As soon as Raskolnikov had committed the murder, we already saw that he had been feeling guilty about his actions. His guilt quickly increases in these next three chapters. Raskolnikov goes crazy trying to think of ways that he can get rid of all the things that he took from Alyona's apartment, and starts to become more and more paranoid. For example, when he was called down to the police station for something completely irrelevant and non related from the murder, he hears people speaking of the murder and the witnesses who where there. He overhears them speak of how someone had gotten inside and locked the door, and then slipped out of the room before the watchman of the apartment had gotten up to the crime scene. Even though he hears the policemen saying how they had no suspects because no traces were left and no one had been seen leaving the crime scene, as soon as he is out of the station he is overwhelmed by his own thoughts and freaking out thinking to himself that people are after him and suspecting him as a murderer, when in reality no one ever considered him being the murderer behind the crime.
Besides Raskolnikov being constantly overwhelmed from his own thoughts and emotions, he is also feeling so guilty to the point that he is physically sick. He has barely been eating in the past couple of days, and he constantly has vivid hallucinations that remind him about Alyona and the murder. This is way too much for any person to bare, so even though Raskolnikov is constantly contradicting himself and is not the most mentally stable person in this novel, I believe that he will realize that the only way to get his life back to sanity will be to get rid of the guilt and confess to the murder. I do not know how people will react to this, or what his punishment for his actions will be yet, but I am curious to find out if Raskolnikov will come to his senses and realize that he must confess in order to end his madness.
I agree with Sofia in that it is incredibly obvious how Raskolnikov's guilt exponentially increases in the chapters following the murder. As Sofia states, he is clearly overcome by guilt as evidence of his attempts to get rid of the weapons and then his reaction with the affair at the police station. I think it was quite surprising to see Raskolnikov transform into such a nervous person. Before this second part of the novel, he merely seemed to be conflicted in whether not he should do the crime, but no mention of his plan after the crime arose at any point in his plotting. Sofia makes a great point in noting Raskolnikov's apparent physical and emotional ailments. These both seem to point at his overwhelming sense of guilt. I agree with Sofia again in that Raskolnikov's insanity will lead him to confess to a murder, because I think that he values his own conscious guilt more than the actual punishment for the crime.
ReplyDeleteI agree with some of the points Sofia makes in her Reaction. Sofia when you begin to talk about how Raskolnikov was "freaking out" I have to disagree with you on that. He was nervous about his current situation but I think he was acting appropriately. Hypothetically, if I killed two people I wouldn't be freaking out because I know that wouldn't be the ideal form of behavior. But I do agree with you when you talk about the roll guilt is having on Raskolnikov. Guilt is beginning to consume him in every way shape or form. He has changed as a normal quiet person to an angry madman and his health is spiraling downward. In the end of the second chapter and through the third chapter Raskolnikov spends most of his time in bed trying to recuperate. I disagree with Sofia that Raskolnikov will eventually “confess to the murder” in order to “get his life back to sanity.” I believe that Raskolnikov’s guilt will pass and that he will eventually commit a few more murders. His guilt actually came as a surprise to me because in the beginning of the first part in the story Raskolnikov felt as if nothing every happened. He killed two people and returned to his home questioning himself whether or not he did everything correct.
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