Reaction: part 2 - chapter 4-7

Wendell Pfeffer

11/1/13

Reaction: Crime and Punishment

            Raskolnikov continues to show great signs of remorse towards the crime he committed. Before he was in bed delirious and unable to interact with the people around him, but now he is conscientious and fully aware of his surroundings.  Although he is attentive Raskolnikov is to paranoid to think about other things that don’t touch on the subject of the murder. The incident with Luzhin really demonstrates this factor as Raskolnikov uncontrollably insults him for absolutely no reason. He ultimately forces him, Razumikhin and the other people in the room to leave him alone. Raskolnikov is trying to find a way to coup with his guilt; right now he is unable to do so which is causing him to go crazy. He tries to go for a walk but ends up finding himself in the crystal palace talking to Zamiotov. While he talks to this man, Raskolnikov tries to make himself sound innocent but instead does the complete opposite. He kept on re-introducing the topic of the crime and proposes an idea of what he would do if he were the one responsible. He even turns pale which causes Zamiotov to become a little suspicious. I understand that Raskolnikov is facing a tremendous amount of guilt but he has to pull himself together if he doesn’t want to get caught. I believe he can get away with the murder but he has to act casual. I think that Raskolnikov will be caught in the future because of the conversion he had with Zamiotov, it will bite him back in the butt. But beside the current events that just happened, Raskolnikov has finally managed to set himself free when he unsuccessful tries to save Marmeladov's life. The fact that he did something good makes him believe that whatever he did wrong in the past is okay. He has shrugged off his guilt. Raskolnikov even tells himself that his “life had not gone out with the old woman’s”. He has finally overcome his guilt and is ready to move on.