Wandering Meditations

Crime and Punishment

19 min read

NOTE: I lost about half of my notes while writing them, hence why my notes only cover the first half of the book.

Favourite Quotes

“Reason is passion’s slave.” p. 2491

“If you examined everyone that closely, inside and out, how many good people would be left?” p. 120

“Talking non-sense of your own — that’s almost better than talking someone else’s truth; in the first case you’re human, in the second you’re nothing but a parrot!” p. 179

“Suffering and pain are always obligatory for people of broad intellect and a deep heart. Truly great people, I think, must feel great sadness for the world.” p. 234

Long Summary

Part 1

Chapter 1:

  • Raskolnikov is contemplating killing an old lady who is a pawn brooker, Aliona Ivanovna, for her money (the word kill or similar is never used tho, it’s quite amibigious)
  • Raskolnikov sells his watch to Aliona and she gives him a few rubles, and he immeditely goes and buys a beer at the bar

Chapter 2:

  • Raskolnikov is at the bar and is joined by Marmeladov
  • Marmeladov shares his life story to Raskolnikov to teach him not to end up like himself
  • Marmeladov is basically a ‘failed’ husband; doesn’t work, can’t provide for his family. His daughter is a prostitute and he asks for her money, etc.

Chapter 3:

  • Raskolnikov receives a letter from his mom. The whole chapter is just his moms letter basically
  • Raskolnikov’s sister is marrying a lawyer who may be able to hire Raskolnikov
  • Raskolnikov’s reaction to the letter is a bit mysterious… he tears up, but by the end of it, he is angry. I guess we’ll find out next chapter

Chapter 4:

  • Raskolnikov was angry with the letter and vowed to not let his sister’s marriage happen.
    • He does not like Piotr Petrovich Luzhin (the man his sister is marrying). He thinks he is a fake, a 2-faced person. For example, Piotr offers to send Raskolnikov’s mom and sister’s luggages and pay for them to be sent to Petersburg. He does this to make himself look good according to Raskolnikov, because such a thing costs very little, meanwhile he did not offer to get a good transport carriage for the mom and sister
  • Raskolnikov is walking outside, and sees a very drunk teenage girl. Another man is following her, and Raskolnikov stops him (its assumed he would rape her). Raskolnikov calls over the police to tell them about the man. After the situation, Raskolnikov regrets stepping in. He says why should I even care? They have nothing to do with me.
  • At the end of the chapter, the book talks about Raskolnikov’s friend, Razumikhin. This is surprising cause Raskolnikov has no friends and can’t stand people

Chapter 5:

  • Raskolnikov is walking to his friend’s Razumikhin’s house to ask for a job. On the way there, Raskolnikov reconsiders and changes his mind. He says he will do it another day
  • He went to take a nap behind some bushes. He had a dream. It was of when he was a child and was walking with his dad through a market, and a group of drunk men were beating a horse (it eventually died). Raskolnikov was crying and very upset about it
  • Raskolnikov, after he awoke, is heading home. He passes by the market and overhears that Lizaveta, Aliona’s half-sister and ‘employee’, will be gone after 6pm the next day. This means that Aliona will be all alone that evening. Very ‘convenient’ information for a man who wants to murder someone!

Chapter 6:

  • Raskolnikov is at a bar, and he hears another student and officer speaking to eachother talking about Lizaveta. This student is telling the officer how Aliona is a bad person and he would kill her to do the world a favour.
    • This is quite convineant for Raskolnikov. It essentially justifies the thoughts he’s having
  • Raskolnikov is back at home. He is plotting to kill Aliona. He attempts to steal an axe, which he does. Then he goes to Aliona’s door and knocks. He hears the door-lock unlock.

Chapter 7:

  • Raskolnikov manages to get inside Aliona’s house. He pretends he’s there to sell something to her (she is a pawn brooker), but she knows something is off because he forced himself inside the house
    • He kills her with the axe, takes her keys, goes to her bedroom, and unlocks a chest and finds some valuable items
  • Lizaveta walks in while he is still in the house and he kills her too. This was not part of the plan but he didn’t know what else to do
  • He manages to reach home after a nerve-wracking escape from Aliona’s apartment; while he was still inside, 2 men were knocking on the door because they wanted to sell something to Aliona. Eventually he escaped when they left

Part 2

Chapter 1:

  • Raskolnikov is back home. He is very paranoid about everything: where to hide Aliona’s stuff, the stains on his clothes, and so on.
  • Natassia (the ‘maid’ in his apartment complex) knocks and has a letter from the police department for Raskolnikov. He is being summoned.
    • He is paranoid about being called to go to the cops. He is swinging between feeling paranoid and feeling nothing at all and having a nialistic attitude towards it.
  • He eventually gets to the police station, turns out they called him to pay his debts. He doesn’t have money obvi so he signs something saying he will stay in Petersburg and not sell any property until the debt is paid.
  • He hears 2 cops inside talking about the murder of Aliona and Lizaveta. He argues with himself internally about whether to confess his crime or not.
  • He was feeling very sick while leaving the station. The 2 same cops asked him if he went out last night while being this sick, and at what time. Raskolnikov answers truthfully. Afterwards on his way home, he comes to his senses and is panicking that he may have given the cops a clue that it was him to murdered Aliona. He is scared they will search his room

Chapter 2:

  • Raskolnikov took all of Aliona’s stuff that was in his flat, stuffed them in his pockets, and headed out to dispose of them. First he considered throwing them in a river, then he came across an isolated garden-like area with stone walls. He removed a stone and put the stuff inside of the wall
  • Raskolnikov went to his friend Razumikhin’s house (in P1Ch5 he wanted to go but decided not to). He went inside and Razumikhin told him about a job to translate books. Raskolnikov considered it, but then changed his mind and refused
  • Raskolnikov is back at his flat and rests. He wakes up to screams of his landlady being beat up by Illya the police officer. He decides not to go and instead stay in his flat. Later on Natasia comes to bring him soup. He asks her why the landlady was being beat up. Natasia said she wasn’t, and that his sickness is making him hallucinate

Chapter 3:

  • Raskolnikov is still very sick in his room, sort of going in and out of sleep. His friend Razumikhin is at his flat. He explained later that he tracked Raskolnikov down in some elaborate way.
  • Razumikhin is helping Raskolnikov put his life back on track. Raskolnikov just received some money from his mom and Razumikhin is using that to buy Raskolnikov some new clothes

Chapter 4:

  • Zosimov (Razumikhin’s friend and a doctor) came into the flat. Razumikhin and his friend are talking about the recent murders. He mentions that the 2 men who were knocking at Aliona’s door got arrested, and the painter (remember one of the flats was being worked on by painters)
  • The painter got arrested due to acting suspicious. Ex; when told about the murders, he ran away
  • All evidence points towards the painter being the killer. But Razumikhin doesn’t think so. He explains what he thinks happened, and it happens to be spot on exactly what really happened

Chapter 5:

  • Piotr Petrovich Luzhin (Raskolnikov’s bro-in-law) came to his flat. Piotr, Razumikhin, and Zosimov were talking about various things; from the murder, to more intellectual convos about crime among the upper-class
    • Raskolnikov was mostly quiet during all this, just giving the occasional comment (mostly about the murder)
  • Raskolnikov insulted and yelled at Piotr. Piotr left angrily
  • Raskolnikov also yelled at Razumikhin and Zosimov to get out; on the stairs, they talked about how they noticed Raskolnikov has an unusual interest in the murder

Chapter 6:

  • Raskolnikov left his flat. He went out to a ‘wealthy’ bar and saw Zosimov. They talked. Raskolnikov said that hypothetically if he was the one who did the murder, he would’ve hid the stuff in a stone wall… which is exactly what he did. During this whole convi, Zosimov was telling him that he is strange and still delirious
  • Raskolnikov saw Razumikhin. The latter was convincing him to attend his house warming party. Raskolnikov refused
  • Raskolnikov went to a bridge. He saw a woman jump off the bridge into the river. Police saved her
  • Raskolnikov visited Aliona’s house. Workmen were there fixing it up, repainting, etc. He was asking them questions and acting strange. They threatened to take him to the cops. He was willing to go which actually made them back off

Chapter 7:

  • Raskolnikov was walking outside. He saw Marmeladov on the ground, blood on his face, trampled by horses, with a crowd around him. He pushed through the crowd and helped him and took him home.
  • Marmeladov is dying in his home with his family, the priest came to do death sacrements. Marmeladov’s wife is feeling… sad and happy? hard to describe.
    • Raskolnikov gave some money to Marmeladov’s wife. His daughter kissed Raskolnikov
  • Raskolnikov was walking home and came to a realization: That his life didn’t die when he killed Aliona… Raskolnikov is now ‘alive’ again! He feels invigorated. He feels more confident.
  • Raskolnikov reached home. His mom and sister were at his home which was a surprise. Natassia was there telling them all about Raskolnikov’s sickness, and his mom and sis were in tears. When they greeted him, he fainted

Part 3

Chapter 1:

  • Raskolnikov mentions to his sister that he’s only marrying Piotr for his sake, and that he does not want his sister to make that sacrifice
  • Razumikhin takes Raskolnikov’s mom and sister to their temporary flat
    • He’s a little drunk so he makes some comments to them such as admitting he really likes Raskolnikov’s sister
  • Mom and sis are worried about Raskolnikov but Razumkihin reassures them that himself and Zosimov will be checking up on Raskolnikov and report back to them

Chapter 2:

  • Razumikhin awoke (now sober) and went to Raskolnikov’s mom and sister’s room to escort them to Raskolnikov’s flat.
  • They didn’t want to wake Raskolnikov so they waited and chatted with some people in the building
  • Raskolnikov’s mom, Pulkheria, said she got a letter from Piotr saying that he doesn’t want to see Raskolnikov because he insulted him

Chapter 3:

  • Mom and sis are at Raskolnikov’s flat. They are all talking and Raskolnikov is much healthier now. They are conversing normally
  • Raskolnikov once again tells his sister, you either pick me or Luzhin (Piotr). If you pick Luzhin, You cease being my sister
    • Raskolnikov’s assumption is that his sister is trying to be a do-gooder by marrying Piotr to help her family and Raskolnikov. Raskolnikov does not want his sister making this kind of sacrifice
  • Even though Luzhin in the letter threatened to leave his sister if Raskolnikov shows up to the event, the mom sis and Raskol all decide together that Raskolnikov should go

Chapter 4:

  • Sofia (Marmeladov’s daughter who is a prostitute) visited Raskolnikov and told him that her mom requests that he attend the funeral tmr for Marmelodov
    • Sofia came while mom and sis were over so they all met. Raskol’s mom is suspicious of her for some reason
  • Raskolnikov and Razumikhin are heading to see a police officer (Porfiry) cause Raskolnikov wants to recover some of the things he’s sold to Aliona
  • Raskolnikov is teasing Razumikhin regarding his sister, cause Raskol has noticed Razu has gained a liking towards his sister

Chapter 5:

  • Raskolnikov and Razumikhin reached Porfiry’s home. They have some deep philsophical and psychological discussions. Through these talks, Raskolnikov recurringly thinks that Porfiry is suspicious of him about Aliona’s murder.
  • At the very end, Porfiry briefly questions Raskol about Aliona’s murder and what Raskol saw at her building, etc
    • The questioning wasn’t serious, i.e. Porfiry wasn’t doing it cause he was suspicious of Raskol, rather Porfiry was trying to gather any info he can

Chapter 6:

  • Raskolnikov and Razumikhin are heading towards Pulkheria and Dunia’s flat. They are talking about how Porfiry was talking weirdly and with suspicion
  • They arrived at the flat, but Raskol told Razu to go ahead and that he will come later. Raskol heads over to his own flat. When he arrives the porter told him an unknown man just asked for Raskol. Raskol sees him and walks after him. This unknown man accuses Raskol of being a murderer
    • at this moment, Raskol feels an andrenaline rush, he legs feel weak, heart being fast, etc.
  • Raskol falls asleep and has a dream that he is back at Aliona’s flat and kills her once again, except when he axes her, nothing happens to her, instead she starts laughing. And Raskol keeps hitting her and she just laughs even louder
  • Raskol awoke and an unknown man was in his flat: Arkady Svidrigailov

Part 4

Chapter 1:

  • The man, Arkady Svidrigailov, was Marfa’s husband (she died)
    • This was the couple that Dunia worked for. Dunia got kicked out by Marfa cause Arkady molested Dunia. Marfa later apoligized to Dunia
  • The whole chapter is Arkady talking to Raskolnikov about his sister; Arkady does not want Dunia to marry Luzhin for the same reason Raskol does not want the marriage to happen, i.e. cause Dunia is sacrifing herself for the sake of her family (which obvi won’t lead to a stable marriage)
  • Raskol seems (on the outside) to disagree with Arkady and is reacting negatively to Arkady’s comments about Dunia

Chapter 2:

  • Raskolnikov and Razumikhin are heading to Bakaleyev’s place cause thats where Dunia and Pulkheria are
    • There is a family gathering: Dunia, Pulkheria, Raskol, Razu, and Piotr (Dunias fiance)
    • Raskol tells Razu about Svidrigailov, and tells him to protect Dunia from Svidrigailov
  • At the gathering, Piotr and Pulkheria are talking about Marfa’s death
  • A fight breaks out at the gathering; Piotr doesn’t like that Raskol is there. Things get heated, they kick out Piotr
    • Dunia is mad at Piotr
    • It seems like the marriage between Piotr and Dunia might be off…

Chapter 3:

  • Side note: Piotr def has a ‘saviour’ complex
    • Piotr only likes Dunia because she is: poor, suffered misfortunes, young, and pretty.
      • Piotr wants someone who will be eternally grateful to him and ‘worship’ him
  • Dunia and her mom are happy with breaking things with Piotr. Raskol is quiet about it
  • Razumikhin tells them all that they should all start a book translating and publishing business, with Razu leading it. They all think its a great idea. This is so Dunia and her mom can become financially independent
  • Raskol left them in a hurry. Dunia and her mom are worried about them. Razu reassured them that he will take care of Raskol

Chapter 4:

Analysis

Notes and Quotes

Psychology

  • “his habit of indulging in frequent conversations over vodka with all sorts of strangers. With some drunkards, this habit grows to be a necessity, especially if they are harshly treated at home. In the company of other drinkers, it seems to make them strive to justify themselves, and even, if possible, to earn some respect.” p. 12
    • As JP would say, choose the right friends. You should reflect on who your friends are, and why they are your friends. Is it because you are trying to feel good about your bad habits? That’s what Dostoevsky is saying
  • “She won’t sell herself for her own gain, or her own comfort, or even to save her life - but for someone else, yes, she’ll sell herself! For someone dear to her, someone she adores!” p. 40
    • Context: Raskolnikov is confused why his sister would marry someone he thinks she does not truly love. His sister is not the type to do something like that for money, fame, or even to save her own life. So he comes to the conclusion that she is doing this for her family, i.e. her mom and brother.
    • This is exactly what JP says in 2 Treat Yourself like Someone you are Responsible for Helping. People don’t view themselves as someone worth looking out for, but they’ll do everything they can to take care of others, even their pets
    • But how does this situation help their mom? Below quote.
  • “And mother? But this is all about Rodia, her precious Rodia, her firstborn! How could one not sacrifice even such a daughter for the sake of such a firstborn son?” p. 40
  • “Perhaps all his clothing was bloodstained; perhaps there were a great many spots, but he just couldn’t see them or wasn’t noticing them, because his powers of observation were weakened, shattered… his mind was clouded…” p. 82
    • Context: Right after Raskolnikov killed Aliona, he was very paranoid. He kept checking his clothing for blood stains. Sometimes he would notice one later on and was shook at how he didn’t notice that at first.
    • This quote is quite interesting, even from a metaphorical perspective. How can your powers of observation become weakened? Through physical illness of course (Raskolnikov immediately attributes this to his fever), but also through spiritual/mental illness. If your in a bad state of mind, it may be hard for you to observe things clearly. Also, if your in a bad spiritual state of mind, like having a cult-like mentality, it would be difficult to observe things clearly, in an untainted manner. These types of people are bloodstained because they abuse their women, act like tyrants, etc, yet they don’t see any of these bloodstains for what they are.
  • “People have got used to living with all found, to being led along in leading strings, even having their food chewed up for them. And when the great hour strikes, they all reveal what they stand for…” p. 136
    • Razumikhin was explaining the cause for upper-class crime. These people are those who have been spoon fed their whole life, super dependent, and so on. And when the great hour, i.e. poverty, strikes, they can’t handle it and turn to crime. Why can’t they handle it? Because they’ve never been taught hard work and independence
  • “If you go on like this, you’ll be letting people beat you up, Mr. Razumikhin, just for the pleasure of doing them a good turn.” p. 150
    • Be careful who you help. Some will take advantage of this and drag you down with them, or take advantage of you.
  • “That threat of walking out is no less than a threat to abandon the two of you if you’re disobedient; and abandon you right now…” p. 207
    • Raskolnikov clearly sees who Piotr really is… he is threatening to abandon mom and sis if they are disobedient. Raskolnikov basically calls out his sister for being naïve, saying if anyone else spoke to you like that, how would you react? Raskolnikov continues saying to his sister that such a man doesn’t value her.

Other Quotes

  • “beggary - that is a vice. In poverty the nobility of your innate sentiments is still preserved, but never in beggary, not by anyone. In beggary… you are swept out with a broom, from all human society, to humiliate you even more; and that is justice, because in beggary I am the first to wish to humiliate myself.” p. 12
    • It means that when you beg, you are humiliating yourself, whereas at least in poverty, you can still hold on to your dignity, and yes some may be humiliating you if you are in poverty but at least you are not humiliating yourself
  • “lying’s a good thing because it leads you to the truth.” p. 121
    • Maybe it means lying not in a malicious way, but simply not knowing what the opposite is in that particular context, i.e. being ignorant of the truth.
  • “the offensive thing is that they’re lying and then treating their own lies with reverence!” p. 121
  • “But facts aren’t everything; at least half the secret lies in how you manage to deal with the facts!” p. 121
  • “But science tells us: Love yourself above all, for everything on earth is founded on self-interest.” p. 133
  • “Intelligence alone isn’t enough to make him act sensibly.” p. 208
  • “Suffering and pain are always obligatory for people of broad intellect and a deep heart. Truly great people, I think, must feel great sadness for the world.” p. 234

Main Idea of the Book

  • the central idea of this book is that the real punishment of committing a crime as heinous as murder is not the state/law punishments (even if its the gulags), but rather it is the GUILT you will personally have to live with as a consequence of your crime… it’s better to turn yourself in at that point!

Footnotes

  1. Passion/desire. When you are passionate about something or desire it, you consciously or subconsciously use your reason to justify it. Ex: Lets say your on a health diet but you really want chocolate, you may justify it using reason by saying ‘one chocolate won’t hurt my diet…’ ↩

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