principle that he stepped over.

Thus, in the novel by Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky, many philosophical, moral and ethical issues are revealed through the prism of the suffering of a former student.

The beauty of the work lies in the fact that the author shows them not from the point of view of the monologues of the main character, but in a clash with other characters who act as both doubles and antipodes of Rodion Raskolnikov.

Who is Raskolnikov?

Rodion Raskolnikov, whose image is stunningly described by Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky, was a poor student. Life in St. Petersburg has never been cheap. Therefore, without a constant income, this young man slides into hopeless poverty.

Rodion was even forced to quit studying at the university, as there was not enough money for anything. Subsequently, when we understand the different facets of his personality, we will be convinced that this student lived for a long time in a world of illusions.

So, why did Raskolnikov consider murder the only right step towards the future? Was it really impossible to go the other way? Next, we will look at the motives for the action and the situations in life that led to such an idea.

First, let's give a description of Raskolnikov. He was a slender young man of twenty-three years of age. Dostoevsky writes that Rodion's height was above average, his eyes were dark, and his hair color was dark brown. The author goes on to say that due to the poverty, the student’s clothes looked more like rags, in which to an ordinary person I would be ashamed to go out into the street.

In the article we will look at what events and meetings led to Raskolnikov’s crime. An essay at school usually requires revealing his image. This information can help you complete this task.

So, in the novel we see that Rodion, having read Western philosophers, is inclined to divide society into two types of people - “trembling creatures” and “those with the right.” The Nietzschean idea of ​​the superman is reflected here.

At first, he even considers himself to be in the second category, which actually leads to his murder of the old pawnbroker. But after this crime, Raskolnikov turns out to be unable to withstand the burden of the crime. It turns out that the young man initially belonged to ordinary people and was not a superman to whom everything was permitted.

Criminal prototypes

Literary scholars have debated for many years where such a character as Rodion Raskolnikov came from. The image of this man can be traced both in press reports of that time, in literary works, and in the biographies of famous people.

It turns out that the main character owes his appearance to various people and messages that were known to Fyodor Dostoevsky. Now we will highlight the criminal prototypes of Rodion Raskolnikov.

There are three cases in the nineteenth century press that could have influenced the formation of storyline protagonist of Crime and Punishment.

The first was the crime of a young twenty-seven-year-old clerk, described in September 1865 in the newspaper Golos. His name was Chistov Gerasim, and among his acquaintances the young man was considered a schismatic (if you check the dictionary, this term in an allegorical sense means a person who acts contrary to generally accepted traditions).

He killed two old servants with an ax in the house of a bourgeois woman, Dubrovina. The cook and laundress prevented him from robbing the premises. The criminal took out gold and silver objects and money, which he stole from an iron-lined chest. The old women were found in pools of blood.

The crime practically coincides with the events of the novel, but Raskolnikov’s punishment was slightly different.

The second case is known from the second issue of the magazine “Time” for 1861. The famous “Lacenaire trial”, which took place in the 1830s, was outlined there. This man was considered a French serial killer, for whom the lives of other people meant absolutely nothing. For Pierre-François Lacenaire, as contemporaries said, it was the same “to kill a man and to drink a glass of wine.”

After his arrest, he writes memoirs, poems and other works in which he tries to justify his crimes. According to him, he was influenced by the revolutionary idea of ​​“the fight against injustice in society,” which was instilled in him by utopian socialists.

Finally, the last case is connected with one acquaintance of Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. Professor of history, Muscovite, relative of the merchant Kumanina (the writer’s aunt) and the second contender for her inheritance (along with the author of Crime and Punishment).

His last name was Neofitov, and he was detained during the process of issuing counterfeit domestic loan notes. It is believed that it was his case that prompted the writer to put into the thoughts of Rodion Raskolnikov the idea of ​​instant enrichment.

Historical prototypes

If we talk about famous people that influenced the formation of the image young student, then here we will talk more about ideas than about real events or personalities.

Let's get acquainted with the reasoning of the great people who could formulate the description of Raskolnikov. In addition, all of their treatises are visible on the pages of the novel in the remarks of minor characters.

So, without a doubt, the work of Napoleon Bonaparte comes first. His book The Life of Julius Caesar quickly became a bestseller of the nineteenth century. In it, the emperor showed society the principles of his worldview. The Corsican believed that among the general mass of humanity, “supermen” are occasionally born. The main difference between these individuals and others is that they are allowed to violate all norms and laws.

In the novel we see a reflection of this thought constantly. This is Rodion’s article in the newspaper, and the thoughts of some characters. However, Fyodor Mikhailovich shows a varied understanding of the meaning of the phrase.

The most cynical version of bringing an idea to life comes from a former student. Who did Raskolnikov kill? The old woman-pawnbroker. However, Rodion himself sees the event differently in individual parts of the novel. At first, the young man believes that “this is the most insignificant creature” and “by killing one creature, he will help hundreds of lives.” Later the thought degenerates into the fact that the victim was not a person, but a “crushed louse.” And at the last stage, the young man comes to the conclusion that he killed his own life.

Svidrigailov and Luzhin also introduced Napoleonic motives into their actions, but they will be discussed later.

In addition to the book of the French emperor, similar ideas were in the works “The One and His Property” and “Murder as One of the Fine Arts.” We see that throughout the novel, the student is running around with an “idea-passion.” But this event looks more like a failed experiment.

At the end of the novel we see that in hard labor Raskolnikov understands the error of his behavior. But the young man does not finally give up on the idea. This can be seen from his thoughts. On the one hand, he laments the ruined youth, on the other, he regrets that he confessed. If I had endured it, maybe I would have become a “superman” for myself.

Literary prototypes

The description of Raskolnikov, which can be given to the image of the character, accumulates various thoughts and actions of the heroes of other works. Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky, through the prism of the doubts of a young man, examines many social and philosophical problems.

For example, the lone hero challenging society exists in most romantic writers. Thus, Lord Byron creates the images of Manfred, Lara and the Corsair. In Balzac we recognize similar traits in Rastignac, and in Stendhal we recognize similar traits in Julien Sorel.

If we consider who Raskolnikov killed, we can draw an analogy with Pushkin’s “Queen of Spades.” There, Hermann tries to gain wealth at the expense of the old countess. It is noteworthy that Alexander Sergeevich’s old woman’s name was Lizaveta Ivanovna and the young man kills her morally. Dostoevsky went further. Rodion really takes the life of a woman with that name.

In addition, there are quite a lot of similarities with the characters of Schiller and Lermontov. The first in the work "The Robbers" has Karl Moor, who faces the same ethical problems. And in “A Hero of Our Time,” Grigory Aleksandrovich Pechorin is in a similar state of moral experimentation.

Yes, and in other works of Dostoevsky there are similar images. First it was “Notes of the Underground”, later - Ivan Karamazov, Versilov and Stavrogin.

Thus, we see that Rodion Raskolnikov combines an opponent of society and a realistic character with his environment, origin and plans for the future.

Pulcheria Alexandrovna

Raskolnikov's mother, with her provincial naivety and simplicity, sets off the images of the capital's residents. She perceives events in a more simplified way, closes her eyes to many things, and seems unable to understand. However, at the end of the novel, when her last words break out in her dying delirium, we see how wrong we were in our assumptions. This woman perceived everything, but did not show the whirlpool of passions that raged in her soul.

In the first chapters of the novel, when Rodion Raskolnikov is introduced to us, his mother's letter has a significant influence on his decision. Information that the sister is preparing to “sacrifice herself for the good of her brother” plunges the student into a gloomy mood. He finally becomes convinced of the idea of ​​killing the old pawnbroker.

Here the desire to protect Dunya from crooks is added to his plans. The loot, according to Raskolnikov, should be enough not to require financial handouts from his sister’s future “husband.” Subsequently, Rodion meets Luzhin and Svidrigailov.

Immediately after the first one came to introduce himself to him, the young man received him with hostility. Why does Raskolnikov do this? The mother's letter directly says that he is a scoundrel and a cheat. Under Pulcheria Alexandrovna, he developed the idea that best wife- from a poor family, since she is completely at the mercy of her husband.

From the same letter, the former student learns about the dirty harassment of the landowner Svidrigailov towards his sister, who worked as their governess.

Since Pulcheria Alexandrovna did not have a husband, Rodya becomes the only support of the family. We see how the mother takes care of him and takes care of him. Despite his rude behavior and unfounded reproaches, the woman strives to help with all her might. However, she cannot break through the wall that her son has built around himself in an attempt to protect the family from future shocks.

Dunya

In the novel, Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky illustrates various life positions and personal philosophies through contrasting characters. For example, Dunya and Raskolnikov. The characteristics of brother and sister are similar in many respects. They are outwardly attractive, educated, think independently and are prone to decisive actions.

However, Rodion was crippled by poverty. He lost faith in kindness and sincerity. We see the gradual degradation of his social life. At the beginning of the novel, it is reported that Raskolnikov is a former student, but now he is hatching plans to “get rich overnight.”

Avdotya Romanovna, his sister, strives for a better, happy future, but in more realistic positions. She, unlike her brother, does not dream of instant wealth and does not harbor romantic illusions.

The culmination of their opposition is expressed in readiness to kill. If Raskolnikov succeeds and goes to this length to prove his own superiority, then with Dunya things are completely different. She is ready to take Svidrigailov’s life, but only out of self-defense.

We see Raskolnikov's punishment throughout most of the novel. It begins not at hard labor, but immediately after the death of the old woman. Gnawing doubts and worries about the progress of the investigation torment the student more than the subsequent years in Siberia.
Dunya, having defended her right to freedom, is rewarded with a happy life in St. Petersburg.

Thus, Raskolnikov’s sister turns out to be more active than her mother. And her influence on her brother is stronger because they mutually care about each other. He sees a certain outlet in helping her find her soul mate.

Raskolnikov and Marmeladov

Marmeladov and Raskolnikov are actually complete opposites. Semyon Zakharovich is a widower, a titular councilor. He is quite old for this rank, but his actions explain this turn of events.

We find out that he drinks shamelessly. Having married Ekaterina Ivanovna and their children, Marmeladov moved to the capital. Here the family gradually sinks to the bottom. It gets to the point that his own daughter goes to the panel to feed the family while Semyon Zakharovich is “lying around drunk.”

But in shaping the image of Raskolnikov, one episode with the participation of this minor character is important. When the young man was returning from a “reconnaissance” of the future crime scene, he found himself in a tavern, where he met Marmeladov.

The key is one phrase from the latter’s confession. He, outlining the abject poverty, says “there are absolutely no barriers.” Rodion Romanovich finds himself in the same position in his thoughts. Inaction and dark fantasies led him to an extremely disastrous situation, from which he saw only one way out.

It turns out that the conversation with the titular adviser is superimposed on the despair that the former student experienced after reading the letter from his mother. This is the dilemma Raskolnikov faces.

The characterization of Marmeladov and his daughter Sonya, who will later become a window into the future for Rodion, boils down to the fact that they submitted to fatalism. At the beginning, the young man tries to influence them, help, change their lives. However, in the end he dies under the pressure of guilt and partly accepts the views and life philosophy Sony.

Raskolnikov and Luzhin

Luzhin and Raskolnikov are similar in their irrepressible vanity and egoism. However, Pyotr Petrovich is a much smaller soul and stupider. He considers himself successful, modern and respectable, and says that he created himself. However, in fact, he turns out to be just an empty and deceitful careerist.

The first acquaintance with Luzhin occurs in a letter that Rodion receives from his mother. It is from marriage with this “scoundrel” that the young man tries to save his sister, which pushes him to commit a crime.

If you compare these two images, both imagine themselves to be practically “superhuman”. But Rodion Raskolnikov is younger and susceptible to romantic illusions and maximalism. Pyotr Petrovich, on the contrary, tries to force everything into the framework of his stupidity and narrow-mindedness (although he considers himself very smart).

The culmination of the confrontation between these heroes takes place in the “rooms”, where the unlucky groom, out of his own greed, settled the bride with her future mother-in-law. Here, in an extremely vile environment, he shows his true colors. And the result is a final break with Dunya.

Later he will try to discredit Sonya by accusing her of theft. With this, Pyotr Petrovich wanted to prove Rodion’s inconsistency in choosing the acquaintances whom he introduces into the family (previously, Raskolnikov introduced Marmeladov’s daughter to his mother and sister). However, his nefarious plan fails and he is forced to escape.

Raskolnikov and Svidrigailov

In the novel “Crime and Punishment,” Raskolnikov, whose image undergoes evolution in the course of events, encounters his antipodes and doubles.

However, there is no direct resemblance to any character. All heroes act as the opposite of Rodion or have a more developed certain characteristic. So Arkady Ivanovich, as we know from the letter, is inclined to the constant pursuit of pleasure. He does not disdain murder (this is his only similarity with the main character).

However, Svidrigailov appears as a character with a dual nature. He seems to be a reasonable person, but he has lost faith in the future. Arkady Ivanovich tries to coerce and blackmail Dunya into becoming his wife, but the girl shoots him twice with a revolver. She failed to get in, but as a result, the landowner loses all hope of being able to start life from scratch. As a result, Svidrigailov commits suicide.

Rodion Raskolnikov sees his possible future in Arkady Ivanovich’s decision. He had already gone several times to look at the river from the bridge, thinking of jumping down. However, Fyodor Mikhailovich helps the young man. He gives him hope in the form of Sonechka's love. This girl forces a former student to confess to a crime, and then follows him to hard labor.

Thus, in this article we got acquainted with the bright and ambiguous image of Rodion Raskolnikov. In Crime and Punishment, Dostoevsky dissects the soul of a criminal with surgical precision to show the evolution from determination inspired by illusions to depression after a collision with reality.

Dostoevsky's novel is an amazing work of Russian literature. It has been debated throughout the centuries. No one can pass by the text without leaving a piece of their soul in it.

The image and characterization of Raskolnikov in the novel “Crime and Punishment” are the main parts of the content that give an understanding of the entire plot of the book and the state of an entire era of Russian history.

Hero's appearance

To understand the character and get to the essence of the character, they start with appearance. Rodion Raskolnikov - a combination of the beauty of his face and figure with the poverty of his clothes. Little is said about appearance in the novel, but it is not difficult to imagine the young man:

• piercing dark eyes;
• “...the whole face is beautiful...”;
• wonderful “...good,...attractive...”;
• Dark hair;
• Slightly above average in height;
• Thin and slender figure;
• The young man's facial features are thin and expressive;

The contrast between appearance and clothing is amazing. Things are strikingly baggy, dirty and poor. An ordinary passerby would consider his clothes to be rags and would be embarrassed to go out into the street in them, but Rodion is calm and confident. How Rodion is dressed:

• “...a wide, strong summer coat made of some thick paper material...”;
• “...very wide, a real bag...” (about the coat);
• “... delivery boy, better dressed...”

Clothing becomes the reason for unsociability; you just want to move away from the young man, step aside.

Positive character traits

A poor student lawyer, 23 years old, is a bourgeois by social status, but his character does not have the typical signs of this class. The impoverished townsfolk lost touch with their situation. Mother and sister are closer in education to the highest circles of society than Rodion.

• Intelligence and education. Rodion learns easily. He does not make friends because he is able to comprehend all sciences on his own, he does not need help and support.
• A good son and brother. Rodion loves his mother and sister more than himself. He promises to never stop loving them, but he does not have the means to support them.
• Possession of literary talent. Raskolnikov writes articles. He is not interested in their fate, like many talented people. The main thing is to create. His work is published in the newspaper, and he doesn’t even know about it.
• Courage. The entire plot of the novel speaks about this quality: a coward would not be able to decide to test the theory, that is, to commit murder. Rodion always has his own opinion and is not afraid to prove and justify it.

Negative tendencies

The first impression of the young man is gloomy and gloomy. The author immediately puts him within the framework of a psychological portrait - a melancholic person. The young man is absorbed in internal thoughts, he is quick-tempered. Every external manifestation of attention bothers him and causes negativity. Raskolnikov has a number of traits that cannot be classified as positive:

• Excessive unfounded pride. Rodion is arrogant and proud. When did such qualities appear in him? Not clear. Why did he decide that he could treat others like that? The reader looks for answers in the text. The feeling interferes with Raskolnikov’s good heart, arouses in him anger, cruelty and a thirst for crime.
• Vanity. The young man does not hide the unpleasant feeling. He looks at those around him as if he constantly sees in them weaknesses. Sometimes a young man behaves with others like an “arrogant youngster,” a boy.

The most terrible quality of a young man is the desire to get rich at the expense of another. If the crime had remained unsolved, everything that the hero had planned would have been achieved, he would have become a wealthy man. His wealth is the tears of people like him. Wealth could change kind person, to make him an even more cynical Svidrigailov. One can, of course, challenge this opinion, but the fates of other characters in the novel show what money does to a person.