Topic > The Character of Dounia in Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky

The Character of Dounia Crime and Punishment Dounia's commitment to her brother is unwavering. Even when presented with Luzhin's ultimatum, she continues to persevere in her dedication and loyalty to her irritable and scoundrel brother. She realizes that making sure Raskolnikov is there will likely secure her fate as she will not marry Luzhin. However, she refuses to do so if he does not accept his brother. Dounia's commitment and loyalty can be seen in her calm nature regarding the letter, in her loyal response to it, and in her actions when she goes to visit her brother: she regards his gestures and words with cautious skepticism, but yes she realizes that at least it's "not fake" when her hand is grabbed. When Pulcheria shows the letter to Dounia, she does not let her emotions go astray, but reads the letter like a military sergeant on the battlefield, simply carrying out the next order in an entire chain. He decides that he must talk to Raskolnikov before responding to Luzhin or making his own decision. She remains calm and collected in the face of the enormous division and rift that has now been created in her life: she has been presented with a dilemma, she will be forced to choose between the person she loves and the one she feels "esteem for". In the small attic of Raskolnikov, Pulcheria and Advotya go to visit and confer with the now "well" Dounia's main purpose is to give Raskolnikov a chance to come to their house when Luzhin is there which is essentially a women's choice, Dounia is firm in her commitment that he must be there. She wants to convince him that she is not doing this solely for his own good, but rather for her own she is just doing less overt actions that he has already done. Dounia, even after admitting that her marriage to Luzhin will help her a lot, still loyally insists that Raskolnikov must be present at the meeting. She is willing to risk what he professed simply for his own good. His physical actions when he visits his brother are an amalgam of compassion and skepticism. He's smart enough to realize that the things Raskolnikov says seem fake, like he wrote a script for him..