Did Raskolnikov Repent?

Assignment: Blog about RRR's repentance, if and when. You may quote, summarize, or report.

It is my assertion that he did in fact repent. Repenting consists of admitting one's wrong and then committing oneself to not repeating the wrong. RRR admits his sin to Sonia when he first confesses to her:

"Sonia, I have a bad heart, take note of that... I have come because I am bad...... Well, of course in killing the old woman I did wrong. Well, that's enough." (pp325-327)

It is true that he continues to indulge in rationalization of his crime, but I find this to be a realistic portrayal of the sinner and his sin. The Bible talks about the continual working out of one's salvation (Phil 2:12) and in other places of an ongoing process of being saved. In RRR's confession to Sonya, and then to the public at the "crossroads," and finally to the law, he puts himself in the singular position of repentance. But his redemption is far from over.

Redemption happens in the epilogue (structurally significant, I think). It's important to note that this part of his salvation is worked out alongside Sonya. It would not have happened outside of love. The first part is largely mental -- yes, I am a sinner just like the rest of humanity, and I can't save myself. The second part is a transformation of the heart -- walk alongside me, Sonya, walk with me, Jesus.

"[Raskolnikov] could not have analyzed anything consciously; he was simply feeling. Life had stepped into the place of theory and something quite different would work itself out in his mind... But that is the beginning of a new story -- the story of the gradual renewal of a man, the story of his gradual regeneration, of his passing from one world into another, of his initiation into a new unknown life." (p430)