(377 words) On the pages of the novel by F. M. Dostoevsky “Crime and punishment, one can often find the image of children. This image is extremely important for the author. According to F.M.Dostoevsky, a child is the embodiment of all the purest on earth, the most sincere. In relation to children, the author "checks" his characters for humanity, for kindness and humanity. Also, the situation of the child can say a lot about the situation in society, aggravate social problems.
The author compares Lizaveta and Sonya Marmeladova with children, which speaks of their sensitive, vulnerable soul, compassionate and defenseless nature. Before swinging an ax, Raskolnikov saw a childish look on Lizaveta's face. Subsequently, "children's fear" Rodion Romanovich discerned on the face of Sonya Marmeladova. She seemed to him "almost a girl, much younger than her years, very almost a child." The spiritual purity of the heroine is manifested in her behavior. Despite the fact that Sonya Marmeladova stepped over moral laws, she retained faith in a person, the ability to compassion and mercy.
Attitude towards children reveals the main character on the other hand. It’s not the author of a tough theory that allows killing for the sake of a “high” goal, but a vulnerable, indifferent character who responds to help the disadvantaged. So, Raskolnikov saved the young girl from shame. On one of the dark streets of St. Petersburg, the hero saw that a complete man was “hunting” for a defenseless child. He did not pass by, but called a policeman and sent her along with him. Raskolnikov worries about the fate of other people's children. After the death of Marmeladov, he first of all worries about the future of Polechka, Kolenka and Lidochka. Raskolnikov saw in what impoverished environment they survived. Pity for children, attempts to help them characterize the main character as a person with a good heart, with noble impulses of the soul.
Describing the plight of children, Dostoevsky addresses the topic of injustice, reveals the problem of "humiliated and offended." Peter at that time was an unsuitable habitat for the younger generation. Children are forced to endure humiliation, to beg, to survive in terrible conditions, instead of enjoying the carefree period of their lives. Dostoevsky Petersburg - it's drinking on every corner, constant robberies, dark and terrible nooks and crannies. A baby soul dies in such a place.
So, the image of a child is extremely important in Dostoevsky’s novel Crime and Punishment. Children in the work open their eyes to acute social problems, make you think about the social structure. Also, in relation to the characters of the novel to the child, one can see their important spiritual qualities. Such as kindness, mercy, compassion, indifference to the fate of other people, willingness to help at a difficult moment, sacrificing oneself (Sonya was forced to go “on a yellow ticket” for the sake of other children).
