Raskolnikov, Rodion Romanovich. Speaking names and surnames in the novel F

literary character Rodion Raskolnikov is a difficult image. Many consider him the most controversial character in the Russian literature XIX V. What kind of hero is this, what is the essence of his spiritual throwing and what crime did he commit? Let's look into this.

Who is Rodion Raskolnikov

Before considering the image of Rodion Raskolnikov in F. Dostoevsky's novel "Crime and Punishment", it is worth learning about his biography.

Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov is a 23-year-old student of the Faculty of Law at St. Petersburg University. He is handsome, smart and educated. Coming from a poor petty-bourgeois family, Raskolnikov arrived in the northern capital of Russia at the age of 21.

Since his father died a few years earlier, and his mother and sister live very modestly, the young man had to rely only on his own strength.

Living and studying in St. Petersburg was quite expensive, and in order to earn money, the young provincial gave private lessons to noble children. However, fatigue and exhaustion of the body led to the fact that the young man became seriously ill and fell into a deep depression.

Having stopped teaching, Rodion lost his only source of income and was forced to quit his studies. Being in a difficult moral state, he planned and carried out the murder and robbery of an old money-lender. However, due to the appearance of an unwanted witness, the young man had to kill her too.

For most of the novel, Raskolnikov analyzes his act from different angles and tries to find both an excuse and a punishment for himself. At this time, he saves his sister from the marriage imposed on her and finds for her a worthy and loving spouse.

In addition, he helps the family of a prostitute named Sonya Marmeladova and falls in love with her. The girl helps the hero realize his guilt. Under her influence, Rodion surrenders to the police and goes to hard labor. The girl follows him and helps Raskolnikov find the strength for future accomplishments.

Who was the prototype of the protagonist of the novel "Crime and Punishment"

The image of Raskolnikov by F. Dostoevsky was taken from real life. So, in 1865, a certain Gerasim Chistov, in the course of a robbery, killed two female servants with an ax. It was he who became the prototype of Rodion Raskolnikov. After all, Chistov was an Old Believer, that is, a "schismatic" - hence the name of the hero of the novel.

The theory of one's own chosenness as a defensive reaction to the injustice of the world

Analyzing the image of Raskolnikov in the novel "Crime and Punishment", first of all, it is worth paying attention to how a good-natured young man from a decent family decided to become a murderer.

In those years, the work "The Life of Julius Caesar", written by Napoleon III, was popular in Russia. The author argued that people are divided into ordinary people and individuals who create history. These chosen ones can ignore the laws and go to their goal, not stopping at murders, theft and other crimes.

This book, during the years of writing Crime and Punishment, was very popular in Russian Empire, and therefore many intellectuals imagined themselves to be precisely these “chosen ones”.

So was Raskolnikov. However, his passion for the ideas of Napoleon III had a different background. As mentioned above, the hero was a provincial who had recently arrived in the capital. Judging by his good disposition, which he (despite own desires) often demonstrates in the novel (helped Sonya with the funeral, saved unknown girl from a scoundrel), initially the young man was full of the brightest hopes and plans.

But, having lived in the capital for several years, he became convinced of the immorality and venality of its inhabitants. Being a highly moral person, Rodion Romanovich was never able to adapt to such a life. As a result, he ended up on the sidelines: sick and without money.

At this moment, the sensitive youthful soul, unable to accept the surrounding reality, began to seek consolation, which was for her the idea of ​​being chosen, expressed by Napoleon III.

On the one hand, this belief helped Raskolnikov to accept the reality around him and not go crazy. On the other hand, it became poison to his soul. After all, wanting to test himself, the hero decided to kill.

Murder as a test of oneself

Having considered the prerequisites for the commission of a crime by the protagonist of the novel, it is worth moving on to the murder itself, which became a turning point that influenced the image of Rodion Raskolnikov.

Having taken on that mission, Raskolnikov imagines that he is doing a good deed, because he saves the humiliated and offended from the pawnbroker-tormentor. However, the Higher powers show the hero all the insignificance of his act. Indeed, because of his distraction, the deranged sister of the old woman becomes a witness to the murder. And now, in order to save his skin, Rodion Raskolnikov is forced to kill her too.

As a result, instead of becoming a fighter against injustice, Raskolnikov becomes a banal coward, no better than his victim. After all, for his own benefit, he takes the life of an innocent Lizaveta.

Crime and punishment of Raskolnikov

After the perfect image of Raskolnikov in the novel, it acquires a certain duality, as if the hero is at a crossroads.

He is trying to understand whether he can continue to live with such a stain on his conscience or whether he needs to confess and atone for his guilt. Tormented by pangs of conscience, Rodion is increasingly aware that he is not like his heroes, sleeping peacefully, having sent thousands of innocent people to their deaths. After all, having killed only two women, he is not able to forgive himself for this.

Feeling guilty, he moves away from people, but at the same time he is looking for a kindred spirit. She becomes Sonya Marmeladova - a girl who went to the panel in order to save her relatives from starvation.

Rodion Raskolnikov and Sonechka Marmeladova

It is her sinfulness that becomes what attracts Raskolnikov. After all, like him, the girl has sinned and feels guilty. So, feeling ashamed of what she did, she will be able to understand him. These arguments become the reason that Rodion Raskolnikov confesses to the girl in the murder.

The image of Sonechka Marmeladova at this moment is opposed to the main character. On the one hand, she pities and understands him. But on the other hand, he calls on Rodion to confess and be punished.

Throughout the second half of the novel, and especially in the finale, there is a contrast: Raskolnikov is the image of Sonya. Having fallen in love with Rodion and forcing him to confess, the girl takes on part of his guilt. She voluntarily goes to Siberia, where her lover is exiled. And, despite his neglect, continues to take care of him. It is her selflessness that helps Raskolnikov (entangled in his philosophies and moral self-flagellation) to believe in God and find the strength to live on.

Rodion Raskolnikov and Svidrigailov: two sides of the same coin

In order to better reveal the delusion of the protagonist, Dostoevsky introduced the image of Svidrigailov into the novel Crime and Punishment. Although his ideals seem to be different from the Rodionovs, the main principle driven by him is that you can do evil if the ultimate goal is good. In the case of this character, his evil deeds are far from isolated: he was a cheater, unintentionally killed a servant and, perhaps, “helped” his wife go to the other world.

At first it seems that he is not the same as Raskolnikov. His image is the complete opposite of Rodion, as in appearance(old, but well-groomed and incredibly good-looking), and in demeanor (has the right connections, perfectly understands the psychology of people and knows how to achieve his own). Moreover, for a long time Svidrigailov successfully convinces both Raskolnikov and himself that guilt is alien to him, and his only weakness is his irrepressible desires. However, closer to the finale, this illusion dissipates.

Tormented by guilt for the death of the hero's wife, he is haunted by hallucinations with her image. In addition, the character not only keeps the secret of Rodion (without demanding anything in return), but also helps Sonechka with money, as if repenting that he could not accept the punishment for his misdeeds in due time.

Quite interesting is the contrast love lines Raskolnikov and Svidrigailov. So, having fallen in love with Sonya, Rodion throws some of his torment on her, telling her the truth about his crime. Their relationship can be described in Shakespeare's words: "She fell in love with me for torment, and I loved her for compassion for them."

Svidrigailov's relationship with Dunya begins on a similar note. Well versed in female psychology, the man portrays a scoundrel seeking redemption. Pitying him and dreaming of setting him on the right path, Dunya falls in love with him. But realizing that she was deceived, she hides from her lover.

During last meeting Arkady Ivanovich manages to get a kind of recognition of his feelings from the girl. However, realizing that, despite their mutual love, they have no future because of his past, Svidrigailov lets Dunya go, deciding to answer for his sins on his own. But, unlike Rodion, he does not really believe in redemption and the possibility of starting a new life, so he commits suicide.

What is the possible future of the characters in the novel

F. Dostoevsky left the ending of his novel open, only telling readers that main character He repented of his deed and believed in God. But has Rodion Romanovich really changed? He did not refuse his idea, being chosen for a great feat, only adapting it to the Christian faith.

Is he strong enough to start really new life? Indeed, in the past, this character has repeatedly demonstrated the fragility of his convictions and a tendency to succumb to difficulties. For example, with financial problems, instead of looking for ways to solve them, he abandoned his studies and stopped working. If not for Sonya, perhaps he would not have confessed, but shot himself, on brotherhood with Svidrigalov.

With such a far from optimistic future, one hope for Sonechka's love. After all, it is she who in the novel demonstrates true faith and nobility. Struggling with financial difficulties, the girl does not fall into philosophizing, but sells her honor. And becoming a prostitute, she struggles to save her soul.

Taking responsibility for her loved one, she gets a chance to start life anew - Svidrigailov provides her relatives with money, and she also provides financial assistance to the girl herself, knowing about her intention to follow Rodion to hard labor. And once in hard labor, among the dregs of society, Sonya tries her best to help each of them. In other words, this heroine does not prepare herself for some great feat for the benefit of mankind, but accomplishes it every day. Her "Love ... active is work and endurance ...", while in Rodion she is "dreamy, longs for a quick feat, quickly satisfied, and for everyone to look at him." Will Rodion learn wisdom and humility from Sonya, or will he continue to dream of a feat? Will show time.

Artists who embodied the image of Rodion Raskolnikov on the movie screen

The novel "Crime and Punishment" is one of the most famous among the legacy of Dostoevsky.

Therefore, it has been filmed more than once, not only in Russia, but also abroad.

Most famous performers the roles of Rodion Raskolnikov are Robert Hossein, Georgy Taratorkin and Vladimir Koshevoy.

With the proud romantic Rodion Raskolnikov, who imagines himself to be the "arbiter of fate", schoolchildren get acquainted in the 10th grade. The story of the murder of an old pawnbroker, which happened in St. Petersburg in the mid-60s of the XIX century, leaves no one indifferent. gave world literature the most bright representative personality in which "the devil fights with God."

History of creation

Your own famous work, which is respected in every corner of the world, Fyodor Mikhailovich conceived in hard labor, where he landed for participating in the Petrashevsky circle. In 1859, the author of the imperishable novel wrote to his brother from exile in Tver:

“In December I will start a novel. (...) I told you about one confession-novel that I wanted to write after all, saying that you still have to go through it yourself. All my heart with blood will rely on this novel. I conceived it while lying on the bunk, in a difficult moment of sadness and self-decomposition.

The hard labor experience radically changed the writer's convictions. Here he met with personalities who conquered Dostoevsky with the power of the spirit - this spiritual experience was to form the basis of the new novel. However, his birth was delayed for six years, and only faced with complete lack of money, the "parent" took up the pen.

The image of the key character was suggested by life itself. At the beginning of 1865, the newspapers were full of the horrifying news that a young Muscovite named Gerasim Chistov had killed a laundress and a cook who were employed by a bourgeois woman with an axe. Gold and silver items, as well as all the money, disappeared from the women's chests.

The list of prototypes was supplemented by the French killer. From Pierre-Francois Lacener, Dostoevsky borrowed the "high ideals" underlying crimes. The man did not see anything reprehensible in his murders, moreover, he justified them, calling himself a "victim of society."

And the main core of the novel appeared after the publication of the book "The Life of Julius Caesar", in which the emperor expresses the idea that the powerful of this world, in contrast to the "gray mass of ordinary people", are entitled to trample moral values and even kill if they see fit. This is where Raskolnikov's theory of the "superman" came from.

At first, "Crime and Punishment" was conceived in the form of a confession of the protagonist, which did not exceed five or six printed sheets in volume. The author mercilessly burned the finished initial version and began to work on an expanded version, the first chapter of which appeared in January 1866 in the Russky Vestnik magazine. After 12 months, Dostoevsky put an end to the next work, consisting of six parts and an epilogue.

Biography and plot

Raskolnikov's life is unenviable, like that of all young people from poor families of the 19th century. Rodion Romanovich studied law at St. Petersburg University, but due to extreme need, he had to quit his studies. The young man lived in a cramped attic closet near Sennaya Square. Once he pawned the last valuable thing - his father's silver watch - to the old pawnbroker Alena Ivanovna, and on the same evening in a tavern he met a drunken unemployed man, a former titular adviser Marmeladov. He spoke about the terrible tragedy of the family: from lack of money, the wife sent her daughter Sonya to the panel.

The next day, Raskolnikov received a letter from his mother, which outlined the troubles of his family. To make ends meet, sister Dunya is going to be married off to the prudent and no longer young court adviser Luzhin. In other words, the girl will be sold, and with the proceeds, Rodion will have the opportunity to continue his studies at the university.

The goal to kill and rob the pawnbroker, born even before meeting Marmeladov and the news from home, became stronger. In his heart, Rodion is experiencing a struggle between disgust for a bloody deed and a high idea of ​​\u200b\u200brescuing innocent girls who, by the will of fate, play the role of victims.

Raskolnikov nevertheless killed the old woman, and at the same time her meek younger sister Lizaveta, who came to the apartment at the wrong time. The young man hid the stolen goods in a hole under the wallpaper, without even finding out how rich he was now. Later, he prudently hid the money and things in one of the St. Petersburg courtyards.

After the murder of Raskolnikov, deep spiritual experiences overtake. The young man was going to drown himself, but changed his mind. He feels an insurmountable abyss between himself and people, falls into a fever and even almost confesses to the murder to the clerk of the police station.

Exhausted from fear and at the same time from a thirst for exposure, Rodion Raskolnikov confessed to the murder. The compassionate girl could not be persuaded young man to come to the police with a confession, because he intended to "still fight." But soon he could not stand it, paying for the double murder with hard labor in Siberia. Sonya went after Raskolnikov, settling near the place of his imprisonment.

Image and main idea

Dostoevsky gives exact description Raskolnikov's appearance: this is a handsome young man with delicate features and dark eyes, taller than average, slender. The impression is spoiled by poor clothes and vicious contempt, which now and then flickers on the face of the hero.

Psychological picture Rodion Romanovich changes throughout the story. At first, a proud person appears, but with the collapse of the theory of the "superman", pride is pacified. At heart, he is a kind and sensitive person, he devotedly loves his mother and sister, once saved the children from a fire, and gave the last money to Marmeladov's funeral. The thought of violence is alien to him and even disgusting.

The hero painfully thinks about the Napoleonic idea that humanity is divided into two parts - ordinary people and arbiters of fate. Raskolnikov is concerned about two questions - “Am I a trembling creature or do I have a right?” and “is it possible to commit a small evil for the sake of a great good?”, which became the motives for his crime.

However, the "ideological killer" soon realizes that it is impossible to break the moral laws without consequences, one will have to go through the path of spiritual suffering and come to repentance. Raskolnikov can be safely called a marginal who failed to defend his own convictions. His doctrine and rebellion failed, the theory drawn did not stand the test of reality. By the end of the novel, the characterization of the main character changes: Rodion admits that he turned out to be a “trembling creature”, ordinary person with weaknesses and vices, and the truth is revealed to him - only humility of the heart leads to the fullness of life, to love, to God.

Screen adaptations

The main characters of the novel "Crime and Punishment" appeared in many films of Russian and foreign cinema. The work debuted at home in 1910, but modern lovers of Dostoevsky's work have lost the opportunity to watch the work of director Vasily Goncharov - the picture has been lost. Three years later, Raskolnikov again "called" the audience to the cinemas, appearing in the person of the artist Pavel Orlenev.

But these were minor tapes. He opened the chronicle of glorious film works based on the imperishable novel, a film by Pierre Chenal with Pierre Blanchard in leading role. The French managed to convincingly convey the image of Raskolnikov and the tragedy of the Russian work, the actor was even awarded the Volpi Cup. Two more foreign films "Crime and Punishment" starred the Slovak Peter Lorre and the Frenchman.

Soviet cinema became famous for the two-part film by Lev Kulidzhanov: went to the crime, which film set worked together with (Porfiry Petrovich), Tatyana Bedova (Sonechka Marmeladova), (Luzhin), (Marmeladov) and others famous actors. This role gave Taratorkin popularity - before her, the young actor worked modestly in the Leningrad Youth Theater and managed to act in films only once. The painting from the entire scattering of productions on the theme of the work of Fyodor Mikhailovich was recognized as the most successful.

The early 2000s saw a boom in films based on classical works. The directors did not pass by Dostoevsky either. Crime and Punishment was filmed in eight episodes by Dmitry Svetozarov. In the 2007 film, the role of Rodion Raskolnikov went to, Sonya Marmeladova played, and Porfiry Petrovich -. The film work was coldly received by critics, calling it ambiguous. In particular, the song accompanying the credits was embarrassing:

"Who dares a lot, he is right, he is the ruler over them."

• The magazine "Russian Messenger" owes Dostoevsky's novel a rise in popularity. After the publication of Crime and Punishment, the publication gained 500 new subscribers - an impressive number for those times.
• According to the author's original idea, the novel had a different ending. Raskolnikov was supposed to commit suicide, but Fyodor Mikhailovich decided that such an outcome was too simple.

• In St. Petersburg at st. Grazhdanskaya, 19 - Stolyarny per., 5 there is a house that is called Raskolnikov's house. It is believed that the protagonist of the novel lived in it. Exactly 13 steps lead to the attic, as it is written in the book. Dostoevsky also describes in detail the yard where his character hid the loot. According to the writer's memoirs, the courtyard is also real - Fyodor Mikhailovich drew attention to this place when he relieved himself there on a walk.

• Georgy Taratorkin was approved for the role from a photograph. The actor was in the hospital with a serious illness, the diagnosis was disappointing - according to the doctors' forecasts, his legs would have to be amputated. In the photo, Taratorkin impressed the director with a painfully haggard face, which is how Raskolnikov seemed to him. When the young actor received the good news about the approval of his candidacy, he immediately got to his feet. So the role saved the man's limbs.
• In Kulidzhanov's film, the episode of the destruction of evidence by Raskolnikov after the murder is accompanied by a muffled rhythmic knock. This sound is the heartbeat of Georgy Taratorkin recorded on a tape recorder.

Quotes

"I'm only in main idea I believe mine. It consists precisely in the fact that people, according to the law of nature, are generally divided into two categories: into the lowest (ordinary), that is, so to speak, into the material that serves only for the generation of their own kind, and actually into people, that is, those who have the gift or the talent to say a new word in one's environment... The first rank is always the master of the present, the second rank is the master of the future. The former preserve the world and multiply it numerically; the second move the world and lead it to the goal.

“A scoundrel-man gets used to everything!”

“Science says: love, first of all, only yourself, for everything in the world is based on personal interest.”

"Become the sun, everyone will see you."

"There is nothing in the world more difficult than straightforwardness and nothing easier than flattery."

“When you fail, everything seems stupid!”

“Who in Rus' doesn’t consider himself Napoleon now?”

“Everything is in the hands of a person, and everything he carries past his nose, solely from cowardice. Curious what people are most afraid of? They are most afraid of a new step, a new word of their own.”

Dostoevsky's novel "Crime and Punishment" contains many symbolic details. Landscapes, interiors, portraits, names of characters are symbolic.

The protagonist of the novel is Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov. The name itself - Rodion - is of Greek origin, which means "inhabitant of the island of Rhodes." Etymologically, the words “ore”, “red”, “rose” ascend to the same root. "Ore" - in Old Church Slavonic means "blood". So, already in the very name of the protagonist, the motif of blood is set, which is then realized in the plot.

However, there is a connection here with the theory of the hero itself. The island of Rhodes was famous for its great commanders; Pompei, Caesar, Tiberius studied there. So, here comes the motive the mighty of the world of this, people who were able to transgress through blood and suffering. Raskolnikov cannot become Caesar and Tiberius, so he becomes an "ordinary" murderer. Here Dostoevsky reproduces famous aphorism Aesop: "Here is Rhodes, here and jump!". This fable told of a certain traveler who arrived in Rhodes and boasted that he had once made a grandiose long jump. In response to his boast locals asked him to "demonstrate his skill." So is Raskolnikov in Dostoevsky's novel. His Rhodes is the murder of an old pawnbroker.

Raskolnikov's patronymic is Romanovich. Roman - translated from Latin means "Roman", comes from Greek word"fortress", "strength". Turning to the content of the novel, let us recall that Raskolnikov wanted to experience the strength in himself, the strength of the spirit, he wanted to "become Napoleon". Thus, in the patronymic of the hero, the motif of "Napoleons", the powerful of this world, continues to develop.

Finally, the surname itself - Raskolnikov - indicates the painful split of his personality, the split of the hero's soul into two halves. One part of his soul is disinterested, compassionate and childishly innocent (Raskolnikov's childish smile, his children's crying in his first dream), the other is cold, selfish, proud, overflowing with pride and individualism.

Raskolnikov unselfishly helps the Marmeladovs, a fellow student. Burnt, he saves children from the fire. He is also noble in relation to Dunya, not accepting her sacrifice in the form of marriage with " wonderful person» Luzhin. And at the same time, human life is worth nothing for Raskolnikov: testing his theory, together with the “evil and harmful old woman”, he kills the innocent Lizaveta.

We also find an interesting interpretation of the name, patronymic and surname of Raskolnikov in S. V. Belov. The researcher notices that the name Rodion in its sound is associated with the word "motherland". “Raskolnikov “splits” the mother earth that gave birth to him, “splits” the homeland” of the Romanovs (the patronymic of the hero is Romanovich).

Thus, Dostoevsky appears here as a brilliant harbinger of the future. historical events when, in the name of "great" ideas, "blood in conscience" was allowed, and the homeland of the Romanovs, Russia, turned out to be "split" in the literal sense of the word.

side story line novel - the line of the Marmeladovs. This surname, reminiscent of sweets and associated with contentment, comfort, something pleasant, is designed to set off the plight of the heroes. The life of this unfortunate family is completely opposite to these associations. Constant need, poverty, hunger, Katerina Ivanovna's illness, Marmeladov's drunkenness, Sonya, forced to get a "yellow ticket" - troubles and misfortunes accompany the characters throughout the story. “The Marmeladov family is a focus in which all the misfortunes of an improperly organized ... society are refracted, and how “sweet” this world is, is already drawn by the bitterly ironic surname chosen by Dostoevsky,” wrote V. Ya. Kirpotin.

Significantly in the novel is the name of Lizaveta, who became an innocent victim of Raskolnikov. The name Elizabeth is of Hebrew origin, meaning "God's oath", "Vow to God." Lizaveta is depicted in the novel like a holy fool. This is "a tall, clumsy, timid and humble girl, almost an idiot, ... who was in complete slavery to her sister." There is something childish in Lizaveta's face, defending herself from Raskolnikov's attack, she covers herself with her hand like a child.

Holy fools have always been considered in Rus' people close to God. .Killing Alena Ivanovna, and at the same time Lizaveta, who happened to be in the apartment by accident. Raskolnikov, according to Dostoevsky, kills a vow to God, reverence for him. And after that, life seems to go out of him. And then, at the end of the novel, he is resurrected by his love for Sonya, the very Sonya who read Lizaveta's Gospel to him and who herself seemed like her.

The situation is here in the highest degree symbolic: in the spiritual resurrection of the hero, his return to life, the one he deprived of this life invisibly participates. And in this Dostoevsky sees the highest meaning and the highest wisdom inherent in Christianity.

Thus, the names and surnames of the characters in Dostoevsky's novel are deeply significant, associated with ideological sense works, with symbols, with the development of the plot.

December 8th, 2017 02:24 pm

Frame from the film "Crime and Punishment" (1969)

One of distinguishing features Dostoevsky's works — special attention to names and surnames. In most of the characters' names, hints are encrypted that help to understand both the character of the hero and the intent of the work. Let's figure out what is encrypted in the name of Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov, the protagonist of the novel Crime and Punishment.

About the name "Rodion"

Etymologically, the name "Rodion" goes back to the ancient Greek "Ῥοδιών", which literally translates as "inhabitant of the island of Rhodes." It would seem, what does the Greek island have to do with a student of the Russian Empire in the 19th century? But the hidden connection still exists. Rhodes was one of major centers Greek culture, many famous commanders and orators were brought up there. It was on the island of Rhodes that Apollonius Molon lived, the mentor of Mark Thulius Cicero, the most famous Roman orator. Julius Caesar himself perfected his oratory there. People whose names are associated with the Greek island, in Raskolnikov's theory, belong to the "rights", to those with whom he would like to stand on a par.

The protagonist of Dostoevsky's novel dreams of becoming a "resident of the island of Rhodes" in a metaphorical sense, one of the "rights". It is also important that Rhodes is famous all over the world thanks to the Colossus of Rhodes, which was destroyed by an earthquake in 227 BC. The destruction of this majestic monument reminds us of the collapse of Raskolnikov's theory, which collided with inexorable reality.

About the patronymic "Romanovich"

Raskolnikov's patronymic goes back to the Roman name "Romanus", which means "Roman, Roman." The patronymic of the hero, like the name, refers the reader to the heroic past of antiquity and evokes associations with such great Romans as Gaius Julius Caesar, Octavian Augustus, Gnaeus Pompey the Great. With such individuals, who have the right to do anything to achieve their goals, Raskolnikov wants to catch up.

If we consider the name, patronymic and surname of the character as a whole, then you can see that it is very similar to the phrase "The Romanovs' homeland is split." Such an interpretation of the name of this hero suggests that Dostoevsky was very sensitive to the contemporary socio-political situation in the Russian Empire. The writer felt the approaching revolution and the destruction of the old world order, which he perceived as the collapse of his usual life, the death of his homeland.

Now you see how much Dostoevsky put into the names of his heroes. This is an occasion to think about what clues are hidden in the names of other characters.

Bibliographic list

• Belov S. V. Dostoevsky's names and surnames. - 1976, No. 5.


• Utchenko S. L. Julius Caesar. - M .: Thought, 1976


• Modern dictionary of personal names. Superanskaya A.V. - M., 2005.

101 biographies of Russian celebrities who never existed Belov Nikolay Vladimirovich

Rodion Raskolnikov

Rodion Raskolnikov

Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov, the protagonist of F. M. Dostoevsky's novel Crime and Punishment, was born from the writer's pen in 1865-1866. These were not best years in the life of the great writer, who at that time constantly experienced material need. Died brother classic and his first wife, the magazine "Epokha" was closed, in the publication of which the Dostoevsky brothers took an active part. In addition, several thousand debts hung on the writer, and he was forced to rent housing in the poor quarters of St. Petersburg.

Poverty had an unfavorable effect on the mind of the writer, resulting in the emergence of the novel "Crime and Punishment" and its main character, a poor, practically impoverished law student Rodion Raskolnikov, who, in a schizophrenic ardor, dared to kill the old pawnbroker and servant Lizaveta. What exactly is the conflict in the work?

A native of a heterogeneous family in a difficult financial situation, Rodion Raskolnikov is unable to endure the discomfort of his position in a beggarly closet in St. Petersburg. Constant poverty and the inability to get out of it give rise in his inflamed mind to Napoleonic ideas of changing the situation through violence against those who, at the very least, can survive in the difficult economic situation of Russia mid-nineteenth century. For the sick Raskolnikov, the unfortunate old pawnbroker who lends money at interest becomes such an object. It is to her that Raskolnikov comes to bail the ring given to him by his sister Dunyasha. The most tender feelings are connected with Rodion's mother and sister.

In other words, Raskolnikov is a loser, as the writer himself feels during this period of his life, who, like his hero, needs to rehabilitate his spiritual essence through the internal resolution of the moral and ethical conflict. Still, in addition to everything, he, the hero of Dostoevsky, is also an educated person who cannot just go crazy or go to the senseless, which is essentially a novel crime. He, this hero, needs a philosophical and ethical base in order to explain everything in his soul. This is what Dostoevsky's hero Raskolnikov is busy with almost throughout the entire novel.

Raskolnikov meets the family of the impoverished and degrading former employee Marmeladov, who lures a penny out of taverns. Marmeladov's daughter Sonechka, a kind creature, is forced to go to the bar to save her family from starvation. And this physically fallen, but not spiritually fallen girl becomes the closest girlfriend of Rodion Raskolnikov, who killed a man for nothing. Sonechka, like Raskolnikov, is deprived of adequate living conditions for her upbringing, but she suffers less from this, finding a foothold in the idea of ​​\u200b\u200buniversal love for humanity, which she is trying to instill in Rodion.

Rodion's pangs of conscience must stop if, as Sonechka advises him, he kneels before humanity and asks for forgiveness from him for his extravagant idea to test himself "whether he is a trembling creature or has a right." The question arises: what is the right? Yes, to a worthy morally and physically, and therefore economically, life, which most of the inhabitants of Russia at that time were deprived of. In principle, Raskolnikov's rebellion is a rebellion of a person who does not want to put up with the dirt and poverty in which he and the people around him are forced to stay. Just a rebellion that resulted in a perverted form in the murder of an old pawnbroker who accidentally became the personification of evil in the sick mind of the hero. Indeed, it is easier to raise a hand against someone who will not retaliate than to try to revive Russia economically.

“The way people live in Petersburg of the 19th century, a person cannot live!” - as if screaming through the description outer life his hero Dostoevsky. But Christian upbringing and belonging to an educated class, which in principle is called upon to serve the existing government, do not allow the writer to openly oppose the policy of the Russian government, and Fyodor Dostoevsky, together with his hero Raskolnikov, arranges an internal drama of the hero's confrontation with himself and the eternal idea of ​​good and evil. There are more than enough of the latter in the country, and in the souls, first of all, of the educated people of Russia, revolutionary situation, The writer Dostoevsky, who once ascended the scaffold together with the Petrashevites, understands this himself. And this little rebellion of his turns into the creative embodiment of the drama of Rodion Raskolnikov, which is entirely involved in internal throwing, searching for an answer to the question of how to live and why to live. Knowing about the ideal state of society and not seeing it around, Raskolnikov in some way falls into insanity, killing an innocent old woman before him and the cook Lizaveta who accidentally fell into his arms.

Dostoevsky, who sees that the existing government is not going to change anything voluntarily, foresees that changes will come through bloodshed. And they will lead to this bloodshed the same as Raskolnikov, who dared to step over Christian principle"Thou shalt not kill" within oneself. But Raskolnikov just did not step over. He was drawn into the Christian element of worldview, in fact, by the harlot Sonechka Marmeladova.

But the writer, despite the idyllic ending, when Raskolnikov, who, under the influence of Sophia, went and confessed to his crime, feels life again in hard labor, nevertheless understood the falsity of the hero's position. In Dostoevsky's later novel The Possessed, people like Raskolnikov would already kill for the supposed idea of ​​"saving mankind."

It is known that Fyodor Dostoevsky took prototypes for his novels from newspaper crime chronicles and criminal cases. Additional access to these cases was opened to him by friendship and communication with the lawyer Koni. real prototype Raskolnikov was served by the clerk Gerasim Chistov, who killed two old women (a cook and a laundress) with an ax in Moscow in January 1865 in order to rob their mistress, the bourgeois Dubrovina. Chistov at that time was 27 years old. This was reported by the newspaper "Voice" for September 7-13, 1865. Another prototype was a relative of Dostoevsky's aunt A.F. Kumanina, Moscow professor of world history A.T. Neofitov. This man was involved in the 5% home loan ticket forgers case. From him, Dostoevsky took for his hero the desire to get rich quickly and immediately. The ideological basis for the murder of Raskolnikov was developed under the influence of the ideas of the Frenchman Pierre Francois Lacener, a presentation of the trial of which in the 1830s was published on the pages of the second issue of Dostoevsky's magazine Time (1861). Lacener claimed that for him to kill a person is like "drinking a glass of milk". This man in his memoirs also proved that "he is a victim of society", an avenger and a fighter against social injustice in the name of a revolutionary idea.

The name and surname of Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov are seen as symbolic indications of the homeland, the religious and internal split in it, and the Romanov dynasty. The policy of one royal dynasty Peter the Great led Russia to a religious schism and artificial planting European style life, as many Slavophiles believed, distorted the natural course of development of Russia, which, perhaps, could have had a more spiritual and not so heavily tied to money style of life. The symbol of the spiritual degeneration of Russia was for the writer, also not alien to Slavophile ideas, the artificial imperial city of Petersburg created by Peter the Great, where he placed his unfortunate criminal Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov. In the mythology of St. Petersburg, built almost on the bones of the peasants who died during its construction, whose bodies were not even adequately buried, there is a belief that the hungry souls of those who died in the swamps of the Neva still fly around the former imperial city, instilling bad states in the souls of the living. One of the victims of these hungry souls could be called Raskolnikov, if in reality it was so.