Sonya's Role

Luzhin is at it again in part five when he decides to set Sonya up by planting a 100 ruble note on her and confronting her with it in public during the memorial dinner, all in order to get Dunya back. He turns up at the dinner and accuses Sonya, which sends Katerina Ivanovna into a frenzy and she immediately insists on proving Sonya's innocence by turning out her pockets and the note falls out. Luzhin "generously" agrees not to press charges but to his horror, his plans start to unravel when Lebezyatnikov, whom Luzhin used as a witness, comes forward and says that he saw Luzhin put the note in Sonya's pocket. Raskolnikov then comes forward and further exposes him by saying that he wanted to sully his relations with his mother and sister by embarassing him with his associations with Sonya. He tries to maintain his innocence but soon sees that the cause is lost and leaves. This event takes away any doubt the reader may have about Luzhin's character and solidifies him as one of the novel's villians, albeit a clumsy one.
In part five we also see Raskolnikov's inner discovery as too why he murdered the pawnbroker during his confession to Sonya, the only person throughout the novel with whom he has the most intimate relationship with. His motives are bit vague, but he wanted to somehow become "extraordinary", like Napoleon, and that it was somehow justified and his right to kill because he transcended the moral rules that the rest of society has to follow. He also confessed that he was detached from society and believed in his superiority to others. This is a major development in Raskolnikov's character as he begins the path towards resolving his torment and as he realizes that he isn't the superman he fancied himself and begins his return to join the rest of hummanity, even though it may not be a pleasant reunion because he still maintains some of his resolve that people are despicable.
posted by Mikaela M.