Crime and Punishment

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1866

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Epilogue

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

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Part 4Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 4, Chapters 1-2 Summary

Svidrigailov is Dunia’s former sexually aggressive employer, who has travelled from the provinces to arrange a meeting with her. Raskolnikov dismisses Svidrigailov’s request for an interview with Dunia, so Svidrigailov launches into a long speech defending his innocence. He admits to once beating his recently deceased wife Marfa with a riding whip, but insists that some women appreciate such shows of dominance. He also admits propositioning Dunia and causing a scandal, but insists that some women enjoy being courted in such a manner. Svidrigailov also insists that he has seen the ghost of his dead wife three times. Raskolnikov is appalled by the conversation, but curiosity gets the better of him. Raskolnikov cannot help but be intrigued by the man’s ideas.

Svidrigailov requests a meeting with Dunia. He is willing to offer her 10,000 rubles to break off her engagement to Luzhin. Svidrigailov claims that he and Raskolnikov are actually very similar and leaves, mentioning on his way out that Marfa left Dunia an inheritance of 3,000 rubles.

As Raskolnikov and Razumikhin walk to meet Dunia and Luzhin, Raskolnikov explains that Svidrigailov has come from the provinces in pursuit of Dunia and asks for Razumikhin’s help in protecting her. Razumikhin, still smitten with Dunia, agrees.

Luzhin knows gossip about Svidrigailov and he tells Raskolnikov and Razumikhin stories about Svidrigailov’s sexual predation. Once, Svidrigailov raped a deaf and mute 15-year-old girl who eventually hanged herself. Later, the same thing happened with one of Svidrigailov’s servants. Luzhin declares that Svidrigailov is a horrible person, but Dunia pushes back on Luzhin’s version of events, much to Luzhin’s shock. Raskolnikov tells everyone about Dunia’s recent inheritance, but refuses to reveal how he came to learn about it.

Luzhin is offended when the others confront him with the litany of lies he told about Raskolnikov’s behavior with Sonia. Trapped and unsure of what to say, he insults Raskolnikov. As his desperation increases, he also insults Dunia by saying that he was willing to marry her in spite of the awful rumors about her and Svidrigailov. The others turn on him. Dunia tells Luzhin to leave. He decides to take revenge on Raskolnikov and Sonia.

Part 4, Chapters 3-4 Summary

Luzhin is furious. He does not want to believe that the attractive Dunia could ever escape his clutches. Dunia would be the ideal wife to advance his career, so he refuses to give up on his desire to marry her.

Raskolnikov tells his sister about Svidrigailov’s desire to see her and to give her 10,000 rubles. The offer puzzles everyone. They collectively agree not to meet with the suspicious Svidrigailov. Razumikhin has an idea about Dunia’s inheritance: He proposes that they use the money to start up a printing company that will publish translations. Suddenly, Raskolnikov gets up to leave. He insists that he does not feel well and begs for his mother’s pardon. Razumikhin follows Raskolnikov until Raskolnikov manages to convince Razumikhin to leave him alone.

Raskolnikov visits Sonia and is shocked by the poor conditions in which she lives. He asks a string of questions about her landlord, her work, and her stepmother. Sonia answers honestly, even though she is embarrassed and ashamed of some of the answers. Raskolnikov outlines a terrible future for Marmeladov’s widowed wife and fatherless children, especially as Katerina Ivanovna seems terminally ill herself. Raskolnikov’s words are cutting and he terrifies Sonia, who responds with nothing but dismay and tears. However, she insists that God will protect her family. When Raskolnikov suggests that there is no God, Sonia becomes even more agitated. She cannot imagine a world without a higher power.

Suddenly, Raskolnikov’s demeanor changes. He drops to his knees and kisses Sonia’s foot, telling her that he is bowing before all of human suffering. He sees Sonia as an honorable woman; he can ignore her sins because of her suffering. With horror, he realizes that Sonia only has three real options: suicide, a psychiatric ward, or a life of total debauchery. When he sees a well-worn Bible in Sonia’s house, he is shocked to learn that the book was a gift from Lizaveta (the pawnbroker’s sister he murdered). He asks Sonia to read to him from the Bible, particularly the story of the resurrection of Lazarus. Though she is hesitant to read to a man who has just insulted God, Sonia does so. When she finishes, Raskolnikov claims that he needs Sonia to join him. They have both transgressed, he tells her, but he insists there are reasons to be optimistic. He makes Sonia promise to visit him tomorrow, telling her that he will reveal who killed her good friend Lizaveta. Throughout the entire conversation, however, Svidrigailov has been listening carefully from a nearby room.

Part 4, Chapters 5-6 Summary

The next day, Raskolnikov visits the police. Porfiry advised him to ask for his pawned items back. Raskolnikov is filled with anxiety as he enters the police station, as he does not like Porfiry and worries that he is being lured into a trap. Raskolnikov has to wait for a long time, which only increases his paranoia. Eventually, Porfiry appears and welcomes Raskolnikov with warmth and joviality. Raskolnikov tries to remain formal while Porfiry chats and delays. Porfiry speaks incessantly about unrelated theories of crime and crime detection.

Porfiry walks up and down the office, pausing only when he passes the door. Raskolnikov is nervously worries that Porfiry is trying to hear someone approach. Porfiry speaks about increasingly abstract and unrelated topics. Finally, Raskolnikov snaps. He loses his patience, jumps up, and tells Porfiry to stop playing games. Raskolnikov demands to be arrested if he is a murder suspect or be allowed to leave. He will not allow a man like Porfiry to laugh in his face. The outburst surprises Porfiry, who admits that he knows more about Raskolnikov that he previously let on: for example, that Raskolnikov returned to the crime scene. In Porfiry’s experience, the best approach to investigating a crime is to give the suspect time to think. Porfiry wishes to help Raskolnikov, but Raskolnikov rejects his offers. Just as Raskolnikov is about to leave, Porfiry says that a surprise is waiting for him in another room.

However, just as he is about to open the door, Porfiry gets new information: One of the house painters has confessed to the murders. Both Porfiry and Raskolnikov are shocked. Porfiry angrily refuses to believe that the painter committed the murder. He sends Raskolnikov away, but sets a new meeting for the next day. Raskolnikov returns to his apartment. There, he meets the stranger from the street who accused him of murder. The man admits he was to be the surprise hidden in the room next to Porfiry’s office, ready to accuse Raskolnikov. The stranger had seen Raskolnikov return to the pawnbroker’s apartment. The stranger apologizes to Raskolnikov, who promises himself that he will make a fresh attempt to struggle on with life.

Part 4 Analysis

The introduction of Svidrigailov provides an alternative perspective on morality by showing us someone who actually seems to fit Raskolnikov’s vision of a morality-eschewing great man. Svidrigailov demonstrates that while poverty traps people in cycles of oppression, wealth enables their most debauched and immoral impulses. Bolstered by his socio-economic position, Svidrigailov does not bother hiding his sexual predation or violent behavior. His wealth prevents him from suffering the consequences of his actions. Whereas Raskolnikov is terrified by the thought of prison and he obsesses over his own guilt, Svidrigailov abused and possibly murdered his wife, used her money to pay off his debts, and raped several women on his estate without concern about their subsequent suicides—all without suffering any psychological or legal consequences. Raskolnikov’s extraordinary man is actually a sociopathic monster.

The Biblical figure Lazarus, a man Jesus brings back to life from the dead in the Gospel of John in the New Testament, is an important symbol. As Sonia reads about this miracle, the story provides hope for Raskolnikov, who sees in it a parallel to his own experience. In the process of murdering Aliona Ivanovna, he has also murdered his sane, socially acceptable, moral self; however, the Bible story shows redemption even in the bleakest circumstances. Raskolnikov does not believe in God, but he does feel the need to return from his psychic death. Sonia reading the story of Lazarus to Raskolnikov is her guiding him toward atonement—something she will do more explicitly later in the novel.

For 19th century literature, Sonia is an incredibly modern and iconoclastic character. Typically, in realist novels of that time, female sex workers are either irredeemably corrupt and sinful, or only capable of reforming themselves through death. By making Sonia’s prostitution simply a source of suffering and trauma rather than a moral failing, Dostoevsky creates a unique character. Sex work does not sully Sonia; instead, she remains humble, kind, and reflective. In fact, her situation is a kind of crucible—her torments and religious faith are connected, and what she undergoes is a kind of holy suffering, a way of getting closer to God through personal mortification. Sonia is the moral heart of the novel, helping others and becoming Raskolnikov’s beacon of psychic healing.