The Image of the Russian People in F. M. Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment

Yan Jinghong ORCID: 0009-0000-7340-7184 PhD in Philology Postgraduate student; Department of the History of Russian Literature; Lomonosov Moscow State University Lebedeva str., Leninskie Gory, 1, Moscow State University Main Building, buildings E, 119991, Russia yangj@my.msu.ru Other publications by this author

In the 1860s, Dostoevsky's attitude towards the people and people's life underwent a decisive turn. Having seen the depth of the spiritual soil in the people, their independent culture and the power of faith, Dostoevsky was inspired by the ideas of "national Orthodoxy" and put them at the center of his ideology. Naturally, Crime and Punishment, as one of the most important works of Dostoevsky of this period, could not but reflect the specifics of the worldview and self-awareness of the Russian people. The folk images in the novel have not only an individual meaning, but also a symbolic and religious-metaphorical meaning, closely related to the theme of the schism and the myth of the earth.

As A. B. Krinitsyn shows, "the endless and often illogical variability of the characters of most of the characters and the intertwining of many plot motifs, ambiguous to the point of uncertainty," constitute the main features of Dostoevsky's poetics ^{[7, p. 139]}. Indeed, the characters in Dostoevsky's works often cannot be understood simply as specific individuals in a real society, but rather as bearers of certain philosophical doctrines, religious beliefs or moral ideas. The fate of the heroes represents the final way out of the situation of collision and intersection of many theories. When the inner world of the heroes is realized as a battlefield, the struggle between good and evil, faith and unbelief, Christian humanism and individualistic self-will, Christian moral concepts and utilitarianism begins. Folk characters often appear in supposedly insignificant events that are intertwined with the main plot of the novel, and they awaken hidden psycho-emotional forces in Raskolnikov's personality, forcing him to resist ideas coming from the logic of cold reason.

Although the description of the people in the novel occupies only a small space, the social problems and moral and psychological states presented by them not only demonstrate the diversity and complexity of the characters of Dostoevsky's characters, but also deepen the understanding of the main problems of the novel. As G. A. Meyer suggests, in Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment" there are "no secondary characters, everything is significant there, everything is connected to each other from the inside, and not at all by chance" ^{[8, p. 396]}. Russian Russian culture A holistic understanding of folk issues involves the study of the work in several directions: firstly, the identification of associative connections of folk images and the main storylines and their interpretation; secondly, the analysis of images from the Russian people from an ideological and mythological point of view; thirdly, the study of the embodiment of the ideas of Dostoevsky's pochvennichestvo in the images of the Russian people.

As follows from the semantics of the name itself, Raskolnikov is "split" and "self-willed" in his thinking. He lives spiritually in two worlds: in the world of educated classes (professing positivism and rationalism) and the world of the mythological consciousness of the Russian people (folk Christianity, approaching the ancient pagan beliefs of Russia). If you ignore the inner monologue of the main character, which dominates the development of the plot, it is not difficult to detect the voice of the Russian people hidden between the lines. For example, Raskolnikov encounters a drunken peasant; he passes by beggars, street musicians and small merchants. He witnesses an attempt by a simple woman to commit suicide. He gives money to a young prostitute and receives alms from the merchant's wife. When he finally decides to turn himself in, he has to go through a group of peasants to get to the site. Nastasia's maid appears during his illness and heavy delusional sleep the night after the murder, as well as during visits from his mother, sister and Sonya. The barely audible "people's voice" performs a special function in the genre structure of the novel, which is genetically related to the chorus of ancient Greek tragedy. The popular worldview actively intervenes in the development of the novel's plot, as dozens of insignificant characters evaluate the actions of the hero, intuitively condemning his actions. According to R. G. Nazirov's observation, "throughout the action Raskolnikov is surrounded by an ocean of national moral consciousness. Not only Sonya, but also a lot of random voices from the street crowd refute his “idea" and powerfully influence his fate. The street crowd plays an exceptional role: it is given in action, participates in the development of the plot, sometimes resembling the chorus of an ancient tragedy" ^{[10, p. 104]}.

The most symbolic folk types in "Crime and Punishment" are two Mikolkas – Mikolka from Raskolnikov's first dream and Mikolka the dyer (Nikolai Dementiev). They represent antipodean doppelgangers, who are considered as a projection of the duality of consciousness of the main character of the novel. As B.N. Tikhomirov emphasizes, "only a look at the two Mikolkas as polar manifestations of the national spirit gives the key to interpreting the artistic function of this name in the novel. <..The dual, twofold, twofold image of Mikolka in "Crime and Punishment" is the key to understanding the "unfinished and unresolved" (Bakhtin) soul of Russia" ^{[13, p. 111]}. Indeed, the polar expressions of national character in the images of the two Mikolkas are to a certain extent necessary for understanding the general spiritual picture of the Russian people.

In Raskolnikov's dream about a horse, Mikolka, a drunken peasant, beats an old "unnecessary" horse to death with sadistic cruelty. Gross cruelty and simple, unobtrusive faith divide the dream into two parts. On the one hand, Mikolka and the drunken men supporting him, and the tavern is a symbol of an unbelieving, sinful and depraved world, on the other - the church, an old man who tries to reproach Mikolka, an innocent and dying horse and a boy crying because he witnessed atrocities. Mikolka's behavior is a psychological projection of Raskolnikov's inner faith in superhuman philosophy, they believe in their superiority over other beings and they are united by the same unbelief (without the cross). It is no coincidence that Mikolka was accused twice by the people's crowd: "You don't have a cross on you." Behind the words "Don't touch! My stuff! What I want, I do" is a mirror image of Raskolnikov's theory of "trembling creatures" and "having the right" ^{[4, vol. 6, p. 48]}. This symbolizes Raskolnikov's conscious rejection of the cross, and also implies that Raskolnikov would later just as cruelly stab an old interest-bearing woman and his sister, whom he considered useless to society. Little Rodion in a dream implies that Raskolnikov still has kindness in his human nature. And the idea of a "superman" and a cruel social environment caused alienation of humanity – someone became a damn cold Mikolka, and someone became unsympathetic viewers who laughed loudly and joined in the fun.

According to T. A. Kasatkina, Raskolnikov "is both a "little horse" and a murderer-Mikolka, who demands that the horse harnessed to the cart, which is too much for her, "gallop". It is his spirit, self-willed and audacious, trying to force his nature, his flesh to do what it cannot, what it abhors, what it rebels against" ^{[6, p. 193]}. It is impossible to disagree with her, it was the dream about the horse that made Raskolnikov realize that he would kill like Mikolka, but not in a drunken rage, but on the basis of a carefully invented "rational" theory. It can be said that Mikolka enlightens Raskolnikov's consciousness. Raskolnikov's sophistry, full of utilitarian logic, could no longer overcome his inner moral consciousness, so he (temporarily) abandoned his plan.

And the author presents Mikolka the dyer as a sectarian schismatic who wants to take the blame for murder and robbery in order to save a "nihilist" named Raskolnikov. According to G. A. Meyer, "If Sonya Marmeladova is the cross sister of the villainously murdered Lizaveta, then Mikolka is the named brother of the martyred righteous woman who saw God. <...> Mikolka, like Sonya, is a conductor of saving radiations directed to Raskolnikov from the martyred Lizaveta" ^{[8, p. 81]}. It is no coincidence that Mikolka picks up a fallen box with earrings and protects the main character with his unexpected confession from self-exposure in front of Porfiry Petrovich. Dostoevsky used such a symbolic coincidence to show the common fate of the heroes who shared responsibility for the crime. In the decision of the schismatic Mikolka to "suffer", Porfiry Petrovich sees the further path of repentance and salvation of Raskolnikov: "I respect you for one of those who even cut out their guts, but he will stand and look at the tormentors with a smile - if only he finds faith or God" ^{[4, vol. 6, p. 351]}. As Andrzej de Lazari shows, "Rodion is not a schismatic in the literal sense of the word, but his rebellion against prevailing social norms and, as a result, "acceptance of suffering", make him a kind of symbolic Old Believer" ^{[2, p. 120]}. An innocent person atones for the sins of others and suffers voluntarily, which is an analogue of the behavior and spirit of the saints in Russian Christian culture, and this is the only way for believers to follow Christ and save themselves. This concept is essentially the embodiment of the Christian doctrine of original sin and fallen human nature. Mikolka will have to bear responsibility not only for Raskolnikov alone, but also to atone for the common sins of all mankind. The world is an indivisible whole, everyone is responsible for the evil in the world, and everyone can potentially be saved and experience spiritual rebirth.

As you know, Dostoevsky's character's first and last name often serve as a significant addition to his portrait and are always full of the deepest meaning. "The semantic halo of a name can become part of a portrait of Dostoevsky's heroes", built "on a combination of realistic expression and encrypted symbolism" ^{[11, p. 149]}. The name Mikolka is a popular pronunciation of the name Nikolai, the meaning of which can be interpreted as "the winner of the people" or "people's victory". In the Russian religious consciousness, it is associated with the image of Nicholas the Wonderworker, who is often called the "horse saint" by the people and is considered the patron saint of crops, agriculture, defender and helper of peasants.

According to A.P. Vlaskin, "the image of the painter Mikolka is discouragingly "balanced" by another folk image. <...> This is a different face of the same people, violent and sinful, who have forgotten God and are losing their human form" ^{[3, p. 81]}. Indeed, the eponymous nature of the two Mikolkas is not accidental, they embody two "faces" of the Russian people, the national soul and represent opposite poles in the national character. On the one hand, they are a pious, repentant, sacrificial people, on the other hand, cruel, sinful, and forgetful of God. As G. G. Amelin shows, "the eponymous character here reflects consubstantiality, implements the same antinomianism of the "Russian idea", two opposite moments – the "denial" and the "restoration" of the image of Christ" ^{[1, p. 301]}. Mikolka from the dream is the personification of evil, senseless cruelty, savagery and rage, and the painter Mikolka is kind, harmless, he is naive and simple-hearted. The two Mikolkas have a tangible affinity with the two Vlas, the "victim" and the "tormentor" from the "Writer's Diary". The genesis of the image of the painter Mikolka goes back to the Bible-reading prisoner from "Notes from the Dead House", who rushed with a brick at the boss not to cause him any harm, but simply to "suffer". And in the monster Mikolka, the cruelty and brutality of Gazin from "Notes from the Dead House" are noticed.

As G. A. Meyer shows, "Raskolnikov is spiritually connected with Mikolka the dyer and spiritually with another Mikolka beating a horse to death" ^{[8, p. 339]}. He hesitates and chooses between two Mikolkas, that is, between faith and hope for redemption for one and the abyss of debauchery and sin for the other. From Mikolka the monster to Mikolka the dyer, Raskolnikov's path symbolically runs from murder to suffering and self-sacrifice. And this choice is also between Sonya and Svidrigailov. It is no coincidence that the writer places Svidrigailov and Sonya's rooms next to each other in the same house. Raskolnikov himself admitted that he had to choose "either her path or his path."

Sonya is the path to the revival of the main character, and this path is realized through the connection of the Russian intelligentsia that broke away from the soil with the popular principle. The image of the people associated with her image is the fool Lizaveta. As the cross sister of the innocent martyr Lizaveta, she is the living embodiment of Lizaveta's suffering soul and the bearer of peasant truth. Upon learning that Raskolnikov killed the interest-bearing woman and Lizaveta, she suddenly asks him, "do you have a cross on you," echoing the reproach of the people's crowd against Mikolka in Raskolnikov's dream. She handed Raskolnikov the cross inherited from Lizaveta, which played an important role in the fact that Raskolnikov subsequently realized his sins and repented, moving towards self-purification and spiritual rebirth. Sonya cannot understand Raskolnikov's theory about the existence of "higher people" who have the right to violate moral laws, and evaluates Raskolnikov's crimes from the point of view of the people: "You have departed from God, and God has struck you, betrayed you to the devil!.." ^{[4, vol. 6, p. 321]}. The image of Sonya is also associated with the cult of Mother Earth, which is part of the Russian national identity and includes folk beliefs about the power of the Earth to accept repentance and heal. Sonya believes that in order to truly be reborn, Raskolnikov must repent to Mother Earth and the people: "Go now, this very minute, stand at the intersection, bow down, first kiss the earth that you have desecrated, and then bow to the whole world, on all four sides, and tell everyone out loud: “I killed!” Then God will send you life again" ^{[4, vol. 6, p. 322]}. As N.M. Chirkov shows, "Raskolnikov's revival is carried out not only through repentance to the earth, but also through the restoration of an organic connection with the people, as a result of familiarization with the "truth" Sony" ^{[14, p. 108]}. However, the ridicule of the people's crowd meant that Raskolnikov had not yet been resurrected at that time.

It can be said that Sonya's path is, in essence, Lizaveta's path. She was a clumsy, timid, humble and foolish girl, and even almost an idiot. In the scene of the murder of the old woman, the interest-bearing woman, the axe is pointed with the blade at Raskolnikov himself. And in the scene of Lizaveta's murder, Raskolnikov will hit her with a blade. Lizaveta's "outstretched hand" means that she forgives him the sin against her. Therefore, subsequently, he hardly thinks about Lizaveta, "he certainly did not kill" ^{[4, vol. 6, p. 212]}. It can be said that the unexpected murder of the meek Lizaveta played a big role in Raskolnikov's decision to voluntarily accept punishment for his crimes. It is no coincidence that Sonya is convinced that Lizaveta will "see God." God sowed the seeds of repentance in the murderer through the murdered Lizaveta, the meekest, like an innocently slaughtered horse. Lizaveta existed in order to dedicate everything to everyone, including her body and even her life. According to T. A. Kasatkina, Lizaveta is an "unformed" personality, "her entire description consists of strange, incongruous, unfinished or "broken" features" ^{[5, p. 188]}. The female characters of Dostoevsky closest to Lizaveta in terms of holiness and impersonality are Lisa in "Notes from the Underground" and Akulka in "Notes from the Dead House".

And Svidrigailov's path leads to despair and suicide. By fate, he is a Raskolnikov who did not want to repent and accept the truth of his people, and his determination to commit suicide means his hostility to Mother Earth. In addition to his own, Svidrigailov caused at least two suicides: a fourteen-year-old deaf-mute girl and Philip's servant, whose faith Svidrigailov mocked. The people believed that Mother Earth did not accept the corpses of suicides who tended to leave the graves and harm the living. Svidrigailov notes that the ghosts of his wife Marfa Petrovna and his servant Philip visited him. He tells how Philip's ghost appeared to him shortly after his death, perhaps to take revenge on him, but he calmly told him to leave, asking how he dared to appear before him with a torn elbow. And according to Dunya, Philip was a hypochondriac, a domestic philosopher who, as they said, "read too much", and suggests that he committed suicide more as a result of ridicule than the beating of Svidrigailov.

The name Philip also has a deep meaning, which can literally be translated from Greek as "loving horses". In the Orthodox context, Philip was one of the apostles of Jesus Christ, known for his deep faith and devotion to God's will. Svidrigailov's rancor and ridicule of Philip portend that for such a cynic the path to the people's truth and to healing by faith is closed. And Philip's suicide also foreshadows Svidrigailov's suicide.

Nastasia the maid is also one of the most important folk images and symbols of the Mother of the Raw Earth in Crime and Punishment. She is a simple, compassionate village woman, innocently and selflessly caring for Raskolnikov. Before the crime, Nastasia's presence in the kitchen does not allow Raskolnikov to immediately get an axe, which he counted on as a murder weapon, almost forcing him to abandon his plan. And after committing the crime, Raskolnikov, as if possessed by evil spirits, sees a dream about the quarterly Ilya Petrovich, who beats the hostess. Raskolnikov's fear of being exposed and arrested is expressed in the dream. "... Fear, like ice, covered his soul, tortured him, stiffened him..." ^{[4, vol. 6, p. 91]}. While Raskolnikov was in such unbearable, boundless despair and horror, Nastasia appeared with a candle, and a bright light illuminated his room. She stares at the frightened Raskolnikov and answers his question: "Who beat the hostess?" that "it's the blood screaming in you." Her words about the "cry of blood", according to B. N. Tikhomirov, "quite definitely correlate with the biblical words of God addressed to Cain: "...the voice of your brother's blood cries out to Me from the earth," as if it were their vernacular analogue" ^{[13, p. 157]}. This is also close to Sonya's direct statement: "You have departed from God, and God has struck you, betrayed you to the devil!.." ^{[4, vol. 6, p. 321]}. The words of Nastasia, the heroine of the people, are a replica of the "folk choir" in the novel, which receive a hidden symbolic meaning. Nastasia unconsciously exposes the murderer, and her words make a startling impression on the murderer, like a sudden accusation. At the same time, she takes care of Raskolnikov, who is trying to cut off all contact with the outside world, showing him the possibility of rebirth, forgiveness and resurrection.

It is worth noting another episodic, but symbolically very important character from the people – a philistine from the house of an old woman, a percentage-taker, who felt from Raskolnikov's behavior during his arrival at the old woman's apartment after the crime that this was a murderer. Soon the philistine comes to his apartment and says to Rodion, who did not recognize him, after a long silence: "The murderer!", which strikes the hero with mute horror to the very heart. Raskolnikov cannot understand for a long time where this unexpected witness "came from under the ground". The popular pronouncement ("murderer", not "murderer") gives the accusation a special psychological effect, because it, with a perceptible intuitively sharp negative connotation, sounds uncompromising condemnation as the voice of the entire "Christian world", leaving no room for self-justification to the "educated" criminal with his "original" head theory. No less important is the second appearance of the philistine in front of the hero: having denounced Porfiry, the philistine sits with him "in secret" during the psychological "duel" of the investigator with Raskolnikov, for the sake of the last, decisive "blow" of exposure. Then, when the theatrical effect conceived by the investigator is disrupted by the arrival of Mikolka, Raskolnikov goes home undiscovered, and then the philistine comes to him again, this time with repentance of evil intent and bows low to the ground. At first glance, this is very strange: after all, the philistine disliked Raskolnikov, and after what he heard from Porfiry, he had to be finally convinced of the correctness of his suspicions. However, the philistine pitied the murderer, realizing the extent of the suffering and torment of conscience he was already experiencing, which brought him closer to atonement. It is no coincidence that convicts, according to Dostoevsky's memoirs, were called "unhappy" by the people. The evolution of the philistine's attitude towards Raskolnikov marks an open road to salvation for him. The attitude of the convicts in the prison will change similarly when they feel his remorse.

The analysis of folk images in Crime and Punishment makes it possible to understand the ideas of Dostoevsky's soil science of the 1860s. Returning, according to Merezhkovsky, "from the universal Christ to the national Messiah" ^[9], Dostoevsky is convinced that such types from the people as Nekrasovsky Vlas, who are engaged in the "work of God", play a huge role. The writer advocated treating the virtues (mercy, sacrifice and the power of repentance) and the shortcomings (violence, cruelty and alcoholism) of the people differently. In his opinion, defects and rotting of a part of the soil do not mean damage to it as a whole, since the whole soil has never been touched and the people have preserved the spiritual basis of Orthodox culture intact. The writer believes that "after all, they will say the last word, these very different "Vlas", penitents and non-penitents; they will tell and show us a new path and a new outcome from all our seemingly hopeless difficulties. It is not Petersburg that will finally resolve the fate of the Russian" ^{[4, vol. 21, p. 34]}.

Dostoevsky considered the Russian people to be the only "God-bearing people." Russian Russian Orthodoxy is the foundation of faith and a symbol of the traditional cultural spirit of the Russian people, has a decisive influence on the formation of the cultural character and moral personality of the Russian people. Russian Orthodoxy was not affected by the Renaissance, the Industrial Revolution and the Enlightenment movement, on the contrary, it was integrated with communal collectivism and polytheistic ideas, preserving much of the authenticity and purity of Christianity. In the context of the strengthening of the concept of utilitarianism and the general decline of Christianity, Dostoevsky firmly believed that Orthodoxy was the "panacea" that could save Russia, Europe and even the whole of humanity from all troubles and catastrophes. This was the historical mission of the Russian people. As N. I. Prutskov shows, "all these are different types, but they express the single great moral force of the Russian people, are the "emblem" of the whole people's Russia, the guardians of the beauty of the face of Christ, and therefore they are the example of their selfless life filled with active love, compassion and self-sacrifice, and can point the way to the future" ^{[12, p. 68]}. To save their souls and find rebirth, Russian misguided intellectuals such as Raskolnikov must choose the path of the people, accept suffering and regain their lost faith.

So, in Crime and Punishment, the question of the contradictory and dualistic nature of the Russian soul is revealed through the dichotomy of two Mikolokas. Both the dyer Mikolka and such folk heroes as Lizaveta, Nastasia and Philip embody the highest criteria of the ideal of social and moral truth. And Mikolka, the izvochik from Raskolnikov's dream, embodies the negative side of the Russian soul – cruelty, violence and the audacity of "stepping over" the "last line" of God's laws. The replicas of the "people's voice" play an important role in the development of the novel's plot. The writer reveals the existence of God through the revival of faith, conversion to Orthodoxy and a return to Raskolnikov's folk truth at the end of the novel. God is hidden deep in human nature and is manifested through the baptism of suffering and tragedy. And the Russian people are God—bearing people. Dostoevsky believes that the Russian people are destined to serve the cause of the moral salvation of humanity with a broad mind, sincerity and humility. The piety and humility of the Russian people as a God-chosen people are a fundamental guarantee that they will fulfill their sacred historical mission of bringing about a harmonious union of East and West. The Russian lost intelligentsia must return to the soil of the people and unite with the people in order to achieve spiritual rebirth.