C&p Card Summary

Genre: Novel Type: Published: 1967 Title: Crime and Punishment Author: Fyodor Dostoevsky Time Period: 1860’s Russia Plot Outline: Part 1-The book opens with Raskolnikov leaving his closet of an apartment and walking through the city. He is contemplating committing a crime. He goes to see the old pawnbroker to pawn a watch and plan the crime. He then goes to a tavern and meets Marmeladov. Marmeladov tells Rodya about his family and Raskolnikov follows him home. The next day Raskolnikov receives a letter from his sister and mother that tells him his sister is getting married. The next day he kills the pawnbroker and her sister. Part 2- Raskolnikov wakes up the next day and is summoned to police station. Raskolnikov is not suspect to the murders; however he learns that his landlady is trying to collect debt he owed. He faints when the police officers begin to talk about the murders. He returns home and faints again when he finds out that his mother and sister are waiting for him at the apartment. Part 3- Rodya demands that Dunya break off her engagement with Luzhin, and Razumikhin falls in love with Dunya the same night. Part 4- Svidrigailov comes to visit Raskolnikov and tells him that he wants him to break off the wedding between Sonya and Luzhin. Luzhin and Raskolnikov get in an argument and Luzhin offends everyone in the room. Dunya breaks off the engagement and demands that Luzhin leave immediately. Raskolnikov and Razumikhin have an altercation, and Razumikhin realizes that Raskolnikov is the murderer. Raskolnikov goes to Sonya’s apartment and forces her to read to him from the bible. Raskolnikov goes to visit Petrovich and quickly becomes flustered. He thinks that Porfiry suspects him of the murders, but before he can be sure they are interrupted by Nikolai, who says that he is the murderer. Part 5Raskolnikov goes to the memorial dinner for Marmeladov, Luzhin tries to frame Sonya for the loss of a large amount of money. It is soon revealed that Luzhin put the money there in an attempt to discredit Sonya, and he leaves the dinner in disgrace. After the dinner Raskolnikov goes to visit Sonya and confesses the murders to her. Sonya tries to convince Raskolnikov to confess to the police. Katerina goes mad after she and her family are kicked out of their apartment, and she dies shortly after. Svidrigailov appears and offers to pay for the funeral and take care of the children. He then tells Raskolnikov that he knows he is the murderer. Part 6- Petrovich tells Raskolnikov that he suspects him of the crimes but does not have enough evidence to arrest him. He tries to convince Raskolnikov to confess on his own, saying that it will mean a lighter sentence. Svidrigailov brings Dunya to his room and threatens to rape her after she refuses to marry him. She attempts to shoot him with a revolver but misses. Svidrigailov lets her leave after he sees how much she dislikes him. He gives her three thousand roubles and fifteen thousand to his fiancée, then commits suicide the next morning. Raskolnikov says goodbye to his family and goes to the police station, where he confesses to the murders. Epilogue- The epilogue takes place a year and a half after Raskolnikov confesses. He has been sent to Siberia for eight years, and Sonya has followed him. He sticks largely to himself and is disliked by his inmates. He eventually realizes that he truly loves Sonya and regrets his crime.

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CONTEXTUAL LEVEL: Fyodor Dostoevsky is renowned as one of the world's greatest novelists and literary psychologists. His works grapple with deep political, social, and religious issues while delving into the often tortured psychology of characters whose lives are shaped by these issues. In 1847, Dostoevsky became active in socialist circles, largely

because of his opposition to the institution of serfdom. On April 23, 1849, he was arrested for his participation in a group that illegally printed and distributed socialist propaganda. After spending eight months in prison, he was sentenced to death for membership in the group and led, with other members of the group, to be shot. But the execution turned out to be a mere show, meant to punish the prisoners psychologically. Dostoevsky then spent four years at a labor camp in Siberia, followed by four years of military service. Raskolnikov's time in a Siberian prison, described in the Epilogue of Crime and Punishment, is based on Dostoevsky's own experiences at a similar prison.Dostoevsky's novels and other writings were major influences on twentieth-century literature and philosophy. Some people saw the political themes of his novels as prescient depictions of life under the Soviet regime. The existentialist movement that took shape in the middle of the twentieth century looked to him for his descriptions of human beings confronting mortality, despair, and the anxiety of choice. Writers such as Albert Camus and Jean-Paul Sartre valued Dostoevsky's writing for his profound insights into human dilemmas, which, along with his style, themes, and unforgettable characters, continue to influence writers more than a century after his death. Dostoevsky’s first wife died of consumption, just like Katerina, and he was very well versed in the ways of poverty. RHETORICAL LEVEL: The tone of Crime and Punishment is rather sarcastic and hypocritical, as it was written mocking Russian politics as the time. Dostoevsky is a very complex writer. His writing is intentionally confusing, and very accurately depicts the chaos and inconsistent mind of Raskolnikov. Many of the dialogues go on for pages, switching between multiple trains of thought and insight. Figurative language is widely used, especially allusions and imagery. Dostoevsky takes special care in creating the stinking, rotting, humid town of St. Petersburg. He also alludes to biblical references frequently throughout Raskolnikov’s mental journey, as they offer hope for Raskolnikov’s salvation and redemption. The setting is constantly used as a backdrop for Raskolnikov’s sick and twisted mind, and the city itself with all its corridors, bridges, and markets is almost as complex as Raskolnikov’s mind.

STRUCTURAL LEVEL: Crime and Punishment is written primarily in chronological order, but Dostoevsky does use fairly extensive flashbacks. However, they occur not in narrations but in dreams or conversations. The whole novel is developed alongside the main tragic figure, Raskolnikov. Raskolnikov is the only developing character (with the exception of Svidrigialov and the Marmaledovs), while all other secondary characters remain stationary in opinions, virtues, and actions. The novel is primarily a journey novel, as it portrays the psychological journey of Raskolnikov and the strategy realized by Porfiry used to catch him. There are occasional repetitions, especially involving bridges, dreams, and the anxiety expressed by Raskolnikov over whether or not he is suspect. Perhaps the most unique aspect of the novel is the way that time is dealt with. In some parts of the book a single hour takes up nearly an entire chapter, while in other parts a day passes with no more than a sentence. SYMBOLIC LEVEL: Many symbols reoccur throughout Crime and Punishment. The most prominent symbol is the city of St. Petersburg, as it is largely representative of Raskolnikov’s mind, and almost always parallels his moods and thoughts. The city of St. Petersburg is represented in the novel as dirty and crowded. Drunks are sprawled on the street in broad daylight, consumptive women beat their children and beg for money, and everyone is crowded into tiny, noisy apartments. The clutter and chaos of St. Petersburg is a twofold symbol. It represents the state of society, with all of its inequalities, prejudices, and deficits. But it also represents Raskolnikov's delirious, agitated state as he spirals through the novel toward the point of his confession and redemption. He can escape neither the city nor his warped mind. It is only when Raskolnikov is forcefully removed from the city to a prison in a small town in Siberia that he is able to regain compassion and balance. Another apparent symbol is the concept of poverty. Being in poverty hinders all who are trapped in it, and it drastically over exaggerates characters that have extreme wealth, such as Svigaidrilov. It is Raskolnikov’s primary reason for killing the pawnbroker and it is what eventually drives the Marmadelov family into the streets.

IMPORTANT QUOTATIONS: 1. “Did I kill the old hag? No, not the old hag--I killed myself!" (387). 2. “This is the beginning of a new story, though; the story of a man's gradual renewal and rebirth, of  his gradual transition from one world to another, of his acquaintance with a new reality of which he  had previously been completely ignorant” (521). 3. "If he has a conscience he will suffer for his mistake. That will be punishment-as well as the prison" (489).