Crime and Punishment Part 5, Chapters 1-6

Part 5, Chapters 1-6

Peter Petrovich wakes up to find himself still quite upset with the events of the previous day. He shares a room with Lebezyatnikov, who had in the past been his protege. He had wished to live with this young man for he had heard that Lebezyatnikov was a part of the group of progressives, and so wished to understand the power of this faction within Petersburg. Lebezyatnikov, on the other hand, had hidden from his old mentor that he was not at all an important member of the movement. Peter has been invited by Marfa Petrovna to the funeral as well as the dinner that is to follow, she had invited him the previous night when he had informed her that widows of serving clerks could secure a handsome pension. To his amusement, the woman had spent a great amount of the money Raskolnikov had given her in hosting a ridiculously lavish funeral dinner.

Peter purposefully needles Lebezyatnikov for once having thrashed Katerina Ivanovna. He also emphasizes to Lebezyatnikov that it was due to his intervention that Sonya had been caused to leave the apartment and seek accommodation elsewhere. Lebezyatnikov dismisses it all as being slander and unsubstantiated rumors, but given that he has a somewhat acquaintance with Sonya, Peter asks Lebezyatnikov to invite her into their room for a quick conversation.

The funeral-goers have just returned from the cemetery and are getting ready to dine when Lebezyatnikov brings Sonya. Peter asks Lebezyatnikov to remain as he speaks to Sonya. He first asks her to apologize to her stepmother on his behalf for he will be unable to attend the dinner. He then gives Sonya a little money so that she may be able to help in managing the expenses of her family. He asks her not to reveal the money to Katerina, and impresses upon her his intention to aid the family in some regular fashion. Sonya is deeply moved by this seemingly selfless action.

Katerina Ivanovna wants to show the world that her poor late husband was not indeed beneath any of the tenants that had looked down upon him during his life. Raskolnikov is given a place of honor on the dinner table at the widow's side, while Sonya sits next to him. Certain tenants had refused to attend the dinner due to the presence of Sonya which seemed to them an affront on gentle company, and the landlady throws this in Katerina's face when they disagree. Her mention of a yellow ticket seems to set off Katerina who charges at the woman and genuinely attempts to cause her bodily harm. Just then Peter Petrovich walks briskly out of his room.

Katerina Ivanovna on seeing Peter Petrovich rushes to him and begs him to speak to the landlady and stop her from disrespecting Sonya and her. Peter Petrovich dismisses her request callously and strides towards Sonya, who is standing right next to Raskolnikov. Peter claims that he is missing a note of a hundred roubles from his room, and no one except Sonya had entered his room. He accuses her of stealing from him right after he had offered her a generous donation for the sake of her family. Katerina rushes to the defense of Sonya, who weakly protests that she has no money except the ten rouble note that he had given her. Katerina snatches the note from Sonya and hurls it in Peter's face, defending Sonya furiously. Peter Petrovich asks that the police be sent for, but Katerina insists that they search Sonya right there. She turns out Sonya's pockets and a single hundred rubles floats out of her pocket and the onlookers exclaim the theft. Sonya is struck dumb for she has no idea how the note had found its way in her pocket. Just then a single voice interrupts the scene, the voice of Peter's roommate, Lebezyatnikov. He labels Peter a black and evil liar who had himself, in secret, placed the note in Sonya's pocket as she was leaving their room. At the time, Lebezyatnikov had thought Peter wished to aid the girl without revealing his charity too openly, but now he had come to see that Peter was committing a truly evil act. The other tenants are stunned by this revelation, while Peter Petrovich, who perceives the change in the crowd, questions everyone what possible motive would drive him to such a ridiculous machination. He attempts to discredit Lebezyatnikov's account, but Raskolnikov steps forward to supply the reason for Peter's twisted actions.

Raskolnikov explains that Peter Petrovich had recently misrepresented his actions to his family, he had falsely claimed that Raskolnikov had given all of his money to Sonya, while Raskolnikov had handed the money to Katerina. When his family had discovered Peter's inherent malice, they severed his betrothal with Dunya. Peter now wished to implicate Sonya as a criminal so he could then tell Dunya and Raskolnikov's mother that Raskolnikov was involved with a base woman. In this way, he wished to drive a wedge between Raskolnikov and his family. Lebezyatnikov quickly adds that it must be true for Peter had specifically asked about Raskolnikov's presence when he had called for Sonya. Everyone begins to realize the depth of the deceit in Peter, and he realizes that the game has turned. He quickly makes his way out of the room. Sonya is so relieved and overwhelmed by the situation, that she immediately rushes away to her home. The landlady becomes furious with Katerina and immediately begins to hurl her things about the apartment, demanding that Katerina vacate the premises immediately. Katerina leaves her children and rushes out into the streets to seek justice. Raskolnikov leaves to seek out Sonya's apartment for he had promised her he would tell her who had murdered Lizaveta.

He arrives at her home to find her waiting for him, and informs her of the landlady's demand that Katerina and the children vacate their premises, Sonya is very distressed and moves to leave but Raskolnikov calls her back. He wants to tell her about the murder of Lizaveta and begins his confession. He reveals to her that it was he who had killed her friend, he hadn't meant to kill her but had only planned on murdering her stepsister, the old pawnbroker. Sonya is shocked by his confession and horrified at how much misery Raskolnikov has been experiencing because of his sin. She asks him for an explanation, and he attempts to give her his reasons. At first, he claims that he had thought of what Napoleon would have done if he had been in the position that Raskolnikov had been in. He had determined that Napoleon would have killed the woman without remorse, but Raskolnikov has come to realize that he was no Napoleon but rather a louse, an ordinary man. Sonya doesn't believe this explanation, Raskolnikov attempts to explain again and says that he had only killed the woman because he had wanted to see if he was daring.

Sonya continues to disbelieve, and Raskolnikov finally determines that it was the temptation of the devil that had caused him to commit this sin. Sonya holds him, she tells him that she would never leave him and would follow wherever he would go. She believes that he should confess to the police, but Raskolnikov is opposed to that for he feels that the policemen are just as morally corrupt as him. However, he thinks that the police are bound to arrest him soon, and asks that Sonya come to visit him when he is in prison. She gives him her cross and asks that he put it on when he goes to face his suffering. Just then there is a knock at the door and Lebezyatnikov presents himself.

He explains that Katerina had lost her mind, that she had gone to see Marmeladov's old boss, and had interrupted him during an important meeting with a general. He believes that she had been mistreated at their hands, so she had returned home and made the decision to make her children dance in the streets as beggars right below the window of the general's window. Sonya rushes out, with Raskolnikov following close behind, and Lebezyatnikov chooses to follow him. As Raskolnikov walks, Lebezyatnikov details all the horrid things the madwoman was doing to her young and miserable children. Very soon, they arrive at Raskolnikov's home, where he abruptly enters his apartment and bids Lebezyatnikov farewell. He sits down on his bed unthinking and stares into space. Just then his door opens and Dunya enters the room. She has come to see him, and berate him for he had caused his family a lot of anguish, but she feels that perhaps it was his sickness. She also reveals that she had come to discover a little about his worry from Razumikhin, who believes it to be a complete misunderstanding. She wishes that he would recover and return to see them as often as he can manage. Before she leaves, Raskolnikov tells her that Razumikhin is a good man, industrious and kind of heart, and Dunya leaves the room blushing.

Raskolnikov takes to the streets and is soon found by Lebezyatnikov, who leads him to the bridge where Katerina is singing and making her little children dance in the street for money. The children and Sonya are crying as the sick woman coughs blood and is barely able to stand. She hits the children when they don't dance, and finally, the youngest of the children are overwhelmed by the whole situation and run away. Katerina attempts to run after the kids but her sick lungs seem to have reached their capacity, and she collapses with blood issuing from her mouth.

They carry her to Sonya's home which happens to be nearby, and they send for both a priest as well as a doctor. A large number of people accompany the dying woman inside the rooms, and one of them is Svidrigailov. Raskolnikov is very surprised to discover him there. Soon, Katerina passes away after leaving Sonya the guardianship of her children, and Sonya is wrecked at the loss. Svidrigailov pulls Raskolnikov aside and explains that he will pay for the funeral, send the children to a reputable orphanage, and leave for them all a large sum to claim when they become of legal age. Raskolnikov is extremely taken aback at this, and Svidrigailov continues with a knowing expression. He says that he understands Sonya is not a louse like an old and mean pawnbroker. Raskolnikov is dumbstruck by his words, and Svidrigailov concludes that Raskolnikov can explain to Dunya that he plans to use the sum he had intended for her to help with the orphans of Katerina Ivanovna. He reminds Raskolnikov that he had believed they would become close friends, and so they are on their way.

Analysis

This part marks the closure of subplots of both Peter Petrovich and the Marmeladov family. Peter Petrovich demonstrates his truly vile character by attempting to discredit Raskolnikov through the means of Sonya, he preys on the suffering creature to frame her for theft on the eve of her late father's funeral. By the end of the situation with Peter, it is made abundantly clear to the reader that there is to be no further intervention of Peter in the life of Dunya because of his depraved nature. The author uses this conflict to caricature the Russian intellectuals of his time in the form of Lebezyatnikov. This bumbling roommate of Peter Petrovich cannot help but lecture the onlookers about his perception of charity when he reveals to them how Peter had planted the supposedly stolen money on Sonya's person. All of his grandiose and intellectual standings are a sham, as Peter reminds him that it had been Lebezyatnikov who had beaten Katerina when she had defended her daughter Sonya from Lebezyatnikov.

The ending of the Marmeladov subplot is marked by the death of Katerina, who has always been described as a proud woman, who takes to her world of fantasy and illusions when the reality of her situation worsens. The dinner she had so carefully planned for her late husband, ends with a dramatic conflict that escalates into the landlady turning the family out. Unable to bear this turn, she rushes to seek the aid of the rich, but even they turn her out, and she decides that the world must see her reduced condition and bear witness to the callousness of the rich in not assisting a noble family like hers. She consistently asks her children to sing in French so that the onlookers may be aware of their educated and thus noble past. Contrast can also be drawn between Raskolnikov and Katerina in this regard, both of them are tortured by their pride, and by not being able to bring into reality the mental image they have of themselves. When Raskolnikov begins to realize that he is not a superman but merely a common person, he does become dejected and morose, but he does not collapse as Katerina does. Even in death, she refuses to summon a priest for she feels that not even God could begrudge her sins for she had borne such grief in life.