Crime and Punishment Q&A

Coincidence plays a vital role in driving the plot forward, the most important instance of coincidence in the novel is certainly the conversation that Raskolnikov overhears as he travels through the market. He has seemingly just made up his mind that he will not murder the old woman, but this resolution is quickly disproven as he learns that she would be all alone the following evening. To the delusional Raskolnikov, this instance is not a mere coincidence but rather fate pushing him to fulfill the action that will once and for all prove that he is an extraordinary man, a superman. He does encounter other coincidences as he sets out to kill the woman, the first is that of finding the ax in a new and undisturbed location, and the other is his unobserved entry into the building of the pawnbroker. Coincidences like Raskolnikov's discovery of the injured Marmeladov help push forward the plot of the novel and give it an unbalanced and delirious character that mirrors the mindset of the protagonist.