By observing the comparison of Rodya and Lazarus, the notion of death being the loss of morality and rising from the dead being reconciliation of faith is brought to the forefront of Crime and Punishment. In Fydor Dostoeycky’s Crime and Punishment, there are themes of forgiveness, sin, and redemption drawing similarities and connections to the Bible heavily. The main character, Raskolnikov, draws a lot of comparison to the figure of Lazarus and his story as told in the Bible. Another note is that in the telling of Lazarus’ story, there are three other characters that are significant and draw similarities to Crime and Punishment‘s characters as well. Although there is no parallel to Jesus, but rather a notion of God and morality throughout the text that acts as Rodya’s conscience when debating his actions. The Biblical figures of Mary of Bethany and Martha, which are prominent figures in Lazarus’ story, can be seen in parallel with the characters of Katrina Ivanovna, who is met after Part One on in the book, and Sonya, who will also be met later, but is very significant to Rodya’s story and character development.
In the Book of John, Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead is detailed and is regarded as one of Jesus’ greatest miracles. It reads, “Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again. Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?” (John 11: 23-26). This scene represents the whole of Part One of Rodya in Crime and Punishment. If Rodya is Lazarus’ parallel, in this part Rodya is in a state of being dead as Lazarus is because Rodya’s faith is in question. As Jesus is asking Martha if she believes that “whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die” this is a trial for Rodya in a way. If this is true, that Rodya can overcome his demons and regain his sense of mortality he can be lifted from this ‘death’ like Lazarus. In a metaphorical sense, he is stuck inside the tomb and is spiraling in death and sin. To prove this point further, Lazarus’ disposition is similar to Rodya’s as it reads: “And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin” (John 11: 44). While in the book, Rodya is first met with the description: “He was so badly dressed that another man, even an accustomed one, would have been ashamed to go out in such rags during the daytime” (Dostoevsky 4). The essence of Lazarus’ arc of life and rising from the dead is rooted on his faith, so Rodya’s seems to point in the same direction. Even the title of the book eludes to this Biblical Day of Judgement and forgiveness with “crime” meaning sin and loss of morality and “punishment” meaning accountability and forgiveness. It is interesting to see how heavily this relationship between Rodya and Lazarus extends and the Biblical influence that runs throughout the text.