In the novel Crime and Punishment, by Fyodor Dostoevsky, suffering is an integral part of every character's role. Dostoevsky uses comic characters as instruments for competing ideological issues. A typical example is the loquacious bar room character Marmeladov, an alcoholic with an ironic abstract side to his personality. Through his behavior, Marmeladov draws the reader's attention to questions about environmental and psychological influence and theology and specifically, the conflict between organized religion and personal spirituality. …showed first 75 words of 885 total…

…showed last 75 words of 885 total…of society. However, basically Raskolnikov is attracted to these opposing doubles, it is a conflict between innate feelings and ideology. Sonia represents Raskolnikov's innate morality and the goodness of his heart, while Svidrigailov stands for the evil of abstract theories, and when Svidrigailov dies, the theoretical voice of Raskolnikov's personality seems to fade out and the Sonya voice begins to speak with greater conviction, which becomes Raskolnikov’s most important first step towards his confession.