Sonechka Marmeladova: characteristics of the heroine of the novel "Crime and Punishment"

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

Dostoevsky wrote his novel "Crime and Punishment" after hard labor. It was at this time that Fyodor Mikhailovich's convictions took on a religious connotation. The denunciation of an unjust social order, the search for truth, the dream of happiness for all mankind were combined in this period in his character with disbelief that the world can be remade by force. The writer was convinced that evil cannot be avoided under any social structure. He believed that it comes from the human soul. Fyodor Mikhailovich raised the question of the need for the moral improvement of all people. So he decided to turn to religion.

Sonya is the ideal writer

Sonya Marmeladova and Rodion Raskolnikov are the two main characters of the work. They are like two opposite streams. The ideological part of "Crime and Punishment" is their worldview. Sonechka Marmeladova is the moral ideal of the writer. This is the bearer of faith, hope,empathy, love, understanding and tenderness. According to Dostoevsky, this is how every person should be. This girl is the epitome of truth. She believed that all people have an equal right to life. Sonechka Marmeladova was firmly convinced that it was impossible to achieve happiness through crime - neither someone else's, nor one's own. Sin is always sin. It doesn't matter who committed it and in the name of what.

Two worlds - Marmeladova and Raskolnikov

Rodion Raskolnikov and Sonya Marmeladova exist in different worlds. Like two opposite poles, these heroes cannot live without each other. The idea of rebellion is embodied in Rodion, while Sonechka Marmeladova personifies humility. This is a deeply religious, highly moral girl. She believes that life has a deep inner meaning. Rodion's ideas that everything that exists is meaningless are incomprehensible to her. Sonechka Marmeladova sees divine predestination in everything. She believes that nothing depends on the person. The truth of this heroine is God, humility, love. For her, the meaning of life is the great power of empathy and compassion for people.

Raskolnikov ruthlessly and passionately judges the world. He cannot tolerate injustice. It is from here that his crime and mental anguish in the work "Crime and Punishment" stem. Sonechka Marmeladova, like Rodion, also steps over herself, but she does it in a completely different way than Raskolnikov. The heroine sacrifices herself to other people, and does not kill them. In this, the author embodied the idea that a person has no right to personal, selfish happiness. Need to learnpatience. True happiness can only be achieved through suffering.

Why Sonya takes Rodion's crime to heart

According to Fyodor Mikhailovich, a person needs to feel responsible not only for his actions, but also for any evil done in the world. That is why Sonya feels that there is her fault in the crime committed by Rodion. She takes the act of this hero to heart and shares his difficult fate. Raskolnikov decides to reveal his terrible secret to this particular heroine. Her love revives him. She resurrects Rodion to a new life.

High inner qualities of the heroine, attitude towards happiness

The image of Sonechka Marmeladova is the embodiment of the best human qualities: love, faith, sacrifice and chastity. Even being surrounded by vices, forced to sacrifice her own dignity, this girl retains the purity of her soul. She does not lose faith that there is no happiness in comfort. Sonya says that "man is not born for happiness." It is bought by suffering, it must be earned. The fallen woman Sonya, who ruined her soul, turns out to be a "man of high spirit." This heroine can be put on the same "rank" with Rodion. However, she condemns Raskolnikov for contempt for people. Sonya cannot accept his "rebellion". But it seemed to the hero that his ax was raised in her name as well.

Clash of Sonya and Rodion

According to Fyodor Mikhailovich, thisthe heroine embodies the Russian element, the folk principle: humility and patience, love for God and for man. The clash between Sonya and Rodion, their opposing worldviews are a reflection of the writer's internal contradictions that disturbed his soul.

Sonya hopes for a miracle, for God. Rodion is convinced that there is no God, and it is pointless to wait for a miracle. This hero reveals to the girl the futility of her illusions. Raskolnikov says that her compassion is useless, and her sacrifices are futile. It is not at all because of the shameful profession that Sonechka Marmeladova is a sinner. The characterization of this heroine, given by Raskolnikov during the clash, does not hold water. He believes that her feat and sacrifices are in vain, but at the end of the work it is this heroine who revives him.

Sonia's ability to penetrate a person's soul

Driven into a stalemate by life, the girl is trying to do something in the face of death. She, like Rodion, acts according to the law of free choice. However, unlike him, she did not lose faith in humanity, as Dostoevsky notes. Sonechka Marmeladova is a heroine who does not need examples to understand that people are kind by nature and deserve the brightest share. It is she, and only she, who is able to sympathize with Rodion, since she is not embarrassed by either the ugliness of his social fate or physical ugliness. Sonya Marmeladova penetrates the essence of the soul through its "scab". She is in no hurry to judge anyone. The girl understands that external evil always lurks incomprehensible or unknown reasons that led to evil. Svidrigailov and Raskolnikov.

Attitude of the heroine to suicide

This girl stands outside the laws of the world that torments her. She is not interested in money. She of her own free will, wanting to feed her family, went to the panel. And it was precisely because of her unshakable and firm will that she did not commit suicide. When the girl faced this question, she carefully considered it and chose the answer. In her position, suicide would have been selfish. Thanks to him, she would be spared from torment and shame. Suicide would have pulled her out of the stinking pit. However, the thought of the family did not allow her to decide on this step. Marmeladova's measure of determination and will is much higher than Raskolnikov assumed. It took more fortitude to stop committing suicide than to commit suicide.

Debauchery for this girl was worse than death. However, humility excludes suicide. This reveals the whole strength of the character of this heroine.

Sony Love

If you define the nature of this girl in one word, then the word is - loving. Her love for her neighbor was active. Sonya knew how to respond to the pain of another person. This was especially evident in the episode of Rodion's confession to the murder. This quality makes her image "ideal". The verdict in the novel is pronounced by the author from the standpoint of this ideal. Fyodor Dostoevsky, in the image of his heroine, presented an example of all-forgiving, all-encompassing love. She doesn't know envy, she doesn't want anythinginstead. This love can even be called unspoken, because the girl never talks about it. However, this feeling overwhelms her. Only in the form of deeds does it come out, but never in the form of words. Silent love only becomes more beautiful from this. Even the desperate Marmeladov bows before her.

Crazy Katerina Ivanovna also falls prostrate before the girl. Even Svidrigailov, that eternal lecher, respects Sonya for her. Not to mention Rodion Raskolnikov. This hero was healed and saved by her love.

The author of the work, through reflection and moral quest, came to the idea that any person who finds God looks at the world in a new way. He starts to rethink it. That is why in the epilogue, when the moral resurrection of Rodion is described, Fyodor Mikhailovich writes that "a new story begins." The love of Sonechka Marmeladova and Raskolnikov, described at the end of the work, is the brightest part of the novel.

The immortal meaning of the novel

Dostoevsky, rightly condemning Rodion for his rebellion, leaves the victory to Sonya. It is in her that he sees the highest truth. The author wants to show that suffering purifies, that it is better than violence. Most likely, in our time, Sonechka Marmeladova would be an outcast. The image in the novel of this heroine is too far from the norms of behavior accepted in society. And not every Rodion Raskolnikov will suffer and suffer today. However, as long as "the world stands", always alive and will livethe soul of man and his conscience. This is the immortal meaning of Dostoevsky's novel, who is rightfully considered a great writer-psychologist.