Rodion Raskolnikov [ 🪓]

Pulcheria Alexandrovna is his mother. A kind, loving, but poor noblewoman. She adores her son and is willing to do anything for him. She dies of grief after his arrest.
Avdotya Romanovna (Dunya) is his sister. A proud, beautiful, and determined girl. She is ready to marry Luzhin for her brother's sake, but breaks off the engagement. In the end, she marries Razumikhin.
Semyon Zakharovich Marmeladov – a titular councilor, an alcoholic. A drunken official who lost his job and drank it all away. A compassionate but weak man. He was hit by a carriage and died.
Sofia Semyonovna (Sonya) Marmeladova – his daughter, 18 years old. A meek, quiet, and deeply religious girl. She is forced to take a "yellow ticket" (become a prostitute) to save her family from starvation. She becomes Raskolnikov's spiritual support. She leaves with him for hard labor.
Katerina Ivanovna – Marmeladov's wife, Sonya's stepmother. A noble, but hysterical and sick woman (consumption). Obsessed with her "noble" pedigree. She goes mad and dies of consumption.
Arkady Ivanovich Svidrigailov – a former landowner, a shady character. An amoral cynic, he persecutes Dunya but ultimately lets her go. He commits numerous vile acts, but helps Sonya and Katerina Ivanovna's children. He commits suicide.
Dmitry Prokofievich Razumikhin is Raskolnikov's former classmate and his only friend. He is kind, cheerful, energetic, and a healthy man. He cares for Raskolnikov and his family. He eventually marries Dunya.
· Andrei Semenovich Lebezyatnikov is a young official, Luzhin’s neighbor.
Pyotr Petrovich Luzhin – a court councilor and Dunya's fiancé. A calculating, vile, and narcissistic businessman.
Alyona Ivanovna – an old woman who works as a pawnbroker. Evil, greedy, and petty. Killed by Raskolnikov.
Lizaveta Ivanovna is her younger sister. Kind, gentle, simple-minded, and "perpetually pregnant." A witness to the murder, whom Raskolnikov kills in a fit of panic.
Zosimov is a doctor who treats Raskolnikov during his illness. He is an acquaintance of Razumikhin.
Nastasya is a cook and servant in Raskolnikov's house. Kind, simple, and pities him.

Raskolnikov's backstory is the story of his fall from proud student to impoverished outcast, which led him to murder. Here are the key facts:

Before the events of the novel:

From the Provinces to the Capital. Rodion is the son of a poor provincial landowner. His father is dead, and his mother, Pulcheria Alexandrovna, receives a meager pension. He is the eldest son; his younger sister, Dunya, is a proud and beautiful woman.
· Studying in St. Petersburg. Raskolnikov enrolled in the law department of St. Petersburg University. He was a capable and talented student, but even then he kept to himself and didn't form close friendships. He had almost no friends—only Razumikhin, who respected him and considered him a genius.
Poverty and illness. He lived in a tiny room under the roof, renting a corner for pennies. Due to lack of money, he dropped out of university in his third year, without graduating. He ate barely enough, took odd lessons, and, out of pride, refused his mother's help.
A break with the world. He stopped attending classes, withdrew into himself, and didn't leave his room for months. He began to suspect everyone of betrayal and hated people for their pettiness and vulgarity.

The immediate impetus (what he himself says after his arrest):

A note from home. His mother writes that Dunya is forced to marry Luzhin, a shrewd businessman, only to save the family from poverty and help her brother finish his education. This humiliates and infuriates him. He doesn't want his sister to sacrifice herself for him.
· Meeting Marmeladov. In a tavern, he overhears a drunkard confessing how his daughter Sonya turned to prostitution for the sake of her family. This reinforces his belief that the world is unfair and the "old woman pawnbroker" is merely a symbol of this parasitic system.
· The theory of the superman. During his months of seclusion, he conceives the idea that there are people "with rights" who, for the sake of a greater goal, are willing to step over blood. He decides to test: "Am I a trembling creature, or do I have rights?"

His state the day before: It is a mixture of pride, despair, hunger and manic obsession with an idea.

Key qualities:
Proud and withdrawn. He's painfully self-centered, avoids people, and even runs away from his family. He finds it easier to endure hunger than to ask for help from friends.
· Intelligent and insightful. The idea of ​​"the right to bloodshed for conscience' sake" was born of his keen analytical mind. He sees the hypocrisy of the world and despises human vulgarity.
Contradictory and divided. This is his main trait. Two people struggle within him: one is a cold theorist, capable of murder, the other is sensitive and compassionate (he gives his last money to Marmeladov's family and protects the girl on the boulevard).

Dark Side:
Indifference to his own life. He challenges the world without considering the consequences for himself. He lives in poverty and refuses to take the "normal" route.
· The tyranny of ideas. His theory of "trembling creatures" and "those who have rights" is a mania for which he is willing to transgress human nature.

Bright side:
A deep conscience. This is what torments him after the murder. He doesn't repent in theory, but he can't bear his own "inadequacy" for Napoleon's status—he's tormented by weakness and pity.
· The capacity for love and compassion. He goes to hard labor not out of remorse, but thanks to Sonya, who opened the way for him to lively feelings, not cold logic.

Raskolnikov's greatest tragedy was that he proved too human to be superhuman. He wanted to see if he was a louse, but ultimately realized that even the right to kill hadn't brought him freedom—it had brought him only melancholy and alienation.

· Age: 23 years.
· Height: above average.
· Body type: slim and slender.
· Hair: dark blond, thick.
· Eyes: dark, beautiful dark grey shade.
· Facial features: the face is thin, with regular but sharp features, with a sickly tint - pale, sallow, haggard.
· Clothing: He wore a miserable, tattered student's frock coat, all in patches, which was small and tight for him, and an old hat with warped brim.

A key detail: Raskolnikov was remarkably handsome—with delicate features and beautiful dark eyes—but his appearance was constantly tinged with a sickly pallor, sullenness, and nervous concentration. Poverty and illness made him look older than his years and he wore shabby, almost beggarly clothes, which contrasted sharply with his aristocratic appearance.