A story about the life of Sony Marmeladova. The image of Sonya Marmeladova in the novel by F.M.

Dostoevsky mentions her ugly appearance and face, but focuses on her eyes. Sonya's eyes, when animated, made her face kinder and sweeter. She was 18 years old, the author often calls Sonya "a thin and small creature." She had a childlike face that represented innocence and purity. Sonechka wore shabby things, but they were distinguished by bright colors and ridiculous decorations. All her clothes were supposed to attract future “clients”. She often wore a funny straw hat.

The character of Sonya Marmeladova

Sonechka's character is full of contradictions. She considers herself a sinner who cannot be in a room with other good women. Others speak of her as a kind and hardworking girl. The heroine cannot stand up for herself, she is constantly humiliated by the people around her. Modesty and weakness in front of people are combined with great spiritual strength.Sofia Marmeladova is also a strong-willed person. She is able to forgive her stepmother for ruining her life, because of her love for her stepbrothers and sisters, she goes to sell herself, and because of her love for Rodion Raskolnikov, she follows him to hard labor, and waits for the manifestation of his love.

Rice. 2. "Crime and Punishment". Nikolay Karazin. 1893 The heroine brought up the strength of the spirit thanks to faith in God, and here again there is a contradiction. Sonechka constantly talks about the need to live according to the law of God, but still does obscene things. She does not belong to herself, Sonya is completely dependent on the environment.Self-sacrifice is her main goal in life, she used to live depending on someone. Even Sonya's stepmother, Katerina Ivanovna, says that Sonya is ready to give up her last dress and remain barefoot if a person needs it.

The story of Sonya Marmeladova in the novel

Sonya Marmeladova lost her mother early, she was raised by her father, an official Semyon Zakharovich Marmeladov, and her stepmother, Katerina Ivanovna. The stepmother was very strict with little Sonya, but the girl shows mercy to her, does not hold a grudge against her. For a long time, Sonya worked as a seamstress, however, this did not generate income. Semyon Zakharovich loses his job due to drunkenness, and his daughter is forced to go to work “on a yellow ticket”. Because of her obscene work, she lives separately from her family. The work brings her money, with which she supports her father, stepmother and three children of Katerina Ivanovna. Sophia never reproaches her relatives for not working, and even gives money to her father to go to a tavern.

Rice. 3. "Crime and Punishment". Nikolay Karazin. 1893 All Sonya's efforts became in vain when Semyon Zakharovich falls under a horse and dies, Katerina Ivanovna dies of consumption, and the children are taken to an orphanage. The heroine has no one to live for, and at this time her beloved Rodion Raskolnikov is sent to hard labor. Marmeladova follows him, and her life becomes meaningful again. At hard labor, she recalls the profession of a seamstress and earns not only money, but also the patronage of some significant people in the city. Thanks to Sonya's acquaintances, Rodion Raskolnikov is given light work. Sofya Marmeladova becomes popular in the city.

Important! Sofya Semyonovna becomes a milliner, that is, a master in the manufacture of hats, dresses and underwear.
Sophia tries to please everyone:
  • She helped convicts answer letters from relatives, treated them to pies and rolls, and showed compassion.
  • For young girls she sewed outfits for evenings, and for older ladies she gave advice on housework.

The role of Sonya Marmeladova in the novel

Sofya Semyonovna Marmeladova - opposition to the protagonist of the novel, Rodion Raskolnikov. She believes that no one, except God, has the right to take the life of a person, which is contrary to the theory of "creatures trembling and having the right."

Rice. 4. "Crime and Punishment". Nikolay Karazin. 1893 Dostoevsky initially assigned Sonya a secondary role, but after the development of the plot, he refutes Raskolnikov's theory through Sonya. It is her image that becomes immortal, she embodies the author's thoughts about the Christian religion, human kindness and spiritual purity. Through the heroine, Raskolnikov understands that his theory is not the truth, and that thanks to love for other people, happiness can be found. Rodion considers Sonya the only pure person in his environment, he constantly feels sorry for her, but does not see that she is in love with him. It is difficult for him to understand why, with such a difficult fate, after constant nit-picking by her stepmother, she remains a sympathetic person. Her truth was based on love for people and helping others. Raskolnikov only seven years later understands what a wide soul Sophia is. Rodion falls in love with Sonya, and only then does he understand the true happiness of a person. Thus, the life path of Sofya Semyonovna Marmeladova is the path of both a vicious and holy woman who, through her own suffering, helps other people find their true path. In the video below, you can see the main plot points in the development of the image of Sonya Marmeladova.

Raskolnikov Rodion Romanovich - a poor and humiliated student, the main character of the novel "Crime and Punishment". The author of the work is Dostoevsky Fedor Mikhailovich. For a psychological counterweight to the theory of Rodion Romanovich, the writer created the image of Sonya Marmeladova. Both characters are at a young age. Raskolnikov and Sonya Marmeladova, faced with a difficult life situation, do not know what to do next.

The image of Raskolnikov

At the beginning of the story, the reader notices Raskolnikov's inappropriate behavior. The hero is nervous all the time, his is constant anxiety, and his behavior seems suspicious. In the course of events, it can be understood that Rodion is a person who is obsessed with his idea. All his thoughts are that people are divided into two types. The first type is a "higher" society, and here he also refers his personality. And the second type is "trembling creatures". For the first time, he publishes this theory in a newspaper article called "On Crime". It becomes clear from the article that the "higher ones" have the right to ignore moral laws and destroy "trembling creatures" in order to achieve their personal goals. According to Raskolnikov's description, these poor people need biblical commandments and morals. The new legislators who will govern can be considered "supreme", Bonaparte is an example for such legislators. But Raskolnikov himself, on the way to the "higher ones", performs actions of a completely different level, without even noticing it.

The life story of Sonya Marmeladova

The reader learns about the heroine from the story of her father, which was addressed to Rodion Romanovich. Marmeladov Semen Zakharovich - an alcoholic, lives with his wife (Katerina Ivanovna), has three small children. The wife and children are starving, Sonya is Marmeladov's daughter from her first wife, she rents an apartment "according to Semyon Zakharovich tells Raskolnikov that her daughter went to such a life because of her stepmother, who reproached her for "drinking, eating and using heat ", that is, a parasite. This is how the Marmeladov family lives. The truth of Sonya Marmeladova is that she herself is an unrequited girl, does not hold evil," climbs out of her skin "to help her sick stepmother and hungry half-brothers and sisters, without saying Semyon Zakharovich shares his memories of how he found and lost a job, how he drank away the uniform that his daughter bought with her own money, and how he has the conscience to ask his daughter for money "for a hangover" Sonya gave him the last, never reproached for this.

The tragedy of the heroine

Fate is similar in many ways to the position of Rodion. They play the same role in society. Rodion Romanovich lives in the attic in a shabby little room. How the author sees this room: the cage is small, about 6 steps in size, has a beggarly appearance. A tall person feels uncomfortable in such a room. Raskolnikov is so poor that it is no longer possible, but to the surprise of the reader, he feels well, his spirit has not fallen. The same poverty forced Sonya to go outside in order to earn money. The girl is unhappy. Her fate is cruel to her. But the morale of the heroine is not broken. On the contrary, in seemingly inhuman conditions, Sonya Marmeladova finds the only way out worthy of a person. She chooses the path of religion and self-sacrifice. The author shows us the heroine as a person who is able to feel someone else's pain and suffering, while being unhappy. A girl can not only understand another, but also direct them on the right path, forgive, accept someone else's suffering. So, we see how the heroine shows pity for Katerina Ivanovna, calls her "fair, child", unhappy. Sonya saves her children, then takes pity on her dying father. This, like other scenes, inspire both sympathy and respect for the girl. And it is not at all surprising that then Rodion will share his mental anguish with Sophia.

Raskolnikov and Sonya Marmeladova

Rodion decided to tell his secret to Sofya, but not to Porfiry Petrovich. She, in his opinion, was, like no one else, able to judge him according to her conscience. At the same time, her opinion will differ significantly from the court of Porfiry. Raskolnikov, despite his atrocity, longed for human understanding, love, sensitivity. He wanted to see that "higher light" that could lead him out of the darkness and support him. Raskolnikov's hopes for understanding from Sophia were justified. Rodion Romanovich cannot make contact with people. It begins to seem to him that everyone is mocking him and they know that it was he who did it. The truth of Sonya Marmeladova is directly opposite to his vision. The girl stands for humanity, philanthropy, forgiveness. Having learned about his crime, she does not reject him, but on the contrary, hugs, kisses and says in unconsciousness that "there is no one in the world more merciless now."

Real life

Despite all this, periodically Rodion Romanovich returns to earth and notices everything that happens in the real world. On one of these days, he witnesses how a drunken official, Semyon Marmeladov, is knocked down by a horse. During his last words, the author describes Sofya Semyonovna for the first time. Sonya was small, she was about eighteen. The girl was thin, but pretty, blonde, with attractive blue eyes. Sonya comes to the scene of the accident. on her knees. She sends her younger sister to find out where Raskolnikov lives in order to return to him the money he gave for his father's funeral. After a while, Sophia goes to Rodion Romanovich to invite him to a commemoration. This is how she shows her gratitude to him.

Father's Wake

At the event, a scandal arises because Sonya is accused of theft. Everything was decided peacefully, but Katerina Ivanovna and her children are evicted from the apartment. Now everyone is doomed to die. Raskolnikov tries to find out from Sophia if she could kill Luzhin, the man who unfairly slandered her, saying that she was a thief. Sophia gave a philosophical answer to this question. Rodion Romanovich finds something native in Sonya, probably the fact that they were both rejected.

He tries to see understanding in her, because his theory is wrong. Now Rodion is ready for self-destruction, and Sonya is "daughter, that her stepmother is evil and consumptive, she betrayed herself to strangers and minors." Sofya Semyonovna relies on her moral guideline, which is important and clear for her - this is wisdom, which is described in the Bible as purifying suffering. Raskolnikov, of course, shared with Marmeladova a story about his act, listening to him, she did not turn away from him. Here the truth of Sonya Marmeladova is in the manifestation of a feeling of pity, sympathy for Rodion. The heroine urged him to go and repent for what he had done, based on a parable she studied in the Bible about the resurrection of Lazarus. Sonya agrees to share the hard everyday life of hard labor with Rodion Romanovich. This is not only the mercy of Sonya Marmeladova. She does this in order to cleanse herself, because she believes that she is violating the biblical commandments.

What unites Sophia with Rodion

How can Marmeladova and Raskolnikov be characterized at the same time? For example, convicts who are serving time in the same cell with Rodion Romanovich adore Sonya, who regularly visits him, but treat him with contempt. They want to kill Raskolnikov and constantly make fun of him that it is not the royal business to "carry an ax in his bosom." Sofya Semyonovna has had her own ideas about people since childhood and adheres to them throughout her life. She never looks down on people, has respect and pity for them.

Conclusion

I would like to draw a conclusion based on the mutual relations of the main characters of the novel. What was the significance of Sonya Marmeladova's truth? If Sofya Semyonovna with her life values ​​and ideals had not appeared on the path of Rodion Romanovich, then it would have ended very soon in the painful pangs of self-destruction. This is the truth of Sonya Marmeladova. Due to such a plot in the middle of the novel, the author has the opportunity to logically complete the images of the main characters. Two different views and two analyzes of the same situation give the novel credibility. The truth of Sonya Marmeladova is opposed to the theory of Rodion and his worldview. The famous Russian writer was able to breathe life into the main characters and safely resolve all the worst that happened in their lives. This completeness of the novel puts "Crime and Punishment" next to the greatest works that are on the list of world literature. Every schoolboy, every student should read this novel.

The image of an immaculate and at the same time sinful angel in the novel "Crime and Punishment" became a real sensation for the public. opened a different side of life for readers. The personality of Sonya Marmeladova was different from the usual literary characters. Her crime, humility and desire to atone for guilt have become moral guidelines for all those who are confused.

Crime and Punishment

Dostoevsky collected the basis for the novel during his own hard labor exile. In Siberia, the writer did not have the opportunity to write, but there was enough time for interviews with the exiles and their relatives. Therefore, the images of the main characters of the novel have a collective character.

Initially, the novel was conceived by the author as a story-confession. The narration was conducted in the first person, and the main task for Dostoevsky was to show the inner psychological truth of a confused person. The writer was carried away by the idea, and a serious story grew into a novel.


Initially, her role in the novel "Crime and Punishment" was secondary, but after several edits, the image of the main character took an important place in the story. With the help of Sonya, Dostoevsky conveys to readers an important idea of ​​the novel:

“Orthodox view, in which there is Orthodoxy. There is no happiness in comfort, happiness is bought by suffering. Man is not born to be happy. Man deserves his happiness, and always by suffering.

An analysis of the work proves that the author did an excellent job with the task. Sonya is the personification of suffering and redemption. The characterization of the heroine is revealed to the reader gradually. All quotes about a former prostitute are filled with love and care. Dostoevsky, along with worries about the fate of the girl:

“... Oh yes Sonya! What a well, however, they managed to dig! And enjoy! That's because they use it! And got used to it. We cried and we got used to it. A scoundrel-man gets used to everything!

Biography and plot of the novel

Sofya Semyonovna Marmeladova was born in the family of a petty official. The girl's father is an elderly man who earns little and likes to drink. Sonya's mother died a long time ago, the girl is brought up by her stepmother. The father's new wife has a mixture of feelings for her stepdaughter. All dissatisfaction with the failed life Katerina Ivanovna takes out on an innocent girl. At the same time, the woman does not feel hatred for the younger Marmeladova and tries not to deprive the girl of attention.


Sonya did not receive an education, because, according to her father, she does not differ in intelligence and ingenuity. The trusting and good-natured heroine blindly believes in God and meekly serves the interests of the Marmeladovs and the children of her stepmother from her first marriage.

The girl is already 18 years old, although the appearance of the heroine would be more suitable for a child: blond hair, blue eyes, an angular figure:

“She could not even be called pretty, but her blue eyes were so clear, and when they were animated, her expression became so kind and simple-hearted that it involuntarily attracted her.”

The family lives in the Russian outback, but after the loss of their father's permanent income, the Marmeladovs move to St. Petersburg. In the capital, Semyon Zakharovich quickly finds a job and just as quickly loses it. The authorities are not ready to put up with the drunkenness of the employee. Providing for the family falls entirely on Sonya.


Left without a livelihood, the girl sees one way out - to quit her job as a seamstress, which brought too little money, and get a job as a prostitute. For shameful earnings, the girl was expelled from the apartment. Sonya lives separately from her relatives, rents a room from a familiar tailor:

“... my daughter, Sofya Semyonovna, was forced to get a yellow ticket, and on this occasion she could not stay with us. For the hostess, Amalia Fedorovna, did not want to allow that.

A girl of easy virtue received a “yellow ticket” from the government - a document proving that the young lady was selling her body. Even shameful work does not save the Marmeladov family.

Semyon Zakharovich dies under the hooves of a carriage horse. In the hustle and bustle, the first acquaintance of the girl with Raskolnikov takes place. The man is already familiar with the girl in absentia - Sonya's difficult fate was told in all details to Rodion by the elder Marmeladov.

Financial assistance from a stranger (Rodion Raskolnikov pays for his father's funeral) touches the girl. Sonya goes to thank the man. This is how the difficult relationship of the main characters begins.

In the process of organizing a funeral, young people spend a lot of time talking. Both feel like outcasts of society, both seek solace and support. The mask of a cold cynic, which the main character hides behind, falls, and the true Rodion appears before pure Sonya:

“He suddenly changed; his arrogant and impotently defiant tone disappeared. Even the voice suddenly weakened ... "

The death of Marmeladov finally undermined the health of his stepmother. Katerina Ivanovna dies of consumption, and Sonya is left to take care of the younger members of the family. Help for the girl comes unexpectedly - Mr. Svidrigailov arranges the babies in an orphanage and provides the younger Marmeladovs with a comfortable future. In such a terrible way, the fate of Sonya settled down.


But the desire to make sacrifices pushes the girl to the other extreme. Now the heroine intends to devote herself to Raskolnikov and accompany the prisoner into exile. The girl is not afraid that a loved one killed an old woman to test a crazy theory. The truth of Marmeladova is that love, faith and selflessness will heal and guide Rodion on the right path.

In Siberia, where the main character is sent, Sonya gets a job as a seamstress. The shameful profession remains in the past, and, despite the coldness of the young man, Sonya remains faithful to Rodion. The patience and faith of the girl bring results - Raskolnikov realizes how much he needs Marmeladova. The reward for the two wounded souls was the joint happiness that came after the redemption of sins.

Screen adaptations

The first film dedicated to Raskolnikov's crime was filmed in 1909. The role of the faithful companion of Rodion was played by actress Alexandra Goncharova. The motion picture itself has long been lost, copies of the film do not exist. In 1935, American filmmakers filmed their version of the tragedy. The image of the immaculate sinner went to actress Marian Marsh.


In 1956, the French showed their own view of the drama of a confused person. She played the role of Sonya, but in the film adaptation the name of the main character was replaced with Lily Marselin.


In the USSR, the first picture about the fate of Raskolnikov came out in 1969. The director of the film is Lev Kulidzhanov. Sophia Semyonovna Marmeladova was played by Tatyana Bedova. The film was included in the program of the Venice Film Festival.


In 2007, the series "Crime and Punishment" was released, in which the image of the main character was embodied.


The serial film was not liked by most film critics. The main claim is that Rodion Raskolnikov does not experience human feelings. The hero is obsessed with malice and hatred. Repentance never touches the hearts of the main characters.

  • Dostoevsky's first child was named Sonya. The girl died a couple of months after birth.
  • In St. Petersburg, the heroine lived in the building of the former state chamber. This is a real house. Sony's exact address is Griboyedov Canal Embankment, 63.
  • The rap artist uses the name of the main character from Crime and Punishment as a pseudonym.
  • In the first version of the novel, Sonya's biography looks different: the heroine comes into conflict with Dunya Raskolnikova and becomes the object of Luzhin's insane but immaculate love.

Quotes

“You departed from God, and God struck you, betrayed you to the devil!”
"Suffering to accept and redeem yourself with it, that's what you need ..."
“... And tell everyone out loud: “I killed!” Then God will send you life again. Will you go? Will you go?..”
“What are you, that you have done this to yourself! No, there is no one more unhappy than you now in the whole world!

From the lips of Marmeladov in the “drinking room” in the scene of their acquaintance: “In the meantime, my daughter also grew up, from her first marriage, and what she, my daughter, only endured from her stepmother, growing up, I am silent about that. For although Katerina Ivanovna is full of generous feelings, the lady is hot and irritated, and will break off ... Yes, sir! Well, there is nothing to remember about that! Education, as you can imagine, Sonya did not receive. I tried with her, four years ago, to go through geography and world history; but as I myself was not strong in this knowledge, and there were no decent manuals for this, for what books were available ... hm! They stopped at Cyrus the Persian. Then, having already reached adulthood, she read several books of a romantic content, and recently, through Mr. Lebeziatnikov, one book - Lewis's "Physiology", if you please know, sir? - she read it with great interest and even told us fragmentarily aloud: that's all her enlightenment. Now I will turn to you, my dear sir, from myself with a private question: how much can, in your opinion, a poor but honest girl earn by honest labor? .. Fifteen kopecks a day, sir, will not earn if she is honest and not has special talents, and even then he worked tirelessly! And even then the State Councilor Klopstock, Ivan Ivanovich, deigned to hear? - not only has he not given money for sewing half a dozen Dutch shirts yet, but even with resentment drove her away, stamping his feet and calling indecently, under the guise of a shirt collar sewn out of measure and on a jamb. And here the children are hungry ... And here Katerina Ivanovna, wringing her hands, walks around the room, and red spots appear on her cheeks - which always happens in this illness: “You live, they say, you, parasite, eat with us and you drink and use the heat, "and what do you drink and eat here, when the kids don't see the crust for three days! I was lying then ... well, so what! I was lying drunk, and I heard my Sonya say (she is unanswerable, and her voice is so meek ... fair-haired, her face is always pale, thin), says: “Well, Katerina Ivanovna, can I really go to such a thing? " And Darya Frantsevna, a woman of malicious intent and known to the police many times, visited three times through the hostess. "Well," replies Katerina Ivanovna, in a chuckle, "why save? Eco treasure!"<...>And I see, at about six o'clock, Sonya got up, put on a handkerchief, put on a burnous coat and left the apartment, and at nine o'clock she came back. She came, and straight to Katerina Ivanovna, and on the table in front of her silently laid out thirty rubles. She didn’t utter a word at the same time, at least she looked, but took only our big green dreaded kerchief (we have such a common kerchief, dreaded dam), covered her head and face with it completely and lay down on the bed, facing the wall, only her shoulders and the whole body shudder... And I, as before, was lying in the same form... And then, young man, I saw how then Katerina Ivanovna, also without saying a word, went up to Sonya's bed and all evening she stood on her knees at her feet, kissed her legs, did not want to get up, and then both fell asleep together, embracing ... both ... both ... yes, sir ... and I ... lay drunk - With.<...>since then, my daughter, Sofya Semyonovna, was forced to get a yellow ticket, and on this occasion she could not stay with us.<...>And Sonechka comes to us now more at dusk, and Katerina Ivanovna relieves, and delivers all possible means. He lives in the apartment of the tailor Kapernaumov, he rents an apartment from them ... "
The portrait of Sonya (as well as the portraits of other main characters of the novel - Raskolnikov and) is given several times. At first, Sonya appears (in the scene of Marmeladov’s death) in her “professional” appearance - a street prostitute: “A girl made her way out of the crowd, inaudibly and timidly, and her sudden appearance in this room was strange, among poverty, rags, death and despair. She, too, was in rags; her outfit was cheap, but decorated in a street style, according to the taste and rules that had developed in her own special world, with a bright and shamefully prominent goal. Sonya stopped in the entryway at the very threshold, but did not cross the threshold and looked as if lost, not realizing anything, it seemed, forgetting about her secondhand, silk, indecent here, colored dress with a long and ridiculous tail, and an immense crinoline that blocked the whole door, and about light-colored shoes, and about an ombrelka, unnecessary at night, but which she took with her, and about a funny straw hat with a bright fiery feather. From under this hat, worn on a boyish side, peeped out a thin, pale and frightened little face with an open mouth and eyes motionless with horror. Sonya was small, about eighteen years old, thin, but rather pretty blonde, with wonderful blue eyes. She gazed at the bed, at the priest; she, too, was suffocating from a quick walk ... "
Then Sonya appears, so to speak, in her true form in Raskolnikov's room just at the moment when he has his mother, sister: “Raskolnikov did not recognize her at first sight.<...>Now she was a modestly and even poorly dressed girl, still very young, almost like a girl, with a modest and decent manner, with a clear, but, as it were, somewhat frightened face. She was wearing a very simple house dress, on her head was an old hat of the same style; only in the hands was, in yesterday's way, an umbrella. Seeing an unexpectedly full room of people, she was not only embarrassed, but completely lost, shy, like a small child, and even made a movement to go back ... "
And finally, another portrait of Sonya in front of the reading scene and, practically, again through Raskolnikov’s eyes: “With a new, strange, almost painful feeling, he peered into this pale, thin and irregular angular face, into these meek blue eyes that could sparkle with such fire, such a harsh energetic feeling, into this small body, still trembling with indignation and anger, and all this seemed to him more and more strange, almost impossible. "Holy fool! holy fool!" he kept saying to himself...
Raskolnikov and Sonya were brought together by fate not by chance: he, as it were, committed suicide, having crossed the gospel commandment “do not kill”, she ruined herself in the same way, transgressing the commandment “do not commit adultery”. However, the difference is that Sonya sacrificed herself for the sake of others, to save loved ones, while Rodion still had in the first place the “idea of ​​Napoleonism”, the test-overcoming of oneself. Faith in God never left Sonya. A lot for Raskolnikov’s repentance, for his “turning in confession” meant his confession to Sonya in his crime, and then the scene of joint reading with Sonya of the gospel parable of the resurrection of Lazarus is one of the key ones in the novel: “The cigarette stub has long been extinguished in a crooked candlestick, dimly illuminating in this beggarly room, a murderer and a harlot, strangely come together while reading an eternal book ... "
Already in Siberia, having arrived there after Raskolnikov, Sonya, with her selfless love, meekness, and caress, thaws his heart, revives Raskolnikov to life: “How it happened, he himself did not know, but suddenly something seemed to catch him and, as it were, thrown at her feet. He cried and hugged her knees. At first she was terribly frightened, and her whole face went dead. She jumped up from her seat and, trembling, looked at him. But at once, at that very moment, she understood everything. Infinite happiness shone in her eyes; she understood, and for her there was no longer any doubt that he loved, infinitely loved her, and that this moment had finally come ...<...>Tears stood in their eyes. They were both pale and thin; but in these sick and pale faces already shone the dawn of a renewed future, a full resurrection into a new life. They were resurrected by love, the heart of one contained endless sources of life for the heart of the other. They set out to wait and be patient. They still had seven years left; until then, so much unbearable torment and so much endless happiness! But he was resurrected, and he knew it, he felt it completely with his whole renewed being, and she - she, after all, lived only his life! .. ”
The "forerunner" of Sonya Marmeladova was


One of the main characters of the novel by F.M. Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment" is Sonya Marmeladova - a girl forced to work "on a yellow ticket" in order to save her family from starvation. It is to her that the author assigns the most important role in the fate of Raskolnikov.

Sonya's appearance is described in two episodes. The first is the scene of the death of her father, Semyon Zakharych Marmeladov: “Sonya was short, about eighteen years old, thin, but rather pretty blonde ... She was also in tatters, her outfit was decorated in a street style ... with a bright and shamefully prominent goal. "

Another description of her appearance appears in the scene of Sonechka's acquaintance with Dunya and Pulcheria Alexandrovna: “she was a modest and even poorly dressed girl, very young, almost like a girl ... with a clear, but frightened face. She was wearing a very simple house dress ... ". Both of these portraits are strikingly different from each other, which reflects one of the key features of Sonya's character - a combination of spiritual purity and moral decline.

Sonya's life story is extremely tragic: unable to indifferently watch her family die from hunger and poverty, she voluntarily went to the humiliation and received a "yellow ticket". Sacrifice, boundless compassion and selflessness forced Sonechka to give all the money she earned to her father and stepmother Katerina Ivanovna.

Sonya has many wonderful features of a human character: mercy, sincerity, kindness, understanding, moral purity. She is ready to look for something good, bright in every person, even in those who are not worthy of such an attitude. Sonya knows how to forgive.

She has an endless love for people. This love is so strong that Sonechka is determined to consciously give all of herself for them.

Such faith in people and a special attitude towards them ("This man is a louse!") Is largely associated with Sonya's Christian worldview. Her faith in God and the miracle emanating from him truly has no boundaries. “What would I be without God!” In this regard, she is the opposite of Raskolnikov, who opposes her with his atheism and the theory of "ordinary" and "extraordinary" people. It is faith that helps Sonya to maintain the purity of her soul, to protect herself from the dirt and vice surrounding her; it is not for nothing that almost the only book she has read more than once is the New Testament.

One of the most significant scenes in the novel that influenced Raskolnikov's later life is the episode of joint reading of a passage from the Gospel about the resurrection of Lazarus. “The cigarette end has long been extinguished in a crooked candlestick, dimly illuminating in this beggarly room the murderer and the harlot, who strangely came together reading the eternal book ...”.

Sonechka plays a crucial role in the fate of Raskolnikov, which is to revive his faith in God and return to the Christian path. Only Sonya was able to accept and forgive his crime, did not condemn and was able to induce Raskolnikov to confess to his deed. She went with him all the way from recognition to hard labor, and it was her love that was able to return him to the true path.

Sonya has shown herself to be a determined and active person, able to make difficult decisions and follow them. She convinced Rodion to report on himself: “Get up! Come now, this very minute, stand at the crossroads, bow down, first kiss the earth that you have desecrated, and then bow to the whole world ... ".

In hard labor, Sonya did everything to alleviate the fate of Raskolnikov. She becomes a well-known and respected person, she is addressed by her first name and patronymic. The convicts fell in love with her for her kind attitude towards them, for her disinterested help - for the fact that Raskolnikov does not yet want or cannot understand. At the end of the novel, he finally realizes his feelings for her, realizes how much she suffered for him. “How can her beliefs now not be mine? Her feelings, her aspirations at least…”. So Sonya's love, her dedication and compassion helped Raskolnikov to begin the process of becoming on the true path.

The author embodied the best human qualities in the image of Sonya. Dostoevsky wrote: "I have only one moral model and ideal - Christ." Sonya became for him a source of his own beliefs, decisions dictated by his conscience.

Thus, thanks to Sonechka, Raskolnikov managed to find a new meaning in life and regain his lost faith.


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