Part 6: Chapter 1 - 5

The beginning of this section demonstrated a new, strange side to Raskolnikov. Before this part in the story, Raskolnikov always seemed to be extremely active in his plot to ensure that he would not get caught. It almost seems that he has given up as Raskolnikov appears in a strange “haze” of sorts walking around town in an almost zombie-like state. Not only this, but everyone seems to start to be turning on Raskolnikov. Starting with Razumikhin, the epitome of an open-heart in this story, decides that he can no longer handle Raskolnikov’s selfishness and tells him that he is hurting everybody around him, not that Raskolnikov really cares. Porfrify’s visit, in my opinion, planted the idea in Raskolnikov’s head of suicide. After telling him that he knew it was him, but could not yet prove it, he told him that if he should decide to die, he should leave a note of where the stole goods were. This obviously shows how little the detective knows about Raskolnikov as he did not keep one single thing from the old land lady. Instead, he claims that the murder helped all of society. Raskolnikov showed that he still has some moral character when he expressed his disgust toward Svidrigailov’s affair with a fifteen year old girl. I thought, maybe, that this was the girl that he saw in the park. The entire affair with Svidrigailov and Duny confused me. There are so many characters with such long names, that I start to confuse them with each other. This part was no deviation from this trend. I knew immediately that Raskolnikov was right about Svidrigailov’s attraction to Dunya, even though he denied it. He was right, though, that he will never be able to get her, because she seems to hold herself to higher standards. He goes as far as to try to guilt her in to marrying him so that he can help Raskolnikov “avoid punishment.” The ironic part of it is that there is no avoiding punishment for Raskolnikov. Whether he be locked in a cell or wandering through the streets of St. Petersburg, Raskolnikov suffers the same state of mental delusion ensuing from his crime. I can feel that the end is eminent for Raskolnikov, but I am more on his side now that I was at the beginning of the story as he seems to have developed more into a dynamic character capable of some rational, compassionate thoughts.