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$Title{Works of Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Crime and Punishment: Part Two}
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$Author{Dostoyevsky, Fydor}
$Affiliation{Associate Professor Of Modern Languages, Florida State University}
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Title:       Works of Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Book:        Crime and Punishment
Author:      Dostoyevsky, Fydor
Critic:      Simons, John D.
Affiliation: Associate Professor Of Modern Languages, Florida State University

Crime and Punishment: Part Two

Chapter One

     Theme And Characterization. Raskolnikov's actions immediately after the
murder are an enactment of certain ideas expressed in his article "On Crime."
There he wrote that the perpetration of a crime is always accompanied by a
disease something like a fever which increases as the crime nears, reaches
its peak during the act, and continues unabated for several days thereafter.
It is for this reason that most crimes are so easily solved. At the moment of
overstepping, the criminal suffers a breakdown of his rational faculties. His
willpower is replaced by the most astonishing carelessness just at the time
when he is most in need of caution and reason. In other terms, the criminal
becomes his own worst enemy because his unconscious mind will attempt to
betray him at every turn.

     Raskolnikov's essay contains yet another important insight. Most
criminals, he claims, not only have a secret desire to be captured but have
an even greater one to redeem themselves through suffering. If the criminal
happens to be one of those "ordinary" men who do not have the right to
overstep, they will punish themselves even more severely than the law:
"...they castigate themselves, for they are conscientious; some perform
this service for one another and others chastise themselves with their own
hands...They will impose various public acts of penitence upon themselves
with a beautiful and edifying effect; in fact you've nothing to be uneasy
about...It's like a law of nature." These ideas account for Raskolnikov's
peculiar behavior after the crime.

     Returning home, the student collapses on the sofa, his mind overwrought
and delirious. Several times during the night he jumps up in terror, looks for
bloodstains on his clothes, paces up and down the room fearing for his reason.
He is particularly incensed at himself for making so many mistakes while
trying to erase the traces of the crime. Although he remembers to tear out the
noose and cut it up, he leaves some blood-soaked rags lying in the middle of
the floor. When he undresses and examines every thread for stains, he fails to
see that the stolen trinkets make a conspicuous bulge where he has concealed
them behind the wall paper. Raskolnikov the intellectual is unable to control
Raskolnikov the human being. The following day, and for that matter for the
rest of the book, the two sides of his nature are locked in combat. His human
side feels guilt and urges him to confess while his rational side struggles
to keep him free.

     At The Police Station. Raskolnikov experiences a new dimension in terror
when he receives a summons from the police. He immediately thinks that the law
is on to him and that the summons is merely a ruse to get him out of the room
so that it may be searched. So great is the misery of his guilt and his desire
to be caught that he leaves the trinkets where they are.

     The episode at the police station is a study in criminal psychology.
Raskolnikov enters with a faint heart and trembling legs, but as soon as he
discovers that the summons is concerned with some money he owes the landlady
and that he is not under suspicion for the murder, he commences to attract the
attention he unconsciously wishes. He gets into a shouting match with Ilya
Petrovich, asks questions, and tells the superintendent about the landlady's
daughter to whom he was engaged. When this proves ineffective, he faints just
at the moment the discussion turns upon the murder. But Nikodim Fomitch is too
good-natured to suspect the student and Ilya Petrovich is concerned only with
preserving his dignity and so the criminal leaves.

Chapter Two

     Theme And Characterization. This chapter describes Raskolnikov's actions
just before he is overcome by fever. Believing it is just a matter of time
before a warrant is issued for his arrest, he makes haste to get rid of the
money and trinkets. His actions, however, are anything but coherent. First he
decides to fling the money into the canal, but then he wanders about for hours
before finally hiding the stolen goods under a stone. The alert reader will
have noticed by now that the student does not look at the trinkets, nor doe
she count the money in the purse. This strange fact is the first indication
that he has not committed the murder for the money. If money had been the
primary motivating factor he would, at the very least, have counted it.

     His visit to Razumikhin further underscores his spiritual deterioration.
He does not know why he has come to his friend's house other than that he
intended to do so after the murder. We understand quite well, however, that it
is a muffled cry for help. He asks for work, receives some translating to do
along with some money, mumbles something about how much he admires Razumikhin,
walks out the door, then comes back ten minutes later to give it back.

     The lash Raskolnikov receives from the coachman's whip satisfies in a
way his desire for punishment. This is especially apparent if we consider that
he purposely walks in the middle of the street, an action that is sure to
bring about an injury. Significantly, he accepts the blow as justified. Later,
when he flings the coin that a compassionate woman gave him into the water, he
symbolically severs the last thread that binds him to his fellow human beings.

     That night the agony of his guilt manifests itself in the dream in which
Ilya Petrovich mercilessly beats the landlady. The dream signifies his
resentment toward his former benefactress for betraying him, his fear of the
lieutenant, and his own thirst for punishment. Most importantly, it shows how
far his mind has deteriorated in that he can no longer distinguish dream from
reality. He is convinced that the beating actually took place.

Chapter Three

     Characterization. Razumikhin traces Raskolnikov to his lodgings intending
to repay the insult, but when he finds him unconscious in the grips of fever,
he takes care of him. Like Raskolnikov, Razumikhin is a student who has been
forced to withdraw from the university for lack of money. But he has not given
up hope. He supports himself by giving lessons and doing translations until he
can go back to school. Uncomplicated, frank, and outgoing he is
extraordinarily cheerful and friendly. He has many friends and everyone likes
him. Even Raskolnikov reflects that it is hardly possible to be on any but
friendly terms with him. Unlike his friend, Razumikhin knows what he wants,
who he is, and what he stands for.

     Raskolnikov, however, is not so pleased with Razumikhin. His premeditated
rudeness and bad manners severely tax our good feelings toward him. Genuinely
liking his sick friend, Razumikhin nurses him, fetches a doctor, and
straightens out his difficulties with the police and the landlady.
Raskolnikov, however, resents this display of affection and concern which, to
be sure, owes partly to the effects of his illness and partly to his general
state of mind.

     Raskolnikov's actions throughout the chapter indicate that he is not in
full possession of his faculties, even though he believes himself to be in
full control of the situation. He waits impatiently for the visitors to leave
his room and then, instead of doing something coherent, leaps up, races about,
empties a beer and falls asleep. He remembers nothing upon awakening.

Chapter Four

     Theme. As in a drama, this chapter serves as an exposition in which
information is introduced that is essential for future developments. The
chapter is given over to a conversation between Doctor Zossimov and Razumikhin
who narrates and analyzes the events of the murder as they are presently known
to the police. Raskolnikov naturally hears everything although he pretends to
understand nothing. He learns that while the police have no real clues to the
murderer's identity, they have arrested the painter Nikolay. This simpleton
from the provinces, terrified of the police, will later confess to the crime
at the precise moment Raskolnikov is about to break down in Porfiry's office.

Chapter Five

     Theme And Characterization. At this point the conversation is interrupted
by the entrance of Luzhin, Dunya's fiance. His physical appearance is what one
might suppose it to be after reading the letter from Raskolnikov's mother.
Plump, stiff, and pompous, he pauses at the door expecting to impress the
company with his magnificence. Although he has been in Petersburg only a few
days, he has used the time to get himself decked out in new clothes and
coiffed in the latest fashion. He looks somewhat imposing but one senses
immediately something repulsive about him.

     After Razumikhin's and Zossimov's indifference to his appearance
deflates his ego, he tries to win their approval by trotting out a few
progressive phrases that he has picked up in the last few days such as:
"Literature is taking a maturer form, many injurious prejudices have been
rooted up and turned to ridicule ... In a word we have cut ourselves off
irrevocably from the past." However, neither well turned phrases nor
fashionable clothes can hide his baseness for long. Soon we learn that in
order to keep his bride in her place he has arranged for them to stay in a
squalid apartment near the Haymarket. Luzhin represents everything that
Dostoyevsky hated in real life: hypocritical respectability, a petty sense of
self-importance, and above all the cautious, calculating attitude of the petty
Russian middle-class. Small wonder that Raskolnikov is revolted by this
creature and insults him in the most savage way.

[Hear Luzhin's Attempt Of Approval]

     Language As Characterization Technique. Dostoyevsky characterizes persons
through external appearance as well as through speech. Luzhin phrases
everything in stylistic office jargon, speaking as if he were dictating a
business letter. Marmeladov expresses himself in the language of a minor civil
servant. He even uses Church Slavisms when describing his suffering and
destitution. Razumikhin employs a kind of ecstatic ornamentality while
Raskolnikov speaks in short, clipped, hurried sentences.

Chapter Six

     Theme Of Alienation. Half delirious, feverish, and weak, Raskolnikov is
overcome by a desire to get out into the street and mingle with the crowd.
The flight from his room is a symbolical effort to escape from the
after-effects of the crime. He wanders aimlessly about, listens to music for
a moment, and here and there tries to talk to people who, however, are either
afraid of him or take him for a madman. Again symbolically, he is unable to
communicate with anyone because the murder has cut him off from society. Even
his efforts to converse with a prostitute are futile. We are not surprised to
learn that he has about decided to turn himself in to the police.

     Crystal Palace. Raskolnikov is sitting in the Crystal Palace Cafe
(Dostoyevsky uses the Crystal Palace as a symbol for everything he believes
is wrong with rationalism and science) reading newspaper accounts of the
crime, when the head clerk Zametov notices him and comes over to say a few
words. There follows a chilling scene in which the murderer once more tries
to incriminate himself. Steering the conversation to crime, the student drops
hints that he knows more about the murder than one supposes. He insists that
he would never be guilty of such blunders as were committed by the Moscow
counterfeiters, a group of criminals currently in the news. Finally, when
Zametov asks how Raskolnikov might have killed moneylender, he tells the
clerk in detail exactly how he did commit the crime, including a description
of the stone where he hid the money. During the course of the conversation he
makes five direct allusions to his involvement. Though shocked at this
peculiar behavior, Zametov thinks the young man is making a joke. Finally, as
if absolutely determined to implicate himself, Raskolnikov says: "And what if
it was I who murdered the old woman and Lizaveta?" This statement only
succeeds in convincing Zametov of the contrary.

     Characterization. Raskolnikov seems to derive a perverse thrill from
implicating himself, feeling the same cold shivers and tightness in his
stomach that he felt listening at Alyona's door just before she opened it. Yet
another aspect of his personality is revealed when he meets Razumikhin on the
way out. Irritated, he decides to wound his friend. Gloating over the vicious
phrases, he tells him to leave him alone, says that he is sick of his face,
and shouts that he wants neither his friendship nor his benevolence.
Throughout the novel he abuses those who love him most because he regards
himself as a "loathsome and vile insect" who has no right to love and
friendship.

     Murder Scene Revisited: The night Raskolnikov returns to the scene of
the crime is probably the novel's most famous episode. He rings the bell and
feels once more the cold shivers, the terror of that night. He rings a second
and a third time, remembering the "agonizing, fearful sensation he had felt
then." He walks through the rooms which are being repainted, asks questions
about the blood, the murder, the apartment, and ends by giving the porter his
name and address. Thus Raskolnikov, unable to live with the consequences of
his deed, creates more and more evidence for his own arrest. It is ironic that
he must do most of the work himself.

Chapter Seven

     Theme And Characterization. Most of this chapter relates the
circumstances of Marmeladov's death and Raskolnikov's further involvement with
the family. Walking along the street after revisiting the scene of the crime,
the student comes upon a large crowd gathered in the street around a body.
Lying on the pavement, his face and chest crushed by the wheels of a heavy
carriage, is Marmeladov. Raskolnikov recognizes him and feels compelled to
take charge of the situation. He identifies the victim and tips the policemen
to get him home.

     At the Marmeladov's lodgings the reader is overwhelmed by the extent
of the family's misery. The description of the widowed Katerina Ivanovna is
particularly vivid. She has terminal tuberculosis and is already coughing
blood. Living entirely in the glories of her past, she tells the children
romanticized stories of her youth. No longer able to cope with the real
world, she transforms events and people into fairy tales. Raskolnikov becomes
a rich young nobleman with important connections whom her husband has known
for years. She even sees her husband as being under the direct protection
of the Governor General.

     After Marmeladov dies on the sofa, Raskolnikov gives Katerina Ivanovna
twenty rubles, all his money. What is the reason for this generosity? This
question becomes especially relevant when we consider how badly he needs the
money. Moreover, this was money that his mother raised on her pension.
Critics disagree about the explanation. Some claim that his act is a
momentary aberration that can be attributed to the aftereffects of the fever.
Others point out the similarity to the scene in Chapter Four of Part One in
which the student comes to the aid of the young girl in the street. In both
cases Raskolnikov is making an attempt to "prove" to himself that he is of use
and is not a burden. There is yet a third reason for Raskolnikov's largesse.
He is indirectly - and unknowingly - purchasing the family's gratitude and
friendship, two things that he badly misses in his life. The scene with
Polenka on the staircase shows how much Raskolnikov needs affection and
admiration. This experience puts the young man into good spirits and he now
decides to call on Razumikhin.

     Razumikhin's Party. Raskolnikov goes to Razumikhin's housewarming to
make amends for his atrocious behavior of the previous hour. Razumikhin is
delighted and forgiving as always. Since his friend is too weak to get home
by himself, Razumikhin accompanies him and, of course, lets slip that the
police are interested in Raskolnikov's suspicious behavior. While the
conversation with Zametov took place only a few hours ago, everyone at the
party had already heard about it. Raskolnikov is pleased to learn that he has
become the object of intense scrutiny. He is not so pleased to hear
Razumikhin say that Zossimov has guessed the cause of his illness. A
specialist in mental disorders, the doctor has concluded that the delirium
is the product of monomania. Moreover, the doctor had noticed and pointed out
to Razumikhin's guests (one of which is Porfiry Petrovich) that his patient
is indifferent to everything but the murder.

     It is noteworthy that Dostoyevsky was fond of putting the most incisive
minds into unimposing bodies. Zossimov is short and overweight. The
examining magistrate Porfiry, an admirable character, is also physically
nondescript.

     Notebooks To "Crime And Punishment." Here it will be worthwhile to
mention what Dostoyevsky did not put in this chapter. In one of the three
notebooks to the novel we learn that he intended to include a scene in which
Raskolnikov would attend Razumikhin's party and there reveal his true self.
One of the prime motivating factors of the crime was to be Raskolnikov's
satanic pride. Arrogantly, he tells the guests that he wants nothing less than
to seize power over society and rule like a despot. Throughout the notes, the
author emphasizes the hero's exorbitant, devil-like pride and absolute
contempt for people. In fact, he was to surrender himself to the police from
contempt. While in the final version these traits have been toned down, pride
and arrogance remain the outstanding features of the hero's personality.

rding to Christian teachings. Soon religion
and the prevalent culture became one. Religious ethics penetrated customs,
laws, the whole social framework. Each succeeding generation internalized the
heritage and reinforced its terms to the point where even the atheist is
forced to play his part in this on going process.

     Thus for Dostoyevsky culture is within us. Culture and the personality
are a unit, indivisible, and mutually dependent. Each decision, every moral
choice, each value judgment, everything we do and think is in accordance with
the total personality. A person can no more exclude cultural heritage from
his personality than he can exclude the unconscious.

     Dostoyevsky's conception of the interrelationship between culture,
religion, and the personality implies a truth about man as an ethical
creature. Each man is a reflection of his heritage and he carries within
himself a system of absolute values and a clear conception of the Good
created in the image of Christianity. Dostoyevsky believes that moral
absolutes are functional inner laws that guide Western man. If this quasi
instinctual knowledge of right and wrong is transgressed, psychic
disintegration will result. As we have pointed out before, Dostoyevsky is not
a rationalist. For him, it is not reason that impels us toward the Good but
the heart, the spirit. If a person refuses to listen to his heart, ethics
become a matter of convenience. Morality loses its foundation, freedom becomes
amoralism. Dissolution awaits the man who infringes those inner absolutes.

     The Crime Reexamined. In the light of the foregoing let us take another
look at the crime. Raskolnikov begins with a simple question: Are there any
moral limits in human nature or is everything permissible? Concluding that
there is no God and thus no sacred canons, he comes to the tempting delusion
that everything is allowable and proceeds to an act of crime. His encounter
with total freedom, however, ends in a spiritual disaster. He murders with
the intention to confirm his theory only to discover soon thereafter that
man's ethical nature forbids the killing of even the most harmful person.
With the old woman he kills all hope to find a guiding principle for his life
outside the traditional moral framework. At this point, however, he does not
comprehend what is happening to him. His confusion is reflected in the dream
in which he tries to kill Alyona a second time.

     Raskolnikov's Dream. The dream is composed of elements from recent
experience. The man who beckons is the same one in the overcoat who called
him a murderer. The student follows him through the streets to Alyona's house,
goes up the staircase, and finds himself once again in the moneylender's
apartment. Everything is the same as on the night of the murder. The events
that follow are a symbolical reenactment of the crime. This time the deed is
presented not as it actually happened but as it affected him. Seeing an object
in the corner covered with a large cloth, he thinks it is the man in the
overcoat. But when he looks, he sees Alyona bent double, hiding her face in
her lap. Removing the axe from the noose, he strikes her with it. When nothing
happens, he bends down to look but she too bends lower. He gets down on the
floor and looks at her face from below and is horrified to see that she is
silently shaking with mirth, doing her best to conceal it. Overcome with
frenzy, Raskolnikov strikes her again and again, but the harder he hits the
louder she laughs. Rushing onto the staircase he sees that all the doors are
open with people silently staring at him. Paralyzed with fear, he can neither
scream nor move.

     The dream dramatizes the hero's predicament and passes judgment on his
existence. In the beginning Raskolnikov had hoped that the crime would give
purpose and direction to his life and perhaps define his potentialities. Now
we understand why Alyona laughs at the failure of his efforts. The young man
has attempted to put himself above humanity and has failed. Striking the old
woman is merely a symbolical flailing out against the impersonal forces that
are closing in on him from all sides. As the dream reveals, all struggle is
ineffectual and hope is a delusion. The magnitude of his powerlessness
dawning at last, Raskolnikov stands on the staircase immobilized by terror,
vainly trying to scream. It is the noiseless scream of impotence.

     This scene is one of Dostoyevsky's most poignant comments on the human
condition. He is saying that life without God, without the living sense of the
Good as the guiding principle, is indeed devoid of meaning.

