The theme of this article will be Rodion Raskolnikov, whose image almost immediately became a household name in Russian literature. This character at the beginning of the novel faces a dilemma - he is a superman or an ordinary citizen.
In the novel Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky guides the reader through all the stages of decision-making and remorse after the deed.
Crime and Punishment
The theory of crime of Rodion Raskolnikov, with which he is trying to solve more global issues, subsequently fails. Dostoevsky in his novel shows not only the questions of evil and good and crime with responsibility. Against the backdrop of moral disagreements and struggle in the soul of a young man, he shows the daily life of nineteenth-century St. Petersburg society.
Raskolnikov, whose image literally after the first release of the novel became a household name, suffers from a mismatch of his thoughts and plans with reality. He has written an article about the elect, who is 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 of himself. The old woman-percussionist became for him only the principle through which he stepped over.
Thus, in the novel of Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky, through the prism of the suffering of a former student, many philosophical and moral-ethical issues are revealed.
The beauty of the work lies in the fact that the author shows them not from the point of view of the protagonist’s monologues, but in a clash with other characters acting as doubles and antipodes of Rodion Raskolnikov.
Who is Raskolnikov?
Rodion Raskolnikov, whose image was amazingly described by Fedor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky, was a poor student. Life in St. Petersburg has never been cheap. Therefore, without constant earnings, this young man slides into hopeless poverty.
Rodion was even forced to drop out of university, as there was not enough money for anything. Subsequently, when we deal with the different facets of his personality, we will be convinced that this student has long lived in a world of illusions.
So, why did Raskolnikov consider the killing to be the only right step towards the future? Was it really impossible to go the other way? Next, we will deal with the motives of the act and situations in life that led to such an idea.
First, we give a description of Raskolnikov. He was a slender young man at the age of twenty-three. Dostoevsky writes that Rodion's height was above average, his eyes were dark, and his hair color was dark blond. Further, the author says that due to the poor financial situation, the student’s clothes more resembled rags in which an ordinary person would be ashamed to go out.
In the article we will consider what events and meetings led to the crime of Raskolnikov. Composing in school usually requires the disclosure of 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 “right having”. This reflects the Nietzschean idea of the superman.
In the beginning, he even classifies himself in the second category, which in fact leads to the murder of the old woman-interest-agent. But after this atrocity, Raskolnikov is unable to withstand the burden of crime. It turns out that the young man initially belonged to ordinary people and was not a superman to whom everything is permitted.
Criminal prototypes
Literary scholars have argued for many years where such a character as Rodion Raskolnikov came from. The image of this person can be traced both in press releases of that time, in literary works, and in biographies of famous people.
Thus, it turns out that the protagonist owes his appearance to various people and messages that were known to Fedor Dostoevsky. Now we will highlight the criminal prototypes of Rodion Raskolnikov.
In the nineteenth century press, three cases are known that could affect the formation of the plot of the protagonist "Crime and Punishment."
The first was the crime of a young twenty-seven-year-old clerk described in September 1865 in the Golos newspaper. His name was Chistov Gerasim, and among the acquaintances the young man was considered a schismatic (if you look at the dictionary, this term in allegorical terms means a person who acts contrary to generally accepted traditions).
This clerk killed with an ax two old servants in the house of one bourgeois, Dubrovina. The cook and the laundress prevented him from robbing the room. The criminal carried gold and silver objects and money, which he stole from an iron-studded chest. The old woman was found in pools of blood.
The crime almost coincides with the events of the novel, but the punishment of Raskolnikov was slightly different.
The second case is known from the second issue of Vremya magazine for 1861. There was described the famous "Lacener process" that took place in the 1830s. This man was considered a serial French killer, for whom the lives of other people meant absolutely nothing. For Pierre-Francois Lasener, as contemporaries said, it was the same “what to kill a man, what 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 he was inspired by the Utopian socialists.
Finally, the last case is connected with one acquaintance of Fedor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. A professor of history, a Muscovite, a relative of the merchant Kumanina (the writer's aunt) and a second applicant 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 fake internal loan tickets. 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 who influenced the formation of the image of a young student, then we will talk more about ideas than about real events or personalities.
Let's get acquainted with the reasoning of great people who could form a description of Raskolnikov. In addition, all of their treatises are viewed on the pages of the novel in replicas of secondary characters.
So, no doubt, in the first place is the work of Napoleon Bonaparte. His book, The Life of Julius Caesar, quickly became a nineteenth-century bestseller. In it, the emperor showed society the principles of his worldview. The Corsican believed that among the total mass of mankind “superhuman” are occasionally born. The main difference between these individuals from 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, Fedor Mikhailovich shows a diverse understanding of the meaning of the phrase.
The most cynical embodiment of an idea from a former student. Whom did Raskolnikov kill? The old woman-interest-maker. However, Rodion himself sees the event differently in parts of the novel. At first, the young man believes that “this is an insignificant creature” and “by killing one creature, he will help hundreds of lives.” Later, the idea degenerates into the fact that the victim was not a man, but a "crushed louse." And at the last stage, the young man concludes that he killed his own life.
Svidrigailov and Luzhin also brought Napoleonic motives to 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 during the novel, the student rushes about with “idea-passion”. But this event is more like an unsuccessful experiment.
At the end of the novel, we see that in hard labor Raskolnikov understands the erroneous behavior. But finally, the young man does not give up the idea. This is evident from his thoughts. On the one hand, he laments the ruined youth; on the other, he regrets that he confessed. If he could withstand, maybe he would become a “superman” for himself.
Literary Prototypes
Raskolnikov’s description, which can be given to the character’s image, accumulates various thoughts and actions of the heroes of other works. Fedor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky through the prism of doubt of a young man considers many social and philosophical problems.
For example, a lone hero challenging society exists among most romantic writers. So, Lord Byron creates the images of Manfred, Lara and Corsair. From Balzac we recognize similarities in Rastignac, and from Stendhal in Julien Sorel.
If you consider who Raskolnikov killed, you can draw an analogy with the Pushkin's “Queen of Spades”. There, Hermann tries to gain wealth at the expense of the old countess. It is noteworthy that the old woman of Alexander Sergeyevich was called Lizaveta Ivanovna and the young man mentally kills her. 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 Robbers has Karl Moor, who faces the same ethical challenges. And in “The Hero of Our Time” Grigory Aleksandrovich Pechorin is in a similar state of moral experimentation.
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 the features of a romantic rebel hero opposing society and a realistic character with his environment, background and future plans.
Pulcheria Alexandrovna
Raskolnikov's mother, with her provincial naivety and innocence, sets off the images of the capital's inhabitants. She perceives events more simplistically, she 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 dying delirium, we see how wrong the assumptions were. This woman perceived everything, but did not show the whirlpool of passions that was raging 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 is finally affirmed in the idea of killing the old woman-interest-bearer.
Here, his intentions are added to the desire to protect the Dunya from crooks. According to Raskolnikov’s argument, the loot should be enough not to need financial handouts of the sister’s future “husband”. Subsequently, Rodion met with Luzhin and Svidrigailov.
Immediately after the first came to introduce himself, the young man takes him in hostility. Why is Raskolnikov doing this? A mother’s letter explicitly says that it’s a miser, a scoundrel and a rogue. Under Pulcheria Alexandrovna, he developed the idea that the best wife is from a poor family, since she is completely in the power of her husband.
From the same letter, a former student learns about the dirty harassment of the landowner Svidrigailov to his sister, who worked as their governess.
Since Pulcheria Alexandrovna did not have a husband, Rodya becomes the sole support of the family. We see how the mother takes care of and takes care of him. Despite his rude behavior and unreasonable reproaches, a woman seeks to help with all her might. However, she cannot break through the wall that her son 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 the juxtaposition of characters. For example, Dunya and Raskolnikov. The characteristics of brother and sister are similar in many ways. They are outwardly attractive, educated, think independently and are prone to decisive actions.
However, Rodion was crushed by poverty. He disbelieved 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 has plans for "getting wealth overnight."
Avdotya Romanovna, his sister, is striving 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 for murder. If Raskolnikov succeeds and he goes for it in order to prove his own superiority, then Dunya’s situation is completely different. She is ready to take Svidrigailov’s life, but only because of self-defense.
Raskolnikov’s punishment we see throughout most of the novel. It does not begin in hard labor, but immediately after the death of the old woman. The tormenting doubts and worries about the course of the investigation torment the student more than the subsequent years in Siberia.
Dunya, having defended his right to freedom, receives a happy life in St. Petersburg as a reward.
Thus, Raskolnikov’s sister is 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 a soul mate.
Raskolnikov and Marmalade
Marmeladov and Raskolnikov are actually the exact opposite. Semyon Zakharovich is a widower, titular adviser. He is old enough for this rank, but his actions explain a similar turn of events.
We find out that he drinks godlessly. Having married Ekaterina Ivanovna with her children, Marmeladov moved to the capital. Here the family is gradually sinking. It comes to the fact that his own daughter goes to the panel to feed her family, while Semyon Zakharovich "wallowing drunk."
But in the formation of the image of Raskolnikov, one episode with the participation of this secondary character is important. When the young man was returning from a “reconnaissance” of the future crime scene, he ended up in a tavern where he met Marmeladov.
The key is one phrase from the confession of the latter. He, outlining the flagrant poverty, says "there are absolutely no barriers." Rodion Romanovich is in his thoughts in the same position. Inaction and gloomy fantasies led him to an extremely distressing situation, from which he saw only one way out.
It turns out that the conversation with the titular adviser is superimposed on the despair experienced by the former student after reading the letter from his mother. Here is a dilemma faced by Raskolnikov.
The characteristic of Marmeladov and his daughter Sonya, which later becomes a window into the future for Rodion, boils down to the fact that they obeyed fatalism. In 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 of Sonya.
Raskolnikov and Luzhin
Luzhin and Raskolnikov are similar in indefatigable vanity and selfishness. However, Petr Petrovich is much smaller than the soul and dumber. He considers himself successful, modern and respectable, says that he created himself. However, in fact it turns out to be just an empty and deceitful careerist.
The first acquaintance with Luzhin takes place in a letter that Rodion receives from his mother. It is from marriage with this "scoundrel" that a young man tries to save his sister, which pushes him to a crime.
If you compare these two images, both imagine themselves almost "superhuman." But Rodion Raskolnikov is younger and prone to romantic illusions and maximalism. Pyotr Petrovich, on the contrary, is trying to drive 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 "numbers", where the unlucky groom, by his own greed, settled the bride with her future mother-in-law. Here, in an extremely vile environment, he shows his true face. And the result is a final break with Dunya.
Later, he will try to compromise Sonya, accusing her of theft. By this, Petr Petrovich wanted to prove Rodion’s bankruptcy in the choice of acquaintances whom he introduces into the family (earlier Raskolnikov introduced Marmeladov’s daughter with his mother and sister). However, his vile plan fails, and he is forced to flee.
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 specific characteristic. So Arkady Ivanovich, as we know from the letter, is prone to a constant pursuit of pleasures. He does not shun killing (this is his only resemblance to 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 is trying to force Dunya to become his wife by coercion and blackmail, but the girl shoots him with a revolver twice. She could not get in, but, as a result, the landowner loses all hope of the opportunity to start life from scratch. As a result, Svidrigailov commits suicide.
Rodion Raskolnikov sees in the decision Arkady Ivanovich his possible future. He had already gone several times to look at the river from the bridge, thinking of jumping down. However, Fedor Mikhailovich helps the young man. He gives him hope in the form of love of Sonya. This girl makes a former student confess to a crime, and then follows him to hard labor.
Thus, in this article, we met with a bright and ambiguous image of Rodion Raskolnikov. In the novel Crime and Punishment, Dostoevsky dissects the criminal soul with surgical accuracy in order to show evolution from determination, inspired by illusions, to depression, after a collision with reality.