The Bible belongs to everyone, atheists and believers alike.

This is the book of humanity.
F. Dostoevsky

The Bible is a book known to all mankind. Its influence on the development of world artistic culture is great. Biblical stories and images inspired writers, artists, musicians of various eras and peoples. The works of many famous Russian writers are also permeated with the ideas of Christianity. Biblical legends and images were used by L. Tolstoy and F. Dostoevsky, M. Bulgakov and A. Kuprin, A. Akhmatova and O. Mandelstam, Sholom Aleichem and Ch. Aitmatov, A. Blok and B. Pasternak. The Bible talks about good and evil, truth and lies, the loss of harmony between man and God. It touches upon universal human problems. No wonder it is called the Book of Books. Without knowledge of the Bible, it is impossible to comprehend and understand a number of works, including the novel “Crime and Punishment.”

The main merit of the writer is that he posed and tried to solve such global eternal problems as life and immortality, good and evil, faith and unbelief. Dostoevsky tried to find answers to these questions by turning to the New Testament, which tells about the fate of Jesus Christ. Dostoevsky believed that a person who has committed a sin is capable of spiritual resurrection if he believes in Christ and if he accepts his moral commandments. According to the writer, Raskolnikov, the main character of the novel “Crime and Punishment”, who committed a crime, must turn to the Gospel in order to find answers to the questions that torment him and gradually be spiritually reborn. Dostoevsky proves with his novel that violence and goodness are incompatible concepts. And even if a good person, eager to change the world and save people from suffering, takes the path of violence, he will inevitably bring harm to himself and others. Using biblical legends and images in the novel Crime and Punishment, Dostoevsky reflects on the tragic fate of the world and Russia. During the time of Dostoevsky, the idea of ​​revolution was popular as the fastest and most radical means of reorganizing the country. But revolution inevitably leads to blood, violence, and victims. And the revolution needed people who could step over moral standards. Dostoevsky contrasts the idea of ​​revolution with the idea of ​​the moral and spiritual purification of man. According to Dostoevsky, Christianity should play a huge role in this. This led to the appearance of biblical motifs in the novel. Images from the Bible echo those in the novel.

Thus, the legend of the resurrection of Lazarus echoes the fate of Rodion Raskolnikov. The main character's room is likened to a coffin. It was under the stone that he left the loot from the murdered old woman, and Christ commands to “take away the stone,” that is, to repent and free the soul. While in hard labor, Raskolnikov reads the Gospel - the same book from which Sonya read to him about the resurrection of Lazarus. The fate of Sonya, the holy harlot, echoes the parable of the harlot Mary Magdalene, forgiven by Jesus Christ. Sonya sacrificed herself in the name of love for her neighbors, she destroyed herself without achieving anything. But with her love, pity, compassion, self-sacrifice, her faith in God, she saves Raskolnikov. The painter Mikolka also sacrifices himself: he takes the blame on himself in order to suffer.

In the center of "Crime and Punishment" is placed episode of reading chapter XI of the Gospel of John about the resurrection of Lazarus. This scene forms the rest of the fabric of the novel around itself.

Raskolnikov committed a crime, he must “believe” and repent. This will be his spiritual cleansing. The hero turns to the Gospel and, according to Dostoevsky, must find answers there to the questions that torment him, must gradually be reborn, move into a new reality for him. Dostoevsky pursues the idea that a person who has committed a sin is capable of spiritual resurrection if he believes in Christ and accepts his moral commandments.

The image of Raskolnikov's resurrection is indeed connected with the Gospel story of the resurrection of Lazarus by Christ, which Sonya reads to Raskolnikov. Sonya herself, while reading, mentally compares him with the Jews who were present at the unheard-of miracle of the resurrection of the already stinking Lazarus and who believed in Christ. And at the end of the novel, when Sonya accompanies Raskolnikov from afar as he sets out on his way of the cross - to voluntarily confess to the crime he has committed and suffer the appropriate punishment, the main character is clearly compared with Christ, who was followed from afar by myrrh-bearing women on His way of the cross.

That is, it turns out that Raskolnikov in the novel embodies three characters at once: and Lazarus himself, and the doubting Jews, and even Christ. Crime and punishment are only a small part of the gospel story. The novel ends at the moment when “the dead man came out” and Jesus said: “Unbind him; Let him go". The last words read by Sonya to Raskolnikov are no longer about the novel’s plot, but about the impact it should have on readers. It is not for nothing that these words are highlighted in Dostoevsky’s italics: “Then many of the Jews who came to Mary and saw what Jesus had done believed in Him.”

For Dostoevsky, the use of biblical myths and images is not an end in itself. They served as illustrations for his thoughts about the tragic fate of the world, Russia and the human soul as part of world civilization. Dostoevsky considered the key to the revival of all this to be an appeal to the idea of ​​Christ.

Analysis of the episode “Reading Lazarus by Sonya Marmeladova to Raskolnikov”

The episode begins with a description of the room in which Marmeladova lived. Her home was in a house “on a ditch,” “three stories high, old and green.” The furnishings in the room were wretched, “it looked like a barn,” there were no curtains on the windows, and the walls were covered with “shabby and worn out” wallpaper.
It would seem that in such a poor and beggarly monastery there is no place for such a spiritually pure girl as Sonya. She says only good words about the people around her, speaks warmly of her “stuttering” owners, and remembers her father and mother with love. In her every sentence we hear pity and compassion for her loved ones, although, it would seem, Sonya has something to be offended about in life.
At first, Raskolnikov saw similar traits to him in the girl, because both he and she transgressed the moral laws of society. The only difference is that Rodion did it for himself, and Sonya did it for the well-being of the family. The young man is trying to make her rebel, just like him: “I know... and about how you left at six o’clock”, “Katerina Ivanovna almost beat you”, “Katerina Ivanovna is in consumption, angry, she will soon die “,” “What will happen to you?”, “What if you get sick now,” “The children will go out into the street in a crowd,” “The same thing will probably happen to Polechka.”
But one apt phrase from the girl “debunks” Raskolnikov’s entire theory: “What would I be without God?” Sonya believes in God, God is her truth and strength. If, out of despair, Rodion chose to kill an innocent person, then the girl chose a different path - prayer.
This is seen with particular force when Sonya and Raskolnikov read an episode of the Gospel. This episode begins with the words “Now a certain Lazarus of Bethany was sick...”. I think a parallel can be drawn between the image of the patient and Rodion. The episode ends with Lazarus resurrected, having survived death and spent four days in the tomb.
Sonya’s intonation emotionally enhances the scene of reading the Gospel: “she read it loudly and enthusiastically,” “a feeling of great triumph swept over her.” The resurrection of Lazarus gives hope that Raskolnikov will one day gain faith in God and find peace of mind.
Reading the Gospel seems to change places of the young man and the girl: the decisive, ruthless Raskolnikov and the “confused”, frightened Sonya with a quiet voice at the beginning of the conversation. While reading, the girl has a sparkle in her eyes, sternness and solemnity, while Rodion’s “head began to spin.” This means that Sonya's faith is much stronger and deeper than Raskolnikov's theory.

After reading, Rodion gets down to business: he invites Sonya to give up everything, “to think seriously and directly,” “to break what needs to be done, once and for all, and that’s all.” But we see that he hesitates, speaks no longer with the determination that he had at the beginning. Raskolnikov reveals himself to the girl, he is ready to confess to her, not yet repenting of the crime he committed.

The young man leaves, leaving Sonya confused. He seemed “crazy” to her, but she “was like crazy herself.” Raskolnikov again awakened in the girl thoughts about Polechka, her mother, Lizaveta, which she dreamed about at night.

Thus, the conversation between Sonya and Rodion “in a beggar’s room” opened a new page in the lives of both. The girl became even more confident in God, and Raskolnikov began to realize the inconsistency of his theory of “the powers that be.” And, despite the disagreements that arose, the “murderer and the harlot” became even stronger and spiritually closer to each other.

“I have seen and know that people can be beautiful and happy without losing the ability to live on earth. I cannot and do not want to believe that evil is the normal state of people.” This is what F. Dostoevsky thought. Trying to understand the eternal problems of good and evil, mercy, justice, and human responsibility for what he has done, he turns to the Bible. The Bible is the only way to salvation, according to Dostoevsky. The last words of the novel contain faith in the rebirth of the criminal's soul. This is also faith in the revival of all of Russia.

The parable of the resurrection of Lazarus in the structure of the novel “Crime and Punishment”

Dostoevsky crime punishment novel Raskolnikov

The symbolist Innokenty Annensky saw in Lazarus, the legend of which Sonya Marmeladova read to Raskolnikov at his request, a symbol of liberation from the yoke of the idea of ​​mastering life, where the symbolist poet compares life with Mephistophilis, like whom she captivates Raskolnikov, not allowing him to come to his senses. To explain his presentation, I. Annensky cites an episode from the novel “Crime and Punishment”, describing Raskolnikov’s meeting with a drunk girl on the boulevard and gives him the comment: “... - Hey you, Svidrigailov! What do you want here? - he shouted, clenching his fists and laughing with his lips foaming with anger.

This is where the scene breaks because It was with this word “Svidrigailov” that Raskolnikov realized his dreamy possession of life. Found was a permissive symbol for that dream-riddle that tormented Raskolnikov for many days in a row. Possession of life has received an emblem fat and effeminate dandy on the counter next to a plump and already drunk child.

Let Raskolnikov excite himself with anger and eloquence, but the real fact already melts away after this word. Life carries Raskolnikov further, like Mephistopheles, not allowing him to come to his senses.

Raskolnikov needs a yoke, he dreams of a new, not yet experienced abscess on his heart: now he is sure that he will take life and that this life will give him a new word; or maybe he is already imagining Lazarus” [Annensky, 1979, p. 34]. Comparing life with Mephistophil associatively “introduces” the image of the devil into consciousness, therefore the words “...maybe he is already imagining Lazarus” are perceived as Raskolnikov’s premonition, from the point of view of I. Annensky, of his renewal, liberation from the yoke of the idea of ​​mastering life, which is resurrection in the religious sense of the word - resurrection as the acquisition of a “new man” in oneself.

L. Shestov in his work “Dostoevsky and Nietzsche (philosophy of tragedy)” writes that “when Raskolnikov, after the murder, is convinced that he is forever cut off from returning to his former life, when he sees that his own mother, who loves him more than anything in the world, has ceased to be for him a mother (who, before Dostoevsky, could have thought that such horrors were possible?), that the sister, who agreed to enslave herself to Luzhin forever for the sake of his future, is no longer a sister for him, he instinctively runs to Sonya Marmeladova” [Shestov, 2000, With. 245]. The philosopher believes that Raskolnikov did not come to her to repent [Shestov, 2000, p. 245] that the hero could not repent until the very end in the depths of his soul (“Oh, how happy he would be if he could accuse himself (i.e., of murder). Then he would have endured everything, even shame and disgrace. But he judged himself strictly, and his hardened conscience did not find any particularly terrible guilt in his past, except perhaps miss(Dostoevsky emphasized), which could happen to anyone... He did not repent of his crime" [Vol. 5, p. 345]), "he found himself crushed for unknown reasons. His task, all his aspirations now boil down to this: to justify your misfortune, to return my life - and nothing, neither the happiness of the whole world, nor the triumph of any idea you want, can in his eyes give the meaning of his own tragedy" [Shestov, 2000, p. 247]. With this desire, L. Shestov explains why, as soon as Raskolnikov notices the Gospel from Sonya, he asks her to read to him about the resurrection of Lazarus: “Neither the Sermon on the Mount, nor the parable of the Pharisee and the publican, in a word, nothing that was translated from the Gospel into modern ethics, according to Tolstoy’s formula “goodness, brotherly love is God,” does not interest him. He interrogated all this, tested it and became convinced, like Dostoevsky himself, that taken separately, torn out from the general content of Holy Scripture, it no longer becomes truth, but a lie. Although he still does not dare to admit the thought that the truth is not in science, but where the mysterious and mysterious words are written: he who endures to the end will be saved, but he still tries to turn his gaze towards those hopes that Sonya lives by” [Shestov, 2000 , With. 248]. According to the philosopher, Raskolnikov can only from the Gospel, from that Gospel in which, along with other teachings, the legend of the resurrection of Lazarus was preserved, where, moreover, the resurrection of Lazarus, which signifies the great power of working miracles, gives meaning to the rest, so inaccessible and mysterious words for the poor, Euclidean, human mind, wait for the opportunity to be heard in his grief, only it will allow him to tell the whole inner terrible truth about himself, “the truth with which he was born into the light of God” [Shestov, 2000, p. 248]. L. Shestov believes that just as Raskolnikov seeks his hopes only in the resurrection of Lazarus, so Dostoevsky himself saw in the Gospel not a preaching of this or that morality, but the guarantee of a new life: “Without a higher idea, neither a person nor a nation can exist , - he writes. - And the highest idea on earth. only one(emphasized by Dostoevsky), and it is precisely the idea of ​​​​the immortality of the human soul, for all the other “higher” ideas of life by which a person can live, only one of them flows from it"[Shestov, 2000, p. 251]. Thus, the philosopher emphasizes the ideological necessity of the episode about the resurrection of Lazarus in the structure of the novel by F. M. Dostoevsky, who is convinced that the human soul is immortal and cannot be abandoned by God. The legend of the resurrection of Lazarus is , according to L. Shestov, is the ideological core of the novel.

Modern researcher K. Kedrov in the article “Restoring a Lost Man (the Mystery of Dostoevsky)” writes that “literary studies and criticism of the times of Dostoevsky were not ready for an objective approach to religious symbolism. Clerical or anti-clerical pathos ignored any artistry,” therefore, “gospel episodes” in the novels of F. M. Dostoevsky were passed over in silence [Kedrov, userline]. And yet, according to the scientist, “in Dostoevsky’s Gospel one should look first of all for what worried the writer himself. And he did not hide his highest goal when he claimed that he was looking for a formula in Christianity for the “restoration of lost man.” “This,” said Dostoevsky, “is the main idea of ​​all art of the nineteenth century” [Kedrov, userline].

K. Kedrov, speaking about the role of the legend of the resurrection of Lazarus in the structure of the novel “Crime and Punishment,” connects the meaning of the legend with medieval mystery traditions, but, first of all, considers it necessary to “clearly understand the diametrically opposed semantics of the concepts of “immortality” and “resurrection.” The immortal does not die, the resurrected must necessarily die” [Kedrov, userline]. This statement can be argued by referring to the Gospel, but in this case we are interested in the position of K. Kedrov. "Mystery" is "knowing the secret." The scientist sees a pattern in the fact that the mystery traditions turned out to be close to F. M. Dostoevsky, since the writer, “who spent his whole life solving the riddle about man, pondering intensely on biblical stories, was, however, looking for their real life basis, reaching to the origins of legends, to those original layers of culture where man first declared himself as a being different from the nature that gave birth to him. In the resurrection, man for the first time disagreed with the universe that created him as a mortal. If throughout its history, despite the evidence of death, humanity has created resurrection, it means that it contains the great secret of the human soul and nature - this was the train of thought of Dostoevsky himself” [Kedrov, userline].

The mysteries actually depicted how the dead becomes alive, which is connected with the philosophical question: is this not the very process of the origin of life? In many transformations of the myth of resurrection in world culture, in the mythologies of all peoples, the indestructible plot of the primordial action of “imaginary death” is clearly visible. Its essence lies in the fact that someone who was considered dead, rotting and decaying, suddenly finds life.

In a large number of legendary stories, decay and stench come to the fore as irrefutable evidence of death. Lazarus not only died, the smell of decay already emanates from his body, which is emphasized in every possible way both in the parable itself and in its iconographic depiction, where the apostles hold their noses at the moment when the stone is rolled away from the “door of the tomb.”

According to K. Kedrov, decay, which enhances the reality and obviousness of death, should be a contrasting prelude to resurrection [Kedrov, userline].

In the novel “Crime and Punishment,” Sonya reads Raskolnikov the parable of the resurrection of Lazarus, and here Dostoevsky emphasizes this obligatory moment and, to strengthen it, resorts to verbal commentary and even to the graphic highlighting of the word “four,” indicating the time of decay: “it already stinks.” "For four days he has been in the tomb." She energetically struck the word four" [Vol. 5, p. 211].

The parable of Lazarus is a hidden secret connecting Raskolnikov and Sonya: “Where is it about Lazarus?” he asked suddenly. “Where is it about the resurrection of Lazarus? Find it for me, Sonya” [T. 5, p. 211]. After all, he thinks of himself as the lost and unresurrected Lazarus; his spiritual death (“I killed myself, not the old woman”) occurred at the moment of murder. Since then, Raskolnikov has been in his closet, which, according to Dostoevsky, resembles a coffin, and when Rodion Romanovich’s mother speaks about this, he exclaims that she does not suspect what a great truth she has just spoken [T. 5, p. 251]. Reading the parable of the resurrection of Lazarus should become a harbinger of the resurrection of Raskolnikov. Lazarus, already engulfed in decay, rose again despite the evidence; contrary to the evidence and all-crushing logic, Rodion Raskolnikov must also be resurrected. At least that's how it seems to Sonya. “And he, he, too, blinded and unbelieving, he too will believe, yes, yes! Now, now,” she dreamed, and she trembled with joyful anticipation" [Vol. 5, p. 211]. K. Kedrov, commenting on this episode, writes: “The resurrected one, as if freed from physicality, puts on the “robe of incorruption.” The “Old Adam” dies so that the new one will not be reborn. He remains Lazarus. Unlike Christ, he does not resurrect himself, he must be resurrected by Sonya. He himself does not regret the crime and does not repent in the depths of his soul. He simply follows the path indicated by Sonya to resurrection. Perhaps this is the fundamental difference between the action and the imaginary one. death from the action of resurrection. Someone always revives the supposedly dead; strictly speaking, this is not resurrection, but rather resurrection comes from the depths of the hero’s soul - revival occurs under the influence of external forces.

The distance from the plot of imaginary death to the plot of resurrection is enormous. The specific weight of the parable of the resurrection of Lazarus is incommensurate with the weight and significance of the story of the resurrection of Christ” [Kedrov, userline]. From the point of view of a scientist, it is significant that in the mystery of imaginary death two views of the dying person always collide - the one penetrating through the outer shell of events affirms: he is alive; another testifies: he is dead. The statement that Lazarus is not dead, but is sleeping, does not sound in the inner world of the hero, but in the external environment next to a chorus of other voices claiming the opposite. We know nothing about the experiences of Lazarus himself either at the moment of death or at the moment of resurrection, but we can recall the concentration of all psychological states of this kind in one dialogue about death. “Lazarus, our friend, has fallen asleep, but I am going to wake him up” - and the words of the disciples: “If he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” And the epically calm convergence of two gazes in the mythological space of the Gospel: “Jesus spoke of his death; but they thought that he was talking about an ordinary dream.” External and internal views are clearly correlated here. The external manifestation of the internal state, when the deceased comes out of the coffin, “wrapped on his hands and feet with funeral shrouds; and his face was tied with a scarf,” - Sonya Marmeladova read this passage “loudly and enthusiastically, trembling and growing cold, as if she had seen it with her own eyes” [ T. 5, p. 211]. K. Kedrov believes that Dostoevsky’s ancient folklore play about a harlot saving a sinful world always ends in a classic reversal: the harlot turns out to be the greatest righteous woman, an immaculate bride saving the groom. The culmination of the sensual attraction of the bride and groom in a mystery marriage is the vow of chastity [Kedrov, userline] and recalls that in the archaic origins of the Easter mystery, a sacred harlot was sacrificed to crucifixion in the pre-biblical era for the sake of the resurrection of the groom. “For her, the gold of the iconostasis shone and all the candles on the chandelier and in the candlesticks were burning, for her there were these joyful chants: “The Passover of the Lord, rejoice, people.” And everything that was good in the world was all for her” [Kedrov, userline]. In “Crime and Punishment,” it is the harlot Sonya who reads Raskolnikov’s parable about the resurrection of Lazarus, just as in the Gospel Mary the sinner stands at the crucifixion of Christ, placed between two thieves. K. Kedrov writes that in the canonized gospels, selected from more than thirty apocryphal texts, the messianic role of the harlot Mary is not entirely clear and, perhaps, too commonplace and obscured. Having followed Christ, it is she who pours a vessel with pure backgammon ointment on him and wipes his feet with her hair. This action, incomprehensible to the uninitiated, causes murmurs among the disciples: wouldn’t it be better to sell this ointment for three hundred denarii and give the money to the poor? The answer is clear only to those who are privy to the secret of the “funeral-wedding” ritual. Thus, the groom explains, she prepared him for death and burial. The supposedly dead man is mourned by his bride, and she resurrects him with a kiss and living water [Kedrov, userline]. Thus, according to K. Kedrov, the episode of reading the legend of the resurrection of Lazarus is important from the point of view of understanding that Raskolnikov is dead, that his salvation is in resurrection, but K. Kedrov speaks about the special meaning of resurrection - about resurrection as the acquisition of new qualities, qualities of a “new man”, and sees the most important role of Sonya in this “creation” of a new man, thus bringing her image closer to the biblical image of Magdalene.

F.M. calls the novel a novelized mystery. Dostoevsky, another modern researcher Valentin Nedzvetsky, speaking about mystery in its original form of a religious sacrament, which gave a person direct comprehension of the living God, mystery as a ritual full of drama, accessible only to the initiated and the chosen. From the point of view of a researcher, Rodion Raskolnikov recognizes himself as the chosen one to resolve the age-old pan-human “thought.” The scientist calls the first need of Dostoevsky himself and his central characters their self-determination not in humanity (socio-historical, social), but in God, a religious definition, “since it was, according to the writer’s conviction, the key to success and everything else. The very nature of this need, generated by the integral spiritual and moral essence of man, did not allow it to be realized in an abstract and speculative manner, that is, by means of reason alone. The only thing that was quite adequate for her was act, deed, which directly represents a challenge to God, direct opposition to him and thereby an inevitable direct meeting - a dispute between a person and him. In other words, an act that was mysterious, mystery-producing, was required. It is this genre that dominates...the main formative tendency of Dostoevsky’s novels as it appears at least in his famous “Pentateuch” from “ Crimes and Punishments" before " Brothers Karamazov"[Nedzvetsky, 2004, p. 45]. The researcher considers the gospel legend of the resurrection of Lazarus in its deepest moral and ethical development by the writer to be the formative basis of the novel, since, from his point of view, the early Christian motif of burial and coffin produces the internal form of the novel “ Crime and Punishment": " Rodion Raskolnikov doomed himself to spiritual and moral death when, having doubted the morality (and therefore the divinity) of human nature itself, he allowed himself to transgress the divine covenant (“principle”) “Thou shalt not kill.” Having fallen away from God and people as a result of this crime, having objectively embarked on the path of the Antichrist (Devil), Raskolnikov at the same time subjectively imagines himself as the true Messiah-Savior of at least the rude-proud (“power-having”) part of humanity, in which he anticipates the position and the tragedy of Ivan Karamazov. Unlike the last hero " Crimes and Punishments" At the same time, Dostoevsky is not deprived of the possibility of liberation from the devil’s obsession and thereby leaving the spiritual grave” [Nedzvetsky, 2004, p. 43].

In one of his interviews, Mikhail Dunaev, a teacher at the Moscow Theological Academy, said that the passage from the Gospel about the resurrection of Lazarus, placed by F. M. Dostoevsky in the novel Crime and Punishment, carries the main ideological load: “... for the sake of this passage the novel was written! ...Sonya reads to Raskolnikov about the last miracle of Christ, which he performed before his arrest and Holy Week. Great miracle! Lazarus died four days ago, his body had already begun to decompose. And yet Christ resurrects Lazarus, saying: for man it is impossible - for God everything is possible! Raskolnikov is, after all, the deceased Lazarus. He didn't kill the old woman, he killed himself. He is spiritually dead. If this passage from the Gospel is not noticed, how can one explain what is capable of resurrecting Raskolnikov?<...>Dostoevsky understood perfectly well that the resurrection of a person, a people, is a long process. Neither a person nor a society will be resurrected on their own. It is the occult preachers who say that man can do anything. The saints claim that God can save us. But only if we ourselves want our own salvation... In order for Raskolnikov to be resurrected, he must turn his hopes to God. This is what Sonya Marmeladova instills in him” [Dunaev, 2002, IMAGE].

“The possibility of interpreting the motif of death and resurrection simultaneously within the framework of the liturgical cycle of liturgical texts and in Russian literature of modern times represents an apocryphal monument,” says M.V. Rozhdestvenskaya [Rozhdestvenskaya, 2001, p. 69] and gives interesting information that the “Word on the Resurrection of Lazarus” is the original Old Russian apocrypha of the late 12th - early 13th centuries. It has survived in two editions, the lists of one of them, the Brief, are usually placed in collections surrounded by patristic “words” on the 6th Saturday of Great Lent, when the miracle of the resurrection of Lazarus is celebrated (John 11, 12). The other, lengthy edition of the “Word on the Resurrection of Lazarus” is not limited to the story of how, after the crying and prayer of Adam, who, together with Lazarus, the prophets and forefathers, was tormented in hell, Christ raised Lazarus. In this edition, Lazarus conveys to Christ Adam’s plea to free the captives, Christ descends into hell, destroys hellish constipations, and brings Adam and Eve and everyone else out of there. The lists of the lengthy edition of the “Word on the Resurrection of Lazarus” are usually surrounded in manuscripts by also apocryphal works - these are the translated Greek “words” of Eusebius of Alexandria “The Tale of the Descent of John the Baptist into Hell” and Epiphanius of Cyprus “on the Burial of the Lord”, “The Word of Isaiah the Prophet about the Last days” and some others. Thus, both editions of “The Homilies on the Resurrection of Lazarus” differ not only in content, but also ideologically: the lists of the Brief Edition are devoted to the theme of resurrection and are included in the context of the homilies for Lazarus Saturday by Clement of Ohrid, John Chrysostom, Titus of Bostria, and Andrew of Crete. The lengthy edition is introduced into the literary context of the theme of the descent into hell. In the homilies of early Christian writers the idea is repeated that Christ, through the resurrection of Lazarus, gave an image of his future resurrection. Lazarus also appeared as the second Forerunner, as Eusebius of Alexandria called him in “The Tale of the Descent of John the Baptist into Hell.” The Gospel story about Lazarus the Four Days, as one of the most important plots of Christian history, became in ancient Slavic and ancient Russian literature the semantic core around which the interpretation of the world motif about the descent into hell and resurrection unfolded. It is significant that the miracle of Lazarus in Russian literature of the modern era is described in the context of this motif. For F.M. Dostoevsky, from the point of view of M.V. Rozhdestvenskaya, as a writer deeply attentive to the abysses of the human soul, the themes of hell and resurrection were closely connected with the image of the Gospel Lazarus. The researcher believes that the significance in the composition, structure, ideological and philosophical basis of the novel “Crime and Punishment” of the legend of the resurrection of Lazarus is not just significant, but formative: “... a lot has already been written about Raskolnikov’s narrow closet, reminiscent of a coffin, in which his suffering sinful woman rushes about soul, about Sonya Marmeladova’s reading to him at the fateful moment of the Gospel text about the four-day Lazarus and about the fact that Raskolnikov’s entire fate is decided in those same terrible three days, on the fourth day. Through the Gospel, Raskolnikov is resurrected in hard labor for a new and better life. The brother of Mary and Martha, the evangelical Lazarus became, according to legend, the bishop of the city of Kitae in Cyprus. Projecting Raskolnikov’s tossing onto the illness and temporary death of Lazar, F.M. Dostoevsky reads the Gospel in St. Petersburg. The space of Holy Scripture is superimposed on the topography of St. Petersburg, and the city is included in the Jerusalem context" [Rozhdestvenskaya, 2001, p. 71]. M.V. Rozhdestvenskaya, summing up her conclusions, writes: “Based on the Gospel story about Lazarus, Christian F.M. Dostoevsky wrote a novel about the resurrection" [Rozhdestvenskaya, 2001, p. 71].

Dr. Jürgen Spies, in the article “Dostoevsky and the New Testament,” discusses the role of the story of the resurrection of Lazarus in the novel “Crime and Punishment.” The researcher emphasizes the significance of the fact that Dostoevsky refers to this story from the Gospel of John three times in the novel “Crime and Punishment”: “First of all, in the first conversation of investigator Porfiry with Raskolnikov. Raskolnikov speaks of the new Jerusalem as the goal of the entire history of mankind. Completely amazed, Porfiry asks him: “So you still believe in the New Jerusalem? “I believe,” Raskolnikov answered firmly; saying this and continuing his entire long tirade, he looked at the ground, choosing a point on the carpet for himself. - Do you believe in God? Sorry for being so curious. “I believe,” Raskolnikov repeated, raising his eyes to Porfiry. - Do you believe in the resurrection of Lazarus? - I believe. Why do you need all this? - Do you literally believe? - Literally” [T. 5, p. 191].

The scientist notes that faith in the new Jerusalem, that is, faith in heaven on Earth, was shared by many people in the 19th and even in the 20th century. An indefinite faith in God, in other words, faith in some higher power, is characteristic not only of the 19th, but also of the 20th century. But faith in the resurrection of Lazarus already means faith in a specific historical event, which is evidence of the power of Christ.

After this conversation, Raskolnikov visits Sonya and sees on her dresser a book of the New Testament, which was translated into Russian in 1821, the same year that Dostoevsky was born. “The book was old, second-hand, bound in leather” [T. 5, p. 211]. Raskolnikov turns to Sonya with a request to read him the story of the resurrection of Lazarus; Apparently, Jürgen Spies believes, he needs this in order to remember what he “literally” believes in [Spies, 2004]. The scientist, analyzing the episode, draws attention to the fact that after reading, silence sets in for five minutes and reflects: “Anyone who has at least once tried, while in a room with several people, to remain silent for at least one minute, knows how depressingly long this minute can last” [Shpis, 2004]. According to Yu. Shpis, Raskolnikov is shocked because he understands that the story he read is close to his situation - he is dead and close to decay. Life is what he wants, resurrection is what he needs. That is why he is so amazed by Jesus’ phrase: “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25) [Shpis, 2004].

The researcher draws attention to the fact that in the epilogue the story of Lazarus comes up for the third time and, reflecting on the question: how can one explain Dostoevsky’s emphasized attention to this story, he cites the opinion of Ludolf Müller, who suggests that this is due to the influence of the book of David on Dostoevsky Friedrich Strauss's "The Life of Christ - in Critical Treatment", in which the story of the resurrection of Lazarus is ranked among the most incredible miracles described in the New Testament. While still a student, Dostoevsky read this book, which had a significant influence on his contemporaries. Apparently, this is why he returns to this story again and again.

Researcher N.V. Kiseleva in her article “From the Bible to a Work of Art” writes that the theme of the spiritual resurrection of the individual permeates all the novels of F.M. Dostoevsky, and calls one of the key episodes of “Crime and Punishment” “the one in which Sonya Marmeladova reads to Raskolnikov the biblical legend about the return to life of Lazarus: “Jesus said to her: I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in Me, even if he dies, will live, and whoever lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this? (John, XI, 25-26)"[Kiselev, Orthodox educational portal]. According to Sonya, Raskolnikov, who committed a crime, must “believe” and repent. This will be his spiritual cleansing, figuratively speaking, the resurrection from the dead. N.V. Kiseleva believes that “this symbolic scene has a logical and artistic continuation: at the end of the novel, Raskolnikov, a convict, having repented, is reborn to a new life, and Sonya’s love plays a significant role in this: “They were both pale and thin; but in these sick, pale faces the dawn of a renewed future was already shining. Full resurrection into new life. They were resurrected by love, the heart of one contained endless sources of life for the heart of the other."[Kiselev, Orthodox educational portal] . However, we cannot completely agree with the position of the researcher, since in the epilogue of the novel we see only Raskolnikov’s “approach” to repentance, and not the repentance itself, therefore we can interpret the episode of reading the legend of the resurrection of Lazarus as an “omen” of what will happen outside the novel. N.V. Kiseleva as well as I.K. Kedrov, believes that F.M. Dostoevsky correlates the images of the nameless harlot and Mary Magdalene forgiven by Christ with the image of Sonya Marmeladova [Kiselev, Orthodox educational portal] and gives an interesting detail: the Gospel Mary Magdalene lived not far from the city of Capernaum, which Christ visited; Sonya rents an apartment from the Kapernaumovs (it was here that she read Raskolnikov the legend of the resurrection of Lazarus [Kiselev, Orthodox educational portal].

V.G. turns to the analysis of the episode associated with the legend of the resurrection of Lazarus. Odinokov in his work “Religious and ethical problems in the works of F.M. Dostoevsky and L.N. Tolstoy." Professor V.G. Odinokov believes that both the fate of Sonya and the fate of Raskolnikov are associated with the resurrection of Lazarus [Odinokov, 1997, p. 113]. That is why the shocked heroine reads the text so excitedly and the hero listens to this text so greedily and passionately. To characterize Raskolnikov, this kind of emotional emphasis is especially important as an indicator of the faith living in him. In the Gospel of Luke we read: “Then Abraham said to him: If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, then even if someone were raised from the dead, they will not believe” [Luke XII, 31]. The researcher explains that the point here is that Christ and the apostles performed the resurrection of the dead long ago, but this had no effect on the unbelieving Pharisees. Now, if we take into account Raskolnikov’s pharisaism, the situation described testifies to his overcoming his pharisaical beliefs and sentiments. Of course, such overcoming must be and is accomplished with great difficulty and gigantic moral efforts, but still, “transformation” occurs. And Dostoevsky shows in detail its individual stages. V. G. Odinokov believes that the focus of the author’s attention in this episode is not the plot of the parable itself (one can argue with this), and the state of Raskolnikov and Sonya, who are faced with the question: how and for what to live? her personal destiny and constituted her spiritual secret. Raskolnikov understood this (“he understood too well how difficult it was for her now to reveal and expose everything yours. He realized that these feelings really seemed to constitute a real and already long-standing, perhaps secret her...” [T. 5, p. 210]). At the same time, the hero guessed how “she painfully wanted to read it herself, despite all the melancholy and all the fears, and it was precisely to him, so that he hears, and certainly Now- no matter what happens later! He read it in her eyes, understood it from her enthusiastic excitement...” [T. 5, p. 211]. Let us add that this understanding of the hero is also due to his spiritual secret and is connected with his fate. V.G. Odinokov draws attention to how Sonya’s state is conveyed during reading: Sonya, having suppressed the “throat spasm,” continues reading “the eleventh chapter of the Gospel of John,” which she began with the words “A certain Lazarus, from Bethany, was sick. .." [T. 5, p. 211]. The professor considers it necessary to “restore” the verses of the parable that Dostoevsky missed, since, in his opinion, it is they, especially the fourth verse, that predetermine Raskolnikov’s fate [Odinokov, 1997, p. 114]. The Gospel indicates that Lazarus’ sisters “said to Him: Lord! Behold, the one you love is sick” (John XI, 3). “Jesus, having heard That, said: “This disease is not for death, but for the glory of God, that through it the Son of God may be glorified” (John XI: 4).

The researcher sees in this moment of particular importance for understanding the process of spiritual transformation of the hero of the novel, explaining this by the fact that the reader from the previous presentation could be convinced that Raskolnikov is “sick,” his soul is devastated, and he himself essentially sentenced himself to death, as and his “double” Svidrigailov. However, Raskolnikov’s “illness” does not lead to death, since his “sin,” according to the writer’s plan, should belong to the category of sins “not leading to death.” To confirm this, the professor cites words from the First Council Epistle of the Holy Apostle John the Theologian: “If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin that does not lead to death, then let him pray, and God will give him life that is sinning sin not to death. There is a sin that leads to death: I do not mean that he should pray” (1 Jn. 16). The meaning of the statement boils down to the fact that it is possible and necessary to pray for those who have not completely fallen away from faith and love, who have not withdrawn from the influence of grace-filled forces. Sonya, with her sensitive heart, realized that Raskolnikov was just such a person.

She says verse 25 with trembling hope: “Jesus said to her: I am the resurrection and the life; He who believes in me, even if he dies, will live” [John II, 25]. Sonya is convinced that her listener, blinded and lost, “will also now hear” the words of Jesus and “now, now” will believe like those unbelieving Jews about whom the Gospel says: “Then many of the Jews who came to Mary and saw what Jesus had done believed in Him” (John II, 45). Further V.G. Odinokov writes: “Having brought the narrative to the highest point of ideological and emotional tension, Dostoevsky does not turn towards an easy solution to the problem of the hero’s spiritual salvation. The reader observes a slow and painful process of moral resolution” [Odinokov, 1997, p. 114]. Thus, V.G. Odinokov, like other researchers whose opinions were given above, sees in the parable of Lazar a “projection” on the fate of the hero, uniting him with Sonya Marmeladova. This is, of course, the reading given by the author of the novel, and one cannot but agree with him.

When referring to the full text of the eleventh chapter of the Gospel of John in its comparison with the text quoted by F.M. Dostoevsky, in the episode of Sonya reading the parable of the resurrection of Lazarus, draws attention to the fact that F.M. Dostoevsky “releases” some verses from the canonical text, which raises the question of what hidden role such a construction of the author may play.

Having read verse 45: “Then many of the Jews who came to Mary and saw what Jesus had done believed in Him” [John II, 45], Sonya stopped reading, as it is said in the novel: “...and could not read...”. Sonya could not read about the conspiracy of the Pharisees, who coldly decided that killing Jesus would be useful for the people, since his death for the people would help “...gather the scattered children of God into one...” [John II, 52], “From that day they laid him down kill" [John II, 53]. The rational decision of the Pharisees hides their fear of losing power over people (“If we leave Him like this, then everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take possession of both our place and our people” [John II, 48]). Thus, the idea of ​​power and possession of life (in the sense of dominion over it) leads to the idea of ​​the need to destroy God, who brings love, compassion and hope. Sonya not only cannot read these verses - she becomes stern, strict when she stops reading, having reached this place: “All about the resurrection of Lazarus,” she whispered abruptly and sternly and stood motionless, turning to the side, not daring and as if ashamed to look up at him” [T. 5, p. 212]. Her severity is explained by her absolute inner inability to even hear about such an atrocity.

Thus, the legend of the resurrection of Lazarus, staged by F.M. Dostoevsky in the fourth part, the fourth chapter of the novel, indeed, becomes the ideological core of the work, which is emphasized even by the compositional solution, which becomes symbolic: Raskolnikov came to Sonya on the fourth day after the crime committed - Lazarus was resurrected by Jesus on the fourth day after death. Raskolnikov goes to Sonya’s room along a dark corridor, does not know which door might be the entrance to the girl’s room, where the first thing he sees is a candle - all this can symbolize an intuitive search for salvation, that is, a search for God. Thus, the story of Raskolnikov, seemingly told in the novel, is the story of Lazarus rising from the dead with the help of God.

To summarize, we note that the plot and compositional inclusion of the parable of the resurrection of Lazarus in the novel indicates that it was the religious and philosophical aspect of its problems that was emphasized by the author; in other words, the writer’s strategy included not only an artistic study of crime and punishment, but also the possibility of resurrection, the rebirth of the person who committed the crime.

Preparation for written work.

1. Educational: consolidate the acquired knowledge about the novel, systematize and clarify it, explain the meaning of the opposition of antipodal heroes: Raskolnikov and Sonya and, as a consequence, the role of the latter in the resurrection of the hero.
2. Educational: a tolerant attitude towards people, interest in spiritual history, stimulate reading the Bible as a cultural source, arouse interest in self-analysis.
3. Developmental: development of monologue speech, analytical and comparative skills.

Download:

Preview:

Summary of an open lesson on literature

Topic: “The role of the episode “Raskolnikov and Sonya read the Gospel” in the ideological understanding of the novel “Crime and Punishment”

Goals:

Preparation for written work.

Tasks:

1. Educational: consolidate the acquired knowledge about the novel, systematize and clarify it, explain the meaning of the opposition of antipodal heroes: Raskolnikov and Sonya and, as a consequence, the role of the latter in the resurrection of the hero.
2. Educational: a tolerant attitude towards people, interest in spiritual history, stimulate reading the Bible as a cultural source, arouse interest in self-analysis.
3. Developmental: development of monologue speech, analytical and comparative skills.

Equipment:

1. Illustrations for the novel by artist E. Neizvestny.
2. Printouts of chapter 4 of part 4 of the novel.
3. Books with the text of the novel “Crime and Punishment”.
4. Portrait of F.M. Dostoevsky.
5. Bible.

Board design:

1. Lesson topic: “Raskolnikov and Sonya read the Gospel in the ideological understanding of the novel Crime and Punishment.”

2. Epigraph: “And you reach such a line that if you don’t step over it, you will be unhappy, but if you step over it, maybe you will be even more unhappy.”

3. Answer in writing the question: “Why exactly does Sonya want to reveal his secret from the very beginning?”

Raskolnikov about Duna. (Part 1, chapter 1).

During the classes

1. Teacher's introduction:

I started today's lesson with a quote from Chapter 1 of the novel. And there are 40 of them in total.

How many of them is Raskolnikov present in?

(at 38).

What does this indicate?

(The ideological center of the novel; all other characters are connected with it).

1. Analysis of Raskolnikov’s idea (repetition):

Very briefly: what is Raskolnikov’s idea?

1) dividing people into 2 categories: “those who have the right to transgress” in order to say a new word to humanity, and “trembling creatures”, i.e. ordinary;

2) SHOW THE PICTURE OF E. UNKNOWN “ARITHMETIC”!

Saving 10, 100, 1000 good people at the cost of the life of one bad one;

1. Power over the trembling anthill.

Where and to whom does Raskolnikov pronounce these words?(Sonya in Chapter 4, Part 4).

Quote them:

"What to do? Break what you need and take on the suffering!.. Freedom and power, and, most importantly, power! Over all the trembling creatures and over the entire anthill!.. That’s the goal!”

Raskolnikov says that there is only one way to save children who are a prototype of Christ (“these are the kingdom of God”): if there is a daredevil (Napoleon, Magomed) who takes power and changes all the moral laws on which the world stands.”

What is the contradiction in this thesis?

(For the sake of saving the idea of ​​Christ, one must break his own basic commandments!)

This is the moral impasse in which all the heroes find themselves!

1. Understanding the purpose of the lesson:

At home, you must answer in writing the question: “Why exactly does Sonya want to reveal his secret from the very beginning?”

For a detailed answer, we need to consider 3 episodes: IV, 4; V,4; VI,8.

1. Getting to know the image of Sonya Marmeladova.

A) Portrait.

Prepared students read 2 portraits:

1. (II, 7). “About 18, thin, but quite pretty blonde, with wonderful blue eyes. A dress with a ridiculous tail and a hat with a huge bird feather.”
2. (IV, 4). “How skinny you are! Look what a hand you have! Completely transparent! Fingers like those of a dead person...Sonya was irritated just as if a canary or some other small bird was angry.”

Conclusion: the portrait is as elusive as a spirit. There is something sublime, unearthly, elusive. ANGELIC.

One researcher said that in Sona and R. the FACE OF THE MAN OF GOD and the IMAGE OF THE MAN-GOD are contrasted.

B) – In Dostoevsky, everything is symbolic! What does the name SOFIA symbolize?

(Student’s answer. The main thing for D.: HUMBLY WISE.

The main Christian virtue that opposes pride).

B) - Raskolnikov says: “I chose you a long time ago to tell you, even when my father was talking about you.”

What was the most important thing R. learned about Sonya from her father’s story?

(Students’ retelling. The main thing: Katerina Ivanovna kissed her feet.

A very disturbing scene:

“K.I... stood at her feet all evening, kissed her feet, didn’t want to get up, and then they both fell asleep together, hugging...")

Who else will kiss Sonya's feet?

(Raskolnikov)

D) Reading by three students of episode No. 1 from chapter 4.

D) Teacher's comment:

R. calls Sonya a great sinner and sees in this a resemblance to himself. What is the difference between them?

(Sonya did not kill others. She sacrificed herself!

R. is unable to understand what saves Sonya and gives her strength!

FAITH IN GOD.

“What would I be without God?”

“I am the resurrection and the life; He who believes in me, even if he dies, will live."

TEACHER'S WORD: The entire Marmeladov family embodies Dostoevsky's main Christian idea - there is no happiness in comfort, happiness is bought through suffering.

1. Lesson summary.
2. Question: Why Sonya..? (d.z.)

1) “Loved many” (Marmeladov),

2) “You also committed a crime... Therefore, we must follow the same road... You ruined YOUR life... It’s all the same!”

Is it all the same? What is the difference between the freedom of Raskolnikov and Sonya?

(R.: freedom is power over the anthill.

Sonya: freedom is the responsibility of everyone for everyone).

Which one of them is Dostoevsky with? And you?

7. Grades.

References.

1. F.M.Dostoevsky. Novels in six volumes. Volume two. Player. Crime and punishment. St. Petersburg, Bibliopolis, 1995.
2. B.I. Turyanovskaya, L.N. Gorokhovskaya. Literature in 10th grade. Lesson after lesson. M., “Russian Word”.

Did you know this merchant Lizaveta?

Yes... Did you know? - Sonya asked with some surprise.

Katerina Ivanovna is in consumption, angry; “she will die soon,” said Raskolnikov, after a pause and without answering the question.

Oh, no, no, no! - And Sonya, with an unconscious gesture, grabbed him by both hands, as if begging him not to.

But it’s better if he dies.

No, not better, not better, not better at all! - she repeated fearfully and unconsciously.

What about the children? Where will you take them then, if not to you?

Oh, I don't know! - Sonya screamed almost in despair and grabbed her head. It was clear that this thought had flashed through her many, many times, and he only scared the thought away again.

Well, if you, while still under Katerina Ivanovna, now get sick and they take you to the hospital, what will happen then? - he insisted ruthlessly.

Oh, what are you, what are you! This cannot be true! - and Sonya’s face contorted with terrible fear.

How can it not be? - Raskolnikov continued with a cruel grin, - you are not insured, are you? Then what will become of them? The whole crowd will go out into the street, she will cough and beg, and bang her head on a wall somewhere, like today, and the children will cry... And then she will fall, they will take her to the unit, to the hospital, she will die, and the children...

Oh, no!.. God will not allow this! - finally burst out from Sonya’s constricted chest. She listened, looking at him pleadingly and folding her hands in a silent request, as if everything depended on him.

Raskolnikov stood up and began to walk around the room. A minute passed. Sonya stood with her hands and head down, in terrible anguish.

Can't you save? Saving for a rainy day? - he asked, suddenly stopping in front of her.

No,” Sonya whispered.

Of course no! Have you tried it? - he added almost mockingly.

I tried it.

And it went wrong! Well, of course! Why ask!

And again he walked around the room. Another minute passed.

Don't you get something every day?

Sonya was more embarrassed than ever, and the color hit her face again.

No,” she whispered with painful effort.

“It’ll probably be the same with Polechka,” he said suddenly.

No! No! It can't be, no! - Sonya screamed loudly, desperately, as if she had suddenly been wounded with a knife. - God, God will not allow such horror!..

He allows others.

No no! God will protect her, God!.. - she repeated, not remembering herself.

Yes, maybe there is no God at all,” Raskolnikov answered with some kind of gloating, laughed and looked at her.

Sonya's face suddenly changed terribly: convulsions ran through it. She looked at him with inexpressible reproach, wanted to say something, but could not say anything and only suddenly began to sob bitterly, covering her face with her hands.

You say Katerina Ivanovna’s mind is confused; “Your mind is getting in the way,” he said after some silence.

Five minutes passed. He kept walking back and forth, silently and without looking at her. Finally he approached her; his eyes sparkled. He took her shoulders with both hands and looked straight into her crying face. His gaze was dry, inflamed, sharp, his lips trembled violently... Suddenly he quickly bent over and, crouching to the floor, kissed her foot. Sonya recoiled from him in horror, as if from a madman. And indeed, he looked like he was completely crazy.

What are you, what are you? In front of me! “she muttered, turning pale, and her heart suddenly sank painfully.

He immediately stood up.

“I didn’t bow to you, I bowed to all human suffering,” he said somehow wildly and walked away to the window. “Listen,” he added, returning to her a minute later, “I just told one offender that he is not worth your little finger... and that I did my sister an honor today by sitting her next to you.”

Oh, that you told them that! And with her? - Sonya screamed in fright, - sit with me! Honor! Why, I’m... dishonest... I’m a great, great sinner! Oh, that you said that!

I did not say this about you because of dishonor and sin, but because of your great suffering. “And that you are a great sinner, that’s true,” he added almost enthusiastically, “and most of all, you are a sinner because you killed and betrayed yourself in vain. Why wouldn't it be terrible? It wouldn’t be terrible that you live in this filth, which you hate so much, and at the same time you know yourself (you just have to open your eyes) that you are not helping anyone and are not saving anyone from anything! “Tell me finally,” he said, almost in a frenzy, “how is such shame and such baseness combined in you next to other opposite and holy feelings? After all, it would be fairer, a thousand times fairer and more reasonable, to dive straight into the water and end it all at once!

What will happen to them? - Sonya asked weakly, looking at him painfully, but at the same time, as if not at all surprised by his proposal. Raskolnikov looked at her strangely.

He read everything in one look from her. Therefore, she really had already had this thought herself. “There are three ways for her,” he thought: “to throw herself into a ditch, end up in a madhouse, or... or, finally, to throw herself into debauchery, which stupefies the mind and petrifies the heart.”

So you really pray to God, Sonya? - he asked her.

Sonya was silent, he stood next to her and waited for an answer.

What would I be without God? - she whispered quickly, energetically, glancing up at him with suddenly sparkling eyes, and tightly squeezed his hand.

“Well, it is!” - he thought.

What is God doing to you for this? - he asked, inquiring further.

Sonya was silent for a long time, as if she could not answer. Her weak chest was swaying with excitement.

Keep quiet! Don't ask! You’re not standing!..” she suddenly cried out, looking at him sternly and angrily.

"That's right! That's true!" - he repeated persistently to himself.

Does everything! - she whispered quickly, looking down again.

"Here is the outcome! Here is the explanation of the outcome!" - he decided to himself, examining her with greedy curiosity.

With a new, strange, almost painful feeling, he peered into this pale, thin and irregular angular face, into these gentle 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 repeated to himself.

There was a book on the chest of drawers. Every time he walked back and forth, he noticed her; Now I took it and looked. It was the New Testament in Russian translation. The book was old, second-hand, bound in leather.

Where is this from? - he shouted to her from across the room. She stood still in the same place, three steps from the table.

They brought it to me,” she answered, as if reluctantly and without looking at him.

Who brought it?

Lizaveta brought it, I asked.

"Lizaveta! Strange!" - he thought. Everything about Sonya became somehow stranger and more wonderful for him with every minute. He carried the book to the candle and began to leaf through it.

Where is it about Lazarus? - he asked suddenly.

Sonya stubbornly looked at the ground and did not answer. She stood slightly sideways to the table.

Where about the resurrection of Lazarus? Find it for me, Sonya.

She glanced sideways at him.

Look in the wrong place... in the fourth gospel... - she whispered sternly, without moving towards him.

Find it and read it to me,” he said, sat down, leaned his elbows on the table, rested his head on his hand and gloomily stared to the side, preparing to listen.

Were you and Lizaveta friends?

Yes... She was fair... she came... rarely... it was impossible. She and I read and... talked. She will see God.

Why do you need? After all, you don’t believe?..” she whispered quietly and somehow out of breath.

Read! I want it so much! - he insisted, - Lizaveta was reading!

Sonya unfolded the book and found the place. Her hands were shaking, her voice was lacking. She started twice, but the first syllable was still not pronounced.

“There was a certain Lazarus from Bethany who was sick...” she finally said with effort, but suddenly, on the third word, her voice rang and broke, like an over-tight string. The spirit was crossed, and my chest felt tight.

"And many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary to console them in their sorrow for their brother. Martha, hearing that Jesus was coming, went to meet him; Mary was sitting at home. Then Martha said to Jesus: Lord, if you were here, you would not have died if only my brother. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.”

Here she stopped again, shyly sensing that her voice would tremble and break again...

“Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again on the resurrection, on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live. And everyone who lives and believes in I will never die. Do you believe this? She tells him.

(and as if taking a breath in pain, Sonya read separately and with force, as if she herself was confessing publicly):

Yes, Lord! I believe that you are the Christ, the son of God, coming into the world."

“Mary, coming to where Jesus was, and seeing him, fell at his feet, and said to him: Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. Jesus, when he saw her weeping and the Jews who came with her weeping , he was grieved in spirit and was indignant. And he said, “Where have you laid him?” “Lord, come and see.” Then the Jews said, “Look how he loved him.” eyes to the blind, make sure this one doesn’t die?”

Raskolnikov turned to her and looked at her with excitement: yes, it is! She was already shaking all over with a real, real fever. He expected this. She was approaching the word about the greatest and unheard of miracle, and a feeling of great triumph overwhelmed her. Her voice became ringing, like metal; triumph and joy sounded in him and strengthened him. The lines were jumbled in front of her because her eyes were getting dark, but she knew by heart what she was reading. At the last verse: “Could not this one, who opened the eyes of the blind...” - she, lowering her voice, passionately and passionately conveyed the doubt, reproach and blasphemy of the unbelievers, the blind Jews, who now, in a minute, as if struck by thunder, will fall, they will burst into tears and believe... “And he, he, too, blinded and unbelieving, he too will hear now, he will also believe, yes, yes! now, now,” she dreamed, and she trembled with joy expectations.

“Jesus, again grieving internally, goes to the tomb. It was a cave, and the stone lay on it. Jesus says: take away the stone. The sister of the deceased Martha says to him: Lord! he already stinks; for he has been in the tomb for four days.”

She struck the word vigorously: four.

“Jesus said to her: Didn’t I tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God? So they took away the stone from the cave where the dead man lay. Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and said: Father, I thank you that you heard me. I knew that you would always hear me, but I said this for the sake of the people standing here, so that they would believe that you sent me.

(she read loudly and enthusiastically, trembling and growing cold, as if she had seen it with her own eyes):

Wrapped hand and foot in burial shrouds; and his face was tied with a scarf. Jesus says to them: Loosen him; Let him go.

Then many of the Jews who came to Mary and saw what Jesus had done believed in him.”

“Everything about the resurrection of Lazarus,” she whispered abruptly and sternly and stood motionless, turning to the side, not daring and as if ashamed to raise her eyes to him. Her feverish trembling continued. The cinder had long gone out in the crooked candlestick, dimly illuminating in this beggarly room a murderer and a harlot, strangely gathered together to read an eternal book. Five minutes or more passed.

“I came to talk about business,” Raskolnikov suddenly said loudly and frowning, stood up and approached Sonya. She silently raised her eyes to him. His gaze was especially stern, and some kind of wild determination was expressed in it.

“Today I abandoned my family,” he said, “my mother and sister. I won't go to them now. I tore everything up there.

For what? - Sonya asked, stunned. The recent meeting with his mother and sister left an extraordinary impression on her, although it was unclear to her. She listened to the news of the breakup almost with horror.

Now I have only you,” he added. - Let's go together... I came to you. We are damned together, let's go together!

His eyes sparkled. "How crazy!" - Sonya thought in turn.

Where to go? - she asked in fear and involuntarily stepped back.

Why do I know? I only know that along one road, I probably know, and that’s all. One goal!

She looked at him and did not understand anything. She only understood that he was terribly, infinitely unhappy.

No one will understand anything from them if you tell them,” he continued, “but I understood.” I need you, that's why I came to you.

I don’t understand...” Sonya whispered.

Then you will understand. Didn't you do the same? You also stepped over... were able to step over. You committed suicide, you ruined your life... yours (it’s all the same!). You could live in spirit and mind, but you will end up on the Sennaya... But you cannot stand it, and if you are left alone, you will go crazy, like me. You’re already like crazy; Therefore, we must go together, along the same road! Let's go to!

For what? Why are you doing this! - said Sonya, strangely and rebelliously excited by his words.

For what? Because you can’t stay like this - that’s why! We must finally judge seriously and directly, and not childishly cry and shout that God will not allow it! Well, what will happen if they really take you to the hospital tomorrow? She is mentally ill and consumptive, she will die soon, and the children? Won't Polechka die? Have you really not seen children here, in the corners, whom their mothers send out to beg? I found out where these mothers lived and in what environment. Children cannot remain children there. There, the seven-year-old is depraved and a thief. But children are the image of Christ: “These is the kingdom of God.” He ordered them to be honored and loved, they are the future of humanity...

What, what should we do? - Sonya repeated, crying hysterically and wringing her hands.

What to do? Break what is needed once and for all, and that’s all: and take on the suffering! What? Do not understand? Afterwards you will understand... Freedom and power, and most importantly power! Over all the trembling creatures and over the entire anthill!.. That’s the goal! Remember this! This is my parting word for you! This may be the last time I talk to you. If I don’t come tomorrow, you’ll hear about everything yourself, and then remember these present words. And someday, later, years later, with life, maybe you will understand what they meant. If I come tomorrow, I’ll tell you who killed Lizaveta. Goodbye!

Sonya trembled all over with fright.

Do you know who killed? - she asked, freezing with horror and looking at him wildly.

I know and I’ll tell you... You, you alone! I chose you. I’m not coming to ask you for forgiveness, I’m just going to say it. I chose you a long time ago to tell you this, back when your father was talking about you and when Lizaveta was alive, I thought about it. Goodbye. Don't give me your hands. Tomorrow! He left.

It seems to me that Dostoevsky introduced the scene of reading the Gospel in order to show how moral Raskolnikov and Sonya are. The scene of reading the Gospel in the novel is psychologically the most intense and interesting. I read with interest and as the action progressed I thought whether Sonya would be able to convince

Raskolnikov is that it is impossible to live without God; can he guide him to faith by his example?

Raskolnikov was perplexed how in Sonya shame and baseness were combined with opposite and holy feelings. It’s just that Sonya is spiritually higher, stronger than Raskolnikov. Sonya believes with her heart in the existence of a higher divine meaning in life. Raskolnikov asked Sonya: “So you really pray to God, Sonya,” and Sonya, squeezing his hand, answered: “What would I be without God.”

“What is God doing to you for this,” Raskolnikov asked, “He’s doing everything!” - Sonya answered. Raskolnikov peered curiously at Sonya, how did this

A fragile and meek creature can thus, trembling with indignation and anger, be convinced of her faith.

Then he noticed a book on the chest of drawers - the Gospel. It seems to me that, unexpectedly for himself, he asked Sonya to read about the resurrection of Lazarus. Sonya hesitated, why would the unbelieving Raskolnikov need this? He insisted. I think Raskolnikov, in the depths of his soul, remembered the resurrection of Lazarus and hoped for a miracle of the resurrection of himself.

Sonya began to read timidly at first, suppressing spasms in her throat, but when she got to the resurrection, her voice grew stronger, rang like metal, she trembled all over in anticipation of the miracle of the resurrection and the miracle that Raskolnikov would hear and believe just as she believes. Raskolnikov listened and watched her with excitement. Sonya finished reading, closed the book and turned away. The silence lasted five minutes.

Suddenly Raskolnikov spoke with determination in his eyes: “Let's go together. I came to you. We are cursed together, we will go together!” So the miracle did happen, Raskolnikov realized in his soul that he couldn’t stay like this, he had to break what was needed, take the suffering upon himself. Sonya's example was very important for Raskolnikov; she strengthened him in his attitude to life and faith. Raskolnikov made a decision, and it was no longer the same Raskolnikov - rushing about, hesitating, but enlightened, knowing what to do.

I think that the resurrection of Lazarus is the resurrection of Raskolnikov. Throughout the novel, Rodion Raskolnikov dreams five times. He sees his first dream in his room after meeting a drunk girl on K-th Boulevard. This dream is one of those painful dreams. The action takes place in Raskolnikov's distant childhood. Life in his hometown is so ordinary and gray that “time is gray,” even on a holiday. And the whole dream was depicted by Dostoevsky in by no means joyful tones: “the forest turns black,” “the road is always dusty, and the dust on it is always so black.”

Only the green dome of the church contrasts with the dark, gray tone, and the only joyful spots are the red and blue shirts of drunken men. In the dream there are two opposite places: a tavern and a church in a cemetery. The tavern in the memory of Rodion Raskolnikov personifies drunkenness, evil, baseness and dirt of its inhabitants. The fun of drunken people does not inspire those around him, in particular little Rhoda, with anything but fear. A little further along the road there is a city cemetery, and on it there is a church. The coincidence of their location means that no matter who the person is, he will still begin his life in the church and end it there.

Raskolnikov’s kindest memories are connected precisely with the church and the cemetery, because “he loved this church and the ancient images in it, mostly without frames.” He even remembers the grave of his younger brother, whom Rodion had never seen, with tenderness; he likes to think about this church.

It’s not for nothing that the church is located three hundred steps from the tavern. This short distance shows that a person can stop his vulgar life at any moment and, turning to God, who will forgive everything, begin a new, righteous life. This dream is a very important part of the novel.

In it we see for the first time a murder, not only planned, but also carried out. And after sleep, the thought arises in Raskolnikov’s head: “Can it really be, can I really take an ax, start hitting her on the head, crushing her skull. I will slide in sticky warm blood, pick the lock, steal and tremble; hide, covered in blood. with an ax, Lord, will it really be difficult for Rodion to commit this murder, because his attitude to violence has changed little since childhood. It is not for nothing that the pronoun “he” is used simultaneously both for little Rhoda and for Raskolnikov the student: “HE wraps his arms around his father.

HE wants to catch his breath. HE woke up covered in sweat.” Despite the years that have passed, despite the planned murder, despite the fact that Raskolnikov is no longer as devout as in childhood, he still has an aversion to violence, especially murder. Also for the first time in this dream, the image of an ax appeared, which is one of the main images in the novel. The ax appears here as a murder weapon, reliable, but not entirely aesthetic, although there is nothing aesthetic about murder. The reader will encounter the image of a tortured little mare once again in the text; she will be Katerina Ivanovna Marmeladova: “They drove away the nag! I'm overworked!

“. She, like this Savraska, will be tortured by her drunkard husband, Semyon Zakharych Marmeladov. The role of this dream in the action of the novel is very great. If we consider the composition of the novel as a whole, then this dream is on display. It performs the functions of exposition: it introduces the reader to images that will later be encountered throughout the novel. This dream is the most vivid and memorable and carries the greatest semantic load in the entire work.

Another dream is a screaming dream, an ugly dream. It is filled not with bright, sharp, pleasant and joyful sounds, but with terrible, terrifying, creepy sounds: “she whined, squealed and wailed,” the voice of the beating man wheezed, “such unnatural sounds, such howling, screaming, grinding, tears, beatings and curses he had never heard or seen before.” Under the influence of these sounds, Rodion Raskolnikov began to have the first and still timid doubts in his theory. Nastasya described his condition to him this way: “It’s the blood in you that’s screaming. It’s when there’s no way out for her and she’s already starting to bake herself into liver, and that’s when she starts to imagine things.” But it is not his blood that screams in him, but the blood of the people he killed.

Raskolnikov’s entire being resisted the murder he committed; only his inflamed brain assures itself that the theory is correct and that for Rodion murder should be as common as the change of day and night. Yes, he killed, but when Ilya Petrovich beats the mistress, Raskolnikov’s head keeps asking questions: “But for what, for what? and how is this possible! “, “But, God, is all this possible!” Even after the murder of two sisters, Raskolnikov has an aversion to murder and violence in general. This dream showed the young Napoleon that he was the same genius as Ilya Petrovich, who beats the mistress for no particular reason, while Raskolnikov’s “hand did not rise to lock itself on the hook,” “fear, like ice, surrounded his soul , tortured him, numbed him.” In this dream, the scene of action is a staircase.

It symbolizes the struggle inside Raskolnikov, the struggle between good and evil, but in this case it is not clear where is good and where is evil. The ladder is an obstacle that the hero must go through in order to rise to the very top of human development, to replace God, who created this imperfect world, to be able to change people for their own well-being. If Raskolnikov passes this test, then he will be convinced of his theory and may do irreparable things, which is why providence did not allow this, and Rodion lay frozen with fear, like a trembling creature. Dostoevsky needed this dream to emphasize the negative aspects of Raskolnikov’s theory: its horror and inconsistency. For Rodion Raskolnikov, dreams were very important, they were his second life.

In one of his dreams, he repeats the murder of an old pawnbroker he has already committed. Compared to real life, the space has not changed, “everything here is the same: chairs, a mirror, a yellow sofa and framed pictures.” But significant changes have occurred over time. It was night. “The huge, round, copper-red moon looked straight into the windows,” “it’s because of the month that there is such silence.” The decor was reminiscent of the kingdom of the dead, and not an ordinary St. Petersburg house.

It was this detail that reminded me of the murder that had been committed. Leaving the old woman’s apartment, Raskolnikov left behind two corpses. And now he has returned to this kingdom of the dead.

Everything was dead, but only for Raskolnikov, everything died in his soul. Only for Rodion there is silence and not a soul around; for other people the world has not changed. People stood below, Raskolnikov was taller than all this crowd, all these trembling creatures. He is Napoleon, he is a genius, and geniuses cannot stand on the same level as the people. But people condemn Raskolnikov, laugh at his pathetic attempts to change the world through the murder of some old woman. And indeed, he did not change absolutely anything: the old woman is still alive and laughs at Rodion along with the crowd of people. The old woman laughs at him because, by killing her, Raskolnikov at the same time kills himself.

Dreams in Dostoevsky's novel play another important role: they show changes in Raskolnikov's theory. There are two dreams in the text that show the world according to the hero theory. In his first dream, Raskolnikov dreamed of the ideal world that would be created by him, the genius, Napoleon, the savior of mankind, God. Rodion dreamed of creating a New Jerusalem on earth, and the description of this world is very reminiscent of Eden. At first it will be a small oasis of happiness among the endless desert of grief, inequality and sadness. Everything will be wonderful in this world: “wonderful, wonderful blue water, cold, running over multi-colored stones and over such clean sand with golden sparkles, he still drinks water, straight from the stream, which right there, at his side, flows and gurgles "

It is not for nothing that the oasis is located in Egypt. The Egyptian campaign, as we know, was the beginning of Napoleon’s wonderful career, and Raskolnikov, as a man claiming to take the place of Bonaparte, must build his world starting with Egypt. But the second dream showed Rodion the fruits of his theory, which he could reap in the near future. The world has changed compared to the first dream: he was “condemned to be a victim of some terrible, unheard of and unprecedented pestilence.” Raskolnikov probably did not even suspect how terrible and how seductive his theory was. This dream is the exact opposite of the first dream. The first dream is filled with tender, beautiful epithets, and in the second dream the image of the world is created by the actions of the people inhabiting it: “suffered”, “beat his chest, cried and broke his hands”, “stabbed and cut”, “bited and ate each other” , “they began to blame each other, fought and cut again.”

This is the true picture of the future world. These two dreams show the difference between the world Raskolnikov conceived and the world that could actually appear. It was after this dream that Rodion Raskolnikov finally understood the essence of his theory and abandoned it.

Thus, dreams form a very important part of the novel Crime and Punishment. Without them, the image of Rodion Raskolnikov would be incomplete, because they show the hero’s emotional experiences. During sleep, the human soul is not protected by any artificial masks; it is open to anyone. Of course, there are a large number of different techniques to reveal the hero’s soul to the reader, but, in my opinion, a dream is not only the most interesting, but also the most accurate way.

The episode “Sonya reads the Gospel” is important both in understanding the main idea of ​​the work and in revealing the character of the literary hero. This fragment from Chapter IV of the 4th part of the novel “Crime and Punishment” opens the climax. Raskolnikov's mental torment at that time is so great that he has an urgent need to see Sonya - a person living with those thoughts and feelings that he himself does not have. Rodion reached the point of complete separation from the world, people, and God.

The internal struggle leaves an imprint on the character’s behavior: the meeting with Sonya begins with an almost open challenge. Thoughts about the girl’s mental illness force him to ask a rude, offensive question about what God gives her for her faith. Sonya screams frantically and with conviction: “What would I be without God?” The Almighty, in her words, “does everything” to her, although she herself does not demand anything from him.

Raskolnikov's gaze stops at Sonya's face, and he is struck by the expression of the usually “meek blue eyes,” which, it turns out, can “sparkle with such fire.” At this moment, the interlocutor seems to him like a holy fool. And Rodion himself experiences “an almost painful feeling.” As if against his will, his hand reaches out to Sonya’s handbook. This is the only noticeable thing in the girl's miserable room.

Some inner impulse forces Raskolnikov to open the Gospel, and his thoughts themselves turn to the parable of Lazarus. In fact, everything that happens cannot be called accidental. Exactly 4 days pass from the day the murder was committed, the crime becomes a slow and painful suicide, and then comes the moment of the spiritual death of the main character. Lazarus, who had been physically dead for 4 days (“four days like he was in the grave”), arose and was resurrected. Rodion needs a similar, only internal resurrection. But so far he does not have the main support for this - faith, which Sonya also understands. When he asks him to read the parable out loud, she objects: “You don’t believe, do you?” Raskolnikov answers rudely and imperiously: “That’s how I want it!” And the girl suddenly realizes: the word of the Almighty is necessary for a person, it can become saving for him. That is why she decides to entrust the sufferer with her “secret,” “all of hers,” as the author of the novel emphasizes.

A trembling voice and a “throat spasm” betray Sonino’s excitement, but the words of the eternal book give her strength. The phrases of the Gospel were “hers” for her, and Rodion felt it. She sincerely uttered the words with which she always unconditionally agreed: “he who believes in me, even if he dies, will live.”

Sonya is lower than Raskolnikov in intellectual development, but, undoubtedly, higher than him spiritually and morally. At this moment, she subconsciously understands what strong moral support the lines from the great book can provide for the unfortunate “blind man”. While reading, the girl “trembled with joyful anticipation,” and her excitement was transmitted to Raskolnikov.

In addition to this trepidation, Rodion feels gratitude. He understands that Sonya is ready to share his suffering, although she herself bears the terrible burden of sin and humiliation. This is how an invisible connecting thread arises between two suffering sinful creatures, and this closeness is emphasized in the novel by an almost symbolic scene of joint communion with the eternal book.

The struggle between light and darkness in the unhealthy mind of the protagonist here takes on a special meaning. From this moment the most important round of internal conflict begins. A man who abandoned his sister and mother, crossed out, severed all previous ties with society, seeks spiritual support in Sonya, and she shows him the only true, in her opinion, path to salvation. This is fully consistent with the religious and philosophical concept of Dostoevsky himself.

An ideologist of pochvennichestvo, a trend of progressive thought popular in Russia at that time, Dostoevsky believed that a sinner, a person who has violated the laws of God and society, cannot be remade and saved by prison, exile or general condemnation. He was convinced of the effectiveness of moral, internal improvement of the fallen. That’s why the author leads the hero through all the circles of hell, forcing him to again think through and feel the weakness of the inhumane theory of “blood according to conscience.” So, for example, the Gospel that Sonya reads belongs to Lizaveta. The innocent victim seems to be invisibly present at this scene. It turns out that Alena Ivanovna’s dumb sister is also participating in the rescue of Raskolnikov. “Victims crying out to the executioners” is another image that reminds the reader of the Bible. The writer thereby enhances the philosophical and psychological sound of the episode, showing the clash of two diverse ideologies - the eternal humane law of goodness and forgiveness, suffering and self-sacrifice with the individualistic theory of permissiveness.

A significant detail of the episode is the presence of Svidrigailov behind the thin partition of Sonya’s room. Another person, Raskolnikov’s double, hears both the conversation and the parable about Lazarus, but this disfigured soul of a sinner is not touched by the word of the great book. And if the reader hopes that the words “I believe!” Rodion will ever say, then he, like the author, doubts the possibility of Svidrigailov’s rebirth. That is why the storyline associated with the main character ends with an open ending, and Svidrigailov leaves the pages of the novel earlier. His suicide is another sin that cannot be forgiven by the Creator.

The arrangement of characters in this fragment of text motivates the plot action and compositional alignment of further chapters and episodes, focusing the main semantic lines of the novel. Consequently, the episode is important for understanding the conceptual ideas of “Crime and Punishment”; it helps to comprehend the principles of the writer’s Christian-humanistic worldview.

The episode “Sonya reads the Gospel” was analyzed by F. Korneychuk.