Sonia and Raskolnikov in Crime and PunishmentSonia and Raskolnikov are two characters who interact with each other in the novel Crime and Punishment. They interact on multiple levels, sharing several similarities. Both of these characters sacrifice themselves at times, both struggle to find meaning in a sad existence, and both are generally unhappy people, but they rejoice and seem to enjoy each other's presence, even when Raskolnikov berates his religion. What is the self-sacrifice that these characters and so many people around the world are committed to? It is the desire to help those around us more than we desire to help ourselves. This is not a normal human state, although it can easily be determined by social pressures, and sometimes even political societies can impose this attitude. However, Sonia practices a form of altruism for her family. He acquires a yellow card and takes his body to the moral slaughterhouse by sacrificing it to others for money, money that will go to his poor starving family. Although it is not his predominant state of mind or action, Raskolnikov has temporal tendencies toward self-sacrifice. It seems that part of his state of mind when considering the pawn shop murder is that it will help society as a whole - surely a motive that comes from the outside. Sonia and Raskolnikov share many characteristics that make them an interesting match for each other. The tendency to sacrifice oneself for one, and live so for another, provides an amalgam of psychological similarities that help the characters relate. Partly because of their altruistic lives, both characters are also trying to search for meaning in their lives. the sad existence to which they are subjected. Sonia finds this meaning in the Bible, in faith in God. Raskolnikov writes a theory. He finds comfort in thinking that he himself is a god-like creature, he believes he is extraordinary. Believing that we are subjects of the Divine and thinking that there are two divisions among men is extremely close. Both of these characters also have their own meaning attached. Porfiry Petrovich attacks and looks for holes in Raskolnikov's theory. Perhaps in reaction to this, Raskolnikov finds holes in Sonia's support for the meaning of life: God, the Bible, and her faith. The final glue that continually attracts these two characters is the fact that all their morbid similarities unite them in such a way that they truly enjoy each other's presence..