Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Crime and Punishment is a landmark Russian novel by Fyodor Dostoevsky, first serialized in The Russian Messenger in 1866 and published in book form the same year. Written during a period of intense personal and financial hardship for Dostoevsky -- following his return from Siberian exile, the deaths of his first wife and brother, and mounting gambling debts -- the novel draws deeply from the author’s own experiences of poverty, moral torment, and psychological crisis in mid-19th-century Russia. Set in the gritty, overcrowded slums of St. Petersburg, it reflects the social upheaval of the 1860s, including the rise of radical nihilist and utilitarian ideas among the Russian intelligentsia, widespread urban poverty, and debates over morality, crime, and redemption. Dostoevsky crafted the story as a psychological thriller that probes the inner workings of the human conscience, using the protagonist Rodion Raskolnikov’s “extraordinary man” theory to examine whether an individual can violate moral law for a perceived greater good. The book is widely regarded as one of the greatest works of world literature for its profound exploration of guilt, suffering, faith, and the possibility of spiritual resurrection.

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Transcript

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Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky. In the stifling heat of a July day in St. Petersburg, Radion Romanovich Raskolnikov descended the narrow stairs of his dilapidated boarding house with a heavy heart. He lived in a tiny garret room, more like a cupboard than a human dwelling, where the low ceiling pressed down upon him and the walls seemed to close in. Tall and handsome, with fine dark eyes, he was dressed in rags, deeply impoverished, and had withdrawn from society and his law studies. He owed months of rent to his landlady and avoided her, slipping past her door. His mind was occupied with a terrible plan, an extreme act that he both dreaded and felt compelled to commit. He made his way through the crowded streets to the apartment of Aliona Ivanovna, a miserly old pawnbroker. On the pretext of pawning his father's silver watch, he studied the layout of her room, noting the chest where she kept her money and valuables. Aleona was small and withered, with sharp, suspicious eyes. After receiving a few Kopeks, Raskolnikov left, his thoughts swirling. Later, in a tavern, he encountered Semyon Zakharovich Marmolodov, a disheveled former clerk drowning in drink. Marmolodov poured out his soul, telling of his poverty, his consumptive wife Katarina Ivanovna, and how his daughter Sonia had turned to prostitution to support the family. Raskonikov accompanied the drunken man home to their squalid quarters, witnessing the misery firsthand. The next day, a letter arrived from his mother, Polchyria Alexandrovna. It detailed how his sister of Dosha, or Dunya, had endured harassment from her employer Svidorgailov, but had been defended by Svidragalov's wife. Now Dunya was engaged to the self-important government official Pyotr Petrovich Luzin, a match made partly to help the family financially and allow Raskolnikov to resume his studies. The family planned to move to St. Petersburg. Raskolnikov was furious at what he saw as Dunya's sacrifice, likening it to Sonia's plight. This only strengthened his resolve. Fate seemed to intervene when Raskolnikov overheard that Lizavita, Aliona's gentle half sister, would be away from the apartment the next evening. He had formulated a theory that extraordinary men had a right to transgress ordinary moral laws if it served a higher purpose. To test if he was such a man he would kill the useless old woman and use her wealth for noble ends. That night, he slept fitfully, dreaming of a mare being beaten to death. The next day, he took an axe from the caretaker's shed, wrapped a piece of wood in paper as a fake pledge, and went to Aliona's apartment. Gaining entry, he struck her on the head with the blunt side of the axe, killing her. As he ransacked her chest for money and trinkets, Liza Vita unexpectedly returned and entered the room. In panic, Raskolnikov killed her too with the axe. He took a purse and some items but left much of the wealth untouched in his haste. Narrowly escaping detection as visitors knocked at the door, he fled back to his room and collapsed, hiding the stolen goods. Waking in a fever the next day, Raskolnikov frantically checked his clothes for bloodstains and destroyed evidence. He was summoned to the police station for an unrelated debt notice from his landlady. While there, as officers discussed the pawnbroker murders, Raskolnikov fainted, arousing suspicion. Upon returning home, he gathered the stolen goods and hid them under a large stone in an abandoned courtyard, ashamed that he had not even counted the money. He visited his old university friend Dmitry Prokofaevich Rasumikin, a kind and practical former student who offered help but noticed Raskolnikov's odd behavior. Raskolnikov then fell into a prolonged delirium lasting several days, during which Rasumikin, the housekeeper Nastasia, the doctor Zasimov, and police clerk Zamyatov cared for him. They observed his agitation. Whenever the murders were mentioned, when he recovered somewhat, Luzin visited to introduce himself. Raskolnikov took an immediate dislike to the pompous man and insulted him, kicking him out. Raskolnikov then had a tense conversation with Zamyatov in a tavern, nearly hinting at his guilt by describing how he would have committed the crime. Impulsively, he returned to the pawnbroker's apartment, asking odd questions that puzzled the workers. On his way back, he witnessed Marmodov being run over by a carriage. He helped carry the dying man home, where Marmoladov expired in Sonia's arms after begging her forgiveness. Raskolnikov gave Katarina Ivanovna twenty five rubles sent by his mother for the funeral. Feeling somewhat renewed, he returned home with Rasumikin only to faint upon seeing his mother Polcheria and sister Dunya waiting for him in his room. They had arrived in St. Petersburg and were overjoyed but shocked by his condition. Rasumikin tended to Raskolnikov and convinced the distressed women to return to their lodgings. The next day, Raskolnikov had improved physically but remained mentally tormented. He demanded that Dunya break her engagement to Luzin, but she defended her motives fiercely. A note from Luzin arrived, demanding Raskolnikov not be present at future meetings and accusing him of giving money to an unmarried woman of immoral behavior. Sonya. Dunya insisted on a meeting where both Luzin and her brother would be present. Sonya suddenly appeared at Raskolnikov's door, timidly inviting him to her father's funeral. Raskolnikov asked for her address and promised to visit. At Raskolnikov's request, Razumikin took him to see the detective Porfiry Petrovich, who was investigating the murders. Raskolnikov sensed that Porfiry knew he was the murderer. Porfiry, having discussed the case with Zamyatov, adopted an ironic tone and expressed curiosity about an article Raskolnikov had written months earlier called On Crime. In it, Raskolnikov argued that certain rare individuals, the benefactors and geniuses of mankind, had a right to step across legal or moral boundaries if those boundaries obstructed the success of their idea. Raskolnikov defended himself skillfully but was alarmed and angered by Porphyry's insinuating manner. An appointment was made for further questioning the next morning. Leaving Razumikin with his mother and sister, Raskolnikov returned to his building. An unknown old artisan inquired about him and muttered only the word murderer before walking off. Petrified, Raskolnikov fell into thought and then sleep. He awakened from a nightmare about the murder to find Arkady Ivanovich Svidragailov, a man of aristocratic appearance, sitting in his room. Svidrigailov claimed to have no further romantic interest in Dunya, but wanted to stop her from marrying Luzin and offer her 10,000 rubles. Raskolnikov refused the money on her behalf and declined to arrange a meeting. Svidragailov also mentioned that his late wife had left Dunya 3,000 rubles in her will. That evening, the meeting with Luzin took place. Talk turned to Svidragailov's depraved character and his presence in Petersburg. Luzin took offense when Dunya insisted on resolving matters openly. Raskolnikov openly mocked Luzin, and the engagement effectively ended in acrimony. Sonya appeared again in Raskolnikov's life. He visited her in her poor room and asked her to read the story of Lazarus from the gospel. As she read of the resurrection, Raskolnikov's inner torment deepened. Later, alone with her, he confessed the murders, revealing the full horror of his act and his theory that had driven him. Sony, horrified yet compassionate, urged him to confess publicly, accept suffering and seek redemption through God. Meanwhile, Luzen attempted a scheme at the memorial dinner from Marmoladov. He accused Sonya of stealing a hundred rubble note he had planted in her room. To discredit her, the accusation was exposed when the money was found on Sonya, but the true culprit revealed, Katarina Ivanovna, in her consumptive frenzy, led her children into the street in a mad attempt to bag, then collapsed and died a home. Svidragailov, who had overheard Raskolnikov's confession to Sonya through a thin wall, confronted Raskolnikov. He revealed his knowledge and continued his disturbing pursuit of Dunya, luring her to a meeting under false pretenses. When alone with her, he threatened and attempted to force himself upon her. Dunya drew a revolver and fired, grazing him, but could not bring herself to kill him. Svidrigailov, realizing the depth of his own emptiness, gave money to various people, including Sonya, and then shot himself in a cheap hotel room. Porfiry Petrovich visited Raskolnikov again, employing psychological pressure and essentially laying out the evidence while urging confession. Raskolnikov, exhausted by guilt and the collapse of his theory, bid farewell to his mother and sister, telling them he loved them but must go his own way. He visited Sonya once more. Together, they went to the police station, where Raskolnikov confessed publicly to the murders of Aliona Ivanovna and Lizavita. At his trial, Raskolnikov received a relatively light sentence, eight years of hard labor in Siberia. Owing to circumstances, including his mental state, and the fact that he had not fully profited from the crime, Sonya followed him to Siberia, visiting him regularly at the prison. In the epilogue, Raskolnikov initially remained aloof and alienated in the Siberian prison camp. Still clinging to fragments of his old pride, illness struck him again, and during his convalescence, a gradual transformation began. Sonya's quiet devotion, her faith, and her presence worked upon him. One day, as spring arrived and the river thawed, Raskonikov knelt before Sonya in the prison courtyard and wept. He had accepted his guilt, embraced suffering as atonement, and felt the first stirrings of a new life. The novel of his crime and punishment closed with the promise of resurrection through love and repentance, though the full renewal lay in the future.