(378 words) A small person is a type of literary hero that arose in Russian literature during the period of realism, that is, in the 20-30s of the XIX century. It is easy to guess that this type characterizes a person of the lower class. The low social status and origin, initially suggests that these people are not gifted with a strong character and will, on the contrary, they do no harm to anyone, are kind and naive as children. In the work of F.M. Dostoevsky "little man" also found his place. A whole gallery of heroes humiliated and insulted, misunderstood by life, they play in the novel Crime and Punishment play the role of martyrs: the Marmeladov family, Lizaveta, Pulkheria Alexandrovna and Avdotya Romanovna. Let's take a closer look at the examples.
So, the Marmeladov family. Starting from the head of the family Semyon Marmeladov and ending with his unhappy children, we can give excellent examples of weak-willed and kind people. Senior Marmeladov is weak, because he gave alcohol to take over it. He broke the life of his wife - Ekaterina Ivanovna, who has to live in inhuman conditions with young children and her daughter Sonechka. “My daughter lives on a yellow ticket, sir ...” he said. A retired official causes readers to be misunderstood and pity. After all, although he regrets what he did, he does not intend to change his life.
Why does the author introduce this type of literary hero? To show the best character traits of Rodion Raskolnikov. It was the Marmeladov family that aroused in him both bewilderment and regret. Thinking over the murder and subsequently committing it, Rodion Romanovich justifies his act as a sacrifice for the good.
But, in addition to the Marmeladov family, mired in problems, there are still heroes who are "little people." For example, Peter Petrovich Luzhin, who differs from the Marmeladovs not only in affluence, but also in a vile character. Luzhin is only interested in his own benefit, which he sees everywhere. Luzhin also decides to marry Raskolnikov’s sister, not out of love, but according to his own calculation. Luzhin dreams of a poor but beautiful and well-educated bride who would become a slave to him: “He delightedly thought, in the deepest secret, of a well-meaning and poor girl (certainly poor) ... who would have considered him his salvation all his life, revered him , obeyed, surprised at him, and only him alone ... ". Thus, the author of Crime and Punishment introduces a character like Luzhin to show that a person with selfish thoughts will never be happy.
Thus, the “little people” in the novel Crime and Punishment differ from similar characters of other writers. But each of them is present in the novel, in order to more deeply reveal the image as the image of the main character, and it is better to show the plot lines.
