What is the Significance of a Yellow Passport?
Crime and Punishment is a notable literary work by Fyodor Dostoevsky. A complete discussion of this literary work is given, which will help you enhance your literary skills and prepare for the exam. Read the Main texts, Key info, Summary, Themes, Characters, Literary devices, Quotations, Notes, and various study materials of Crime and Punishment.
Answer
What is the significance of a yellow passport? [NU: 2018]
In “Crime and Punishment” (1866) by Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821-1881), the yellow passport is very symbolic. It is not just a paper. It shows shame, poverty, and social judgment. Through Sofya Semyonovna Marmeladov (Sonia), Dostoevsky uses it to show pain, sacrifice, and humanity.
The Yellow Passport and Sonia’s Sacrifice: Sofya Semyonovna Marmeladov (Sonia) has a yellow passport. In St. Petersburg, this passport was given to women who had to register as prostitutes. Sonia accepts it not for herself but for her starving family. Marmeladov says,
“My daughter Sofya Semyonovna has been forced to take a yellow ticket.”
Katerina Ivanovna, her stepmother, cries,
“She has the yellow passport because my children were starving, she sold herself for us!”
This shows that Sonia chose suffering to save others. Her sacrifice becomes a symbol of love and faith.
The Yellow Passport and Social Disgrace: The yellow passport makes Sonia an exile in Petersburg society. She is treated with suspicion and insult. Even Pyotr Petrovitch Luzhin tries to use her condition to disgrace her. But Raskolnikov defends her dignity, saying she is worth more than Luzhin himself. Thus, the passport is not just an ID, it is a mark of dishonor in the eyes of society. Dostoevsky uses it to expose social cruelty and hypocrisy.
The Yellow Passport as a Path to Redemption: Though the yellow passport brings shame, it also becomes a way to redemption. Sonia keeps her faith and love strong even in disgrace. Raskolnikov, after the murder of Alyona and Lizaveta, finds light through Sonia’s compassion. The yellow passport, which shows Sonia’s sin in society’s eyes, becomes the very thing that makes her a guide for Raskolnikov’s confession and spiritual rebirth. It proves Dostoevsky’s belief that even from shame, grace can rise.
The yellow passport in “Crime and Punishment” is more than a document. It shows Sonia’s sacrifice, the cruelty of Petersburg society, and the chance of redemption. Through it,Unlock this study guide now
