Convinced that he can commit the perfect crime, the former student Raskolnikov murders a pawn broker hoping to end his poverty. But he finds that his feelings of guilt and shame make living with his crime unbearable. He finds redemption through Sonya, a noble woman forced to work as a prostitute to support her impoverished family, who forgives him and urges him to confess. Dostoevsky’s story of redemption was influenced by his Christian faith, but drew equally on the philosophical debates of his day and the social realities of his time. Is anyone above the moral law? Can crimes be forgiven? Can people be reformed?