The image of St. Petersburg, created in Russian literature, strikes with its gloomy beauty, sovereign grandeur, but also with its “European” coldness and indifference. This is how Pushkin saw Petersburg, creating the poem "The Bronze Horseman", the story "The Stationmaster". Gogol emphasized everything incredible, fantastic in the image of Petersburg. In the image of Gogol, Petersburg is an illusion city, a city of absurdity, which gave birth to Khlestakov, the official Poprishchin, Major Kovalev. Nekrasov’s Petersburg is already a completely realistic city, where “everything merges, groans, buzzes”, a city of poverty and lawlessness of the Russian people.

Dostoevsky follows the same traditions in depicting St. Petersburg in his novel Crime and Punishment. Here is the very scene of action, according to M. Bakhtin, “on the border of existence and non-existence, reality and phantasmagoria, which is about to dissipate like fog and disappear.”

The city in the novel becomes a real character, with its own appearance, character, way of life. The very first contact with him turns out to be a failure for Raskolnikov. Petersburg, as if "does not accept" Raskolnikov, indifferently looking at his plight. A poor student has nothing to pay for an apartment, for studying at the university. His closet reminds Pulcheria Alexandrovna of a "coffin." Rodion's clothes have long turned into rags. Some drunk, mocking his suit, calls him a "German hatter". On the Nikolaevsky Bridge, Raskolnikov almost fell under a carriage, the coachman whipped him with a whip. Some lady, mistaking him for a beggar, gave him alms.

And Raskolnikov's "vague and insoluble impression" seems to capture this coldness, the inaccessibility of the City. From the embankment of the Neva, the hero opens up a magnificent panorama: “the sky ... without the slightest cloud”, “almost blue water”, “clean air”, the shining dome of the cathedral. However, “an inexplicable cold always blew over him from this magnificent panorama; this magnificent picture was full of a mute and deaf spirit for him.

However, if Petersburg is cold and indifferent to the fate of Raskolnikov, then this city mercilessly “pursues” the Marmeladov family. Constant poverty, hungry children, a "cold corner", Katerina Ivanovna's illness, Marmeladov's pernicious passion for drinking, Sonya, forced to trade herself in order to save her family from death - these are the horrifying pictures of the life of this unfortunate family.

Marmeladov, secretly proud of his wife, dreamed of giving Katerina Ivanovna the life she deserves, arranging children, returning Sonya "to the bosom of the family." However, his dreams were not destined to come true - the relative family well-being, vaguely indicated ahead in the form of Semyon Zakharovich's enlistment, was sacrificed to his pernicious passion. Numerous drinking establishments, the dismissive attitude of people, the very atmosphere of St. Petersburg - all this becomes an insurmountable obstacle to the happy, prosperous life of Marmeladov, brings him to despair. “Do you understand, do you understand, dear sir, what it means when there is nowhere else to go?” exclaims Marmeladov bitterly. The fight against St. Petersburg is beyond the strength of the poor official. The city, this conglomeration of human vices, emerges victorious in an unequal struggle: Marmeladov was crushed by a rich crew, Katerina Ivanovna died of consumption, leaving her children orphans. Even Sonya, who is trying to actively resist life's circumstances, eventually leaves Petersburg, following Raskolnikov to Siberia.

It is characteristic that St. Petersburg turns out to be close and understandable to the most “demonic” hero of the novel, Svidrigailov: “The people get drunk, young people educated from inaction burn out in unrealizable dreams and daydreams, become ugly in theories; from somewhere the Jews have come in large numbers, hiding the money, and everything else is debauched. And this city smelled on me from the very first hours with a familiar smell.

Svidrigailov notes that Petersburg is a city whose gloomy, dreary atmosphere has a depressing effect on the human psyche. “There are a lot of people in St. Petersburg, walking, talking to themselves. It's a city of half crazy people. If we had sciences, then doctors, lawyers, philosophers could do the most precious research on St. Petersburg, each in his own specialty. Rarely where there are so many gloomy, harsh and strange influences on the soul of a person, as in St. Petersburg. What are some climatic influences worth! Meanwhile, this is the administrative center of all of Russia and its character should be reflected in everything, ”says Arkady Ivanovich.

And the hero is right in many respects. The very atmosphere of the City seems to be conducive to Raskolnikov's crime. Heat, stuffiness, lime, scaffolding, brick, dust, unbearable stench from taverns, drunks, prostitutes, fighting ragamuffins - all this inspires the hero with a "feeling of the deepest disgust." And this feeling takes possession of the hero's soul, extending both to those around him and to life itself. After the crime, Raskolnikov is seized by “an endless, almost physical disgust for everything he met and around, stubborn, vicious, hateful. All the people he meets are disgusting to him - disgusting ... their faces, gait, movements. And the reason for this feeling is not only the state of the hero, but also Petersburg life itself.

As Yu.V. Lebedev, Petersburg also has a detrimental effect on human morals: people in this city are cruel, devoid of pity and compassion. They seem to inherit all the bad qualities of the City that gave birth to them. So, the angry coachman, who shouted to Raskolnikov to step aside, whipped him with a whip, and this scene aroused the approval of those around him, their ridicule. In the tavern, everyone laughs loudly at the story of the drunken Marmeladov. For visitors to the "institution" he is "amusing". His very death, Katerina Ivanovna's grief, becomes the same "fun" for others. When the dying Marmeladov is visited by a priest, the doors from the inner rooms begin to gradually open to the “curious”, the “spectators” are crowding closer and closer in the hallway. Confession and communion of Semyon Zakharovich for the residents is nothing but a performance. And in this Dostoevsky sees an insult to the very sacrament of death.

The ugliness of life has led to the violation of all norms of intra-family relations. Alena Ivanovna and Lizaveta are sisters. Meanwhile, in Alena Ivanovna's relationship to her sister, not only manifestations of love, but also at least some kindred feelings are not noticeable. Lizaveta remains "in complete slavery to her sister", works for her "day and night" and suffers beatings from her.

Another "reasonable lady" in the novel thinks about how to sell her own daughter, a sixteen-year-old schoolgirl, at a higher price. The rich landowner Svidrigailov turns up, and the “reasonable lady”, not embarrassed by the age of the groom, immediately blesses the “young”.

Finally, Sonya's behavior is also not entirely logical. She sacrifices herself for the sake of the young children of Katerina Ivanovna, sincerely loves them, but after the death of her parents, she easily agrees to give the children to an orphanage.

Petersburg appears dark and ominous in numerous interiors, landscapes, crowd scenes. As V. A. Kotelnikov notes, Dostoevsky here “recreates the naturalistic details of urban life - the gloomy appearance of tenement houses, the gloomy interior of their courtyards, staircases, apartments, the abomination of taverns and “institutions””.

The scene of Raskolnikov's visit to Sennaya Square is characteristic. There are crowds of “shaggy”, “all kinds of industrialists”, merchants. In the evening they close their establishments and go home. A lot of beggars live here - "you can walk in any form you like without scandalizing anyone."

Here Raskolnikov is walking along K-th boulevard. Suddenly, he notices a drunken young girl, "bare-haired, without an umbrella and gloves," in a torn dress. She is pursued by an unknown master. Together with the policeman, Rodion tries to save her, but he soon realizes the futility of his attempts.

Here the hero goes to Sadovaya. On the way, he meets "amusements", a company of prostitutes "with hoarse voices" and "black eyes". One "ragamuffin" loudly swears at another, "some kind of dead drunk" is lying across the street. Everywhere noise, laughter, screeching. As Y. Karyakin notes, Dostoevsky's Petersburg is "full of noise" - buzzing streets, cries of ragamuffins, the rattling of a hurdy-gurdy, loud scandals in houses and on stairs.

These paintings are reminiscent of Nekrasov's "street impressions" - the cycles "On the Street" and "About the Weather". In the poem "Morning Walk", the poet recreates the deafening rhythm of the life of a big city:

Everything merges, groans, buzzes, Somehow muffled and menacing rumbles, As if chains are being forged on the unfortunate people, As if the city wants to collapse, Crush, talking ... (what are the voices about? All about money, about need, about bread).

The landscape in this poem echoes the urban landscape in Dostoevsky's novel. We read from Nekrasov:

The ugly day begins -

Muddy, windy, dark and dirty.

And here is one of the landscapes in the novel “Crime and Punishment”: “A milky, thick fog lay over the city. Svidrigailov walked along the slippery, dirty wooden pavement in the direction of the Malaya Neva ... He began to look at the houses with annoyance ... Neither a passer-by nor a cab driver was met along the avenue. The bright yellow wooden houses with closed shutters looked dull and dirty. Cold and damp penetrated his entire body ... "

Raskolnikov’s mood corresponds to this landscape: “... I love how they sing to the hurdy-gurdy on a cold, dark and damp autumn evening, certainly on a damp one, when all passers-by have pale green and sick faces; or, even better, when wet snow falls, completely straight, without the wind ... and through it lanterns with gas shine ... ”, the hero says to a passerby.

The plot of Nekrasov's poem "Am I driving down a dark street at night", based on the fate of a street woman, precedes the plot of Sonya Marmeladova. Nekrasov poeticizes the act of the heroine:

Where are you now? With miserable poverty

Wicked you crushed the fight?

Or did you go the usual way,

And fate will come true?

Who will protect you? All without exception

They will call you a terrible name,

Only curses stir in me -

And uselessly freeze! ..

Dostoevsky in the novel also "exalts" Sonya Marmeladova, considering her selflessness a feat. Unlike others, Sonya does not submit to life's circumstances, but tries to fight them.

Thus, the City in the novel is not only the place where the action takes place. This is a real character, a real protagonist of the novel. Petersburg is gloomy, ominous, it seems that he does not like his inhabitants. He does not save them from life's hardships, does not become their home, homeland. This is the City that breaks dreams and illusions, leaving no hope. At the same time, Dostoevsky's Petersburg is also a real capitalist city in Russia in the second half of the 19th century. This is the city of "clerks and all kinds of seminarians", the city of newly minted businessmen, usurers and merchants, the poor and the beggars. This is a city where love, beauty, human life itself are bought and sold.

", part 2, chapter 2.)

...Raskolnikov was already going out into the street. On the Nikolayevsky Bridge he had to fully wake up again as a result of one very unpleasant incident for him. The driver of one of the carriages whipped him tightly on the back with a whip, because he almost got under the horses, despite the fact that the driver shouted to him three or four times. The blow of the whip angered him so much that, jumping back to the railing (it is not known why he was walking in the very middle of the bridge, where people ride, but do not walk), he gritted angrily and snapped his teeth. There was, of course, laughter all around.

- And for the cause!

- Some burn.

- It is known that he introduces himself drunk and on purpose and climbs under the wheels; and you answer for it.

- They hunt for that, venerable, they trade for that ...

Crime and Punishment. 1969 feature film 1 episode

But at that moment, as he stood at the railing and was still looking senselessly and angrily after the departing carriage, rubbing his back, he suddenly felt that someone was shoving money into his hands. He looked: an elderly merchant's wife, in a head and trestle shoes, and with her a girl, in a hat and with a green umbrella, probably a daughter. "Accept, father, for Christ's sake." He took it and they passed. Double money. By his dress and appearance, they could very well take him for a beggar, for a real collector of pennies on the street, and he probably owed the giving of a whole two-kopeck piece to the blow of the whip, which moved them to pity.

He clutched a two-kopeck piece in his hand, walked ten paces and turned to face the Neva, in the direction of the palace. The sky was without the slightest cloud, and the water was almost blue, which is so rare on the Neva. The dome of the cathedral, which from no point is better defined than looking at it from here, from the bridge, not reaching twenty paces to the chapel, shone like that, and even every decoration of it could be clearly seen through the clean air. The pain from the whip subsided, and Raskolnikov forgot about the blow; one restless and not entirely clear thought now occupied him exclusively. He stood and looked into the distance for a long time and intently; this place was especially familiar to him. When he went to the university, it usually happened - most often, when returning home - it happened to him, maybe a hundred times, to stop at exactly the same place, gaze intently at this really magnificent panorama and each time almost be surprised at one obscure and insoluble his own. impression. An inexplicable chill always blew over him from this splendid panorama; this sumptuous picture was full of mute and deaf spirit for him... Each time he marveled at his gloomy and enigmatic impression and put off the solution of it, not trusting himself, to the future. Now, suddenly, he sharply recalled these former questions and perplexities of his, and it seemed to him that it was no accident that he now remembered them. One thing seemed to him wild and wonderful, that he stopped at the same place as before, as if he really imagined that he could think about the same things now, as before, and take an interest in the same old themes and pictures, which I was interested ... so recently. It even became almost funny to him and at the same time squeezed his chest to the point of pain. In some depth, below, somewhere barely visible under his feet, it now seemed to him all this former past, and former thoughts, and former tasks, and former themes, and former impressions, and all this panorama, and he himself, and everything, everything... It seemed that he was flying somewhere upwards and everything disappeared in his eyes... Having made one involuntary movement with his hand, he suddenly felt a two-kopeck piece clutched in his fist. He opened his hand, looked intently at the coin, swung it and threw it into the water; then turned and went home. It seemed to him that he, as if with scissors, cut himself off from everyone and everything at that moment.

He came to his place already in the evening, so he had only been walking for six hours. Where and how he went back, he did not remember anything. Having undressed and trembling all over like a driven horse, he lay down on the sofa, pulled on his greatcoat, and immediately forgot himself ...

Raskolnikov silently took the German sheets of the article, took three rubles and, without saying a word, went out. Razumikhin looked after him in surprise. But, having already reached the first line, Raskolnikov suddenly turned back, went up again to Razumikhin, and, putting German sheets and three rubles on the table, again without saying a word, went out.

- Yes, you have delirium tremens, or something! roared Razumikhin, finally enraged. - Why are you playing comedies! He even confused me... Why did you come after that, damn it?

“No need… translations…” muttered Raskolnikov, already going down the stairs.

"So what the hell do you want?" Razumikhin shouted from above. He silently continued to descend.

- Hey, you! Where do you live?

There was no answer.

- Well, to hell with you! ..

But Raskolnikov was already out on the street. On the Nikolayevsky Bridge he had to fully wake up again as a result of one very unpleasant incident for him. He was whipped hard on the back by the driver of one of the carriages because he almost got under the horses, despite the fact that the driver shouted to him three or four times. The blow of the whip so angered him that he jumped back to the railing (it is not known why he was walking in the very middle of the bridge, where people ride and not walk), gnashed angrily and snapped his teeth. There was, of course, laughter all around.

- And for the cause!

- Some burn.

- It is known that he introduces himself drunk and on purpose and climbs under the wheels; and you answer for it.

- They hunt for that, venerable, they trade for that ...

But at that moment, as he stood at the railing and was still looking senselessly and angrily after the departing carriage, rubbing his back, he suddenly felt that someone was thrusting money into his hands. He looked: an elderly merchant's wife, in a head and trestle shoes, and with her a girl, in a hat and with a green umbrella, probably a daughter. "Accept, father, for Christ's sake." He took it and they passed. Double money. By dress and appearance, they could very well take him for a beggar, for a real collector of pennies along the street, and for giving a whole two-kopeck piece, he probably owed a blow to the whip, which moved them to pity.

He clutched a two-kopeck piece in his hand, walked ten paces and turned to face the Neva, in the direction of the palace. The sky was without the slightest cloud, and the water was almost blue, which is so rare on the Neva. The dome of the cathedral, which from no point is better defined than looking at it from here, from the bridge, not reaching twenty paces to the chapel, shone like that, and even every decoration of it could be clearly seen through the clean air. The pain from the whip subsided, and Raskolnikov forgot about the blow; one restless and not entirely clear thought now occupied him exclusively. He stood and looked into the distance for a long time and intently; this place was especially familiar to him. When he went to the university, it usually happened - most often, when returning home - it happened to him, maybe a hundred times, to stop at exactly the same place, gaze intently at this really magnificent panorama and each time almost be surprised at one obscure and insoluble to your impression. An inexplicable chill always blew over him from this splendid panorama; this sumptuous picture was full of mute and deaf spirit for him... Each time he marveled at his gloomy and enigmatic impression and put off the solution of it, not trusting himself, to the future. Now, suddenly, he sharply recalled these former questions and perplexities of his, and it seemed to him that it was no accident that he now remembered them. One thing seemed to him wild and wonderful, that he stopped at the same place as before, as if he really imagined that he could think about the same things now, as before, and take an interest in the same old themes and pictures, which I was interested ... so recently. It even became almost funny to him, and at the same time squeezed his chest to the point of pain. In some depth, below, somewhere barely visible under his feet, it now seemed to him all this former past, and former thoughts, and former tasks, and former themes, and former impressions, and all this panorama, and he himself, and everything, everything... It seemed that he was flying somewhere upwards, and everything disappeared before his eyes... Having made one involuntary movement with his hand, he suddenly felt a two-kopeck piece clutched in his fist. He opened his hand, looked intently at the coin, swung it and threw it into the water; then turned and went home. It seemed to him that he, as if with scissors, cut himself off from everyone and everything at that moment.

He came to his place already in the evening, so he had only been walking for six hours. Where and how he went back, he did not remember anything. Having undressed and trembling all over like a driven horse, he lay down on the sofa, pulled on his greatcoat, and immediately forgot himself ...

He woke up in full twilight from a terrible scream. God, what a cry! He had never heard or seen such unnatural sounds, such howls, screams, gnashings, tears, beatings and curses. He could not imagine such atrocity, such frenzy. Terrified, he got up and sat on his bed, dying and tormented every moment. But the fights, screams and curses became stronger and stronger. And then, to the greatest amazement, he suddenly heard the voice of his mistress. She howled, squealed and wailed, hastily, hurriedly, letting out words so that it was impossible to make out, begging for something - of course, that they would stop beating her, because they beat her mercilessly on the stairs. The voice of the beating man became so terrible from anger and rage that it was only hoarse, but all the same, the beating man also said something like that, and also quickly, unintelligibly, hurrying and choking. Suddenly Raskolnikov trembled like a leaf: he recognized that voice; it was the voice of Ilya Petrovich. Ilya Petrovich is here and beats the mistress! He kicks her, bangs her head on the steps - this is clear, you can hear it from the sounds, from the screams, from the blows! What is it, the light turned upside down, or what? It was heard how a crowd was gathering on all floors, along the stairs, voices, exclamations were heard, people came up, knocked, slammed doors, ran. “But for what, for what ... and how is this possible!” he repeated, seriously thinking that he was completely mad. But no, he hears too clearly! .. But, therefore, they will come to him now, if so, “because ... it’s true, all this is from the same ... because of yesterday ... Lord!” He wanted to lock himself on the hook, but his hand did not rise ... and it was useless! Fear, like ice, overlaid his soul, tormented him, stiffened him ... But then, finally, all this uproar, which had lasted for ten minutes, gradually began to subside. The hostess groaned and moaned, Ilya Petrovich was still threatening and cursing ... But now, at last, it seems, he too calmed down; now you can’t hear him: “Really gone! God!" Yes, and now the hostess is leaving, still groaning and crying ... and then her door slammed ... Here the crowd disperses from the stairs to the apartments - they gasp, argue, call to each other, now raising their speech to a cry, then lowering it to a whisper. There must have been many; almost the whole house ran away. “But my God, is it all possible! And why, why did he come here!

Raskolnikov fell helplessly on the sofa, but could no longer close his eyes; he lay for half an hour in such suffering, in such an unbearable sensation of boundless horror as he had never experienced before. Suddenly a bright light lit up his room: Nastasya entered with a candle and a bowl of soup. Looking at him carefully and seeing that he was not sleeping, she put the candle on the table and began to lay out what she had brought: bread, salt, a plate, a spoon.

- I haven't eaten since yesterday. A whole day he wandered around, and the lihoman beats himself.

- Nastasya ... why did they beat the hostess?

She looked at him intently.

- Who beat the hostess?

- Just now ... half an hour ago, Ilya Petrovich, the warden's assistant, on the stairs ... Why did he beat her like that? and ... why did you come? ..

Nastasya looked at him silently and frowning, and looked at him for a long time. He felt very uncomfortable from this examination, even scared.

- Nastasya, why are you silent? he said timidly, finally in a weak voice.

"It's blood," she finally answered quietly, as if speaking to herself.

“Blood!.. What blood?..” he muttered, turning pale and moving back to the wall. Nastasya continued to look at him silently.

“No one beat the hostess,” she said again in a stern and resolute voice. He looked at her, barely breathing.

“I heard it myself… I didn’t sleep… I was sitting,” he said even more timidly. - I listened for a long time ... The supervisor's assistant came ... Everyone ran to the stairs, from all the apartments ...

- Nobody came. And it's the blood in you screaming. This is when she has no way out, and she starts to bake cookies, then she starts to imagine ... You will become something, or what?

He didn't answer. Nastasya still stood over him, looked intently at him, and did not go away.

- Give me a drink ... Nastasyushka.

She went downstairs and after two minutes returned with water in a white earthenware mug; but he no longer remembered what happened next. He only remembered how he took a sip of cold water and spilled from the mug on his chest. Then came unconsciousness.

III

He, however, was not completely unconscious during the entire illness: it was a feverish state, with delirium and half-consciousness. He later remembered a lot. It seemed to him that a lot of people were gathering around him and they wanted to take him and carry him somewhere, they were arguing and quarreling about him very much. Then suddenly he is alone in the room, everyone has left and is afraid of him, and only occasionally open the door a little to look at him, threaten him, conspire about something among themselves, laugh and tease him. He often remembered Nastasya by his side; He also distinguished one more person, who seemed to be very familiar to him, but who exactly - he could not guess at all and yearned for it, even cried. At times it seemed to him that he had already been in bed for a month; another time - that all the same day goes. But about that - about that he completely forgot; but every minute he remembered that he had forgotten something, something that should not be forgotten - he was tormented, tormented, remembering, groaning, falling into a rage or into a terrible, unbearable fear. Then he would break away from his place, he wanted to run away, but someone always stopped him by force, and he again fell into impotence and unconsciousness. Finally, he completely came to his senses.

It happened in the morning at ten o'clock. At this hour of the morning, on clear days, the sun always passed in a long strip along its right wall and illuminated the corner near the door. By his bed stood Nastasya and another man who looked at him very curiously and who was completely unfamiliar to him. It was a young guy in a caftan, with a beard, and in appearance he looked like an artel worker. The hostess peered out of the half-open door. Raskolnikov got up.

Who is this, Nastasya? he asked, pointing at the guy.

- Look, I've woken up! - she said.

“Wake up,” said the artel worker. Guessing that he had woken up, the hostess, who was peeping from the door, immediately closed them and hid. She was always shy and endured conversations and explanations with difficulty, she was about forty years old, and she was fat and fat, black-browed and dark-eyed, kind from fat and from laziness; and even very cute with herself. Shameful beyond necessity.

- Who are you? he continued to interrogate, turning to the artel worker himself. But at that moment the door opened wide again, and, stooping a little, because he was tall, Razumikhin entered.

Nikolaevsky Bridge (now - Lieutenant Schmidt Bridge) Raskolnikov peers into St. Isaac's Cathedral. In the picture described by Dostoevsky there is a strange duality, a split, which even concerns Raskolnikov's perception of space. On the one hand, it is a temple as a symbol of purity and sinlessness. On the other hand, this magnificent panorama exuded a "dumb and deaf spirit." Each time, Raskolnikov marveled at his "gloomy and mysterious impression" from this picture. In the panorama of St. Isaac's Cathedral, the stern and gloomy spirit of the guardian and founder of the city, Peter I, seems to be hidden, and the statue of Peter reared on a horse - this stone idol - the material embodiment of the genius of the place, according to N. P. Antsiferov. The ghost of a gloomy statehood, already noted by Pushkin in the poem "The Bronze Horseman", when the idol that has jumped off the pedestal is chasing the "little man" Yevgeny, scares and pursues Raskolnikov as well. Before this majestic, but devastatingly cold statehood, Raskolnikov, who imagines himself a superman, turns out to be a microscopic "little man", from whom this "incomprehensible city" of tsars and officials indifferently turns away. As if ironically over Raskolnikov and his "superhuman" theory, Petersburg first with a blow of a whip on the back admonishes the hero who hesitated on the bridge, and then with the hand of a compassionate merchant's daughter throws alms to Raskolnikov - two kopecks falls in Raskolnikov's palm. He, not wanting to accept handouts from a hostile city, throws a two-kopeck piece into the water: “He held a two-kopeck piece in his hand, walked ten steps and turned to face the Neva, in the direction of the palace (Winter Palace. - A. G.). The sky was without the slightest cloud and the water is almost blue, which is so rare on the Neva.The dome of the cathedral, which from no point is better outlined than looking at it from here, from the bridge, not reaching twenty paces to the chapel, shone like that, and through the clean air you can even each of his decorations was clearly visible (...) When he went to the university, then usually - most often, returning home - it happened to him, maybe a hundred times, to stop at exactly the same place, to peer intently into this really magnificent panorama... ".
"The artist M. V. Dobuzhinsky became interested in why Dostoevsky noted this place as the most suitable for contemplating St. Isaac's Cathedral. It turned out that from here the entire mass of the cathedral is located diagonally and complete symmetry in the arrangement of parts is obtained" (Belov S. V. Roman F. M. Dostoevsky "Crime and Punishment", Commentary, Moscow, "Prosveshchenie", 1985, p. 118).

As promised, we are opening a new permanent rubric for those who are forced to prepare (and prepare) for the Unified State Examination in literature and for Part C of the Unified State Examination in the Russian language (since it tests the skills formed in our subject). “Forced” is not an accidental word: preparing for the Unified State Examination is a bleak business for everyone, and passing the exam will pretty much get on your nerves (in Moscow, for example, this year in a number of points there were not enough additional forms for part C, and graduates had to wait several hours, until they are delivered). But nothing can be done, since this year the Unified Exam has entered the regular mode and turned into something in the manner of the weather - everyone scolds it, but depends on it. This has to be taken into account.

When preparing, it is important to know that exam configuration will not change in 2010- this is clear from the demo version of 2010, proposed at the end of July for discussion. The graduate will be offered a job in three parts. It takes 4 hours (240 minutes) to complete it.

Parts 1 and 2 include an analysis of a literary text (a fragment of an epic / dramatic work and a lyrical work). The analysis of the text of an epic (or dramatic) work has the following structure: 7 tasks with a short answer (B), focused on the basic level and requiring the writing of a word or a combination of words in the answer, and 2 tasks with a detailed answer (С1–С2) of an increased level of complexity, requiring writing an answer in the amount of 5-10 sentences. The analysis of a lyrical work includes 5 tasks with a short answer (B, basic level) and 2 tasks with a detailed answer (C3–C4, advanced level) in the amount of 5–10 sentences.

To complete the tasks of part 3 (C5 - a high level of complexity), you need to choose one of the three proposed problematic questions and give a written detailed, reasoned answer to it in the essay genre (in the amount of at least 200 words).

Analysis of an excerpt from an epic work

On the Nikolaevsky Bridge he had to fully wake up again as a result of one very unpleasant incident for him. The driver of one of the carriages whipped him tightly on the back with a whip, because he almost got under the horses, despite the fact that the driver shouted to him three or four times. The blow of the whip so angered him that, jumping back to the railing (it is not known why he was walking in the very middle of the bridge, where people ride, but do not walk), he gnashed angrily and snapped his teeth. There was, of course, laughter all around.

And for the cause!

Some burn.

It is known that he introduces himself drunk on purpose and climbs under the wheels; and you answer for it.

That is what they hunt for, venerable one, that is what they hunt for ...

But at that moment, as he stood at the railing and was still looking senselessly and angrily after the departing carriage, rubbing his back, he suddenly felt that someone was shoving money into his hands. He looked: an elderly merchant's wife, in a head and trestle shoes, and with her a girl, in a hat and with a green umbrella, probably a daughter. "Accept, father, for Christ's sake." He took it and they passed. Double money. By his dress and appearance, they could very well take him for a beggar, for a real collector of pennies on the street, and he probably owed the giving of a whole two-kopeck piece to the blow of the whip, which moved them to pity.

He clutched a two-kopeck piece in his hand, walked ten paces and turned to face the Neva, in the direction of the palace. The sky was without the slightest cloud, and the water was almost blue, which is so rare on the Neva. The dome of the cathedral, which from no point is better outlined than looking at it from here, from the bridge, not reaching twenty paces to the chapel, shone like that, and even each of its decorations could be clearly seen through the clean air. The pain from the whip subsided, and _____________ forgot about the blow; one restless and not entirely clear thought now occupied him exclusively. He stood and looked into the distance for a long time and intently; this place was especially familiar to him. When he went to the university, it usually happened - most often, when returning home - it happened to him, maybe a hundred times, to stop at exactly the same place, gaze intently at this really magnificent panorama and each time almost be surprised at one obscure and insoluble impression. An inexplicable chill always blew over him from this splendid panorama; this sumptuous picture was full of mute and deaf spirit for him... Each time he marveled at his gloomy and enigmatic impression and put off the solution of it, not trusting himself, to the future. Now, suddenly, he sharply remembered these former questions and perplexities of his, it seemed to him that it was not by chance that he now remembered them. One thing seemed to him wild and wonderful, that he stopped at the same place as before, as if he really imagined that he could think about the same things now, as before, and take an interest in the same old themes and pictures, which I was interested ... even so recently. It even became almost funny to him and at the same time squeezed his chest to the point of pain. In some depth, below, somewhere barely visible under his feet, it now seemed to him all this former past, and former thoughts, and former tasks, and former themes, and former impressions, and all this panorama, and he himself, and everything, everything... It seemed that he was flying somewhere upwards, and everything disappeared before his eyes... Having made one involuntary movement with his hand, he suddenly felt a two-kopeck piece clutched in his fist. He opened his hand, looked intently at the coin, swung it and threw it into the water; then he turned and went home. It seemed to him that he, as if with scissors, cut himself off from everyone and everything at that moment.

F.M. Dostoevsky. "Crime and Punishment"

IN 1. What church is being referred to in the passage?

IN 2. Insert the name of the character in question in place of the gap in the passage.

AT 3. What event separated the hero from the “former past”? (Answer in one word.)

AT 4. What is the name of the description of an open space external to the hero: nature, city, etc.?

AT 5. What is the name of the figurative definitions used by the author in the description of the “magnificent panorama”: inexplicable cold, spirit mute and deaf, magnificent painting?

AT 6. What is the name of the juxtaposition of contrasting words, concepts, images that we encounter, for example, in such fragments: “even almost funny to him became and at the same time squeezed the chest to pain”, “in some deep, below, somewhere barely visible under his feet, it seemed to him now all this former past ... it seemed that he was flying somewhere up”?

AT 7. On what artistic device is the last sentence of the passage based?

C1. Why does the hero of Dostoevsky's novel throw away a coin given to him?

C2. In what other works of Russian literature have you met with the image of St. Petersburg and how do they echo Dostoevsky’s “Petersburg” novel?

Answers and comments

As you can see, all the proposed tasks are aimed at identifying the important, essential both in the passage and in the novel as a whole. Tasks B1, B2 and AT 3 allow you to check (naturally, far from completely) how well the student remembers the chronotope of the work, the system of characters and the plot. St. Isaac's Cathedral is a symbol of ceremonial, magnificent Petersburg (see below for more details), therefore, knowledge of this spatial detail is necessary to understand the meaning of the novel and should not be perceived as exotic. Task B4 checks how the student is able to characterize the fragment as a whole. Tasks B5–B8 aimed at the ability to see the important artistic means that the author uses in this particular fragment, and determine their role (that is, they again work for understanding).

AT task C1 students can talk about Raskolnikov's throwing after the crime in an attempt to find an "outcome" (one of the key words of the novel). He either wants to confess, then he feels a surge of desire to continue the fight. The alms given to him on the Nikolaevsky Bridge connects him with people whom he is not yet ready to come to and whom he hates at that moment (see a little earlier in the text: “One new, irresistible feeling took possession of him more and more with almost every minute: it was some kind of endless, almost physical disgust for everything he met and around, stubborn, vicious, hateful. Everyone he met was disgusting to him - their faces, gait, movements were disgusting. it seems that if someone spoke to him ...”). He himself rejects the sacrifice, alms - there is still much to be endured by Raskolnikov in order to find a way to people.

Fulfilling task C2, students can refer to Dostoevsky's predecessors on the "Petersburg" theme (for example, Pushkin, Gogol, Nekrasov), as well as recall followers (for example, A. Blok, O. Mandelstam, A. Akhmatov). Dostoevsky did not like Peter and his city. In the writer's diaries there is such an entry that can be used to illustrate Dostoevsky's attitude to St. Petersburg: “I love you, Peter's creation!” Sorry, I don't like him. Windows, holes - and monuments”. Let us also note here the contrast, the antithesis; one of its parts are the "monuments" - magnificent monuments, to which the cathedral from the passage belongs. Petersburg is a city of contrasts, pomp and poverty, a triumphant stone and a perishing man.