Crime and Punishment Part 3, Chapters 1-6

Part 3, Chapters 1-6

Raskolnikov recovers and receives an embrace from his mother and sister. They had already learned of what had occurred in the past few days from Nastasya. Raskolnikov's mother is deeply worried about him, but he tells them to leave with Razumikhin immediately, and that he will see them in the morning. They are reluctant to leave, for they are worried for his health, but Razumikhin is forceful and positively drags them out of the room. Before they leave though, Raskolnikov tells his sister that he understood she was marrying Peter Petrovich for his sake, and forbids her.

On the landing, Raskolnikov's mother and Dunya argue with Razumikhin, they want to stay within the house as they are worried about Raskolnikov's health. Razumikhin is disoriented not only from the alcohol but also by the exceptional beauty of Dunya, he promises to escort them to their lodgings, and then bring them a report of Raskolnikov's health, as well as the doctor, whose opinion they could certainly rely upon. The pair of women agree reluctantly and are escorted to the lodging by a babbling Razumikhin, who feels quite ecstatic in the presence of the beautiful Dunya. He reveals to them that the doctor had been worried about Raskolnikov's sanity a little earlier and that Raskolnikov had been right to chase away Peter Petrovich. He criticizes him quite severely and berates him for securing such an infamous place of lodging for his betrothed and her mother. He leaves them at the door and promises to return, the women continue to remain worried until Razumikhin returns with the information that Raskolnikov has gone to sleep. He then brings Zossimov to them, so that they could rest assured of Raskolnikov's health. Zossimov carefully and patiently explains to Dunya and her mother Raskolnikov's condition and assures them of a swift recovery. As Zossimov and Razumikhin are returning, they begin to discuss the cause of Raskolnikov's illness, Zossimov suspects a case of monomania. He feels that Raskolnikov's condition was already compromised due to his poor living conditions, but that his delirium had been precipitated by his monomania, for he had become worried that he was suspected of the pawnbroker's murder. Zossimov and Razumikhin both spend the night at the home of the landlady, Razumikhin hopes that Zossimov likes the landlady since he believes her to be a perfect match for him.

Razumikhin awakens the next morning, horrified by the events of the last night. He feels that he had made a poor showing of himself in front of Dunya and her mother. Zossimov leaves with the promise to return later onwards to check on Raskolnikov, while Razumikhin heads out to meet Dunya and her mother. They are both anxiously awaiting him, and to his surprise, they seem to place a great amount of trust in him. They interview him quite thoroughly on the condition of Raskolnikov, as well as the development in his personality during the past three years. Razumikhin offers them an unbiased account of Raskolnikov's behavior and transparently informs them that though he had a good heart, Raskolnikov could be callous and uncaring. He considers himself far above others and could grow moody at the slightest of incidents. They also want to discuss Razumikhin's impression of the interview thatPeter Petrovich had with Raskolnikov, and Razumikhin is much more restrained in this matter. They attempt to question him more deeply, but he simply concludes that it would be inappropriate for him to comment on the personality of Dunya's betrothed.

Raskolnikov's mother then shows him a letter that they had received from Peter Petrovich, he had written to apologize for not being able to meet them until the next evening, a meeting during which he wishes to discuss a sensitive matter. He tells them that he would like this meeting to be conducted without the presence of Raskolnikov, and informs them that he had seen Raskolnikov at the home of a drunk man who had been killed in an accident. He had seen Raskolnikov give the man's daughter a lot of money and confessed that the reputation of this woman was questionable. Razumikhin doesn't comment on the meeting but informs them that Raskolnikov had indeed mentioned visiting the home of a man who had been killed in an accident. He defers the decision of the meeting to Dunya, who feels that Raskolnikov must be present during their meeting with Peter Petrovich. With that said, the three of them head to Raskolnikov's building, and on their way, Dunya's mother tells them that she had dreamed of the recently deceased Marfa Petrovna.

They arrive at Raskolnikov's apartment to find him already washed and dressed. Zossimov is sitting on the couch, having arrived just 10 minutes before them. Zossimov declares that Raskolnikov is doing much better today, and that he expects Raskolnikov to be fully recovered very soon. Zossimov observes the irritability evident in his patient's behavior as he engages with his family. Raskolnikov begins to make amends and gives thanks to his friends for their generous service in caring for him in his illness, but his words seem hollow and mechanical.

Zossimov soon leaves, and the family begin to converse. They discuss the death of Marfa Petrovna, and Raskolnikov reveals to his family that he had donated the money they had sent him to the widow of a man who had been crushed by a horse carriage. He apologizes mechanically to them but Dunya defends his actions. Raskolnikov then raises the question of Dunya marrying Peter Petrovich, he repeats his insistence that she should not marry him for his sake. Dunya argues that she was marrying him of her own accord, and if her family were to benefit from the union then she would be happy for them all. Raskolnikov is at first very combative, but his resistance on the subject suddenly fades. His mother hands him the letter Peter had sent them earlier in the day. Raskolnikov reads it carefully, and hands it back to them. He criticizes the language since the letter is written in such a legal but rather uncouth manner. He also points out that he had given the money to the widow of the dead man, and not to the daughter as Peter had claimed. They ask Raskolnikov what he thinks of Peter's desire that he be left out of the meeting, and Raskolnikov tells them that he would do just as both Dunya and his mother see fit. Dunya demands that Raskolnikov be present for the meeting, and also extended a warm invitation towards Razumikhin, who blushingly accepts.

Their meeting is interrupted by the entry of Sonya, who seems very surprised when she sees the room so full of people, and almost retreats. Raskolnikov is at first uncertain of who she is, but he recognises her and then warmly invites her in. She explains that she had been sent by Katerina Ivanovna to entreat Raskolnikov to come to Marmeladov's service which is going to be being held at the church. Raskolnikov assures her that he would certainly try his best, and questions whether Katerina was able to make the arrangements with such little money. Sonya assures him that she had managed. Sonya then has a sudden outburst of emotion and splutters that Raskolnikov had given them all his money, a fact she observes from his poverty-marked apartment. Just as she says so, Raskolnikov's mother and sister decide to leave, and their opinion of Sonya improves markedly.

Raskolnikov pulls Razumikhin aside and reveals to him that he had pawned a couple of items to the old pawnbroker who had been slain, and he is worried about the items for one of them was the last remaining keepsake of his father. Razumikhin is delighted to learn so and immediately agrees to take Raskolnikov to Porfiry who would be able to assist Raskolnikov given his involvement with the case. Sonya renews her invitation, and Raskolnikov informs her that he would visit her place later in the day and notes down her address. Raskolnikov and Razumikhin leave to meet Porfiry, while Sonya begins to make her way home. She is lost in thought and dreads Raskolnikov's visit to her residence. She is closely followed by a man in his fifties, he notes Raskolnikov's apartment building and follows her to her residence. There he rings the bell of the apartment next to the one where she was staying, and enters it after greeting her warmly.

Razumikhin reveals to Raskolnikov that Porfiry had been looking forward to speaking with him since he had discovered that Raskolnikov had been a student of law at the university. Raskolnikov plays this information carefully in his head and determines a cautious plan of action. He teases Razumikhin about how he had blushed when he had been invited for dinner, purposefully doing so, in order to ensure that when they entered the house of Porfiry it was the sound of their laughter that was heard first.

Raskolnikov and Razumikhin have the appearance of stifling hearty peals of laughter as they meet Porfiry, who seems to be entertaining the company of Zamyotov. Greetings are exchanged, and Porfiry invites them all to sit. At Razumikhin's prompting, Raskolnikov explains how he too had pawned off things to the murdered woman but had been unable to come forward due to ill health. Porfiry surprises him by informing him that he had been expecting Raskolnikov to visit him with the information as his things had been found in the woman's home clearly labeled with his name as well as the date of the transaction. He explains that Raskolnikov was the last person among those who conducted business with the woman to come forward and reveal himself. Raskolnikov begins to detect a hidden meaning and intent behind Porfiry's words and understands that he is under suspicion.

The conversation turns towards the discussion that had been occurring in Razumikhin's apartment the previous night. Porfiry had put forward the idea that crime was a product of the environment. He now wished to discuss the question with Raskolnikov for he had read the article that Raskolnikov had written on crime. Raskolnikov is astonished at discovering the article had been published, and that Porfiry had gone out of his way to find and read the article. Porfiry requests Raskolnikov to expound on a claim that he had made in the article. In it, he had written that men can be divided as being ordinary or extraordinary and the latter kind had the right to break laws. Raskolnikov then goes into a detailed explanation of his view, he explains that he had been referring to great men like Napoleon, those who had new ideas that went against old laws. According to him, these visionaries were well within their rights to break the law in pursuit of their dream since the realization of their goal would have numerous benefits that would easily outweigh the evil of the crimes they commit in achieving their goal.

Porfiry has a very mocking tone as he delves deeper into the argument and it becomes evident that both he and Zametov are suspicious of Raskolnikov. As Raskolnikov begins to leave in displeasure, Porfiry invites him to the police station the following day as a part of a formal examination. He also attempts to trap Raskolnikov by asking if he had seen the painters on the second floor when he had visited the apartment. Raskolnikov detects the trap easily and informs the officer that he had seen no painters on the day of the visit, but he had seen a German family moving out of an apartment on the fourth floor. Razumikhin points out that the painters had been present on the day of the murder while Raskolnikov had visited the lady on business three days before that date, so how could he have seen the painters? Porfiry apologizes for muddling up the details and then happily bids them goodbye.

On their way to lunch with Raskolnikov's family, Razumikhin is particularly furious with Porfiry and Zamyotov for suspecting Raskolnikov for such a sinister thing. They arrive at the lodgings of Raskolnikov's family, and Raskolnikov asks Razumikhin to enter alone because he wants to be alone to think. He returns home hurriedly and searches his apartment for any traces of the crime that he may have forgotten about. As he is about to return to see his family, the porter points him out to a man in an overcoat. The man looks at Raskolnikov and then retreats, but Raskolnikov follows him and soon catches up to him. He asks him why he had been asking for him, and the man turns to him and calls him a murderer. Raskolnikov's knees go weak, and he stops, the man continues onwards while Raskolnikov returns to his room and falls asleep with weakness. He has a terrible nightmare and awakens as a man enters his room. The man quietly sits down and waits for Raskolnikov to wake up. When he does, the man reveals himself to be the husband of Marfa Petrovna, Mr. Svidrigailov.

Analysis

The character of Dunya serves as the perfect contrast to Raskolnikov, while both are in the same economic position, Dunya resorts to using rationality and intelligence in dealing with her circumstances. In fact, the author reverses the predominant gender stereotypes of the time, Raskolnikov acts irrational, is emotionally weak, and is prone to fits of fainting. On the other hand, Dunya displays a rational outlook and bravery in confronting and dealing with Peter Petrovich. The subplot of her engagement, and Razumikhin's infatuation with her, serve to ease the tension in the novel, which until this point has been focused completely on Raskolnikov's crime. Zossimov plays a minor role in the novel, but his remark to Razumikhin about Raskolnikov's apparent interest in the murder case is an important moment in the plot. Through this statement, the reader is able to perceive Raskolnikov's increasing agitation, which is now becoming visible to even a stranger like Zossimov and that allows him to accurately identify the subject which has that effect.

The reader is given a clue to Raskolnikov's motivation to commit the murder of Alyona Ivanovna by means of the article that he had written. The theme of the 'superman' is finally developed in this chapter, as Raskolnikov attempts to clarify his position on a crime committed in the pursuit of a greater good. While the article can be viewed as a harmless theory, Porfiry perceives it as a psychological clue. This image of the 'superman' that Raskolnikov has in his own mind, begins to be challenged very quickly. The first instance of this is when he is confronted by a stranger who labels him a murderer, which is a far cry from the label of a superman. The second instance of this challenging notion can be observed in Raskolnikov's nightmare, where his victim simply laughs at him and exposes him as weak. This is a slow realization that continues to develop as the book advances, and it is Raskolnikov's obstinate nature that causes him to come to terms with it much later when he has finally been sentenced to prison.