Crime and Punishment (Dostoevsky)
Short Summary
St. Petersburg, 1860s. A destitute former university student conceived a plan to murder an elderly pawnbroker, believing that her death would benefit society and prove his extraordinary nature.
After killing the pawnbroker and her sister who unexpectedly appeared, Raskolnikov fell into a feverish state. He met a destitute girl forced into prostitution to support her family, forming an unlikely connection with her.
A clever detective suspected Raskolnikov and engaged him in psychological warfare. Meanwhile, Raskolnikov's sister faced pressure to marry a wealthy but unscrupulous man. When Raskolnikov finally confessed his crime to Sonya, she urged him to seek redemption through suffering.
Get up!.. Go at once, this very minute, stand at the crossroads, bow down, first kiss the earth which you have defiled, and then bow to the whole world, to all four directions, and say aloud to all: 'I have killed!'
Following Sonya's guidance, Raskolnikov confessed to the police and was sentenced to eight years in a Siberian prison camp. His mother died without knowing the truth, while his sister married his loyal friend. Sonya followed him to Siberia, where her love and faith gradually led to his spiritual regeneration. Through suffering and acceptance of guilt, he finally found redemption and a path to new life.
Detailed Summary by Parts
Part 1
In the sweltering heat of a July evening in St. Petersburg, a young former student left his tiny room in a tenement house. He was deeply troubled and had been avoiding his landlady due to unpaid rent.
At a tavern, Raskolnikov encountered a drunk official named Marmeladov, who shared his tragic family story. His daughter Sonya had been forced into prostitution to support the family, including her consumptive stepmother Katerina Ivanovna and younger siblings. Raskolnikov gave his last money to help the desperate family.
Later, Raskolnikov received a letter from his mother about his sister Dunya's planned marriage to a wealthy official named Luzhin. Though the marriage was clearly for financial benefit, his mother hoped it would help Rodion too. The letter deeply disturbed him. Meanwhile, Raskolnikov had been contemplating murdering an old pawnbroker, Alyona Ivanovna. After learning that her sister Lizaveta would be away at a specific time, he stole an axe and went to the pawnbroker's apartment.
Am I a trembling creature or do I have the right... Am I a louse like all the rest or a human being? Will I be able to step over or not? Will I dare to reach down and take or not? Am I a trembling creature or do I have the right...
Raskolnikov killed the pawnbroker with the axe and was then forced to kill her sister Lizaveta who unexpectedly returned. In panic, he stole some items but nearly got caught when clients arrived. He managed to escape and hide in an empty apartment before fleeing home. After the crime, he fell into a delirious state, tormented by nightmares.
Part 2
In the days following the murder, Raskolnikov alternated between delirium and lucidity. He discovered blood on his clothes and frantically tried to hide evidence, concealing stolen items under a stone in a courtyard. When summoned to the police station, he feared discovery but found it was only about a debt to his landlady. At the station, he had a strange conversation with clerk Zametov, making veiled references to the murder.
On his way home, Raskolnikov witnessed a woman's suicide by drowning. He then visited the pawnbroker's apartment, now under renovation, and behaved suspiciously, asking workers about blood. That same day, he learned that Marmeladov had been run over by a carriage. Raskolnikov helped take the dying man home and gave money for the funeral. During Marmeladov's death, his wife Katerina Ivanovna, children, and Sonya were present.
Upon returning home, Raskolnikov found his mother and sister had arrived unexpectedly from the provinces. Overwhelmed by emotion, he fainted.
Part 3
Raskolnikov met with his mother and sister, behaving erratically and insisting that Dunya break off her engagement with Luzhin. He then visited the investigator Porfiry Petrovich with his friend Razumikhin to declare his pawned items. During this visit, they discussed Raskolnikov's article about crime, in which he developed a theory about 'extraordinary' people having the right to commit crimes for higher purposes.
Ordinary people must live in submission and have no right to transgress the law because they are ordinary. But extraordinary people have the right to commit any crime and transgress the law in any way, precisely because they are extraordinary.
After leaving Porfiry, Raskolnikov encountered a mysterious man who called him a murderer. This deeply disturbed him, and he returned home in a feverish state. He was plagued by nightmares, including one where he tried to kill the pawnbroker again, but she laughed at him while the house filled with witnesses. At the end of this section, Svidrigailov, a man with a dark past connected to Dunya, appeared unexpectedly at Raskolnikov's door.
Part 4
The fourth part began with Raskolnikov's tense meeting with Svidrigailov, who revealed his intention to give Dunya ten thousand rubles and shared his mystical visions of his deceased wife's ghost. This was followed by another psychological interrogation by Porfiry, during which a workman named Nikolai unexpectedly confessed to the murders, surprising both Porfiry and Raskolnikov.
Later, the mysterious man who had called Raskolnikov a murderer came to apologize, explaining he had been mistaken. Meanwhile, the situation with Luzhin reached a breaking point after he attempted to frame Sonya for theft. Dunya firmly rejected his marriage proposal despite his threats and manipulations. The section concluded with Raskolnikov visiting Sonya, where he asked her to read the biblical story of Lazarus's resurrection.
Part 5
The fifth part opened with Luzhin's humiliation after his break with Dunya. Living with Lebezyatnikov, he plotted revenge by trying to disgrace Sonya. At Marmeladov's funeral dinner, Luzhin accused Sonya of stealing money, but Lebezyatnikov exposed his scheme, having witnessed Luzhin planting the money on her. Raskolnikov revealed Luzhin's true motives of revenge and desire to maintain control over the family.
After the scandal, Katerina Ivanovna, driven mad by poverty and humiliation, took her children to the streets, forcing them to sing and dance for money. The scene culminated in her death from consumption on the street, entrusting her children to Sonya. Svidrigailov, who appeared at this moment, promised to care for the children and place them in an orphanage.
Part 6
In the sixth part, Raskolnikov was in a strange state, confused about events and dates. Svidrigailov particularly troubled him, and they met several times at Sonya's after Katerina Ivanovna's death. Deciding to confess, Raskolnikov bid farewell to his mother, asking her to pray for him. He then had a difficult goodbye with Dunya, explaining his motives for the murder - his desire to prove he had the right.
Suffering must be accepted and atoned for... Freedom and power, but above all power! Over all trembling creatures and over the whole ant-hill! That's the goal! Remember that! This is my farewell message to you!
After visiting Sonya and receiving a cypress cross from her, Raskolnikov went to confess. Following Sonya's advice, he bowed down and kissed the earth at the Haymarket Square, acknowledging his guilt before the world. At the police station, he learned of Svidrigailov's suicide. After several attempts, Raskolnikov finally confessed to the murders of the pawnbroker and her sister. Throughout this journey to confession, he struggled with internal doubts and suffering, with Sonya supporting him like a shadow.
Epilogue
The epilogue described Raskolnikov's trial and life in Siberian prison. He received eight years of hard labor, with his voluntary confession and mitigating circumstances taken into account. His mother fell ill after his arrest and eventually died in delirium, never knowing the full truth about her son. Dunya married Razumikhin, and they planned to move to Siberia in five years.
Sonya followed Raskolnikov to Siberia, becoming a link between him and his family. In prison, Raskolnikov struggled not with the harsh conditions but with his wounded pride. He couldn't genuinely repent, believing his only mistake was in failing to endure the burden of his crime and confessing.
He judged himself, and his embittered conscience found no particularly terrible fault in his past, except for a simple blunder which might happen to anyone... That's what was terrible!
Other prisoners rejected him, considering him an aristocrat and an atheist. A turning point came after an illness during which he dreamed of a moral plague making people believe they alone possessed the truth. This dream symbolized the danger of extreme individualism and pride.
Everyone was anxious and did not understand each other, everyone thought that they alone held the truth... They did not know whom to judge, could not agree on what to consider evil or good.
After his recovery, Raskolnikov experienced a spiritual rebirth through his love for Sonya. He finally overcame his pride, fell to his knees before her, and confessed his love. Taking her copy of the New Testament symbolized the beginning of his moral regeneration.
Love had resurrected them; the heart of one contained infinite sources of life for the heart of the other... They resolved to wait and be patient. They had seven years more to wait.