Crime and Punishment study guide

Raskolnikov

Raskolnikov is an impoverished student whose disturbing plan becomes two murders and theft. His confession to Sonia includes arguments about the murder, suggesting that admitting the act is not yet the same as accepting its meaning, before he finally confesses to the police.

Key chapters: 1, 7, 19, 30, 39

Sonia

Sonia is Marmeladov's daughter, who helps support his household and receives Raskolnikov's confession with sympathy. Her demand for public repentance and her continued visits in exile show compassion that supports him without dismissing what he has done.

Key chapters: 2, 30, 39, 40

Dounia

Dounia is Raskolnikov's sister, whose engagement begins with hopes of helping him but ends in a confrontation over loyalty and money. She resists Svidrigaïlov's coercion and later marries Razumihin, showing a refusal to let help become control.

Key chapters: 3, 22, 36, 40

Razumihin

Razumihin arranges practical care for Raskolnikov and helps his mother and sister when they need reassurance. His marriage to Dounia and return to university studies suggest a way forward built through steady work and care for others.

Key chapters: 15, 23, 32, 40

Porfiry

Porfiry is the investigator who tests Raskolnikov through questions about conscience and exceptional people. His psychological pressure leads to an open accusation, but his rejection of Nikolay's confession and encouragement of surrender show attention to more than an easy solution.

Key chapters: 19, 25, 26, 33

Svidrigaïlov

Svidrigaïlov seeks access to Dounia and uses a secret about Raskolnikov to draw her into a locked room. His offers of money, coercion, and final gifts suggest conflicting impulses, which end in suicide rather than a renewed connection.

Key chapters: 21, 34, 36

Katerina Ivanovna

Katerina Ivanovna is Marmeladov's ill wife, struggling with poverty while caring for children. Her defense of family standing at the memorial dinner and her later insistence on public performances suggest how need and wounded pride become painfully entangled.

Key chapters: 2, 28, 31

Guilt and fear

Raskolnikov's collapse at overheard murder talk shows fear turning an apparently unrelated summons into a threat. His anxiety about delirium and overlooked evidence suggests that concealment does not restore safety, because even care and chance encounters become possible dangers.

Where it shows: chapters 8, 10, 20

Care and isolation

Raskolnikov's rejection of help after hiding the valuables shows isolation growing alongside concealment. Sonia's sympathy, demand for repentance, and continued devotion suggest that connection requires more than comfort, since care also asks him to face what he has done.

Where it shows: chapters 9, 30, 40

Money and control

Dounia's engagement connects family support with the danger of dependence on someone who expects obedience. Her break with Luzhin, followed by his resentment at losing financial control, shows why an offer of security can also work as a means of domination.

Where it shows: chapters 4, 22, 27

Theory and conscience

The discussion of exceptional people places Raskolnikov's murder beside questions about conscience and permission. His claim that he wants to dare, followed by his refusal to call the killing a crime even before surrender, shows how an admission can coexist with resistance to responsibility.

Where it shows: chapters 19, 30, 38

The axe

The axe connects the chance arrangements of preparation with the concrete act Raskolnikov finally admits. It works as a reminder that a plan becomes physical violence against particular people.

Chapters 6, 39

Hidden valuables

The stolen valuables become evidence to conceal rather than an openly usable gain. Their hiding suggests that possession brings fear and withdrawal instead of relief.

Chapters 7, 9

Crosses

Sonia's gift of a cross accompanies Raskolnikov's movement toward confession. It works as a sign of support joined to the burden of admitting responsibility.

Chapter 39

Marmeladov, Chapter 2. Marmeladov says this during his tavern confession. His need for somewhere to go suggests that misery involves a longing for welcome as well as material need.

Raskolnikov, Chapter 19. Raskolnikov speaks during Porfiry's questioning about murder and exceptional people.

Raskolnikov, Chapter 30. Raskolnikov says this while confessing to Sonia. His emphasis on daring suggests that the murder tests his own capacity to act, rather than simply pursuing a practical gain.

The narrator, Chapter 40. The narrator speaks as Sonia's devotion reaches Raskolnikov after isolation in exile. The contrast suggests that lived attachment begins to challenge the theories through which he understands himself.