Crime and Punishment

One may ask which character in a novel or a movie and maybe even a play has the most important role. The main character is the one where the plot unfolds around. The main character has a role that is loud and the role comes without question. However, there are other key players that are equally as important. Those roles include supporting actors or supporting characters. A supporting character’s role takes on many faces. Their role can be ever so silent and menial. However, they can have the same significance, if not more, as the main character. Take for example in the novel Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky. The role played by the daughter of a drunken father, Sonia. Her role is so significant to the main character and the end of the novel.   The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how a character that could be thought of as a minor character can sometimes be overlooked and play a very significant role and sometimes even more significant than the main character in this case Raskolnikov. Sonia is very often described or thought of as shy, timid, nervous, easily embarrassed and confused. Yes, she is a prostitute but reading closer and evaluating her role, she’s so much more than that. Unlike other characters in this novel, you cannot see inside her head. Even though she also has split personalities, like Raskolnikov, you have to dig a bit deeper to uncover her thoughts and secrets. Sonia is a woman that is humble yet very powerful as the same time. Being so, I title her as the most important character in the novel Crime and Punishment.

This nervous, shy, timid girl is the same girl who convinced the protagonist of the novel, Raskolnikov, to confess when no one else could. This is why I see her as the most significant. Out of all of other demanding, intimidating characters; this soft spoken and shy girl is the only one who actually got him to confess.   Porfiry tries to trick Raskolnikov into confession.   Porfiry says things like he doesn't want to...