Agatha Christie once said, “If you love, you will suffer, and if you do not love, you do not know the meaning of a Christian life.” I believe Christie means that love and suffering go hand in hand, so if you love like a good Christian should, you will suffer and your Christianity does not protect you from that suffering, but brings it upon you almost like a test of your faith. The religious Dostoyevsky would agree with Christie, as his characters in Crime and Punishment Lizaveta, Dunia, and Sonia show. Lizaveta is not as prominent in the novel as Dunia or Sonia, but she plays a role in the novel and helps to illustrate that Dostoyevsky would agree with Christie as Lizaveta has strong faith, but still loves and still suffers. Lizaveta is …show more content…
Dunia is shown to love Raskolnikov, her mother, and Razumikhin throughout the novel. One instance where you see just how much Dunia loves in the novel is when she refuses to not have contact with Raskolnikov in order to marry Luzhin. Her love for her brother is so strong that she will not just forget about him in order to improve her own life through Luzhin's wealth by marrying him. Since Dunia arguably loves more than any other character in the book, she should suffer a large amount as well if Dostoevsky agrees with Christie’s quote, and she does suffer. Dunia is known to have suffered when she was trying to decide if she should marry Luzhin and stayed up all night praying. Then she suffered when Mrs. Svidrigailov spread rumors about her and Mr. Svidrigailov to the town. Dunia again is shown to suffer with how bothered, irritated, and annoyed when around Svidrigailov or when Svidrigailov is even talked about. Dunia even suffers again with Svidrigailov when she attempts to shoot him and might subject herself to him sexually abusing her late in the novel. Dunia loves and suffers showing that she knows the meaning of a Christian life as Christie believes and helps to show that Dostoyevsky would agree with Christie’s