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Part 3, Chapter 1
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Crime and Punishment, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Criminality, Morality, and Guilt
Madness and Intoxication
Coincidence and Free Will
Money and Poverty
Family
Summary
Analysis
Razumikhin awakes with some regret about his behavior the previous day. He is particularly ashamed of the attention he showed Dunya, and of his negative comments about Luzhin. He strikes his stove out of anger at himself, hurting his hand. He dresses for the day with special care and resolves not to bring up his behavior yesterday with Dunya and Pulcheria.
Although Razumikhin recognizes that it was ungentlemanly to insult the fiancé of a woman whose company he enjoys, he nevertheless makes an extra effort to appear presentable in front of Dunya. He senses that Dunya might even reciprocate his affections.
Themes
Zossimov arrives and chastises Razumikhin for referring again to the murders in Raskolnikov’s presence the previous day. Zossimov believes Raskolnikov suffers from a “monomaniacal” obsession with the crime, though for unknown reasons. Zossimov reports that Raskolnikov’s landlady was not interested in his advances. Razumikhin visits Dunya and Pulcheria at their lodgings. They are happy to see him, and he describes in greater detail Raskolnikov’s illness of the past few days.
"Monomania" is an obsessive concern with a single idea or event. The characters in the novel don’t necessarily understand why Raskolnikov is obsessed with the murders of the two women, but his obsession has placed him in a kind of morbid shock. Increasingly, characters like Porfiry will come to associate this shock with the remorse and paranoia of a guilty conscience.
Themes
Literary Devices
Pulcheria asks Razumikhin more questions about Raskolnikov’s condition. Razumikhin replies that he is “not a hypochondriac, just inhumanly cold and callous.” Dunya thanks Razumikhin for his honesty, and Pulcheria tells them that Raskolnikov has always been “capricious,” even as a young man. She is surprised by news of his engagement to the landlady’s daughter, broken only by the daughter’s death. The girl was “sickly . . . and strange,” and all agree it is better that the relationship is over.
Pulcheria reveals that Raskolnikov’s behavior has always been anti-social at best. Raskolnikov’s relationship to the landlady’s daughter is further elaborated: Raskolnikov apparently agreed to marry the girl out of pity, for she was not considered “marriageable material” by many in Petersburg, and her shyness and introversion were considered severe, even by her mother.
Themes
Literary Devices
Razumikhin recounts Raskolnikov’s reaction to Luzhin the previous day. Unlike the night before, Razumikhin refuses to speak badly of Luzhin. Pulcheria shows a letter from Luzhin and asks Razumikhin’s advice. In the letter, Luzhin says he will visit Dunya and Pulcheria the next day at eight p.m., and he asks that Raskolnikov not be present.
Another letter, this time from Luzhin. Dunya’s fiancé wishes to speak to Dunya and Pulcheria, and he does not want Raskolnikov to be there. Dunya’s later desire that Raskolnikov be present indicates her willingness to disregard Luzhin’s orders and to favor the opinions of her brother.
Themes
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Luzhin reports that he saw Raskolnikov the day before at Marmeladov’s (Luzhin lives in the same apartment building), and that Raskolnikov gave 25 rubles to Sonya (instead of to Katerina). Razumikhin recommends that Pulcheria follow Dunya’s preferred course of action and have Raskolnikov present at the meeting, despite Luzhin’s wishes. The three head to Raskolnikov’s apartment, and Pulcheria tells Razumikhin that Marfa Petrovna has died, although Dunya reminds her mother that Razumikhin does not know who Marfa is.
Luzhin’s misinformation is important for two reasons. First, it allows Sonya to enter the narrative, as Pulcheria becomes convinced that the young woman, who must live as a prostitute, is part of her son’s downfall, rather than the agent of his salvation (as Dunya later understands her to be). Second, it indicates on Luzhin’s part a desire to distort the truth for his own ends.
Themes
