Background
Conflict with Raskolnikov
For the first time, Pyotr Petrovich Luzhin appears in the letter that Rodion Raskolnikov receives at the beginning of the novel (part 1, chapter 3).
Pulcheria Alexandrovna imagines Luzhin almost as a knight on a white horse. After all, this sweet man wooed her dowry daughter, Rodion’s sister, despite the plight of her family. But despite the generally positive description of his mother, Rodion Raskolnikov immediately exposes Luzhin’s petty soul. Later (part 2, chapter 5) Luzhin himself appears to Raskolnikov. He expected that the bride’s brother would greet him with delight and shower him with compliments, because, in his opinion, taking a poor girl as a wife was a brave act, and others should certainly “admire his feat”:
“Nevertheless, he still highly valued his determination to elevate Dunya to himself and considered it a feat.
Speaking about this to Duna now, he was uttering his secret, cherished thought, which he had admired more than once, and could not understand how others could not admire his feat. Having then come to visit Raskolnikov, he entered with the feeling of a benefactor preparing to reap the fruits and listen to very sweet compliments.” - Part 4, Chapter III
But Raskolnikov immediately recognizes a low person in Luzhin and greets him coldly. He reproaches the guest that he is going to marry Duna only so that the girl will be grateful for the rest of her life for ridding her family of poverty. Luzhin tries to deny this. An angry Raskolnikov kicks him out.
Luzhin's letter
Offended by Raskolnikov, Luzhin writes a letter in which he convincingly asks not to bring his son to their next family meeting, otherwise Pulcheria Alexandrovna and Dunya may regret it (“blame yourself”).
In addition, hoping to quarrel Raskolnikov with his loved ones, in his letter Luzhin inserts a caustic remark about Sonya Marmeladova. Luzhin calls her a girl of “notorious behavior,” hinting at her obscene profession and mentions that Raskolnikov, under the pretext of a funeral, gave Sonya 25 rubles, which he received from his mother (Rodion actually gave that money, but not to Sonya, but to her mother Katerina Ivanovna , left with three children without means of subsistence).
Quarrel with Dunya
Despite the groom's threat, Dunya asks her brother and his friend, Razumikhin, to appear at their next meeting with Luzhin (Part 4, Chapter 2).
During this meeting, Raskolnikov informs Duna about 3,000 rubles (a very large sum; about 300 salaries) that the late Marfa Petrovna bequeathed to her, and, therefore, the girl no longer needs to marry just for money. Outraged that Dunya and her mother disobeyed his instructions regarding his brother, Luzhin loses his temper and appears before everyone in his true form. Among other things, he reproached the Raskolnikovs for incurring “costs” in transporting their luggage, although in fact he took it to save money on their journey to St. Petersburg: “In costs? What are these costs? Are you talking about our chest? But the conductor brought it to you for free.” — Part 1, chapter IV.
Pulcheria Alexandrovna lost her temper. As a result, Dunya with dignity asks him to leave, making it clear that this is where their relationship ends, but Luzhin does not lose hope. Realizing that now it is impossible to keep women only with the help of money, he decides to act by cunning. In addition, Luzhin wants to take revenge on Raskolnikov.
How Luzhin was punished by Dostoevsky
For Pyotr Petrovich, the main thing in life was money. In all aspects of life, he tried to gain material benefit. For the sake of profit, Luzhin is ready to go to great lengths. This prudence helped the hero get out “from rags to riches.” Luzhin values his position in society and tries to attract attention to himself by any means.
Mr. Luzhin wants Dunya Raskolnikova to marry him, but not at all out of love for her. He understands how much a woman next to a man can raise his position. All his life, Pyotr Petrovich dreamed of a well-behaved girl; it is precisely such a “charming, virtuous, educated” girl who is capable of “amazingly brightening up his path, attracting him to him, creating a halo.” It was also important for Luzhin that his future wife must be poor, so that she would go through many obstacles on her life’s path. Such a “terrified” girl, in his opinion, would be devoted to him all her life. She would “consider him her salvation all her life, would revere him, obey him, marvel at him, and only him.” Luzhin was looking for a slave who was ready to serve him as a sign of gratitude.
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In Dostoevsky's novel Crime and Punishment, the image of entrepreneur Pyotr Petrovich Luzhin is one of the “doubles” of the main character. It would seem, what is the similarity between these characters, so different in everything? However, looking more closely, we notice that there are still similarities between Raskolnikov and Luzhin - they both preach the principle of “permissiveness.” Luzhin's moral views and moral character are most clearly illuminated by two episodes in the novel - his visit to Raskolnikov and the incident at Marmeladov's wake. We know that Pyotr Petrovich was the fiance of Raskolnikov’s sister Dunechka. But the girl did not love Luzhin, but agreed to marry him in order to improve the family’s financial situation and be able to help Rodion financially. And so Luzhin comes to St. Petersburg. He wants to officially propose marriage, but first this gentleman considers it necessary to meet his future relative, Raskolnikov. To do this, he comes to his apartment. From the first moment, Luzhin’s disgusted face catches your eye. This man, quite wealthy and accustomed to respectability, finds himself in an extremely squalid environment. The hero cannot contain his surprise and disgust. Having recovered from the shock, Luzhin begins a conversation. All his words are prim and “sleek”, there are no emotions in them, but only dry courtesy and the desire to give the impression of an educated and wealthy gentleman. This circumstance is especially striking against the background of the direct, sharp, emotional remarks of Razumikhin and Raskolnikov. The portrait of Luzhin is given to us through the eyes of Rodion. The hero saw in front of him an already middle-aged, but looking young gentleman, who had dressed himself up before meeting his bride. Luzhin looked expensive and fashionable, and the realization of this added to his self-satisfaction. The whole appearance of this man betrayed his desire to appear better than he really was. Because of this, perhaps, despite all the external attractiveness of Pyotr Petrovich, he still made a repulsive impression. This impression is strengthened when Luzhin begins to talk about “modern life.” In his opinion, a lot of positive things appeared in it: “new, useful thoughts have been disseminated, some new, useful writings have been disseminated, instead of the previous dreamy and romantic ones...” And most of all Luzhin likes the fashionable theory of “reasonable egoism,” the essence of which is extremely simple - “ love yourself first of all, for everything in the world is based on personal interest.” The question arises: “But what is the limitation in this theory?” After all, by professing it, you can allow yourself anything, as long as it corresponds to your desire. Luzhin argues that this limitation lies in the moral and ethical principles that are embedded in a person by society. In general, this hero really likes to talk about morality. So, having almost finished his visit to Raskolnikov, Luzhin stops to insert his “weighty word” about the modern decline of morals: “How can we explain this, on the one hand, licentiousness of the civilized part of our society?” Raskolnikov answers this question to the hero. In his hearts, unable to bear it, he shouts that crime is a consequence of Luzhin’s theory of all-permissive egoism. Hearing this, Pyotr Petrovich takes on the extremely offended look of an incomprehensible and slandered person and leaves. However, an incident at Marmeladov’s wake proves to us that Raskolnikov was right. The offended Luzhin, whose marriage proposal was rejected, decides to take revenge on Raskolnikov, whom he considers the main culprit of his misfortune. Offended pride and all-consuming egoism make him forget about morality and ethics. Luzhin, casually, in the most vile way, insults Sonya Marmeladova, accusing her of theft. At the same time, with all his appearance, the hero shows that he knows how Sonya earns her bread, and despises her for it. Luzhin is confident that he will come out unscathed. Everyone who gathered at the wake considers him a person from the “highest circle” and looks up to him. Will they allow themselves to say even a word against, to doubt his accusations? Luzhin does not care about the feelings of other people, someone’s dishonored name, or mental pain. Yes, to be honest, he arrogantly did not consider many of them to be people - they were a mob worthy only of pity and disgusted sympathy. But Luzhin’s calculation turned out to be wrong - he was exposed. However, the hero did not even think about repenting or being ashamed. He tried to “keep a good face on a bad game” - he threatened that he would not leave the matter like this, that he would fight in court. But after half an hour, “he was no longer in the house” - this man ran away cowardly. Thus, Luzhin, preaching his theory of “reasonable egoism,” takes it to the extreme. He proves by his own example that his concept is destructive: following it, it is very easy to fall morally, to lose your human face. This hero and his actions are another warning to Raskolnikov about the inaccuracy of his theory.
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Upon arrival in St. Petersburg, Luzhin, as a groom, went to visit Raskolnikov. He crossed the threshold with a feeling of benefactor and with an undisguised desire to listen to as many sweet compliments addressed to him as possible. Immense vanity, an extreme degree of self-confidence, or, better said, narcissism, played a bad joke on him. Having made his way “into the people,” having risen from insignificance, he became accustomed to admiring his appearance, his intelligence, his abilities, and it got to the point that sometimes, alone, he would look at his face in the mirror. He also loved money extremely. Our own, others’, obtained through labor or other means – it doesn’t matter, the main thing is their very presence. After all, they helped him rise above his own kind and equalized him with those who were higher than him. Well, the soil for matchmaking on the Duna is the most “fertile” there is. But there was something else...
This is Luzhin's theory. He had been dreaming of getting married for a long time; he saved all his money and waited. I was not waiting for love, not for my soul mate, but for a well-behaved, beautiful, educated girl, etc. poor. In the deepest secrecy, special emphasis was placed on the word “poor”, since such a girl had probably already experienced many misfortunes and misfortunes in her life, was intimidated, and hence subsequently endlessly grateful to her savior. She will certainly “knuckle down” to him, will be in awe, obey in everything and be surprised only by him. And then the moment came when everything coincided. There is a fortune, grandiose plans are being outlined to conquer the high society of St. Petersburg, and here Dunya is an ideal contender for the role of a beautiful, intelligent, but poor bride, and in the future - a submissive and even servile wife of a successful husband. In his dreams, he already had dominion over her soul and body, and suddenly! No. He received "resignation". And from whom? From a poor student, an arrogant youngster - Rodion, who threw him out of the door. He couldn't bear it. Wounded, he collected all his indignation and immeasurable anger and squeezed it into a revenge ball. And he threw it not just anywhere, but in the desired direction: Sonya Marmeladova was falsely accused of stealing money, which he planted in her pocket.
Luzhin's meanness
Hoping to deal with the annoying “babe,” Luzhin substitutes his good friend, the harmless Sonya Marmeladova.
Luzhin asks his neighbor Lebezyatnikov, who has known Sonya for a long time and well, to invite her to come in (part 5, chapter 1). He tells Sonya that, unfortunately, he will not be able to attend Marmeladov’s funeral, but wants to help their family, and gives her 10 rubles:
“And Pyotr Petrovich handed Sonya a ten-ruble credit card, carefully unfolding it. Sonya took it, flushed, jumped up, muttered something and quickly began to take her leave. Pyotr Petrovich solemnly escorted her to the door. She finally jumped out of the room, all agitated and exhausted, and returned to Katerina Ivanovna in extreme embarrassment.” — Part 5, chapter 1
Lebezyatnikov, despite his convictions about the dangers of all kinds of charity, sincerely expresses admiration for Luzhin’s act (later it turns out that he saw Luzhin secretly put a hundred-ruble bill into Sonya’s pocket).
“I heard everything and saw everything,” he said, especially emphasizing the last word. - This is noble, that is, I wanted to say, humane! You wanted to avoid gratitude, I saw! And although, I confess to you, I cannot help but admit that he looked at your action with pleasure, - yes, yes, I like it." — Part 5, chapter 1
Luzhin's slander
Later, Luzhin appears at the wake, just during a quarrel between Katerina Ivanovna and the landlady.
The woman asks to judge them, but Luzhin refuses to participate in their scandal and says that he came on a personal matter. He states that after Sonya left his room, a hundred-ruble ticket disappeared from his table. Katerina Ivanovna stands up for her stepdaughter with the words: “Sonya, Sonya will take his money! This is Sonya the thief! Yes, she’ll give it to you, you fool!” She also scolds Sonya for taking money from Luzhin in the first place:
“Sonya! How dare you take ten rubles from him! Oh, stupid! Give it here! Give me these ten rubles now - here! And, snatching the piece of paper from Sonya, Katerina Ivanovna crumpled it in her hands and threw it straight into Luzhin’s face.” — Part 5, chapter III. Katerina Ivanovna
But they actually find a hundred-ruble ticket in Sonya’s pocket. Raskolnikov at this time stood to the side “without taking his eyes off Sonya, occasionally but quickly turning them to Luzhin.” Sonya got scared and started crying.
"No, it's not me! I didn't take it! I don't know! - she screamed, with a heart-breaking scream, and rushed to Katerina Ivanovna. She grabbed her and hugged her tightly, as if with her chest she wanted to protect her from everyone.” — Part 5, chapter III
Sonya Marmeladova, frightened by Luzhin’s accusations in the series “Crime and Punishment” (2007)
Luzhin had no goal of harming Sonya herself, and, having achieved his goal of denigrating her reputation, he tried to present himself in the best light. Luzhin stated that he was “ready to regret if, so to speak, poverty motivated Sofya Semyonovna,” and would not report to the police.
“While regretting and, so to speak, condoling, I am, perhaps, ready to forgive, even now, despite the personal insults received. “Let this shame, mademoiselle, serve you as a lesson for the future,” he turned to Sonya, “and I will leave the rest in vain and, so be it, I will stop.” Enough!" — Part 5, chapter III. Luzhin
How Luzhin was punished by Dostoevsky
Soviet literary critic L.P. Grossman established that Luzhin’s prototype was the writer’s creditor Pavel Petrovich Lyzhin, to whom Dostoevsky at one time owed 450 rubles. Another proof of this is Lyzhin’s opening of a law office in St. Petersburg, which is what the character in Dostoevsky’s novel also dreams of.
Luzhin can be called a model of courtesy, solidity and decency, but he also has negative traits, such as narcissism, arrogance, and stinginess. Because of these qualities, including his enormous vanity, people have an unpleasant impression of him. Luzhin often loses his temper when something does not go according to plan, and on top of that, he is very touchy, Dunya mentions this more than once. In a state of irritability and anger, Luzhin forgets about nobility and prudence.
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In describing the appearance of his heroes, Dostoevsky attached special importance to the eyes. The look revealed both the character’s inner world and the author’s attitude towards him. But nothing is said about Luzhin’s eyes in the novel. This character represents a soulless personality, examples of which began to appear in large numbers during the time of Dostoevsky. There is no such complex inconsistency in him as, for example, in Svidrigailov. Therefore, the writer did not characterize his view.
He has a gold lorgnette, his cambric handkerchief smells of perfume, and on his finger he wears a massive, extremely beautiful ring. Nevertheless, the image of Luzhin in the novel “Crime and Punishment” can be briefly expressed in the following words: a slanderer and an unworthy person. This is what the main characters of the work call him, and this is how the author himself portrays him.
Exposure
Fortunately, Luzhin’s plan failed - with the words “How low is this,” his friend Lebezyatnikov entered the room.
He tells those present that he saw Luzhin himself slip a hundred-ruble ticket into Sophia’s pocket, but thought that Luzhin wanted to secretly help the girl. But Lebezyatnikov cannot understand the meaning of this act: “Oh, how low this is! I listened to everything, I deliberately waited to understand everything, because, I admit, even until now it is not entirely logical... But why did you do all this, I don’t understand.” — Part 5, chapter III. Lebezyatnikov
Raskolnikov sheds light on what is happening. All this time he suspected “some kind of vile trick,” and finally realized that in this way Luzhin wanted to denigrate Sonya in order to quarrel him with his mother and sister:
“I ask everyone, everyone to listen: this gentleman (he pointed to Luzhin) recently wooed a girl, and it was my sister, Avdotya Romanovna Raskolnikova. But, having arrived in St. Petersburg, on the third day, at our first meeting, he quarreled with me, and I drove him away from me, to which there are two witnesses. This man is very angry... The day before yesterday I didn’t even know that he was standing here in your rooms, Andrei Semyonovich, and that, therefore, on the same day that we quarreled, that is, the day before, he was witness how I, as a friend of the late Mr. Marmeladov, gave his wife Katerina Ivanovna some money for the funeral. He immediately wrote a note to my mother and notified her that I had given all the money not to Katerina Ivanovna, but to Sofya Semyonovna, and at the same time, in the most vile terms, he mentioned ... about the character of Sofia Semyonovna, that is, he hinted at the nature of my relationship with Sofya Semyonovna. All this, as you understand, is with the aim of quarreling me with my mother and sister, inspiring them that I am squandering, for ignoble purposes, their last money, with which they help me. Last night, in front of my mother and sister, and in his presence, I restored the truth, proving that I gave the money to Katerina Ivanovna for the funeral, and not Sofya Semyonovna, and that I had not even met Sofia Semyonovna the day before, or even in person. haven't seen her yet. At the same time, I added that he, Pyotr Petrovich Luzhin, with all his merits, is not worth one little finger of Sofia Semyonovna, about whom he speaks so badly. To his question: would I sit Sofya Semyonovna next to my sister? - I replied that I had already done this, that same day. Angry that his mother and sister did not want, according to his slander, to quarrel with me, he, word for word, began to say unforgivable insolence to them. There was a final break and he was kicked out of the house. All this happened last night. Now I ask for special attention: imagine that if he could now prove that Sofya Semyonovna is a thief, then, firstly, he would prove to my sister and mother that he was almost right in his suspicions; that he was rightly angry because I put my sister and Sofya Semyonovna on the same level; that by attacking me, he was defending, and therefore preserving the honor of my sister, and his bride. In a word, through all this, he could even quarrel between me and my family again and, of course, hoped to be in their favor again.” — Part 5, chapter III. Raskolnikov about the reasons for Luzhin’s slander
Luzhin: classic image of “Crime and Punishment”
The school literature curriculum requires the study of “Crime and Punishment.” The author raises many pressing, social, cultural and moral problems. These issues are explored through the characters. Luzhin is one of the heroes who helps the writer develop the idea of the work. Next, we will analyze the specifics of this image, the personality traits of the hero.
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Luzhin's wealth and security were supported by money. The characters in the work more than once called Pyotr Petrovich “a man with money.” The man left the impression of a trustworthy, wealthy, hard-working official. Luzhin was not afraid of work; he served in two different places. Thus, the hero himself earned capital.
Raskolnikov experiences strong antipathy towards Luzhin. Pyotr Petrovich reciprocates his feelings. There is complete misunderstanding between the characters. Rodion expresses his characterization of Luzhin with the following phrase: “He is a smart man, but to act smartly, intelligence alone is not enough.” Seeing that Raskolnikov easily saw through his nature, Luzhin tries to limit Dunya’s communication with his brother, making every effort to quarrel between them. However, his intrigues and plans are revealed. Dunya breaks off the engagement, but Pyotr Petrovich, feeling offended, blames the “arrogant boy” Raskolnikov for everything. Rodion’s friend Razumikhin also characterizes Luzhin as a person “not of our society... because he is a spy and speculator... a Jew and a buffoon” and “does not stand on the noble road.”
In addition to his bureaucratic service, Luzhin practices law. Dostoevsky calls him a specialist in “litigation and lawsuits.” The hero's dream is to open a law office in St. Petersburg. The work mentions the “big cases” that Luzhin has to conduct, and which he most often wins, thanks to his experience.
