Crime and punishment

A detailed Summary of Crime and punishment

Dostoevsky uses the novel Crime and Punishment to depict the prejudices in society, and to show the world what they are doing by judging a person by their societal status. Why should the cold world tell us if we are good or bad based on how we appear to people who don't know us? The characters Dostoevsky creates to show us what are minds are trained to do are the saintly prostitute Sonia, and the man with "two posts in the government" (31) and a fortune; well-to-do Pyotr Petrovitch. The woman who society has deemed immoral is the Christian angle of the heavens, and the man who was called a leader of the people has morals not unlike the Devil himself.

Sonia is first and foremost the symbol of this Christian ideal held so dear by people of faith. Her characterization depicts her as flawless and unerring in virtue. Though slightly unbelievable she serves a valuable function in the novel as the Christian ideal which the behavior and virtue of every other character in the

novel can be measured against. Sonia is always completely selfless, thinking nothing of her own interests and losing herself in love and compassion for others, especially Raskolnikov. Katerina Ivanovna says in Sonia's defense, "She'd sell her last rag, she'd go barefoot to help you if you needed it, that's what she is!"( ) She is naturally and infinitely good, and she is always putting others before herself. Even the crude prisoners in Siberia recognize this goodness in her and adore her for it. As an actual person she is unrealistic, but she Dostoyevsky's idea of what it means to be full of heavenly goodness.

In this sense, then, Sonia and Petrovitch are the two polar opposites of morality in Dostoyevsky's universe. While Sonia is surely an unattainable ideal her opposite, Petrovitch, in Dostoyevsky's world of Russians was all too real a character, perhaps more so than any of us would like to think. Sonia embodies all that is good and Christian on the inside while to s

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Approximate Word count = 661
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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