Raskolnikov. The image of Rodion Raskolnikov in the novel "Crime and Punishment"

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

The topic 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 is faced with a dilemma - is he 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 deed.

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 the issues of evil and good and crime with responsibility. Against the background of moral disagreements and the struggle in the soul of a young man, he shows the everyday life of the St. Petersburg society of the nineteenth century.

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

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 overstepped.

Thus, in the novel by Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky, through the prism of the suffering of a former student, many philosophical and moral and 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 collision with other characters who act as doubles and antipodes of Rodion Raskolnikov.

Who is Raskolnikov?

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

Rodion was even forced to quit his studies at the 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 lived in a world of illusions for a long time.

So, why did Raskolnikov consider the murder 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 the situations in life that led to such an idea.

First, let's 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 wasdark blond. The author goes on to say that due to the poor financial situation, the student's clothes looked more like rags, in which an ordinary person would be ashamed to go out into the street.

In the article we will consider what events and meetings led to the crime of Raskolnikov. Writing at 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, tends to divide society into two types of people - “trembling creatures” and “having the right”. Nietzsche's idea of the superman is reflected here.

At first, he even refers himself to the second category, which actually leads to the murder of the old money-lender. But after this atrocity, Raskolnikov is unable to withstand the burden of the crime. It turns out that the young man originally belonged to ordinary people and was not a superman, to whom everything is permitted.

Criminal prototypes

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

Thus, 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.

In the press of the nineteenth century, three cases are known that could influence the formation of the storyline of the protagonistCrimes and Punishments.

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

This clerk killed two old servants with an ax in the house of a bourgeois woman, Dubrovina. The cook and the laundress prevented him from robbing the premises. The offender brought out gold and silver items and money that he had stolen from an iron-studded chest. The old women were found in pools of blood.

The atrocity almost coincides with the events of the novel, but Raskolnikov's punishment was a little different.

The second case is known from the second issue of the magazine "Time" for 1861. It outlined the famous "Lacener Trial" that took place in the 1830s. This man was considered a French serial killer, for whom the lives of other people meant absolutely nothing. For Pierre-Francois Lacener, 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 "fighting injustice in society", which was inspired by the utopian socialists.

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

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

Historical prototypes

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

Let's get acquainted with the reasoning of the great people who could form the description of Raskolnikov. In addition, all their treatises are viewed on the pages of the novel in the replicas of secondary characters.

So, without a 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 the society the principles of his worldview. The Corsican believed that "supermen" were occasionally born among the general mass of mankind. The main difference between these individuals and others is that they are allowed to violate all norms and laws.

In the novel we see the reflection of this thought constantly. This is an article by Rodion in the newspaper, and the reflections of some characters. However, Fedor Mikhailovich shows a varied understanding of the meaning of the phrase.

The most cynical way of translating an idea into reality is with a former student. Who did Raskolnikov kill? An old money-lender. However, Rodion himself sees the event differently in certain parts of the novel. In the beginning a young manbelieves that "this is the most insignificant creature" and "by killing one creature, he will help hundreds of lives." Later, the thought is reborn 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.

Besides the book of the French emperor, similar ideas were in the works "The Only One and His Property" and "Murder as one of the fine arts." We see that during the course of 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 fallacy of behavior. But finally the young man does not part with 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 had endured, maybe he would have become a “superman” for himself.

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 examines many social and philosophical problems through the prism of a young man's doubts.

For example, a lonely hero who challenges society exists in most romantic writers. So, Lord Byron creates images of Manfred, Lara and Corsair. In Balzac, we recognize similarities in Rastignac, and in Stendhal, in Julien Sorel.

Iftake into account who Raskolnikov killed, one can draw an analogy with Pushkin's "Queen of Spades". There Hermann tries to acquire we alth at the expense of the old countess. It is noteworthy that Alexander Sergeevich's old woman was called Lizaveta Ivanovna and the young man kills her morally. Dostoevsky went further. Rodion really takes the life of a woman with that name.

Besides this, there is a fairly large similarity with the characters of Schiller and Lermontov. The first in The Robbers has Karl Moor, who faces the same ethical issues. And in A Hero of Our Time, Grigory Alexandrovich 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 the features of a romantic rebel hero who opposes society and a realistic character with his environment, origin and plans for the future.

Pulcheria Aleksandrovna

Raskolnikov's mother, with her provincial naivety and innocence, sets off the images of the capital's inhabitants. She perceives events more simply, closes her eyes to many things, seems unable to understand. However, at the end of the novel, when her last words break out in her deathbed delirium, we see how wrong her assumptions were. 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 appears to us,his mother's letter has a significant impact 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 confirmed in the thought of killing the old pawnbroker.

Here the desire to save Dunya from rogues is added to his plans. The loot, according to Raskolnikov, should be enough not to need financial handouts from the future "husband" of the sister. Subsequently, Rodion meets Luzhin and Svidrigailov.

Immediately after the first one came to introduce himself, the young man takes him with hostility. Why does Raskolnikov do this? The mother's letter directly says that this is a miser, a scoundrel and a rogue. Under Pulcheria Alexandrovna, he developed the idea that the best wife comes from a poor family, since she is completely in the power 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 seeks to help with all her might. However, she cannot break through the wall that her son has built around him 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 opposition of characters. For example, Dunya and Raskolnikov. The characteristics of brother and sister are similar in many ways. They are outwardlyattractive, educated, independent thinker and prone to decisive action.

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 hatches plans to “get rich overnight.”

Avdotya Romanovna, his sister, is striving for a better happy future, but in a more realistic position. She, unlike her brother, does not dream of instant we alth and does not harbor romantic illusions.

The culmination of their opposition is expressed in the readiness to kill. 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 out of self-defense.

Raskolnikov's punishment is seen 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 course of the investigation torment the student more than subsequent years in Siberia. Dunya, having defended her right to freedom, is rewarded with a happy life in St. Petersburg.

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 Marmeladov

Marmeladov and Raskolnikov are in fact the complete opposite. Semyon Zakharovich is a widower, a titular adviser. He is old enough for this rank, but his actions explain this turn of events.

We'll find out he's a godless drinker. Having married Ekaterina Ivanovna with children, Marmeladov moved to the capital. Here the family gradually sinks to the bottom. It comes to the fact that his own daughter goes to the panel to feed his family, while Semyon Zakharovich is “lying around drunk.”

But in shaping the image of Raskolnikov, one episode with the participation of this minor character matters. When the young man was returning from the "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 glaring poverty, says "there are absolutely no barriers." Rodion Romanovich finds himself in the same position in his thoughts. Inaction and gloomy fantasies led him to an extremely distressed situation, from which he saw only one way out.

It turns out that the conversation with the titular counselor 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 later becomes a window into the future for Rodion, boils down to the fact that they submitted to fatalism. In the beginning, the young man tries to influence them, to help, to change their lives. However, in the end, he dies under the pressure of guilt and partly accepts Sonya's views and life philosophy.

Raskolnikov and Luzhin

Luzhin and Raskolnikov are similar in irrepressiblevanity and selfishness. However, Pyotr Petrovich is much smaller in soul and more stupid. He considers himself successful, modern and respectable, he 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 the young man tries to save his sister, which pushes him to commit 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, tries 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 "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 face. And the result is the final break with Dunya.

Later he will try to compromise Sonya by accusing her of stealing. By this, Pyotr Petrovich wanted to prove Rodion's failure 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 flee.

Raskolnikov and Svidrigailov

In the novel "Crime and Punishment" Raskolnikov, whose image is evolving in the course of events, faces his antipodes and doubles.

But directthere is no resemblance to any of the characters. 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 inclined to a constant pursuit of pleasure. He does not shun murder either (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 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 the opportunity to start life from scratch. As a result, Svidrigailov commits suicide.

Rodion Raskolnikov sees his possible future in the decision of Arkady Ivanovich. He had already several times gone 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 Sonya's love. This girl makes a former student 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, Dostoyevsky dissects the soul of a criminal with surgical precision to show the evolution from delusional determination to depression after confronting reality.