Crime and Punishment

The daughter of the alcoholic Marmeladov, Sonia is forced to become a prostitute to earn money for her family after his death. Sonia’s quiet and reflective manner may make her seem passive, but Sonia’s silent suffering makes her the novel’s most stoic character.

Sonia provides an example of how to remain moral in an impossibly cruel world. However, the presentation of her morality is complex. After she becomes a prostitute, acutely aware of her own poverty and her low rank in society, Sonia internalizes the shame and degradation associated with sex work. Though society considers Sonia to be an immoral woman, the novel highlights her strength and her faith as evidence of her innately innocent and un-fallen status. She provides a natural counterpoint to Raskolnikov. Sonia becomes his moral center, providing him with the support and guidance needed to make a confession. Raskolnikov even recognizes Sonia as the symbol for all of humanity’s suffering and they eventually fall in love with each other.

Porfiry is a local magistrate who investigates the murder committed by Raskolnikov. He is a rational, intelligent man who embodies authority; he feels a deep-seated desire to improve his city, country, and all mankind. His belief that Russia needs intelligent young men leads him to take an interest in Raskolnikov, exactly the kind of talented person who should be serving his country. As soon as he realizes that Raskolnikov is the murderer, Porfiry wants to guide Raskolnikov toward a confession in the hope that Raskolnikov will see the errors of his ways, abandon the fanciful new ideologies, and join him in helping Russia succeed.

Porfiry’s murder investigation focuses less on solving the crime than it does on helping Raskolnikov to atone and redeem himself. Porfiry gives Raskolnikov extra time to confess and refuses to testify so that Raskolnikov’s sentence is lighter because of his belief that Raskolnikov can be rehabilitated. Thus, Porfiry represents the best interests of society and his desire to help Raskolnikov reflects a profound hope that society can cure alienation.

Dunia is Raskolnikov’s sister. Like her brother, she is intelligent, attractive, and proud. She possesses a deeply felt morality and a desire to help her family, leading her to refuse Svidrigailov’s advances while accepting Luzhin’s marriage proposal. Neither man is a suitable match for her, but she eventually finds love with Razumikhin. Though he is a poor man, he provides her with the warmth, support, and love that the other men would not.

Svidrigailov is an upper-class womanizer and a debauched figure. He gambled his way into debt and entered a mercenary marriage to pay it off. Since then, he uses his wealth to indulge his sexual desires, assaulting servants and other young women powerless to fight back. Dunia once worked for Svidrigailov as a governess, but she pushed back against his sexual advances and caused a scandal. Svidrigailov is a living example of Raskolnikov’s theories: He acts as though not bound by the rules of society—attempting, for example, to rape Dunia through blackmail. Svidrigailov’s debauched existence is a warning to Raskolnikov where following his sociopathic theories will lead.