Character Analysis
Without Raisa, Leo would never have been able to stop Andrei. Although the couple endures their fair share of marital strife over the course of Child 44, Raisa's strength and determination prove invaluable to Leo's investigation.
Wandering Eyes
Frankly, Raisa and Leo's marriage was dead from the start. In fact, Raisa had only married Leo in the first place because she was afraid that "unless every gesture and glance pleased him she'd be in mortal danger" (3.17.5). She's actually a bit of a political dissident—for example, she'd much rather read Hemingway than Marx. To be honest, we can't think of a worse possible match for a die-hard MGB agent like Leo.
As a result, Raisa looks elsewhere for comfort. She falls in love with a fellow teach named Ivan, who shares her political beliefs: "though she'd never cheated on Leo sexually, she'd cheated on him with Ivan in almost every other way" (4.36.3). As this relationship grows, so does her distrust toward Leo—she even blames him for the arrest of her friend Zoya. Of course, when she learns the truth about this arrest, her mind is blown from here to Jupiter.
Face-Off
In a huge twist, Ivan is revealed be an undercover MGB agent. Raisa's world is suddenly turned upside-down—"the dissident had been the policeman and the policeman had become the counterrevolutionary" (4.37.7). This revelation coincides with some big changes in her marriage: now that Leo has been stripped of his authority, Raisa realizes that she did marry a good man, after all. And now that she believes that, the real teamwork can begin.
Ultimately, Raisa's defining characteristic is her will to survive. That's something she's always carried with her, from the death of her parents during her youth to her tumultuous adulthood. Her secret cyanide capsule shows just how desperate that fight got. But the thing about Raisa is that she'll never let you down—even if you need her help pulling the trigger on your little brother. No matter which way you slice it, Leo's mission would have ended in utter failure without Raisa on his side.