Summary Pt. 1

“Crime and Punishment” is a book about the idea of murder and explores the whole concept inside and out. In the beginning, a former student named Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov sets out to visit a pawnbroker in an impoverished section of St. Petersburg in Russia. Alyona Ivanovna, the old pawnbroker, is a stingy, greedy and careless person who regards Raskolnikov lower than a peasant and even gives him less money for what his pawned item is worth. After this encounter with Alyona Raskolnikov starts to develop a macabre idea to kill this worthless “louse” of a woman. He reasons that his crime would benefit the world more than hinder it due to her worthlessness and that the good deeds he could accomplish with her money would offset the crime of killing her in the first place. Pondering whether or not he should commit this crime causes Raskolnikov to explore the very core concepts of ethics and philosophy of murder. As he continues to ponder on this idea, Raskolnikov meets a drunk in a local bar named Marmeladov, who tells him of his tough life and his family, in particular his daughter Sonya, a prostitute, and his wife Katerina Ivanovna who work hard but with little hope in their impoverished lives. Marmeladov, a hopeless drunk who drinks his family’s money, laments himself and the sins that he commits. Raskolnikov walks him home and is struck by the impoverished conditions of the family and leaves money for them before he returns home. This instance is the beginning of the constant poverty seen in the novel that inflicted many in St. Petersburg at the time. The next day, Raskolnikov receives letter from his mother telling him that his sister Dunya is set to marry a middle-aged lawyer named Pyotr Petrovich Luzhin, which Raskolnikov suspects is a sacrifice Dunya is making for him, reminding him of Sonya’s prostitution to help her family. Again, the motif of the poverty that many struggled with at the time appears as one can determine that Dunya is trying to help lessen Raskolnikov’s problems by providing him with money and assistance. Soon after falling asleep that night, Raskolnikov has an ominous and vivid dream of an incident that in which he witnesses peasants beating an emaciated horse to death. This dream is an important factor in the novel because, while striking Raskolnikov with horror and fear for the act he wants to commit, it influences him to believe that it is necessary and for “the greater good”.  Believing this, Raskolnikov then overhears Alyona Ivanovna’s sister, Lizaveta, talking and reveals that she will not be at their apartment that evening, meaning Alyona will be alone. At this point Raskolnikov believes that this is his perfect opportunity to strike and plans on the murder and fully believes in what he is doing. Raskolnikov, leading to this event, has developed a view of himself as a supernatural being and assures himself that he will be as careful as possible and will not get caught. This supernatural being theme that develops in the novel first part of the novel in Raskolnikov’s mind turns out to lead others to suspect him of the crime. The evening of his crime, Raskolnikov has murder on his mind and desires to get rid of his troubles once and for all. Though he has good intentions, Raskolnikov’s plan does not unfold as intended when after he kills Alyona with the butt of his axe he unexpectedly kills Lizaveta, who walks in. Distressed, he only grabs what he can of value and barely escapes the apartment building. The next few days Raskolnikov goes back and forth from delirium and clarity. He starts feelings compelled to confess to the crime to the police but decides not to.  When he is called into the police station Raskolnikov becomes increasingly anxious and nervous which causes the police to be somewhat suspicious of him but don’t come to any accusations. Raskolnikov then receives money from his mother, who is arriving to St. Petersburg in the next couple of days with Dunya to meet Luzhin, in the mail. Raskolnikov at this point has been suffering from his crime and its negative effects through a delirious and confusing sickness for the last week or so. His friend Razumikhin accompanies him to help him through this fever that he is dealing with so to take care of him and to make sure that he doesn’t get into trouble.

            As Raskolnikov lies in his bed and Razumikhin accompanies him in his room, Pytor Petrovich Luzhin opens his door. Immediately Raskolnikov develops a disliking of Luzhin, who shows himself as a pompous and naive person. Eventually the two men get in a fight over whether or not Luzhin is just using Dunya for his own good. Upset at this accusation, Luzhin eventually leaves the apartment saying that he does not want to see Raskolnikov again. After this event, Raskolnikov bumps into the head police inspector, Zamyotov, when he ventures out, even in the frail condition he is in. Raskolnikov brings up almost crazed subjects such as if he was the killer and how he would commit the crime of killing Alyona and Lizaveta, nearly confessing to the murder once again. Zamyotov is troubled and somewhat suspicious of the behavior that Raskolnikov exhibits here and the two part ways. After this discussion Raskolnikov appears to be past the point of reason and contemplates suicide when he stand on a bridge. Suicide seems to be the last point that Raskolnikov can go to that he thinks about a lot in the novel. While it isn’t a major theme, Raskolnikov thinks about it enough to be considered as an influential factor in his decision-making. Disgusted by the thought of suicide he leaves the bridge and goes back to the Ivanovna household in which he killed the two sisters. Acting like a madman he is thrown out and on his way back to his house he discovers Marmeladov’s body lying in the street with a crowd surrounding it. As Raskolnikov discovers, Marmeladov was drunk and run over by a horse carriage in the street. Still alive but barely breathing, Marmeladov is rushed to his impoverished home by Raskolnikov and some help that he gets from witnesses at the tragic event. After Marmeladov passes away after asking but not receiving forgiveness from Katerina Ivanovna in her impoverished home, Raskolnikov takes pity on the impoverished family and leaves them money even in his impoverished state. On returning to his apartment later that day with Razumikhin he comes upon Dunya and his mother, Pulcheria Alexandrovna, who are grief-stricken at Raskolnikov’s condition. After a while Raskolnikov starts to feel better and acts much more normal to his family and friends. The calm mood that Raskolnikov exhibits is ruined by Raskolnikov telling Dunya not to marry Luzhin. The family agrees to meet with Luzhin at night believes that he will be able to tell if Luzhin has good intentions even when Raskolnikov is not in his good favors. Sonya then appears to invite Raskolnikov to Marmeladov’s funeral and the memorial dinner Katerina has planned afterwards. Sonya is astonished by the poverty that Raskolnikov lives in even when he gives money to her family. After Sonya, Pulcheria Alexandrovna and Dunya leave, Raskolnikov and Razumikhin go to Porfiry Petrovich’s, a police inspector, house to get back Raskolnikov’s watch that he pawned to Alyona Ivanovna.