Of Allusions In Crime And Punishment By Fyodor Dostoevsky

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky, originally published in 1866, tells the story of a young man who commits a crime to prove his superiority to the societal system around him, then suffers mental, emotional, and physical anguish until he admits to his crimes. Dostoevsky uses biblical allusions from The New Testament throughout the novel, which play a major role in character development. These allusions are made evident to the reader through characters and the situations they were involved in, especially in the main characters, Raskolnikov and Sonia, through the depictions created by Dostoevsky for characterization throughout the book. Consequently, Dostoevsky incorporated these allusions by developing two major archetypal characters,

the Tragic Hero and the Savior, which consecutively have similar relations to Jesus Christ and the stereotypical Christian.
Raskolnikov himself is the perfect archetype of the Tragic Hero because of his extreme hubris, which results in his struggle to be “good", as opposed to evil. This intense pride results in his paradoxical nature throughout the book. His very name “Raskolnikov” starts with “raskol”, which means “schism” or “divide” in the Russian language. This split is very apparent when Dostoevsky describes Raskolnikov’s emotional state throughout Crime and Punishment. It is especially apparent when he confesses to Sonia about the crime. In this scene of Crime and Punishment, Raskolnikov is so overcome with remorse that he “did not struggle against it” and allowed “two tears” to form (Dostoevsky 391). In response to this, Sonia tells him that she’ll stay with him and follow him to Siberia. However, after hearing those words, he “recoiled at this, and the same hostile, almost haughty smile, came to his lips...In this changed tone, she seemed to hear the murderer speaking.” (Dostoevsky 391). As he speaks to her, he seems very remorseful, emotionally broken down, and vulnerable. However, after she tells him that he should confess, he reverts back to being very proud, spiteful, and unapologetic. This is evident in his statement, “I’ve only killed a louse…a useless, loathsome, harmful creature.” (Dostoevsky 395). This statement shows that, even though Raskolnikov feels ashamed of what he did, he’s still too proud to confess to his crime. Dostoevsky made this drastic emotional shift happen repeatedly throughout the book, and it proves that the struggle in Raskolnikov between humility and pride over his crime is an important parallel to the struggle of Christians between good and evil.
Another important depiction of the Tragic Hero in Raskolnikov is his mental state. Before the crime, Dostoevsky depicts him to be suffering from an internal turmoil over whether or not he should go through with his plans, or, for that matter, was actually capable of committing the crime in the first place. Then, after Raskolnikov commits the murder, Dostoevsky makes Rodya's suffering perpetuate when he wrestles with the idea of confessing or keeping his crime a secret. It is very prominent where he says, “Surely it isn’t beginning already? Surely it isn’t my punishment coming upon me? It is!” (Dostoevsky 90). This quote represents that Raskolnikov is aware that what he did was wrong, however, it helps Dostoevsky prove to the reader that every sinner who doesn’t immediately confess will struggle with guilt. There are many scenarios given by Dostoevsky of Raskolnikov doubting himself, then being so self-assured that he comes off as cocky and thinking of others in an endearing way, then wishing they would all just leave him alone. This is the best depiction of paradox because Raskolnikov's self-doubt lasts throughout the novel, especially in the words, “Good God! Can it be…that I will really take an axe, that I will strike her on the head…Good God, can it be?” (Dostoevsky 60). This self-doubt is very crucial to his paradoxical characteristics because it is the major cause of this schism from before he kills the pawnbroker, all the way to the end when he realizes that even he, a murderer, can have a second chance.
This second chance motif was best represented through the Savior archetype, which Dostoevsky displayed through Sonia. In the novel, Sonia is first introduced as a small, timid girl who prostitutes herself in order to support her family. However, later in the novel, she’s depicted as a savior by being the one person that leads Raskolnikov to recovering from his perpetual torment by coaxing him to confess. When Raskolnikov asks her what he should do to end his suffering, Sonia immediately says;
Stand up!...Go at once, this minute, stand at the crossroads, bow down, kiss the earth which you have defiled and then bow down to all the world and say to all men aloud, ‘I am a murderer!’ Then god will send you live again...Suffer and atone for your sin by Him that’s what you must do. (Dostoevsky 399).

In this section, Sonia’s zeal for God is incorporated in her answer, and she continues to maintain this idea of “acknowledge and God will forgive” throughout the book all the way until he finally does confess. This is important because she is the first person he tells about what he did and the only one that was able to convince him to confess, which means that she was the main catalyst that caused him to finally turn himself in. A Savior archetype usually encourages the person they’re saving to change, rather than forcing it, which is what Sonia did.
The Savior and Tragic Hero archetypes in Sonia and Raskolnikov were important.

The relationship they had with one another in Crime and Punishment were allusions to the depiction of Jesus’ relationships with sinners. Jesus’ love for people is unconditional and he loves everyone, regardless of what they’ve done. His love for sinners is similar to Sonia’s love for Raskolnikov because she followed him all the way to Siberia and continued to love him, even when he rejected her. Then, in the end when Raskolnikov finally realizes that she loves him, in spite of his crime, he cries in her arms and she “understood, and a light of infinite happiness came into her eyes. She knew and had no doubt that he loved her above everything else and at last that moment had come...” (Dostoevsky 520). After this, Raskolnikov is like a totally different person and is so different that “all the convicts who had been his enemies looked at him differently; he had even started talking to them and they answered him in a friendly way.” (Dostoevsky 520). Like Jesus, Sonia was there for Raskolnikov when he finally repented. This was one of the most important scenes in the book because it gave the reader an example of how coming to Jesus can change a person’s life and turn them into a completely new, if not better,

person.
Throughout the novel, Dostoevsky intertwined the New Testament story of Jesus into his story of a murderer coping with the punishment of guilt and self-doubt. These allusions were very important because they not only develop strong main characters like Sonia and Raskolnikov, but make their struggles and issues so realistic that the reader can relate to them. Creating such charismatic characters allowed Dostoevsky to convey the biblical message in a subtle, but powerful way. Through the Savior and Tragic Hero archetypes found in Sonia and Raskolnikov, Dostoevsky made the powerful statement that Christ’s love is unconditional and that He will wait for you and welcome you no matter who you are, no matter who’s turned you away, and no matter what you’ve done.