Pulcheria Alexandrovna's Letter To Raskolnikov

In Crime and Punishment, imagery and deliberate usage of words engulfs the reader in an atmosphere where many characters experience suffering to the point of evoking pity from the reader’s sympathetic attitude or sense of superiority. Through both direct and indirect characterization, Dostoevsky intimately acquaints the reader with diverse characters who are likely very different from themselves. Nonetheless, not all characters are shown pity equally, as illustrated through the examples of Svidrigailov and Luzhin. Luzhin, through both indirect and direct means, is made out to be a selfish and arrogant man who cares more for his desires than for the characters that the reader more easily empathizes for, like Dounia. He is introduced first through Pulcheria Alexandrovna’s letter to Raskolnikov as a man courting Dounia, a girl described with the “heart of an angel,” because he wanted to have “a wife [who would] look upon her husband as her …show more content…
Initially, the reader first learns about him indirectly through the same letter, when Pulcheria Alexandrovna writes, “Would you believe that crazy fellow had conceived a passion for Dounia from the beginning?” (32) in reference to Svidrigailov. The rhetorical question and word choice like “crazy” immediately makes Svidrigailov initially seem antagonistic, especially towards the more pure girl Dounia. However, later in the book, Svidrigailov is directly characterized through his own point of view. He once dreams of a young “child” who under his influence becomes a depraved “harlot”, till the point “Svidrigailov cried” (504). Svidrigailov is shown to suffer by crying and being haunted by dreams of the consequences of his sins of desire. In turn, this evokes pity from a reader’s sense of superior