The Gospel in 'Crime and Punishment'

In Dostoevsky's 'Crime and Punishment,' the protagonist, Rodion Raskolnikov, believes he is special and can, quite literally, get away with murder. He brutally murders two women with an axe, just to prove his point. But soon, he is torn apart by the constant battle between his conscience and rationale. This causes him great physical and mental anguish. He howls and rages in agony. He is endlessly tormented, and, as a result, lashes out against those who try to help him. One day, he meets a woman by the name of Sonya. Rodion falls in love with this overwhelmingly humble and shunned lady. He is strangely attracted to Sonya and even confesses his sins to her, albeit in pride. Sonya, upon hearing Rodion's confession, urges him to turn himself over to the authorities. But, she also says that she will follow Rodion into captivity, promising to never leave him.

Dostoevsky presents to us how mere mortals must imitate Christ in this fallen world. Rodion is the person we are before and in the state of conversion. After all, his name literally means 'schism.' Sonya, on the other hand, is how a Christ-follower is supposed to act. Astonishingly, Dostoevsky portrays the only Christian in his novel as a harlot. How ironic! Aren't we all harlots in our own unique ways? Sonya is basically us, broken and ashamed, but always striving like a child to be like Christ. When Sonya hears Raskolnikov's confession, she does not cast judgement upon him, despite the fact that one of Raskolnikov's victims was her friend. Sonya instead weeps and embraces Raskolnikov, choosing to speak to the murderer's suffering soul. She could have quite easily exposed Raskolnikov to society and thus exacted 'justice.' But she refuses to do this. Why? There is no why! It's because she truly loves Raskolnikov. She urges Raskolnikov to turn himself in so that his conversion might be complete.

When Raskolnikov is in prison, Sonya, true to her promise, keeps visiting him. However, Raskolnikov is still proud and unrepentant. He tries to justify his crime, stating that he killed only worthless human beings. But nevertheless, Sonya continues to offer compassion. One day, she falls sick and is unable to visit, and Raskolnikov becomes restless because of her absence. When Sonya resumes her visit, Raskolnikov cannot control himself. He falls to her feet in repentance. They embrace each other through tears and recognize that many years of suffering still lie ahead, but they have each other.

True repentance and reconciliation can never occur unless we are ready to travel to the deepest depths of hell with the tormented. In order to do that, we must forego all ideas of retributive justice. It isn't easy; no one said it was.