crime and punishment
Fyodor Dostoevsky defines his conception of "good" and "evil" in his philosophical thriller Crime and Punishment by his characters. Ironically, the person who embodies the author's definition of goodness is a prostitute. Sonya Marmeladov represents Dostoevsky's view of what Christianity should be. She gave herself to the oldest profession because it was her only option to keep her family alive. Sonya lowered herself to save children who were merely her step-siblings. Sonya proves to be the motivation for Raskolnikov's final confession. In the scene where Raskolnikov reveals that he is the killer, she showers him with divine compassion and urges him to speak the truth to the authorities. She asks Raskolnikov, "What have you done to yourself?" taking his sorrow upon herself. Sonya loves him so much, that she tells him she will follow him to Siberia even before he has thought about confession. She recogniz
Though he is an enigmatic character throughout most of the novel, Svidrigilov proves to be a horrible man as we see him in action. Finally, after a short stint in pedophilia, Svidrigilov realizes that he has experienced everything he could possibly experience except death. After Dunya refuses to be bought, Svidrigilov's obsession with her escalades to the point that he tries to use his knowledge of Raskolnikov's crimes to his advantage. Dunya's reputation and income is ruined by Svidrigilov. es the goodness within Raskolnikov through his evil deeds when she says, "How could you, you, a man like you. " Luckily, the goodness in Raskolnikov triumphs and he confesses to the authorities. Nevertheless, the goodness of Sonya conquered the evil and led to the inner peace of Raskolnikov. This evil forced Sonya to prostitute herself and drove Raskolnikov to the brink of insanity and starvation. The ubermench philosophy is evil, in Dostoevsky's opinion, because it justifies heinous crimes. The character that embodies Dostoevsky's idea of evil is Svidrigilov, the true ubermench. Svidrigilov does not care about the consequences of his actions, but seems to love the fact that he gets away with anything. Sonya, the prostitute, is the Christ-figure of Crime and Punishment.
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