Children's images in crime and punishment. Children in Crime and Punishment

Work from the section: "Literature"
“Listen, if everyone has to suffer in order to buy eternal harmony with suffering, then what do children have to do with it, tell me, please? It is completely incomprehensible why they had to suffer, and why should they buy harmony through suffering? It is not worth the tear of even one tortured child…” Ivan Karamazov, “The Brothers Karamazov”. The system of characters in the novel "Crime and Punishment" includes a large number of actors who have their own character, position and role in the novel. Rodion Raskolnikov is the main character; Sonya, Dunya, Pulcheria Alexandrovna, Svidrigailov, Luzhin are also prominent and therefore understandable characters. But there are also secondary characters that we can learn less about. Among all the secondary characters, children should be singled out, the influence of the collective image of which we can trace throughout the novel: these are the children of Katerina Ivanovna, and the bride of Svidrigailov, and the drowned girl who dreams of him in a dream, this is the drunk girl who met Raskolnikov on the boulevard - all these characters cannot be left without attention, because, despite their small participation in the development of the action in the novel, they play an important role, like the whole theme of the child and childhood. Consider the image of the children of Katerina Ivanovna. The fact that Marmeladov's wife Katerina Ivanovna married him with three children, we learn from Marmeladov's conversation with Raskolnikov. The children's father was Katerina Ivanovna's first husband, an infantry officer with whom she ran away from home. When her husband died, Katerina Ivanovna was left alone with three young children. “She married her first husband, an infantry officer, for love, and with him she fled from her parents' house. Husband ... started playing cards, got on trial, and with that he died .... And she was left after him with three young children in a distant and brutal county ... ”Katerina Ivanovna had two daughters: Polechka and Lena - and son Kolya. This is how F.M. Dostoevsky describes them: “an older girl, about nine years old, tall and thin as a match, ... with big, big dark eyes that seemed even larger on her emaciated and frightened face” (Polechka), “the smallest girl, six years old" (Lena), "a boy a year older than her" (Kolya). The children were badly dressed: Polechka was dressed in “a shabby burnusik, probably sewn for her two years ago, because now it did not reach to her knees,” and “a thin shirt torn everywhere”, Kolya and Lena were dressed no better; all the children had only one shirt each, which Katerina Ivanovna washed every night. Although the mother tried to take care of the children, they were often hungry, as the family did not have enough money; the younger ones often cried and were beaten and intimidated: “... For Katerina Ivanovna is of such a nature, and as soon as the children cry, even if they are hungry, she immediately begins to beat them.” In the guise of Sonya, Katerina Ivanovna’s stepdaughter and Marmeladov’s daughter, despite the fact that she is much older than all children and earns money in this way, we also see a lot of children: “she is unresponsive, and her voice is so meek ... blond, her face is always pale, thin, ... angular, ... tender, sickly, ... small, meek blue eyes. It was the desire to help Katerina Ivanovna and her unfortunate children that made Sonya transgress through herself, through the moral law. She sacrificed herself for others. “And only then did he understand what these poor, little orphans meant to her and this pathetic, half-crazy Katerina Ivanovna, with her consumption and banging against the wall.” She is very worried, aware of her position in society, her shame and sins: “But I ... dishonest ... I am a great, great sinner!”, “... to what monstrous pain tormented her, and for a long time, the thought of her dishonorable and shameful position ". If the fate of her family (and Katerina Ivanovna and the children really were Sonya's only family) had not been so deplorable, Sonechka Marmeladova's life would have turned out differently. And if Sonya's life had been different, then F.M. Dostoevsky could not have realized his plan, could not have shown us that, being immersed in vice, Sonya kept her soul pure, because she was saved by faith in God. “Yes, tell me, finally, ... how such a shame and such baseness in you, next to other opposite and holy feelings, are combined?” Raskolnikov asked her. Here Sonya is a child, a defenseless, helpless person with her childish and naive soul, who, it would seem, will die, being in the destructive atmosphere of vice, but Sonya, in addition to a childish pure and innocent soul, has tremendous moral stamina, a strong spirit, and therefore she finds in herself strength to be saved by faith in God, so she saves her soul. “What would I be without God?” The proof of the necessity of faith in God was one of the main goals that Dostoevsky set for his novel. Therefore, we see that the image of children was necessary for the writer to reveal the image of Sonya and achieve his intention. The children of Katerina Ivanovna played a certain role in the fate of each of the main characters of the work. With the help of the image of children, the writer shows us that Marmeladov, who caused so much grief and pain to his family, still thought about his wife and children, and this consisted in the fact that he tried not to drink at least for a while. When he was crushed by a wagon and he died, they found a gingerbread in his pocket, which he carried to the children: “... they found a gingerbread cockerel in his pocket: he is dead drunk, but he remembers about the children.” Thus, the writer uses the image of children to show us that in the soul of Marmeladov, a man who caused grief to himself and his family, there was still love, care and compassion. Therefore, we cannot consider the manifestation of the spiritual qualities of a retired official only as a purely negative one. The image of Svidrigailov only becomes even more mysterious and incomprehensible when we see that a vulgar, depraved person, for whom there are no moral laws, performs a noble deed and spends his money on arranging the children of Katerina Ivanovna in a boarding school. And here the writer again weaves the image of children into the fabric of the novel. But even such a noble deed cannot overshadow all the sins of Svidrigailov. Throughout the novel, we can see all the lowest in him, in his soul, all the worst qualities: cruelty, selfishness, the ability to step over a person to satisfy their interests, including the ability to kill (his wife, Marfa Petrovna, because, apparently, it can be said that Svidrigailov killed his wife, posing as an apoplexy), all the meanness of Svidrigailov's nature is manifested in the episode with Dunechka, when she secretly met with him for the last time, in order to find out about her brother. “Is what you write possible? You are hinting at a crime allegedly committed by a brother. ... You promised to prove it: speak!” - Dunya is indignant. Svidrigailov brought Dunya to him, locked the door and began to kiss and hug her, but then opened the door, realizing that Dunya hated him and would never love him. This was a difficult test for Dunya, but at least she knew what kind of person Svidrigailov was, and if it were not for her love for her brother, she would never have gone to this man. This is proved by Dunya's words: “Here we have already turned the corner, now our brother will not see us. I declare to you that I will not go any further with you." But even more reveals the depth of debauchery in which Svidrigailov's soul is mired, the story of the deaf-mute niece of a petty pawnbroker, Svidrigailov's friend, the German Resslich. There was a rumor in St. Petersburg that the girl had committed suicide because she had been severely offended by Svidrigailov. Although he himself denies everything, but on the night before his suicide he has a dream: “... and in the middle of the hall, on tables covered with white satin shrouds, there was a coffin. Garlands of flowers twined around him on all sides. All in flowers lay in it a girl, in a white tulle dress, with arms folded and pressed to her chest, as if carved from marble. But her loose hair, the hair of a light blonde, was wet; a wreath of roses wrapped around her head. The stern and already ossified profile of her face was also, as it were, carved out of marble, but the smile on her pale lips was full of some unchildish, boundless grief and great lamentation. Svidrigailov knew this girl; there was no image, no lit candles at this coffin, and no prayers were heard. This girl was a suicide bomber. She was only fourteen years old, but it was already a broken heart, and it destroyed itself, offended by the insult that horrified and surprised this young childish consciousness, flooded her angelically pure soul with undeserved shame and pulled out the last cry of despair, not heard, but brazenly scolded in dark night, in the dark, in the cold, in a damp thaw, when the wind howled ... ”Svidrigailov, with his permissiveness, with a complete absence of any moral principles and moral ideals, encroached on the most sacred, according to Dostoevsky - on the soul of a child. With this episode and, especially, with a dream, the writer wanted to show, using the example of Svidrigailov (namely, by example, because, although Arkady Ivanovich has a specific name, this is a collective image of many dozens of similar Svidrigailovs - the same immoral and depraved people) that such immoral people, acting only for the benefit of their (almost always vile) interests, destroy innocent souls. The image of a girl here contains the image of all those who are purer, more innocent, brighter than all the others in this world and therefore weaker, and therefore they are mocked, tortured and destroyed by all those who have no moral principles at all. One can only be glad for Svidrigailov's bride that their wedding did not take place. Because, despite the fact that the girl fell in love with her fiancé in her own way (“Everyone left for a minute, we were left alone as we are, suddenly throws herself on my neck (herself, for the first time), hugs me with both arms, kisses and swears that she will be an obedient, kind and beneficent wife to me, that she will make me happy ... ”- Svidrigailov told Raskolnikov), he remained the same depraved person, she just did not understand this; he would destroy her soul. This problem - immorality and spiritual purity also occupied Dostoevsky, but he understood that people like Svidrigailov would always be, not without reason as confirmation that the weaker ones, whose image is personified by children, a child, will continue to torment and destroy their souls, Svidrigailov’s laughter serves: “I love children in general, I love children very much.” Svidrigailov is an atheist, he calls himself a sinner: “But why did you drive into virtue with all your drawbars? Have mercy, father, I am a sinful man. He-he-he." But he doesn't mean it, he laughs. Although Svidrigailov admits his sins, he does not think of changing anything in his behavior, he does not believe in God, and his image is all the more terrible for us. Svidrigailov appears in the image of the devil - he destroys innocent souls. But we see that a person who has departed from God is not only not happy, he himself suffers from such a life, he himself suffers, having no spiritual and moral guidelines and not realizing that they are necessary. Svidrigailov, who has lost touch with everything moral, who lived in sin, and before death takes upon himself a terrible sin - he kills himself. Dostoevsky consistently proves to us that a person who does not believe in God, who has departed from him, cannot live. The writer also told us about this through Sonya. The general theme of children and childhood is also widely disclosed in the image of Rodion Raskolnikov. Even Razumikhin, in order to prove the presence in the soul of a friend of the best qualities, especially “presses” on such episodes from his life as: saving children from a burning house, giving all the last money to Katerina Ivanovna and her children. This shows his desire to help the “humiliated and offended”, that is, those people whom he wanted to make happy with the money of the old usurer Alena Ivanovna. It is compassion and pain for the “humiliated, insulted” and unfortunate (their collective image is personified by the brutally murdered defenseless horse) that we see in Raskolnikov’s dream. He is helpless in the image of a child in a dream, and in this he sees his helplessness in the real cruel world. Another meaning of Rodion Raskolnikov's dream is that we understand that Raskolnikov's soul already in childhood (after all, he sees himself as a child) protests against crime, against cruelty and against the self-affirmation of a person at the expense of others, and Mikolka just wanted to boast of his strength, its power: “... Do not touch! My good! I do what I want. Sit down some more! Everyone sit down! I want to definitely jump! .. ”The surname of Raskolnikov is speaking. His soul is split by the lack of faith in God into two halves. This is proven by his words. He says: “Yes, maybe there is no God at all.” In one, his theory about “creatures trembling and having the right” matures, the idea of ​​\u200b\u200btesting oneself, an attempt to feel like a “Napoleon”. The other half is like the soul of another person, compassionate and helping the "humiliated and offended", protesting against the unjust structure of society, dreaming of doing thousands of good deeds. It is no coincidence that the main character does so many good deeds: the qualities of the second half of his soul with the best qualities - kindness, pity, compassion - have power over him. The question of faith in God constantly arises before him. We can see that in childhood Raskolnikov (just when the foundations of morality and virtue are being laid) was close to God, that is, he personified the image of that immaculate and innocent child, which were both the deaf-mute drowned woman and the children of Katerina Ivanovna. We read about this in a letter from Pulcheria Alexandrovna: “Do you still pray to God, Rodya, and do you believe in the goodness of our Creator and Redeemer? I fear in my heart that the latest fashionable unbelief has visited you too? If so, then I pray for you. Remember, dear, how even in your childhood, during the life of your father, you babbled your prayers on my knees, and how happy we were all then! Raskolnikov himself understands that the child is close to God, that he himself was close, and taking into account his words: “Children are the image of Christ“ These are the kingdom of God. He commands them to be honored and loved ... "- and all of the above that the image of children is full of purity, innocence, chastity, we can say with confidence that Dostoevsky's thought lies precisely in the fact that "Children are the image of Christ." It is worth recalling here Lizaveta with her childishly frightened at the moment when Raskolnikov raised an ax over her, a face whose expression is constantly, throughout the novel, remembered by the protagonist: “... her lips were twisted, so plaintively, like those of very young children when they start to be frightened of something, stare at the object that frightens them and are about to scream”; he even notices the similarity in the facial expressions of Sonya and Lizaveta, two deeply religious girls: “... he looked at her [Sonya] and suddenly, in her face, he seemed to see Lizaveta's face. He clearly remembered the expression on Lizaveta's face when he approached her then with an ax, and she moved away from him to the wall, putting her hand forward, with a completely childish fright in her face, just like little children when they suddenly start something to be frightened, they look motionlessly and uneasily at the object that frightens them, step back and, stretching out their hand, prepare to cry. Almost the same thing happened now with Sonya ... ". Dostoevsky shows childish fear on the faces of Sonya and Lizaveta not by chance. Both of these girls are saved by religion, faith in God: Sonya from the terrible vicious atmosphere in which she has to be; and Lizaveta - from intimidation and beatings of her sister. The writer once again confirms his idea that the child is close to God. In addition to the fact that the child is the “image of Christ” in the broad sense of understanding the image, the child, according to Dostoevsky, is also the bearer of everything pure, moral, good that is inherent in a person from childhood, whose hopes, ideas and ideals are ruthlessly trampled, and this leads to in the future to the development of an inharmonious personality, this leads to the development of such theories as the theory of Raskolnikov. Therefore, the image of a child is also the image of a defenseless person with his ideals, moral aspirations; a person who is weak in the face of the influence of a ruthless imperfect world and a cruel ugly society, where moral values ​​are trampled on, and such "dealers" as Luzhin, who are only interested in money, profit and career, are at the head. We can conclude this from the fact that Jesus Christ has a dual nature: he is the son of God who descended from heaven, this manifests his divine nature, but he had a human appearance, took on human sins and suffering for them, so we can say that the image of Christ is not only the child himself as a symbol of spiritual morality and purity, heavenly holiness, but also an earthly person whose moral ideals are trampled in an atmosphere of vice. In the stuffy terrible atmosphere of St. Petersburg, the defenseless souls of people are mutilated, all the best and moral in them is drowned out, development is nipped in the bud. But even Raskolnikov has hope for a spiritual rebirth. It begins when he takes the cross from Sonya. Then he does not attach any importance to this, does not believe that he can help him with something - after all, he blames himself only for the mistake: “Krestov, or what, did I really need it from her?” But then Rodion himself asks Sonya for the Gospel. And although both of them - both Sonya and Raskolnikov - were resurrected by love: “Love resurrected them,” says Dostoevsky, it was faith in God that did not allow Sonya's soul to perish, which saved Raskolnikov. The need to believe in God, in bright ideals is the main idea of ​​the novel and the reason why the writer introduces the image of a child into the fabric of the work. Scientific work on literature “Images of children and their role in the novel “Crime and Punishment” by F.M. 2002 List of used literature: Dostoevsky F.M. "Crime and Punishment", Moscow, publishing house "Pravda", 1982 Ozerov Yu.A. The world of the “humiliated and insulted” in the novel by F. M. Dostoevsky "Crime and Punishment", Moscow, publishing house "Dom", 1995

Urazalieva Nelya Ibragimovna

Russian teacher and

literature

Chagan OSOSH

Terektinsky district

WKO

Russian literature Grade 10

Topic: Children in the novel "Crime and Punishment" by F.M. Dostoevsky.

Target: show the image of children on the pages of the novel; through Raskolnikov's attitude towards children, show his humanism and strengthen confidence in the correctness of his theory;

through the fate of children in the novel, to show the crime of a society that leaves children in trouble - their future; develop the skill of working with a literary text; develop students' speech.

Equipment: the text of the novel "Crime and Punishment"; reproductions of paintings by V. Perov "Troika"; V. Makovsky "Date"; N. Bogdanova "At the door of the school"; B. Kustodiev "School in Moscow Rus'"; collection of poems by Nekrasov

Vocabulary work: the meanings of the words are clarified: "humanism", "morality", "relevance"

During the classes:

I. Organizing moment

II 1) Recording: March seventeenth

Classwork

ChildrenVnoveleF.M. Dostoevsky "Crime and Punishment".

2) Goals and objectives of the lesson:

Through Raskolnikov's attitude towards children, show his humanism and strengthening

Confidence in the correctness of your theory;

Through the fate of children in the novel, to show the crime of a society that is leaving in trouble

children are your future;

Cultivate sensitivity and compassion for the misfortune of others.

3) Introductory speech of the teacher

In the last lesson, we talked about the fate of the author, about the "humiliated" heroes of the novel, about the fate of the "little man" in the literature of the 19th century. Tragically draws Dostoevsky and the fate of children. The writer puts most of his little heroes in difficult situations, sends "adult" suffering and trials to their lot.

4) Excursion to the art gallery.

The fate of children has always been relevant. Dostoevsky's contemporaries - artists Perov, Kustodiev, Bogdanov, Makovsky - also wrote about the life of children in the conditions of a capitalist city, about their bitter lot.

A short tour of the paintings of these artists will be held by Maksotova A..

(a student tells about the history of the creation of paintings, about the characters of the paintings, about the fate of disadvantaged children in Tsarist Russia)

Conclusion: artists condemned the system, which made children powerless, defenseless.

5) Poets about the fate of disadvantaged children.

Russian literature did not remain indifferent to the fate of children at all times. Let's listen to Nekrasov's poem "The Cry of Children" (read by Aida Sultangaliyeva)

Conclusion : child labor was exploited in factories and in Russia, so the poem was relevant.

6) A) vocabulary work :

Following his contemporaries, Dostoevsky devotes many bitter pages to children in the novel, because this topic worried the writer and characterizes him as a great humanist writer of his era.

Vocabulary work: humanism, humanist

b) Text conversation:

IN: When do we first meet children in the pages of the novel?

(an excerpt is read out - textbook p. 211, text p. 23)

IN: What can be said about the author of these lines through such a description of the children?

Conclusion: This meeting with the Marmeladov children had a strong effect on Raskolnikov. What painful and terrible we feel in the poses and appearance of children. The sight of these children makes Raskolnikov give Katerina Ivanovna the last money.

IN: What happens to the hero before this meeting? What terrible thought is fixed in his soul? Who is he blaming? (The idea is to "transgress", i.e. to commit a crime against bourgeois society, which makes children shed tears, because the "little" person "has nowhere else to go"

IN: Let's read Raskolnikov's conversation with Sonya about children. What thought constantly

worries him? What does he think and what conclusion does he come to?

(textbook p. 222 - And what will happen to them?)

Conclusion: For all the injustices in life, children suffer first of all, as the most unprotected creatures. The crime of society is manifested in the fact that children's tears are shed. This is the fate of many children in what was then Russia. Their suffering caused him to rebel against the injustice and criminality of this society. In this painful love for children, Raskolnikov's humanism is most revealed.

IN: Raskolnikov's meeting with the children of Marmeladov, Sonya's story, had a very painful effect on the hero. But he observed similar scenes on the streets of St. Petersburg.

(let's read an excerpt about a deceived and disgraced girl on the boulevard, who was hunted by a fat dandy) text pp. 40-41.

Conclusion: this case is the fate of many children of Russia at that time. Compassion for this child and hatred for criminals again weighs heavily on Raskolnikov's soul and again pushes him to "transgress."

IN: How do you understand the meaning of the name Raskolnikov?

7) a) Children's images of Dostoevsky.

The image of a child is one of the ideals of the author. The author's position is felt in the novel - the writer with pity, tenderly portrays the unfortunate little heroes. In addition, Sonya Marmeladova and Lizaveta are compared with children. Sonya is shy all the time, like a child, a “childish fright” appears on her face, like frightened children. Lizaveta had the same look before her death. If Dostoevsky endows his favorite heroes with some childish traits, this childishness means a holy soul and purity. Why do children suffer in the novel? Their suffering is a sacrifice that must be brought to this world.

Impressions from meetings with unfortunate children exacerbate Raskolnikov's hatred for the surrounding reality. The bourgeois morality of the society strengthens in him the confidence of his theory: in a society where evil reigns, the shedding of blood is allowed in conscience in the name of eradicating this evil.

ІІІ AssociationI"Children in Dostoevsky's Novel"

poor humiliated

Children in the novel

"Crime and Punishment"

without light

future disenfranchised

deprived defenseless

childhood

IN : What do you think, should the fate of children worry society? Why?

IN : Is the novel relevant in ourdays?How do children live in our country today?

Children in Crime and Punishment

In Raskolnikov's theory, which allowed him to commit murder, the main argument is accusing society of cruelty. The very people who verbally recognize the need for love for their neighbor are indifferent to the real suffering of those around them. It is from this, and in itself a really correct observation, that Raskolnikov draws a conclusion about the duality, hypocrisy of generally accepted morality, about the need for "blood according to conscience" to overcome evil. But, accusing the world of cruelty, Raskolnikov first of all speaks of children. In this painful, ardent love for children, the ability of the protagonist of the novel to sympathize with someone else's grief is revealed with special force.

Children are defenseless, they cannot resist the merciless pressure of life. They are not guilty of the grief of those around them, and therefore their suffering is especially unjust. If a society "tramples" those who are not guilty of anything, it means that its structure is immoral, abnormal. Impressions from meetings with unfortunate children exacerbate Raskolnikov's hatred for the surrounding reality and strengthens confidence in the correctness of his theory.

Raskolnikov hears the sounds of a cracked seven-year-old voice - in a tavern, among drunken screams and abuse. These sounds complement the tragic story of Marmeladov. The next impression is a meeting with Katerina Ivanovna and her children. The sight of these unfortunate children makes Raskolnikov give almost his last pennies to the Marmeladovs. A terrible thought is fixed in his tormented soul: "And there are no barriers ..." And then another impression pushes Raskolnikov to the decision to "step over": he sees a deceived and disgraced girl on the boulevard.

Raskolnikov indignantly thinks of those scientists who claim that a certain percentage of people should die, and consider this normal. For him, behind this soothing word "percentage" is a living person, and Raskolnikov does not want and cannot put up with the death of at least one child. And here the author and his hero are close, but only in this. Moral indignation dictates fundamentally different conclusions to them - this is clearly reflected in the novel.

Dostoevsky saw in children that moral purity, kindness of soul, which adults have lost. It is no coincidence that all the best that is characteristic of the adult heroes of the novel is connected with the world of the child. It is impossible to talk about the theme of childhood in Crime and Punishment, having in mind only the children of Katerina Ivanovna. As a child, weak, helpless, with a childishly pure, naive and bright soul, Sonya is drawn. She is like a child in her feelings, in her actions - sincerity and kindness. The pure and fair world of the child's soul is also revealed in Raskolnikov's dream. It is the child who protests against the cruelty of the adult world in this dream. That direct, unthinking kindness that Raskolnikov repeatedly shows - contrary to his own theory - is inextricably linked with the boy Rodey, with that moral "reserve" that has been preserved in the hero of the novel since childhood. Having killed the helpless, childishly defenseless Lizaveta, Raskolnikov seemed to have raised his hand to himself. It is the children who, atoning for their sins, are helped in "Crime and Punishment" by Svidrigailov.

Dostoevsky, of course, follows the Christian understanding. Children in the Gospels symbolize the moral closeness of a person to God, the purity of the soul, capable of believing - and being ashamed. Raskolnikov is dual in the novel: the natural, God-given, kindness of the hero is "obscured" by the pride and anger of an adult. Throughout the novel, the child in Raskolnikov struggles with an adult, kindness - with cruelty and pride. The moral change that occurred in Raskolnikov's soul in the epilogue of "Crime and Punishment" means the final victory of kindness, the return of the hero to himself - the child, the return to God. And here the author of the novel, having walked alongside his hero along his long, painful and contradictory path, for the first time, finally, "meets" him "face to face", as people of the same faith, one understanding of life meet ...

In 1866, Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky's novel Crime and Punishment was published, which became a completely new phenomenon in Russian literature. Its main difference from previous works was the rich polyphony of images. There are about ninety characters in the novel: there are policemen, and passers-by, and janitors, and organ grinders, and bourgeois, and many others. All of them, down to the most insignificant ones, make up the special background against which the action of the novel develops. Dostoevsky even introduces an unusual, at first glance, image of a big city ("Dostoevsky's Petersburg"!) with its gloomy streets, "wells" of courtyards, bridges, thereby reinforcing the already painfully tense atmosphere of hopelessness and depression, which determines the mood of the novel. There is an even more unusual image of a child who is invisibly present everywhere. These are the children ruined by Svidrigalov, and the image of Raskolnikov - a child, and the image of a girl who "drunk and deceived ... for the first time ... understand?". Sonya Marmeladova is also a child, it is no coincidence that Raskolnikov addresses her so often. Sonya herself calls Katerina Ivanovna a child, but here it is rather a comparison with holy fools, whose entire behavior is childishness and spontaneity. Of course, the image of the child, like all other images in the novel, serves one purpose - the comprehensive and complete disclosure of the image of Rodion Raskolnikov.

We know little about Raskolnikov's childhood. We only know that he lived in a dusty city, as dusty as St. Petersburg, in which the action takes place, we know that he went to church and that he had a younger brother, whom he never saw, but at whose grave he always cried. We also see a blurry image of the father, tightly holding the hand of Raskolnikov - the child. It is noteworthy that it is through the image of Raskolnikov's childhood, namely through the dream that he sees, falling asleep in the ditch before his crime, that Dostoevsky shows us the roots of the theory that grew and strengthened along with Raskolnikov. Indeed, the dream is terrible and painful, but the author himself gives us a hint so that we carefully look at this child, from whom the false Napoleon will subsequently grow up: monstrous, but the setting and the whole process of the whole performance are at the same time so probable and with such subtle, unexpected, but artistic details corresponding to the whole completeness of the picture, that they cannot be invented in reality ... "We see how the" poor horse "was beaten to death, and how everyone looked at this terrible act, including Raskolnikov's father, and did nothing. Of course, an analogy is born in the mind of the reader, this unfortunate horse and the same unfortunate people who are beaten and beaten to death by life. We immediately remember Marmeladov, Katerina Ivanovna, Sonechka. We see the horror that a child experiences when he witnesses this picture of a murder, and it is unlikely that anyone who has seen something like this will have a soul the same as before. This dream further strengthens Raskolnikov in the thought that it is necessary to carry out his plans. But let's look at what Dostoevsky, the psychologist, is trying to tell us, repeating after Freud that the roots of all problems should be sought in childhood: “But the poor boy no longer remembers himself. bloody muzzle and kisses her, kisses her eyes, kisses her lips ... Then he suddenly jumps up and in a frenzy rushes with his little fists at Mikolka. At this moment, his father, who had been chasing after him for a long time, finally grabs him and carries him out of the crowd. - Let's go "Let's go!" he says to him, "let's go home! "Daddy! Why did they ... kill the poor horse! - he sobs, but his breath is taken away, and the words are screaming out of his tight chest." Here is this sacramental question: "What did they kill for? ", and here is the sacramental answer of Mikolka, the owner of the horse (by the way, the author will later call the false murderer of the old pawnbroker who almost hanged himself with the same name): "My good!". Here it is - that sprout planted in the soul of a child: if my good, then what I want, then I do! And how to become the one who has this "good", how to become "having the right"? We know the answers to these questions. Who knows, maybe Raskolnikov should have killed Alena Ivanovna to return to his child, to himself, and to understand that the pain that he saw in the eyes of the "horse", the same pain was reflected in the eyes of the victim, however, he simply did not see it. himself in childhood, for not saving the poor animal then - this is one of the roles assigned by the author to the image of the child.

But there are still people in the novel who, having matured, remain children. They live in peace with their child inside (again we quote Freud, but we cannot do without it, because the views of Dostoevsky and Freud are so similar) and in relative peace with themselves. This is, first of all, Sonya Marmeladova, who had no childhood as such. She was simply put out on the street, sacrificed, one child was sacrificed to three others, so that "Polenka would not follow the same path." And the faith of Sonechka Marmeladova is also somehow childish and naive, but all-consuming and bright. She herself is a child and sees this childishness in others, because she does not want to notice the dirt and vices of adult life. And they, thanks to the protection of this little child in her, did not touch her: “Of course, he understood that Sonya’s position is an accidental phenomenon in society, although, unfortunately, it is far from being isolated and not exceptional. But this very accident, this a certain level of development and her whole previous life could, it seems, immediately kill her at the first step on this disgusting road. a drop in her heart: he saw it; she stood in front of him in reality ... "

There are still images of children in the novel, which are not expressed as clearly and clearly as those already considered. Through them, Dostoevsky poses another question to Raskolnikov and his theory: "Do children fall under his definition of" trembling creatures "?" We remember that he killed not only the old pawnbroker, but also Lizaveta, that big child, who, apparently, was pregnant at the time of her death. We also remember the girl whom he spotted on a park bench and even gave twenty kopecks to "save her", but, of course, they were not enough. Let us remember the children ruined by Svidrigailov, the children of Katerina Ivanovna, who, when they grow up, will surely repeat the path of their parents (again we hear Freud's voice), we will finally remember Svidrigailov's dream before his suicide. This episode makes us think. We understand that many children, many innocent souls are doomed to follow the path of sin and depravity, for such is their fate, and even if you kill a thousand people, you still cannot save them, because the vice is inside, not outside. People who have lost their inner child, whether they are still children or adults, are doomed to suffering and death, terrible death, suicide. Throughout the novel, this thought occurs to many characters. A child, or people who have kept him in their souls, will never dare to do this, because this is a great sin, and Dostoevsky judges his heroes primarily from the standpoint of Christian morality. Yes, the child will not even think of committing suicide, he will simply continue to live, suffer and sometimes rejoice, as the eternal child Sonya Marmeladova does, because life is a gift, and they need to be disposed of conscientiously.

What is the result? We see that although in the novel the image of the child is not expressed as clearly as others, nevertheless its echoes pass through the entire narrative. And this is no coincidence. A child, like the Gospel, is another way to yourself. And Sonya and Raskolnikov found him, found him and Svidrigailov, who redeemed the blood of other children with his blood. And everyone in their own way became happy, having found a long-lost child, and, as it were, returned to childhood, the happiest of times. The author returned with them: “But here a new story begins, the story of the gradual renewal of man, the story of his gradual rebirth, his gradual transition from one world to another, acquaintance with a new, hitherto completely unknown reality. This could form the subject of a new story, But now our story is over.

In Raskolnikov's theory, which allowed him to commit murder, the main argument is accusing society of cruelty. The very people who verbally recognize the need for love for their neighbor are indifferent to the real suffering of those around them. It is from this, and in itself a really correct observation, that Raskolnikov concludes about the duality, the hypocrisy of generally accepted morality, about the need for “blood according to conscience” to overcome evil. But, accusing the world of cruelty, Raskolnikov first of all speaks of children. In this painful, ardent love for children, the ability of the protagonist of the novel to sympathize with someone else's grief is revealed with special force.

Dostoevsky, of course, follows the Christian understanding. Children in the Gospels symbolize the moral closeness of a person to God, the purity of the soul, capable of believing - and being ashamed. Raskolnikov is dual in the novel: the natural, God-given, kindness of the hero is “obscured” by the pride and anger of an adult. Throughout the novel, the child in Raskolnikov struggles with an adult, kindness - with cruelty and pride. The moral change that occurred in Raskolnikov's soul in the epilogue of "Crime and Punishment" means the final victory of kindness, the return of the hero to himself - the child, the return to God. And here the author of the novel, having walked alongside his hero along his long, painful and contradictory path, for the first time, finally, “meets” him “face to face”, as people of the same faith, one understanding of life meet ...

Raskolnikov indignantly thinks of those scientists who claim that a certain percentage of people should die, and consider this normal. For him, behind this soothing word “percentage” is a living person, and Raskolnikov does not want and cannot put up with the death of at least one child. And here the author and his hero are close, but only in this. Moral indignation dictates fundamentally different conclusions to them - this is clearly reflected in the novel.