Love a person even in his sin, for this
already the semblance of divine love is the top
love on earth...
F. M. Dostoevsky
F. M. Dostoevsky’s novel “Crime and Punishment” shows the hero’s path from crime to punishment through repentance, purification to resurrection. For as long as a person lives, good and evil, love and hatred, faith and atheism will live in him. Every hero is not just literary image, but the embodiment of some idea, the embodiment of certain principles.
Thus, Raskolnikov is obsessed with the idea that for the sake of the happiness of some people one can destroy others, that is, with the idea of establishing social justice by violent means. Luzhin embodies the idea of economic predation and professes the philosophy of acquisition. Sonya Marmeladova is the embodiment of Christian love and self-sacrifice.
“Sonechka Marmeladova, eternal Sonechka, while the world stands!” What melancholy and pain can be heard in this bitter reflection of Raskolnikov! The winner in the novel is not the cunning and calculating Luzhin with his theory of “love yourself,” nor Raskolnikov with his theory of permissiveness, but the little modest Sonya. The author leads us to the idea that permissiveness, selfishness, violence destroy a person from the inside and only faith, love and suffering purify.
Among poverty, wretchedness and depravity, Sonya's soul remained pure. And it seems that such people live to cleanse the world of dirt and lies. Everywhere Sonya appears, a spark of hope for the best lights up in people’s souls.
Sonya herself is still a child: “very young, like a girl, with a modest and decent manner, with a clear... but intimidated face.” But she took upon herself to take care of her father, of Katerina Ivanovna and her children, of Raskolnikov. Sonya helps not only financially - she first of all tries to save their souls. The heroine does not condemn anyone, believes in the best in a person, lives according to the laws of love, and is convinced that, having committed a crime, one must repent before oneself, before people, before one’s land. Everyone needs Sonya. Raskolnikov needs Sonya. “I need you,” he tells her. And Sonechka follows him even to hard labor. It is significant that all the convicts loved her. “Mother, Sofya Semyonovna, you are our mother, tender, sick!” - they told her. Material from the site
“Eternal Sonya” is hope. Her Gospel under Raskolnikov's pillow is hope. Hope for goodness, love, faith, that people will understand: faith must be in the soul of every person.
“Eternal Sonya”... People like her “are destined to start a new race of people and new life, renew and cleanse the land."
It is impossible in our world without such people. They give us faith and hope. They help the fallen and lost. They save our souls, helping to escape from the “dirt” and “cold”.
Sonya is “eternal”, because love, faith, beauty are eternal on our sinful earth.
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On this page there is material on the following topics:
- Eternal Sonya Marmeladova
- why does Dostoevsky talk about the eternal Sonechka
- why is crime and punishment called sonechka
- explain the meaning of Raskolnikov’s phrase “eternal Sonechka while the world stands still” in what connection he pronounces them
- essay argument based on the novel crime and punishment eternal sonechka
The image of the “eternal” Sonechka (based on F. Dostoevsky’s novel “Crime and Punishment”)
The embodiment of the humanistic philosophy of F. M. Dostoevsky, implying selfless service to people, the implementation of Christian morality, which brings undivided good, was the image of Sonechka Marmeladova. It was she who managed to resist the world of evil and violence surrounding her thanks to the strength and purity of her soul. Already in the description of the heroine, the author’s attitude towards her is revealed: “... She was a modestly and even poorly dressed girl, very young... with a modest and decent manner, with a clear, but seemingly somewhat intimidated face.” Warmth and cordiality are inherent in these words.
Like all the poor presented in the novel, the Marmeladov family is mired in terrible poverty. Always drunk, having lost self-respect, resigned to the injustice of life, Marmeladov, sick Katerina Ivanovna, helpless children - all of them, born of their time, are deeply unhappy people, pathetic in their helplessness. And they would not have escaped death if not for seventeen-year-old Sonechka, who found the only way out to save her family - to sell her own body. For a girl with deep Christian convictions, such an act is the biggest sacrifice. After all, by violating the Christian commandments, she commits a terrible sin and dooms her soul to eternal suffering. But Sonya did it for the sake of her loved ones. The mercy and compassion of this girl knows no bounds. Even having come into contact with the very bottom, having experienced all the baseness and abomination of humanity, she retained her endless love of humanity, faith in goodness, survived and was not like those who sell and buy human bodies and souls, without suffering from pangs of conscience.
That is why Raskolnikov comes to Sonechka to open his ailing soul to her. But in the hero’s opinion, Sonya’s sin is no less, and maybe even more, terrible than his. Raskolnikov considers her sacrifice senseless, not understanding or accepting the idea of responsibility for the lives of loved ones. And only this thought helps Sonechka come to terms with her fall, forget about her suffering, because the awareness of her own sinfulness pushed Sonya to commit suicide, which could save her from shame and moral torment.
Believing that Sonechka, by not saving anyone, only “ruined” herself, Raskolnikov hopes to find his reflection in her, to make her believe in his idea. He asks her a question: what is better - for a scoundrel to “live and do abominations” or for an honest man to die? To which Sonechka responds with all her characteristic spontaneity: “But I can’t know God’s providence... And who made me the judge here: who should live and who should not live?” Raskolnikov's hopes were not justified. Sonechka is ready to sacrifice herself for the sake of others, but cannot accept the murder of one person for the benefit of others. That is why she became Raskolnikov’s main opponent, directing all her forces to destroy his immoral theory.
Fragile, meek Sonechka shows remarkable strength in her own humility. “Eternal” Sonechka sacrifices herself, and in her actions it is impossible to find the boundaries between good and evil. Just as, forgetting herself, she saved her family, she strives to save Raskolnikov, who is “terribly, infinitely unhappy.” She tries to lead him to the basics of the Christian faith, which preaches humility and repentance. This is what the writer says through the mouth of Soniechka, which helps to cleanse the soul of the evil that destroys it. Thanks to her Christian beliefs, the girl survived in this cruel world, keeping hope for a bright future.
Sonechka helps Raskolnikov understand the unnaturalness, inhumanity of his theory, and accept the sprouts of goodness and love into his heart. Sonechka's love and her ability for self-sacrifice lead the hero to moral rebirth, to the first step on the path to saving his soul. “Can her convictions not now also be my convictions?” thinks Raskolnikov, realizing that only “with endless love will he now atone for all her suffering.”
A special place in the novel “Crime and Punishment” is occupied by female images. Dostoevsky paints the girls of poor St. Petersburg with deep feeling compassion. “Eternal Sonya,” Raskolnikov called the heroine, meaning those who would sacrifice themselves for the sake of others. In the system of images of the novel, this is Sonya Marmeladova and Li-Zaveta, younger sister the old moneylender Alena Ivanovna, and Dunya, Raskolnikov’s sister. “Sonechka, eternal Sonechka, while the world stands” - these words can serve as an epigraph to the story about the fate of girls from poor families in Dostoevsky’s novel.
Sonya Marmeladova, daughter from her first marriage of Semyon Marmeladov, an official who became an alcoholic and lost his job. Tormented by the reproaches of her stepmother, Katerina Ivanovna, distraught from poverty and consumption, Sonya is forced to go to work to support her father and his family. The author portrays her as a naive, bright-hearted, weak, helpless child: “She seemed almost like a girl, much younger than her years, almost a child at all...”. But “...despite her eighteen years,” Sonya violated the commandment “thou shalt not commit adultery.” “You also transgressed... you were able to transgress. You committed suicide, you ruined your life... yours,” says Raskolnikov. But Sonya sells her body, not her soul, she sacrificed herself for the sake of others, and not for herself. Compassion for her loved ones and humble faith in the mercy of God never left her. Dostoevsky does not show Sonya “having a living,” but nevertheless we know how she gets money to feed Katerina Ivanovna’s hungry children. And this glaring contrast between her pure spiritual appearance and her dirty profession, the terrible fate of this girl-child is the most compelling evidence of the criminality of society. Raskolnikov bows before Sonya and kisses her feet: “I didn’t bow to you, but to all human suffering.” Sonya is always ready to help. Raskolnikov, having severed all relations with people, comes to Sonya to learn from her love for people, the ability to accept his fate and “carry his cross.”
Dunya Raskolnikova is a version of the same Sonya: even to save herself from death, she will not sell herself, but will sell herself for her brother, for her mother. Mother and sister loved Rodion Raskolnikov passionately. To support her brother, Dunya became a governess in the Svidrigailov family, taking one hundred rubles in advance. She sent seventy of them to Roda.
Svidrigailov encroached on Dunya’s innocence, and she was forced to leave her place in disgrace. Her purity and rightness were soon recognized, but she still could not find a practical way out: poverty was still at the doorstep for her and her mother, and she was still unable to help her brother in any way. In her hopeless situation, Dunya accepted the offer of Luzhin, who almost openly bought her, and even with humiliating, insulting conditions. But Dunya is ready to marry Luzhin for the sake of her brother, selling her peace of mind, freedom, conscience, body without hesitation, without grumbling, without a single complaint. Raskolnikov clearly understands this: “...Sonechkin’s lot is no worse than the lot with Mr. Luzhin.”
Duna does not have the Christian humility inherent in Sonya; she is decisive and desperate (she refused Luzhin, she was ready to shoot Svidrigailov). And at the same time, her soul is as full of love for her neighbor as Sonya’s soul.
Lizaveta appears briefly on the pages of the novel. A student talks about her in a tavern, we see her in the murder scene, after the murder Sonya talks about her, Raskolnikov thinks. Gradually, the appearance of a kind, downtrodden creature, meek, similar to a big child, emerges. Lizaveta is the obedient slave of her sister Alena. The author notes: “So quiet, meek, unrequited, agreeable, agreeing to everything.”
In Raskolnikov’s mind, the image of Lizaveta merges with the image of Sonya. Half-delirious, he thinks: “Faithful Lizaveta! Why did she turn up here? Sonya! Poor, meek, with meek eyes...” This feeling of spiritual kinship between Sonya and Lizaveta is especially acute in the confession scene: “He looked at her and suddenly in her face he seemed to see Lizaveta’s face.” Lizaveta became “Sonya”, just as kind and sympathetic, who died innocently and senselessly.
And Sonya Marmeladova, and Dunya Raskolnikova, and Lizaveta, complementing each other, embody in the novel the idea of love, mercy, compassion, and self-sacrifice.
F. M. Dostoevsky’s novel “Crime and Punishment” presents the reader with a gallery of characters who not only push Rodion Raskolnikov to commit a crime, but also directly or indirectly contribute to the protagonist’s recognition of his crime, Raskolnikov’s awareness of the inconsistency of his theory, which was the main cause of the crime.
One of the central places in the novel by F. M. Dostoevsky is occupied by the image of Sonya Marmeladova, a heroine whose fate evokes our sympathy and respect. The more we learn about it, the more we are convinced of its purity and nobility, the more we begin to think about true human values. Sonya's image and judgment make us look deep into ourselves and help us evaluate what is happening around us.
This girl has a difficult fate. Sonya's mother passed away early, her father married another woman who has her own children. Need forced Sonya to earn money in a low way: she was forced to go to work. It would seem that after such an act, Sonya should have become angry with her stepmother, because she almost forced Sonya to earn money in this way. But Sonya forgave her, moreover, every month she brings money to the house in which she no longer lives. Sonya has changed outwardly, but her soul remains the same: crystal clear. Sonya is ready to sacrifice herself for the sake of others, and not everyone can do this. She could live “in spirit and mind,” but she must feed her family. She committed a sin, dared to sell herself. But at the same time, she does not require or expect any gratitude. She does not blame Katerina Ivanovna for anything, she simply resigns herself to her fate. “... And she just took our large green draded shawl (we have a common shawl, a draded damask one), covered her head and face with it completely and lay down on the bed, facing the wall, only her shoulders and body were all shaking...” Sonya closes face, because she is ashamed, ashamed of herself and God. Therefore, she rarely comes home, only to give money, she is embarrassed when meeting Raskolnikov’s sister and mother, she feels awkward even at the wake own father, where she was so shamelessly insulted. Sonya is lost under Luzhin's pressure; her meekness and quiet disposition make it difficult to stand up for herself.
All the heroine’s actions surprise with their sincerity and openness. She does nothing for herself, everything is for the sake of someone: her stepmother, stepbrothers and sister, Raskolnikov. The image of Sonya is the image of a true Christian and righteous woman. He is revealed most fully in the scene of Raskolnikov’s confession. Here we see Sonechkin’s theory - the “theory of God.” The girl cannot understand and accept Raskolnikov’s ideas; she denies his elevation above everyone, his disdain for people. The very concept of an “extraordinary person” is alien to her, just as the possibility of breaking the “law of God” is unacceptable. For her, everyone is equal, everyone will appear before the court of the Almighty. In her opinion, there is no person on Earth who would have the right to condemn his own kind and decide their fate. "Kill? Do you have the right to kill? - exclaims the indignant Sonya. Despite her reverence for Raskolnikov, she will never accept his theory.
The girl never makes an attempt to justify her position. She considers herself a sinner. Due to the circumstances, Sonya, like Raskolnikov, transgressed the moral law: “We are cursed together, we will go together,” Raskolnikov tells her. However, the difference between them is that he transgressed through the life of another person , and she - through her own. Sonya calls Raskolnikov to repentance, she agrees to bear his cross with him, to help him come to the truth through suffering. We have no doubt about her words, the reader is sure that Sonya will follow Raskolnikov everywhere, everywhere and always will be with him. And why does she need to go to Siberia, live in poverty, suffer for the sake of a person who is dry, cold, and rejects you? Only she, the “eternal Sonechka,” could do this. kind hearted and selfless love for people. Dostoevsky managed to create a unique image: a prostitute who evokes respect and love from everyone around her - the idea of humanism and Christianity permeates this image. Everyone loves and honors her: Katerina Ivanovna, her children, neighbors, and convicts, whom Sonya helps for free. Reading the Gospel to Raskolnikov, the legend of the resurrection of Lazarus, Sonya awakens faith, love and repentance in his soul. “They were resurrected by love, the heart of one contained endless sources of life for the heart of the other.” Rodion came to what Sonya called him to, he overestimated life and its essence, as evidenced by his words: “Can her beliefs now not be my beliefs? Her feelings, her aspirations at least..."
In my opinion, the fate of Sonechka finally convinced Raskolnikov of the fallacy of his theory. He saw before him not a “trembling creature”, not a humble victim of circumstances, but a man whose self-sacrifice is far from humility and is aimed at saving the perishing, at effectively caring for his neighbors. Sonya, selfless in her devotion to family and love, is ready to share Raskolnikov’s fate. She sincerely believes that Raskolnikov will be able to resurrect for a new life.
The basis of Sonya Marmeladova’s personality is her faith in man, in the indestructibility of good in his soul, in the fact that sympathy, self-sacrifice, forgiveness and universal love will save the world. Having created the image of Sonya Marmeladova, Dostoevsky outlined the antipode of Raskolnikov and his theories (goodness, mercy opposing evil). The girl’s life position reflects the views of the writer himself, his belief in goodness, justice, forgiveness and humility, but, above all, love for a person, no matter what he is.
Dostoevsky, by his own admission, was concerned about the fate of “nine-tenths of humanity,” morally humiliated and socially disadvantaged under the conditions of the bourgeois system of his time. The novel “Crime and Punishment” is a novel that reproduces pictures of the social suffering of the urban poor. Extreme poverty is characterized by the fact that “there is nowhere else to go.” The image of poverty constantly varies in the novel. This is the fate of Katerina Ivanovna, who was left with three young children after the death of her husband. Crying and sobbing, “wringing her hands,” she accepted Marmeladov’s offer, “for there was nowhere to go.” This is the fate of Marmeladov himself. “After all, it is necessary that every person should have at least one place where they would be pitied.” The tragedy of a father forced to accept his daughter's fall. The fate of Sonya, who committed a “feat of crime” against herself for the sake of love for her loved ones. The suffering of children growing up in a dirty corner, next to a drunken father and a dying, irritated mother, in an atmosphere of constant quarrels.
Is it acceptable to destroy an “unnecessary” minority for the sake of the happiness of the majority?
Dostoevsky is against it. The search for truth, denunciation of the unjust structure of the world, the dream of “human happiness” are combined in Dostoevsky with disbelief in the violent remaking of the world. The path is in the moral self-improvement of each person.
The image of Sonya Marmeladova plays an important role in the novel. Active love for one's neighbor, the ability to respond to someone else's pain (especially deeply manifested in the scene of Raskolnikov's confession of murder) make the image of Sonya ideal. It is from the standpoint of this ideal that the verdict is pronounced in the novel. For Sonya, all people have the same right to life. Sonya, according to Dostoevsky, embodies the people's principles: patience and humility, immeasurable love for people.
So, let's take a closer look at this image.
Sonechka is Marmeladov’s daughter, a prostitute. She belongs to the “meek” category. “Short, about eighteen, thin, displeasedly pretty blonde with wonderful blue eyes" We first learn about her from Marmeladov’s confession to Raskolnikov, in which he tells how she went to the panel for the first time at a critical moment for the family, returned, gave the money to Katerina Ivanovna, and she lay down facing the wall, “only her shoulders and body were shaking ", Katerina Ivanovna stood at her feet on her knees all evening, "and then they both fell asleep together, hugging each other."
Sonya first appears in the episode with Marmeladov, who was hit by horses, and who, just before his death, asks her for forgiveness. Raskolnikov comes to Sonechka to confess to the murder and shift part of his torment onto her, for which he hates Sonya herself.
The heroine is also a criminal. But if Raskolnikov transgressed through others for himself, then Sonya transgressed through herself for others. From her he finds love and compassion, as well as a willingness to share his fate and bear the cross with him. At Raskolnikov’s request, we read him the Gospel brought to Sonya by Lizaveta, the chapter about the resurrection of Lazarus. This is one of the most majestic scenes in the novel: “The cinder had long gone out in the crooked candlestick, dimly illuminating in this beggarly room a murderer and a harlot, strangely gathered together to read an eternal book. Sonya pushes Raskolnikov to repentance. She follows him when he goes to confess. She follows him to hard labor. If the prisoners do not like Raskolnikov, then they treat Sonechka with love and respect. He himself is cold and alienated from her, until insight finally comes to him, and then he suddenly realizes that he has no person on earth closer to her. Through love for Sonechka and through her love for him, Raskolnikov, according to the author, is resurrected to a new life.
“Sonechka, Sonechka Marmeladova, eternal Sonechka, while the world stands!” - a symbol of self-sacrifice in the name of one’s neighbor and endlessly “inexorable” suffering.
